Changing the Name

So, if this baby is a girl, we've changed her name.

We've always thought we would name a daughter Maggie Grace. We love that name.

Can't you just see a little red haired, freckled face, energetic Maggie running around?

Not Margaret, not Margot, not Magnolia (as someone suggested to me...ick).

Just Maggie.

I'm just a Katie. I'm not a Katherine or a Kathleen.

Just Katie.

Perfect fit, right?

Well, we've always tossed around the name Brooke. We liked the name Brooke, but couldn't come up with anything to go with it.

Then, Saturday night, I was laying on the couch and it popped into my head.

"What do you think about Brooke Allen?"

Ben's eyes got a bit brighter and he said, "I like it a lot, but I don't know if I like it better than Maggie." I agreed with him at the moment, but I just couldn't get the name out of my head.

You see, my Dad's name was Allen.

We knew we didn't want to use it for a boy's first name, but had planned to use it as a boy's middle name later (Beau Allen, to be exact).

But it flows so nicely with Brooke. And it's different, without being youneek (unique, but spelled differently, much like the awful baby name fad as of late). We would call her Brooke Allen, too, not just Brooke.

Sunday morning, I told Ben I just couldn't stop thinking about Brooke Allen. He agreed with me that he was liking it more and more. We ran it by the moms, and it even passed the Facebook test.

So, there it is. If this baby is a girl, she will be Brooke Allen.

Of course, if it's a boy, we've gone through all this for nothing. He's still a Jake.