...and the consensus is....

Mia ElainaMae

Mia - from what I can tell, means "Mine" and I love that sentiment. Plus, it is short for Maria, my grandmother always said she wished her name was Maria instead of Marie. :) I also found that is is a form of "Michaela" (which I also like) with an Israeli name meaning - "Who is like God". WOW. (and Michael, my brother's first name, means the same thing, which is way cool.)

Elaine - is my sister's middle name and I like it...and I changed it to Elaina - it also means "Light", "Bright One" or "Torchlight". It is a form of Helen and Helen became popular because of the fame of "Helena", the subject of many legends and mother of Emporer Constantine. It was said she discovered the true cross of Jesus and was the daughter of the British king known in the nursery rhymes as "Old King Cole". (Coleman happens to be my other grandmother's middle name, all very similar.)

Mae or Mei - Means "Beautiful" in Chinese, and is not only our great-aunt's middle name, but it is a common Chinese name, as well. (ok, so the jury's still out on Mae vs. Mei, but I'm leaning toward Mae because it is a family name.) Mae(May) also means "Great" in Latin and "Discerning" in Arabic. A "time-of-birth" name! Love, love, love it.

So, there you have it. I "think" I have decided! :) Woohoo! It might change again, but for now, I'm liking the overall meaning and the many ways she can use her name. And the more I look at the meaning(s), the more I love it.

Sis said that she knows that I am feeling the way about baby girl as I would if I was 'bearing' her and that I need to feel confident in my 'mommy' decisions, such as her name. She even used the word 'having her', even though it isn't in the physical sense. I love that. 'Cause it is just how I feel. Plus, she really liked the name, too. :) Bonus.

I'm already thinking about the next round of referrals... as I'm sure most of the rest of the Chinese adopting families are.

I pray every day for "My Beautiful Light"...my little angel, she has surely been born in my heart. And my heart grows bigger each day in anticipation of how we will grow in each other's lives. (oh my goodness, i'm a sap tonight! lol)

Peace.

names...again

more options:

Mia Elaina-Mei **(Mia is apparently short for Maria and my grandmother's middle name was Maria and my other grandmother's name is Marie. Also, it means "Mine". awww) This way, it might be long, but it means "My, light, beautiful" Does it "flow" alright, though?

Naomi Mei

Naomi Elaine
Naomi Elaina-Mei (pleasant/beautiful, light, beautiful)

Looks like she might have a long name... still thinking, thinking. HELP!!! LOL.

Peace.

Latest batch of Referrals!!

CONGRATULATIONS to all the new parents! Referrals were 18 days long this month - 7/22 through 8/9. Woohoo! That was farther than I thought they'd get! As always, I'm trying to figure out what this might mean for me...

If it stays at 15-18 days per month, let's say, then at this point - my referral might be (complete guesstimate)

Sept - Aug 9-26
Oct - Aug 27-Sept 10
Nov - Sept 11 - 28
Dec - Sept 29 - Oct 10
Jan - Oct 11 - 28
Feb - Oct 29 - Nov 15

*** My LID is Oct 31 and so it currently looks like I might be Jan/Feb level at this point for my referral. Unless it slows down or speeds up again, of course. Still a slight potential to get a referral by the end of the year. Doesn't seem likely at this point, though.

Not sure what others are thinking... I'd love your feedback.

Peace.

Still don't know

So, I still haven't made a final decision on my daughter's name. I sure hope I can decide when I see her picture!! (I think I am supposed to make a decision before I actually go to China.)

Sis had to buy a new car... her old one's transmission went out! UGH. So, we went car shopping last weekend. That is always fun. I get to give a bunch of men a hard time about what we want and what we are going to pay! hehe. :) We played good cop / bad cop... you can guess I was the bad cop! LOL. Sis was definitely smoozing her way to getting a good deal. I was the hard nose. It worked out well, so far! She even got new tires and a pretty darn good deal, if I do say so. So, what kind of car did she get? Well, she got a 2003 Jeep Liberty! Very cool. It is fully loaded and BLUE. Now, this is a bonus, 'cause she's had TAN cars her whole driving life! It is very cool. She even got a V6. She's got an adult car now. :) (of course, I say that, and mine is very cool, too, but it isn't a V6...)

I had a minor victory at work this week, too!! WOOHOO. I've been worried about the testing schedule they've given us for this enormous project and we got it extended by 2 weeks (so far) and I'm going to continue to work my ways to get even more time! But 2 more weeks is definitely a start and I was very pleased.

On the adoption front, I washed all the clothes I've gotten so far from folks and buying... they are so TINY! haha. I've got to get more organized, but the process has begun, and it is kind of exciting. Now, to see what the next referrals bring...

Hope you all are hanging in there and life is good.

Peace.

The name game

I'm still up in the air as to what my little girl's name will be. I have a short list these days... and feel like i need to go through and see if there are others I want to still consider. Any comments will be helpful.

Elaina Mei-Li or
Elaina Mae or
Mei-Li Elaina or something different,
Mia Ellen (as in Meea, not Mya)

My sister's vote is for Elaina Mei (but I do still like Elena). My brother's vote is for Mia Ellen. Elaine is my sister's middle name. Ellen is mine. MEH are both of our initials and I had hoped to go with that... but it might be EMH instead.

Peace.