What's in a Name

I find it ironic how hard it was for Kevin and I to decide a on a name for our baby girl. I have grown up always thinking of names for our kids. I had a girl name ready to go since atleast middle school and it never changed. Kevin and I had a list of both boys and girls names we liked before we even knew we were pregnant.

The day we found out a were having a girl it was like that list was for nothing. None of those names were right. A name is a big deal. There are lots of things to consider:

1. does the monogram spell out something weird. (Kevin's is KMK but people always joked what if his parents named him Kevin Keith Kanzelmeyer then it would be KKK. no bueno)
2. will it sound good when they are little, a teenager, and grown adult?
3. is it easy to spell (poor kid already has to spell Kanzelmeyer)
4. is it short (see above)

the list just goes on. And there were a couple of other things i wanted. I wanted a family name either the first name or middle name. I also didn't want them to have a first name but go by the middle name. Its just a personal thing i don't want them to have to correct the teacher every year when they first call out role. ( i do understand why some parents do it though, it just flows better)

With all of the above being said the hunt for the perfect name for our obviously perfect girl was on. One night I wrote out a family tree of my mom's side then also for my dad's. We have a huge family so there we lots of names. I tried to do Kevin's family tree too but his dad's family is so big (9siblings) even he has a hard time remembering everyone's name. I had left my list out on the counter and one morning Kevin texted me that he found a couple names on the list he liked. Of course Mr. Jokester said he liked my PawPaw's brothers name Foy, i was like really... but then he told me the names he found Lillian and Elizabeth, I don't even know who Elizabeth is but it was too long and common for me to like but i really liked Lillian too. It is my Granny's first name. (this would be my Dad's mom). Funny thing is she was one of "those" :) people that went by her middle name Alline (sp?) so i really never knew it was her first name until my sister had pointed it out one time this last year. We both liked it a lot but we were still a little hestitant to commit. Kevin really likes it because it sounds sophisticated yet still cute for when she is young (he and my mom really want to call her Lilly).Her middle name we decided would be claire (just a name Kevin had put on our original list but i said was too common for a first name). I love how well Lillian Claire Kanzelmeyer flows, its sweet and southern to me and the monogram is cute for me to do all of my embroidering. Plus its a family name which i wanted.

I think it was about 2 weeks after our gender reveal party i told kevin we HAD to decide on a name now and we both just kept going back to Lillian Claire so we knew thats what it had to be. Kevin would even say the name out loud sometimes to see how its sounded. We laughed about how when our parents were mad at us or needed our immediate attention they would always yell our first and miffle name. We tried that a couple times too and it was perfect. lol. We never really made an official annoucement what her name would be so it has been about 2 more weeks and when we say the name we still have family and friends say oh is that what her name is going to be and it felt right to say yes.

So happy to have this decision done with and can not wait to be able to say her name more often. :)