Adlee's Name

As soon as we knew we were having a girl--no long before that--
As soon as we knew I was pregnant--no before that--
As soon as we started "trying"--honestly, before that--
As soon as I wanted a baby--which was my whole life--I was picking out baby names. Ryan started to participate when we knew I was pregnant. Our system was this: I would suggest names, and Ryan would shoot them down.

From the time I was in high school, I wanted to name my baby Addison, but it started to become very popular. I didn't want my baby to have a difficult name, but I didn't want a popular name either. Then, my cousin named her baby Addison (and I called my mother bawling because she stole my name), and it became--not off limits--less desirable.

I had suggested other names to Ryan, but he still liked Addison better than my other suggestions. Then, one day, we were watching "The Voice" and a beautiful blonde named, Adley auditioned. I can't even remember if she made it through or not, and without looking it up, I couldn't remember how she spelled it. I didn't pick the name because I want my little girl to be a singer or be anything like this girl; I just liked her name. I asked Ryan if he liked the name Adley, and he did like it very much. In fact, he stopped taking suggestions, so I stopped suggesting anything different.

We played with all the different spellings...Adly, Adleigh, Adley, Adli (looks too much like Aldi), and Adlee. Obviously, we liked Adlee best.

Adlee is a variation of the name Adlai from the Bible. It was the name of the father of king David's shepherd--no big significance for us there. In Hebrew (according to the internet), it means "God has judged." I don't know exactly what kind of "judged" it really means, but to me, the name means God has found me worthy of being a mommy.

Adlee's middle name, Mae, is very special. It is my middle name (Jordon Mae), my mom's middle name (Joni Mae), and my great-great-grandma's middle name (Luella Mae). Having a family name has always meant a lot to me, and there was never a question that my first daughter's middle name would be Mae. I hope Adlee finds this honor as special as I found it. I have a card that Luella Mae wrote to my grandma when my mom was named after her expressing how special that was to her. I think she would be thrilled to know her name has been passed on to me and my girl.

Here's the link to the Voice audition...

Love,
Jordon Mae and Adlee Mae