Believe it or not, we have a name (and a story)!

I have waited a little while to post this, just because we have waffled so much over names over the past three years, but I think we have finally made a decision. Natalie. Natalie has actually always been on our list and one of our favorites and has always had a lot of meaning for us. We even considered it for Amelia's name, but decided that she just felt like more of an Amelia (and boy were we right!). Even though it has been one of my favorites for as long as I can remember (my favorite doll growing up was even named Natalie) I have always been hesitant because it has become so popular and I worry that there will be five Natalie's in her class at school. However, we got a wonderful sign that this is what our next daughter's name should be and have decided that it really is the perfect name...

When my mother-in-law was sick toward the end of her life, she told us about all the things that she wanted us to look for in her house after she was gone. She had made detailed (and I mean DETAILED) lists of which items she wanted each of her sons and daughters-in-law and Amelia to have. We found a list of her jewelry and who each piece should go to and why. I guess I should back up and say that although we have been in the process of adopting a second child for a very long time, my mother-in-law rarely mentioned it, and rarely commented when we mentioned it. Amelia was the light of her life, but she rarely spoke about her future second granddaughter. My mother-in-law's name was Nancy. When we found the list of her jewelry, at the bottom she listed that her "N" pendants should go to "Erica and Brian's next daughter if her name is something starting with an "N", like Natalie..." I don't recall ever mentioning to her that we had considered that as a name. When I saw that she had not only thought about our second daughter, but had planned to give her something that had been hers, I started to cry so much that I had to excuse myself from the room. Brian knew exactly what I was thinking. It really meant so much to both of us to know that she thought of her, and to see a name that we had both always loved in that context and in his mom's handwriting, we knew that we had found our name. It makes us so sad to think that she and Brian's dad will never know Natalie, but I think it gives us comfort to know that she at least thought, even briefly, of her granddaughter being named Natalie. So she will be named Natalie, in memory of Brian's mom.