THE NAME!

Okay so I am 36 weeks now and I guess I could wait till she is here to share the name, but then I will not get to explain it- I know once they come the name is just what it is and why explain it. Someday maybe she will want to know why, and I don't journal or do baby books very well so blogging about it will do.
It hasn't been a secret and when people ask we tell them, but if you haven't talked to us in the past 2 months you probably have no clue. This wasn't an easy one for us, girl names have never been. I never imagined having to come to an agreement with Kyle on 3 girl names and I am honestly happy we will not have to do it again. Not to mention we did it while Kyle was deployed, after many difficult conversations about what to name her I figured we'd just wait till he returned but surprisingly Kyle really wanted to make a decision (and the kids did too). There were many phone discussions and my typical book and internet searches and for the 1st time in 4 pregnancies Kyle made a list. I usually bring the names up and Kyle vetoes most or all of them till we come to an agreement. We like to make the name a family activity and have involved the kids since they were old enough- Gavin was adamant about Cambria's name and this time Avalyn was the decisive about the 1st name and we let Gavin pick the middle name (with choices Kyle and I agreed on).

After completely rejecting several of my list, I knew I would probably have to compromise quite a bit and find a more common name that we were both happy with. Kyle decided to make a list, that I basically rejected but it gave me a better idea of what he liked (it was a long list, so I had quite a bit to work with). We decided early on not to use the names we hadn't used with Cambria- Lila and Linley- and start completely over. For a couple weeks she was Elina (or Alina), but that wasn't sitting well with me- I think it's a beautiful name but wanted something a little less traditional. The middle name was Kate since the beginning, just because I liked the name, but for some reason Gavin was so excited when I mentioned using Brooke so we said okay (why not, we both liked it and in the end we liked it better with the 1st name). After saying no to Elina I began looking at the Top 1000 list for 2008 for ideas (I usually avoid the list) and I found the name, I had heard it before (I have a friend here that has a niece with a similar name) and loved it but hadn't mentioned it with this pregnancy. It was a little trendier than I had wanted, but it fit with Gavin, Avalyn and Cambria's names and when Kyle's initial reaction was silence (that's what it was with Avalyn and Cambria) I knew I might be on to something. Kyle was quiet about it for several weeks, but back home Avalyn was thrilled and using her name. To my surprise Avalyn told Kyle over the phone one day "Daddy we can name the baby Ainsley" and his response shocked me even more "okay". We had a name! Gavin was still confused after we had gone back and forth so much, but was excited when I let him pick the middle name Brooke (he loves our neighbor and friend Brooke). So there it is, I know that's a long explanation. We are so excited about welcoming Ainsley Brooke to our family- hopefully soon.

The doctor says the baby is ready whenever. I was 1 centimeter dialated on Thurs., so I am not expecting anything too soon. I had Gavin and Avalyn around 37 weeks and Cambria at 38 weeks, so who knows. I have had more and more Braxton Hick with every pregnancy and they just seem to get more and more painful, so I am hoping for not too many more weeks of that and the back pain that I have had for the past several months I am ready to get rid of. The kids are so excited and although I think they will miss my belly, they are ready to have their little Ainsley at home!