And now we know ; )

So as you all know, I have been completely convinced that I'm having a boy. I went in to the anatomy ultrasound expecting my suspicions to be confirmed and look at my husband and say "I told you so."

That didn't happen. Much to our surprise, WE'RE HAVING A GIRL!

I am so excited to pick out little dresses and make matching bows : )  Oh, and we can't forget about the totes full of barbies from my childhood (barbie dream house included) that I will get to pull out in a few years and see my precious memories relived with my sweet baby girl. I'm already busy making wall art and planning the nursery decor. It is so much more fun to look at girl items. She is going to LOVE shopping with mommy!

My mom came with us to the ultrasound and as soon as we left the first thing she said was "I can't believe she's so big already." If I read the ultrasound report right, my little girl is measuring larger than what my April 18 due date would put her at. I wish I knew a little more about reading ultrasound reports because I really think it changed my due date to be more like April 10. I guess I'll just have to wait til after Christmas when I go back to my doctor and ask.

While we were waiting to go in for the ultrasound we were talking about names and how I didn't want to have to try and come up with one for a girl because I had been so torn. As soon as the ultrasound tech told me it was a girl I knew there were only two options. Within an hour of the ultrasound, I knew the name I wanted for my little girl.

Violet Grace Jaeger is her name. There are about a million reasons for why we chose this name. Violet is a name I chose when I was very young and started reading the series "The Boxcar Children" by Gertrude Chandler Warner. Violet is a character in the books and I thought it was just the most beautiful name, and it's stuck with me ever since. As I grew older and started thinking of baby names and learning more about the significance of a name and how God created women, I decided that I wanted my girls' names to exude beauty whether in meaning, sound, or symbol. I also want them to feel connected to family. I didn't know before, but Violet is a family name on my biological father's side. I like that the name Violet is not just a beautiful flower, color, and family name, but that it also represents a great love for reading that I had at an early age: something we both agree we deeply desire for our children.

Grace as a concept I think is the greatest gift aside from salvation that God has given us (and let's face it, "Grace" makes a better sounding name than "Salvation").  Grace is the name of one friend who never doubted my judgement in choosing to marry my husband, Cameron. She stuck by me 100% and it meant the world to me. I had great adventures with her in college and remember our friendship fondly. Grace is also family. Grace is the name of my husband's grandmother, the one who's diamond is in my engagement ring. As it turns out, grandma Grace's best friend was named Violet.

We have so many reasons to hold her name dear and so many great memories and feelings tied to the words violet and grace. I am really happy with the name and crazy surprised how easy it was for us to settle on it after finding out that we're having a girl.