Can I just say...she looks just like Kelley to me in this picture! I wasn't sure she had that look when she was born...but feel that way more every day. Tyler looked a lot the same as well. Maybe I'll try to scan in their pics so you can see for yourself. But it sure seems to me that all our babies have a certain look...OK, so the first question we're always going to get is why didn't we just give her Maren as a first name if that's what she will go by? Those of you that know my family know we have Kristy, Kelsha, Karmin and Kember. My mom is Colleen, then there's Pete and Ryan who are kind of left out :) Well, when we named Kelley, it was NOT because of all the K names in my family. My mom's maiden name is Kelley and my parents nearly named my sister that. I've always liked then name and it just seemed to fit when she was born. Even after naming her Kelley I had NO intention of continuing with the K theme. We didn't know what Maren was before she was born, but we have both liked that name for a long time. It is my sister's middle name, as well as prominent in my family history. Since it was a name we both really liked, we were pretty sure that's what we would name our next girl, but we never get set a name before our babies are actually born. We talked about different names a lot and one day I mentioned that I liked the name Kate. Not Katherine, but Katie or Kate, I think is really cute. Joey loved it and thought Katie Maren was perfect. I suggested Maren Katie or Maren Kate, but by then he was kind of set on Katie Maren. Besides he said "I kind of want to continue with the K theme", which makes me laugh. It's my family thing and I didn't even want to do it. What is really funny, is that my parents didn't really intend to do it either. Karmin was supposed to be Monica! I remember being bugged when she came home as Karmin, because I liked Monica better. But such is life and now it seems we are carrying on the torch.
Someone asked if it's a family thing to go by middle names also. I guess it kind of is. My grandmother, at least one aunt and my brother all go by their middle names. I know it will be a pain for her. I already had to explain to the doctor's office today about it. Hmmm....is it too late to change it??? Speaking of which...I still don't really feel settled on the name really. Has anyone else gone through that? I didn't love Tyler's name either at first, but I knew there was no changing his name, Joe was determined there. There's some flexibility here though and we almost changed it yesterday in the hospital. Maren is for sure...it's just Katie I'm not sure about. I do like the name. I suggested it as a possibility. But we did find a name we liked better (Kennedy). Both Kelley and I like it better. I don't know that Joe likes he better necessarily, but he does like it. The problem is we didn't want to take it away from the sister(s) that suggested it to us, even though Maren won't go by it anyway. But I just keep going back to it.
The reasons I like Katie: It's Irish....my mom has a lot of Irish in her family history. Kelley is Irish also, if you didn't already know that. It's cute, fun, light. I played Kate in Taming of the Shrew. Not that I want my daughter to be named after the Shrew, but it was my first play and kind of a fun connection. It goes really well with Maren.
The reasons I like Kennedy: Both our other kids have last names for middle names (Madison and Thompson). Joe kind of wanted something a little more "elegant" than Katie, if we could come up with it and I think this fits the bill. Plus I just like it better for some reason. It's my fault really though. I was being a brat and wouldn't tell my family what we were considering until we decided and put it on the birth certificate paperwork. As soon as my sister heard it she suggested Kennedy. Loved it...but once the paperwork is filled out, it's harder to change your mind. It would have been easy yesterday, but now would be a big process to change it I'm sure.
Anyway...on a final note. We thought all along it was a girl. We both had a feeling for a while that our next baby would be a girl, way before we even got pregnant. Then after the ultrasound we both thought it was a girl. We would not have been shocked if it was a boy though, but it was just one of those feelings. Well speaking of my sweetheart, I think I'll go steal her from daddy and get ready for bed. Thanks for all the comments! We sure are loving her and enjoying this season with her here. Hope you are having just as Merry a holiday as we are!
8 comments:
She is so beautiful and I love the her name. Congratulations!
I was wondering what you thought she would be. Now I know. I like both, I kind of agree about Kennedy being a nice fit too. If you get ready to change it now, it will be a LOT easier than later. Maybe they haven't finished processing it. Jeff was the only one of his family born in a hospital, and thus automatically given a birth certificate. By his first birthday his parents were calling him by a different name, and got his social security card in that name, which is what he goes by. So all of our finances are in one name, and all of our official records are in another. It is such a mess. Fortunately they changed his first name to his middle name, so we can sometimes just string it all along together. But, if you think you like Kennedy better- fix it now!
I like either name! I have a cousin I dearly love named Maren and my little sister is Kathryn--but Kate.
So comfy and cozy! Oh, to be a baby again. What a pretty little gal.
Congratulations! She is gorgeous. You're not alone in feeling unsettled about the name. The whole first week of Lydia's life I worried that we hadn't picked the right name and I felt so sick about it. My problem was that I didn't have an alternative name, so we left it as Lydia and she has really grown into it. It's a big decision to give someone their name! Pray about it. That's what really helped me to finally feel settled. Good luck!
I vote for Katie. I have a cousin named Kennedy, and it's an alright name, but I'm not a fan of made-up or trendy names, and I think Kennedy falls in the trendy camp. I also think it's one of those names that is seeing a spike in popularity right now, but will not be one of the classics that will be given to newborns in 20 years or so--like Kate/Katie names. But of course, it's your child, so do what you want. My Josh is Joshua Michael, and he went by Michael for 7 years and then decided he wanted to be Josh. I figured it was his name, so his choice. It took some getting use to, but he's been Josh for 10 years. So whatever you chose, keep in mind that at some future point she might chose to go by her first name, so make sure it is one you wouldn't mind calling her.
Katie or Maren, she's absolutely beautiful. Congratulations! Have a lovely holiday.
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