Joleigh Deann Guy

From the time we announced we would be starting our own little family, one of the most frequently asked questions has been "Have you thought of any names?"  We knew very early on, perhaps even before we were surprised with our pregnancy news, that we wanted our baby to have a name that reminded us of some of the important people in our lives.

There were tons of things we had to keep in mind while we were getting ready to meet our sweet baby.  Deciding whether or not to breastfeed, to use cloth diapers or disposable, finding quality childcare, making sure that all of her gear has great safety reviews, and trying to do all of those things without killing our finances.  Whew!  I'm exhausted just thinking about it all!  I would venture to say that choosing her name has been one of the hardest decisions we've had to make thus far in preparing for her.  She's not going to remember which diapers fit her tiny booty best, or whether she liked formula or breast milk better, but her name will be hers forever!  That's a big deal y'all!!

I'm a sucker for old-fashioned names and try as I might, I just couldn't get my sweet husband (or anyone else for that matter) to agree that Betty Jo was a great name.  Graham's biggest issue, other than thinking it was absolutely horrendous, was that she would be know by her initials, BJ.  Needless to say, I started thinking about other possibilities.

One of my other favorite names, Annie Mae, had already been given to our beloved fur baby.  Even though I tried calling her by new names, in order to snag hers for our precious baby girl - my plan just didn't work.  She (and Graham) would give me a look that let me know I had obviously lost my mind!

The one name we do both agree on and makes our hearts smile every time we say it, is Joleigh Deann.  The name Joleigh is french for "pretty", while Deann is english for "divine".  The names mean so much more to us though.  It's a combination of Graham's late Grandmother (Mary Jo), my middle name (Leigh), my late Dad's middle name (Dean), and my Mama's middle name (Ann).  Talk about keeping it all in the family!!

Having her name picked out and (finally) sharing it with family makes it feel like we're one step closer to meeting our little miracle.  29 days and counting!!!