and she shall be called ...

We contemplated waiting until her birth to share her name ... but we knew if we were calling her by her name at home, one of us was bound to slip up and share in public.  Also, I can start monogramming and personalizing things.  And of course, family and friends didn't like the idea of keeping it a secret!  

So we are sharing ...

Choosing and deciding upon a name for our baby girl was a tough, long process.

We had already made a final decision on a boy name.

We had two girl names chosen for a few years.  However in the wait for our baby, acquaintances of ours used those names and we didn't want to duplicate.

We didn't really have a family name that we wanted to use.

And we really wanted a special, unique name.

We tossed around several first names.

Chris and I both are slightly opinionated in the matter.

Names beginning with "R" or ending with the "R" sound didn't flow with our last name.

We sorted through three baby name books and searched the internet.

We like Paisley, but learned that it is becoming very popular.

We like Mallory, but it's meaning is "unlucky and unfortunate."

And one day, as I was flipping through a baby name book again, I ran across Jocelyn as an alternate for Rosalyn.  I sent Chris and text message and asked him about it ... and he liked it!

Jocelyn's meaning is "cheerful" and "happy."  

Faith, Hope, and Marie were three possibilities for the middle name.

Marie is my middle name.

Faith and hope were our lifelines in the journey to our sweet baby.

After deciding upon Jocelyn we made the final decision of Faith.

And much to Chris' dismay, her nickname will more than likely be Josie. =)

He doesn't like forming a nickname already.  And he isn't crazy about the name Josie.

(He thinks of Josie in "Anne of Green Gables")

But, I think a cute little girl in pig-tails will be an adorable "Josie."

And of course, when she's older, Jocelyn will be more fitting.