When I was pregnant with Madelyn I was quite confident I was having a boy. I would have bet money on it. Coming up with a boy's name came easily. We had tossed only a couple of different names when we decided on Cade Ryan. When we found out we were having a girl finding a name didn't come so easily. I really liked Kennedy Paige but thought better of it when I thought of all the bad luck the Kennedys have. I also liked the name Madison, but that was ever so popular and Ryan dated a girl that named her daughter Madison. Yes I'm lame like that. Ryan liked the name Magdalen ...like Mary Magdalen... and call her Maggie for short. Um, that is quite the name to uphold, but quite honestly I thought it sounded like a crotchety old lady. Sorry Mary, I have repented for my negative thoughts. We finally agreed on Madelyn, and then the middle name came rather easily. We both thought Grace was very pretty and went well with Madelyn. We also felt like it was by the Grace of God that we were blessed with a healthy baby girl, considering all we had endured to get her here. Only later did we realize that Madelyn was my maternal great grandmother's name and Grace was my paternal great grandmother's name.
I love the name Madelyn, but do not like the name Maddy. She has friends and family that call her Maddy from time to time but saying Maddy just doesn't feel right rolling of my tongue. We have numerous other nicknames for Madelyn, so much so that when I call her Madelyn she asks me why I called her by her name. When she was a newborn we called her princess, which got shortened to prenny, pren, nenny and nen. Nenny and nen have stuck and we use those nicknames the most. Some other nicknames she hears regularly are, tickle bug, moose mouse, toot mouse, pete, punkin seed, pickle nenny, and nasty nen, just to mention a few. But you will never hear us call her Maddy. :)
