The First Name: "Gianna" comes from Italian and it means "God is gracious." I found the name online, a while back, and wrote it down on a scrap of paper and put it into the desk drawer. Months later, after 2 miscarriages, we decided it was a fitting name, because we really felt the power of God's grace after finally being able to get (and stay) pregnant. We also liked it because it lent itself to the nickname "Gigi" (I've always loved nicknames). A good college friend of ours, Shannon Flett, has a friend (who we knew casually) named Gigi and I always loved the name (and she's a great surfer too!).The Second Name: Last September I lost one of my best friends, Brianne Nicole Shelton. She died in a plane crash while heading to Mexico to do a medical missions trip. The day I found out that she died, was, oddly enough, the same day I received the call from my doctor's office telling me that after a series of blood tests monitoring my hormone levels, I was indeed pregnant. It was a day of roller-coaster-like emotions, to say the least. We found out Gigi's due date was May 12 and we realized that it was Nurse's Day; Brianne was a nurse, and a darn good one, from what I hear. From the beginning, I felt strongly that Gigi was a girl-- and the middle name was perfectly fitting. We hope that when she's older, Gianna realizes how special her middle name is and that she becomes a young women who makes as much of an impact on her sphere of the world as her namesake did.
The Third Name: In keeping with the double "N" pattern, we chose a last name for her that had the same double letters, and reflected my love of Jane Austen. Just kidding! Now let's just wait and see if she lives up to this name, and ends up with a "Bennett Butt."Here are pictures of Gianna with Debbie and Kelsi Shelton (Brianne's mom & sister), and a tummy time photo with her special blanket from the Sheltons that was made with the fabric from one of Brianne's scrubs (top of post).
