Her name.

In the moment that I saw that first double pink line, two little words flashed through my mind:

Harper Grace.

I've been making baby name lists since I was in middle school (at least), and Harper has been at the top of my girl list for probably 5 or 6 years now. I had only heard or seen it 2 other times as a first name -- Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird (which, btw, is one of my all time favorites), and it was also a name of a boy I went to school with (but didn't know personally). It's become a lot more popular recently, but I am hoping it will still remain unique and different without being too "out there."

If you know me, you know I normally tend to obsess and over-analyze certain details. When I was pregnant with Harrison, I spent an absurd number of hours researching names and then put together a color-coordinated spreadsheet of about 20 of my favorites. And then I fretted and worried and agonized over choosing the perfect one for him. Luckily, we were given a couple of signs that told us Harrison was it. This time around, we didn't really even consider any others. I casually flipped through the boy and girl names in the books but never really got serious about it...because for some reason I just felt that we were having a girl and already knew in my heart what the second little addition to our family was supposed to be named. We toyed with a different middle name; I really wanted something meaningful or something passed down from a loved one. With the help of my mom and grandma and Rick's mom we went through the list of family names, but none of them stood out or seemed right. So back to Grace we went. We both love the simplicity of it, and with a meaning of blessing referring to God's grace, we both felt it was a beautiful choice. And after we officially decided it was the middle name we were going with, I was ecstatic to learn from my mother-in-law that it actually is a family name on her side. Score!

So I mentioned that there were definite signs that led us to choose Harrison's name. Well there were a couple for Harper, too. I'm a huge "sign" person, and while some people might think I just read too much into simple coincidences, I like to think it's God's way of whispering to me that he's intricately involved in even the most minor details of our lives. Call me cheesy, but I love them.

The first sign was in the form of this gorgeous little newborn gown:

I buy the majority of Harrison's clothes off of eBay or at garage sales. I've found some great deals, and usually the items have only been worn a handful of times. I stopped by a garage sale last summer and hit the jackpot of adorable boutique outfits. They were brands I had spotted on eBay selling for $20 or more (new in stores for more than $50), and were only $1 each at the sale. Unfortunately for me, though, they were all girl items. I still bought several of them because I knew I could resell them on eBay and make a decent chunk of money. And did I mention they were adorable?

A few months later I decided it was time to post some items for sale. I had never sold anything on eBay before, so I did my research and decided to create a new user name. Since I was going to be selling boy and girl items, I needed an appropriate, catchy name. For some reason, "Harrison-and-Harper" popped into my head and so I went with it.

I started sorting through Harrison's clothes trying to decide what to keep and what to sell, and I came across the boutique dresses that I had picked up at the garage sale a few months prior. For some reason I couldn't part with one particular item -- the sweet, white, smocked dress pictured above -- and entertained the thought of someday having a precious little baby girl to wear it. It was the first time I had daydreamed of adding another little munchkin to our family. I have no idea why I was feeling so sentimental, because Harrison was only 9 months old and I was in NO WAY ready to even THINK about getting pregnant again yet. But still I tucked the dress away in the "keep" pile for that darling daughter-to-be that we might have someday (in what I thought would be the way distant future, ha!).

The next day, while at the grocery store, I picked up a pregnancy test. I'm not really sure why because I wasn't even late yet. I didn't really have any suspicions that I could be pregnant, none of the obvious symptoms I had with Harrison, and in fact I just knew it was going to be negative while I was waiting for the results. It had to be, right? And then I got the results. Pregnant.

Even though I was in complete shock and totally scared to death at the prospect of having two babies and only one income, in the first moments after seeing the two lines on the stick I remember feeling a peace that it was meant to be. I knew in that moment that our family of three was soon going to become a family of four. That we were soon going to be parents to not only Harrison, but to our little Harper as well.

The next morning I sat down with my breakfast and checked my email. Sitting in my inbox was an email confirming that my user ID had been successfully updated to Harrison-and-Harper. I had to laugh out loud. My identity, both online and very much in real life, had now been redefined to include my sweet baby girl.

Sign #2 came a few months later. Since I had felt from the beginning that we were having a girl, the day we went for our gender reveal ultrasound I was a nervous wreck. What if my instincts were wrong? I started to doubt myself in a serious way and for some reason I was really anxious about it. Not that I would have been upset at having a boy instead or anything, but I felt like all of my friends and family were expecting a girl and I felt a lot of pressure to come through for them, ha! Anyway, I couldn't shake the jitters and butterflies, and as I was on my way to the ultrasound appointment, I prayed for peace. Peace that the baby was healthy, peace that we would be accepting of whatever God's plan was for our family, peace to calm my anxiety. I said amen and wrapped up my thoughts and immediately looked up to see this street sign:

A sign again. Literally.

And a third "coincidence" happened just a couple of weeks ago. My grandpa called to wish me a happy birthday, to catch up, and to ask if we'd chosen a name. When I told him our pick and why we chose it, he started chuckling. He had never read To Kill a Mockingbird (it was published after he was out of school) and had never seen the movie, either. Well, he had never seen the movie until that morning. Nearly 50 years after the movie came out he randomly decided he wanted to rent it that day. He had just finished watching it when he called to hear we are naming our baby the same name as the author of the book. Gotta love it!

So, Miss Harper Grace Boyd it is. And now we joyously await the sweet day we get to finally meet her!