Picking A Name for Hallie Grace.

Pretty much this is the most stressful part about having a baby.
You think I'm joking.
I'm not.

When we hit about our 8 month mark, we complied this list of names that we liked. At the time, we were pretty sure we were going to name her, "Hallie Elizabeth Hillam". I absolutely loved it!

We were almost 100% set on Hallie for the first name, although she almost snuck out as a Heidi. I really like Elizabeth for a middle name, but Eric wasn't sold on it. Then we realized that "Hallie Elizabeth Hillam" was way too close to our sister-in-law's name "Kallie Elizabeth Hillam".

So we scratched that. 

If you'll notice, the middle name we did go with, "Grace" isn't even on the list. 

This is because, I LOVE the name Grace. LOVE IT. I originally wanted it for a first name, but Eric shot that down quick. He wasn't keen on the name Grace. So I totally dropped that name and never mentioned it again. We also really wanted to name her after someone, and since Hallie wasn't a family name, I figured her middle name had to be reserved for a family name (which Grace is not).

Well, one night, towards the end of the pregnancy, we were laying in bed talking about names. The conversation had died and I was just about asleep when I hear Eric say, "What about Grace? Hallie Grace?"

If I didn't have a huge belly and an aching back, I would have shot up in bed right that instant. I was shocked that he had even brought that up because he turned his nose up to the name when I had mentioned it previously.

I instantly fell in love and knew right then that Hallie Grace was the name.

Well, a few weeks later, baby girl is born. I'm laying in my hospital bed with her the day after she was born when the nurse comes in with the birth certificate paperwork. Up until this point we had not concreted (sp?) a name. We thought we liked Hallie Grace, but then again, we really wanted to name her after a family member. So we started throwing around "Hallie Jane". At one point, Eric even said, "Maybe her first name should be Grace and her middle name should be a family name!"

It was so stressful! We kept going back and forth and back and forth and randomly pulling out new names that we'd never even considered!

And then it hit us. She'd be named Hallie Grace Hillam. Initials H.G.H. The same initials that are on the license plate of Grandma Hillam's car. The same initials of Hallie's great-grandpa Hillam, Harold Gordon Hillam. He passed away while Eric was on his mission, so I never met him, but from what I've heard, he is an amazing man who has done incredible things. He is definitely someone I would be proud to name my daughter after (in a round-about way :)

So there you have it! 

That's how we arrived at Hallie Grace and we absolutely love it.