Letter #6

Kenley,

Kenley Marie Mills.... Kenley Mills, Kenley Marie (as your daddy likes to say). I love your name, and you should know that your name is so special to me.

I was about 5 months pregnant when we decided on your name. I loved the fact that your daddy and I had finally come to a desicion and had agreed on your name together. From that point on I would always refer to you by name. "well, when Kenley is here..." and "this will look so cute on Kenley." "I wonder what Kenley will look like." and..."owwww! Kenley is right under my ribs!" I was already in love.
So... let me tell you about your name.
Before I even knew that your name actually had been used as a name before, I KNEW that boy or girl, your daddy and I would name our baby after my Uncle Ken. If we were having a boy his middle name would be Kenneth. So when we found out that you were a girl we had to get a little bit more creative. While going through all the baby name books, I found myself being continually drawn to names ending in "-ley." And one night when your daddy was already asleep and I lay there trying to fall asleep myself, it hit me! KEN-LEY! I tapped your daddy on the shoulder and whispered in his ear..."kenley..." He didnt say anything, just smiled.
It breaks my heart a little to know that you wont meet your great Uncle Ken.... he would have LOVED you. Your grammy and I say all the time how much he would have hogged you and you two would have been best friends. I know this because thats how he was with me.
He was MY mommys older brother, my Godfather and one of my very best friends. Uncle Ken and I always got told how much we looked alike. Not only did we look alike but we just seemed to click. We were two peas in a pod.
Every once in a while you will pull his picture down from the entertainment center where it sits. I usually take it from you so you dont break it and point to the picture... "This is Uncle Ken. We named you after him... he's in heaven." You usually just smile, like you know.
When it came to giving you a middle name I hadnt even thought to give you the same initals as him but "Marie" is a family name for both your daddy and I and we thought it sounded so cute together. So now your first two initails are K.M. just like Kenneth Mayland (Semmler).
Ive become a little protective over your name, baby. I dont like hearing that someone knows someone who named their daughter Kenley. Maybe its because it means more to me. I hope you like your name too. I know I hated growing up with a name that was so common, so hopefully you will enjoy having something a little different.

Things for your first birthday are really coming together! Which is good because 1 week from today we will be in Napa getting ready for your party.
 xoxoxo Mama