The middle name was also easy.
The first name is anybody's guess. We agree on nothing. Sam has an unusual given name, and has spent his whole life correcting people to just call him Sam. Consequently, he loves anything mainstream and traditional so our little girl won't have to correct everyone her whole life. I, on the other hand, don't want our baby to be one of seven Brittany's in her class growing up (true story: there were four Brittany's in my fourth grade class, and three in my sunday school class that year), so I lean towards slightly less traditional or popular names. Add that to my propensity for nineteenth-century names I find in literature and I swear we're going to be that couple who can't get discharged from the hospital because we can't pick a name for the birth certificate. At what point can I pull the I-just-birthed-a-child trump card and make Sam agree to whatever I want? :)
But anyway, back to our girl's middle name. In my family we have a tradition. My middle name is Janette. My mom's middle name is Janette. My grandma's middle name is Janette. It goes back a few more generations until it switches to a first name of Janette (thanks Aunt Grace for helping me with the details!). I come from a few generations of first daughters, and the tradition is to give the middle name Janette to your first daughter.
I love sharing that name with so many women who are special to me. I understand that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, etc etc, but I honestly have felt a connection to these amazing women because we share a name. It's something to live up to, a heritage I have. Also, since my amazing grandma and I are the only ones alive still with that middle name, it means even more to me.
^mom, my personal favorite Janette^
So here's to the next first daugher with the middle name Janette. She'll automatically have such a beautiful heritage and so many amazing Janettes to look up to.
Random PS: You might notice I'm back to my blogspot address for a bit. Google domain renewal is giving me the biggest headache. The old address will be back soon. Thanks for hanging with me in the meantime :)
