Riley Grace Barnes--

I don't know many people that have known the name of their first born since they were 16... except for me.  When I was 16 years old I worked at a Montessori school part-time in the afternoons.  Although I tried hard not to pick favorites, there were a few children that stood out.  I will never forget Bailey Jay (although I apparently forgot how to spell her name because I remember is wasn't Bailey but something more like Balie or something like that), a 3 year old, blonde hair lightly curled at the ends, blue eyes, sweet smile.  Her manners were ADORABLE!  I could tell that her parents always called her, "darling", "princess", "sugar plum", etc.  I remember she would say things like, "Excuse me darling, but can you please pass the purple crayon?", or, "You're my sweetheart, what am I?" in the SWEETEST little girl voice EVER!  I always told myself that I would be sure to teach my kids manners like that at a very young age... it just melts my heart.  Every time her parents asked me to baby-sit, I never hesitated to say yes.  She had a little sister about two years younger than her.  Her name was Riley Grace.  I absolutely ADORED these two girls.  When I heard Riley's name for the first time, I absolutely fell in love with it, and her too.  I knew I always wanted to name my first born Riley.  I just had to somehow convince my future husband this.

I was so fortunate that Andrew agreed to Riley Grace without a fight. The first time he heard the name he fell in love with it as much as I did.  There was no hesitation and I was so full of joy!  When we told the name to Andrew's family, they informed us that Andrew had an uncle named Raleigh but everyone called him Riley.  So they, of course, loved the name, too.  My parents were pretty thrilled with the name as well.  We have been so fortunate that everyone loves the name as much as we do. Even before we were expecting our entire family knew that if we had a girl, we wanted to name her Riley Grace.

Now, I just have to work on my patience because I still have another 24 weeks before I get to FINALLY meet this sweet girl! :)