Eric and I went to Disneyland just a few months after we were married. We were on the "Finding Nemo" submarine ride when Eric randomly told me he'd like to name one of our daughters a Spanish name. He served and LDS mission in Mexico City so I knew Eric had a soft spot for the language and people... but I couldn't even begin to pronounce the names he was suggesting. (I can't even roll my "r's"... Spanish is NOT the language for me, ha ha!) I said no to each name until he suggested "Mia"... he told me it means "mine". My heart melted and I've been in love with the name ever since!
When we found out we were having a baby girl, I excitedly told Eric we could name her Mia! His response was, "Why?!" Why?? Are you kidding me? A tiny part of me wanted to smack him, ha ha! Eric had his fun searching for names online and going through name books. He especially loved to suggest names that rhymed with Mia like: Gia, Tia, Leah.... the man loves to tease me :) I tried to be open to names that he honestly liked, but I just knew that baby girl was a "Mia"!
We definitely knew our daughter's middle name would be Marie, that is the name to be passed down in my family. (In fact, all the women in our 5 generation photo share the same middle name, Marie!) We just had to agree on the first name :)
My parents gave us their name book that they used with me and my brothers (that book is extremely outdated... how did I get so old??) I was flipping through the book when I found a page that had "Mia Marie" written in my mom's handwriting. I asked her about it, and she told me that was one option they were thinking of before they found out my older brother was a boy. I never knew this and thought it was pretty neat! When I told Eric about the coincidence he joked that "it was pre-destined, and we had to name our daughter Mia Marie."
In the end, we were choosing between "Mia" and one other name, but we wanted to see our baby girl before making the final decision.
When our baby was born, the doctor and nurse kept asking what her name was! We told them we needed a minute alone with our baby girl before making the decision. As soon as the room cleared out Eric and I took one look at each other and knew what her name was. Eric asked me, "Mia??" Of course I replied with, "Definitely Mia!!" Our precious Mia Marie Brinkerhoff.... there couldn't be a more perfect name for my baby!
