I started
harassing asking the hubs about names right around week 8. I told him I wanted to have names decided before the gender reveal party so that didn't leave us with a lot of time. He didn't want our child to have a name that was super popular/common because growing up he was one of 8 Michaels in his grade and he hated it. I told him that while I didn't want a super popular name either, I wanted a name that could be found on key chains/cups in theme parks and such. My reason behind that was I was always able to find my name when we went on vacation, but my sister Jenna never could. She could find Jen and Jennifer...but never Jenna. It was never fun hearing her complain (for what seemed like an eternity) afterwards.
While we were dating I said that I wanted to name my first boy Cameron (my maiden name). The hubs said he liked that name so I thought we were good to go with the boy name. Since that discussion, however, a friend of mine had a son and named him Cameron. Since Michael was against common names he immediately said no when I brought it up once I was pregnant. That also meant a few other names I really loved were out as well since some of our friends had named their children those names.
So while we now had no name ideas, we had a place to start. Simple enough, right? Hahahaha...not even close.
After about a week the hubs told me he wanted a "J" name and really liked the name Jordan for a boy but had no idea for a girl. While I think Jordan is cute, I was not going to name my baby Jordan. Why you ask? Well, if you walked into our closet you would see about 45 boxes of Jordan shoes...and they aren't mine. Even though he denied that being the reason why he liked the name; I was not about to name my child after a basketball player/shoe. Never, ever, ever.
Another week of discussing names and we still weren't any closer to deciding. I swear I had looked up every baby name site online and even purchased a book. We couldn't agree on anything.
After a few weeks I brought up the subject again. This time I had a list of names on my phone that I had liked. My top two girl names were Emmalin and Riley. My top boy names were Jackson (Jax) and Aiden. The hubs liked Riley and Jackson, but wasn't a fan of Emmalin or Riley. It was a miracle! After weeks of numerous late night talks, we finally liked the same names. Nothing was official though because he wanted to hear the full name before he could decide 100%.
So back to the drawing board I went...
One night during week 13 I had a dream about my Uncle Grant. He passed away last year and it was really hard on me. When I woke up I told the hubs that I wanted Grant to be the middle name. Then I told him that I liked Mae for the girl's middle name. Mae was the hub's grandmother's middle name and she had just recently passed away as well. I told him that I thought it would be a perfect way to honor them and I really loved both names. He wasn't completely sold on the idea and said he wanted a few days to think about it.
Two days later I received a text that said "Jackson Grant and Riley Mae it is. :)"
It was finally official. We had names. Both first names were unique enough to make him happy, but common enough to make me happy.
So that's how our little peanut got his name. It was one of the hardest decisions we have made together thus far...but now looking back on it, it seemed like a no-brainer. He shares a name with one of the greatest men I've known and I can't wait to tell him all about his Great Uncle Grant. <3
Jackson Grant Powell @ a little over 13 weeks.
