A Rose By Any Other Name...

3 days old

I have had a lot of people ask why we chose the name "Gracie"  instead of a "C" or "K" name like our other children were given. From the moment I realized I was pregnant (actually even before that), I knew that our baby was a little girl. I really wanted a girl, and felt so much delight that Heavenly Father would bless me with another sweet little daughter. Ryan and I thought about a couple "K" names, but didn't really love any of them.  We had never intentionally named all our other children "C" and "K" names-- those were just the names we loved. It seemed ridiculous to choose a "K" name that we kind of liked for this little girl when we loved another name. Honestly, from the beginning, it felt like this baby's name should be Gracie. We all knew it. The children called the baby Gracie the entire pregnancy. I remember when I was only 4 months pregnant, a neighbor told me that Creed had mentioned I was having a girl and her name is Gracie (keep in mind that at that point, no one knew the baby's gender for sure). I sincerely believe that our Gracie was meant to be Gracie long before we chose that name for her.

3 days old with Kailani

4 days old with Karen

Gracie was born so fast that some of the blood vessels in her eyes were popped (you can see the red eye in this picture).

I also felt like so much of this pregnancy was me being carried by Divine power. There were quite a few ups and downs-- and sometimes my body tried to fail.  I did my weak little part and His grace made it possible for me to end up with a healthy little girl. I did my best, and He did the rest. I like the idea of my daughter's name being a reminder of what a tender gift she is. I especially like that our "Christmas baby" has a name that makes me think of the Savior and His love.

5 days old

Lastly, during the time I was pregnant with my little sweetheart, I continually had the impression that this baby would be a powerful, saving gift to my family. I feel like her presence in our family is going to play a key part in the spiritual temperament of our home. I never mentioned these feelings to anyone. When Gracie was only a couple weeks old, she needed a blessing from Ryan. In the blessing, he said the very things that I had believed all along-- that Gracie would be a tremendous gift to our family and will bless us in ways that only her sweet little zealous spirit could.

6 days old with Cameron

My little Gracie' Kaye's middle name is also special to me. It is the name that both my Mother and I share... and now my baby gets to have as well. I always loved my middle name, because it was my Mother's. I hope Gracie feels the same.

1 week old

As Gracie gets older, and perhaps wonders why she was given the name that she was, I hope that she will know how much I adore her name. It was not chosen lightly. I absolutely love everything about it. I absolutely love everything about her. She is my little Gracie-bug, and her sweet spirit is such a blessing in our home.

1 week old