There's a First Time for Everything

I am really excited about entering our first blog entry ever! Jason and I have been trying to figure out a way to communicate with all of our friends and loved ones about the happenings in our life so starting a blog seemed like the perfect way! Please bear with me as I learn the ropes! Suggestions from all "professional" bloggers are welcome!

We are expecting our newest addition to our family March 20, 2010. I say "addition" because as you all know- we already have two children in the house. Bailey (4) and Kody (3) would be upset if we left them out of the family lineup!

We are having a girl, and I am about 26 weeks along. Naming her has been a really fun adventure. She is the first grandchild on both sides of the family, so we decided she should have a little bit of a mix from each of our parents' names. We started off with the easy contribution: her last name will be "Key." Simple, I know, but this would be Jason's Dad's family contribution. The first and middle names were a bit trickier. We thought we had decided on a first name until I had a dream one night and another name came to me. The name was Elianne. I woke Jason up and told him the name- he told me he thought it was beautiful, and it would certainly go "on the list." The name "Elianne" (pronounced Ellie+Anne) was a perfect contribution from Jason's Mom's side of the family (Elia) and my Dad's Mom's side of the family (Anne). Also, Anne is my sister, Jamelie's middle name, which also made it that much more special. Also, Jason was doing some research on the name a few weeks after we considered Elianne, and it means "God has answered." It seemed too perfect! We knew we wanted her to have an Arabic name as well (as my Mom's family contribution) for her middle name, and we went through every website and name list we could find to pick the perfect name. We decided on Selima (pronounced Se-lee-mah), which means "peace" or "health." So, here it is:

Elianne Selima Key

Getting prepared for Elianne's arrival has been rather daunting... just ask my friend Sarah about Saturday when she ran into us in Babies R Us! Let's just say this: registering for the wedding was MUCH simpler than registering for a baby. Who knew there were SO many choices for so many items out there? We would love to have any expert (and by expert, I mean any Mom or Dad) provide us with advice for much needed items we should have on our registry or should purchase for Elianne's arrival. This advise can include anything from books to read to bottles to get to brands to stay away from. ANY ADVICE OF THIS TYPE IS WELCOME!

We can't finish this post without thanking everyone who has been so excited and encouraging for this new transition in our life. We are so blessed by all of those around us, near and far. Thank you all for reading!