Drumroll please . . .

Early in this process we started talking about whether we would give our daughter a new name or keep her birth name. On one hand we hate to take away any piece of her history. On the other hand we want her to feel like an American and we don't want her to picked on or teased about her name. As a woman with an unusual, and embarrassing, maiden name I know firsthand how cruel kids can be.

So we have decided to keep her birth name as her middle name and give her an American first name. At home we will call her by both names. So . . . the name we have chosen is . . .

GAYLE!

She is being named after Jed's maternal grandmother. Jed's grandmother is a kind and wonderful woman. She is the only grandparent either of us have and we are so thrilled that we can honor her in this way.

We have been talking about naming the baby Gayle for quite some time. When we first told the kids Jared asked if we would be calling her Oma (since that is what he calls his great grandmother). Laine gave him the eye roll only a sassy five year old can give and said, "no, we will be calling her Gayle Junior."