Aryana Joy

I'm still here.  I'm so far behind in everything, you wouldn't even believe it.  Yet here at the computer I sit, with my kitchen counter covered in dirty dishes, piles of shoes beside the door (why DON'T the kids put them where they belong?!), clean laundry covering my bed (and needing folded), dirty laundry oozing out of the hamper, and piles of garbage bags full of hand-me-downs stuffed in a corner of my living room calling for me to sort them.

I'm stealing just a few moments because I miss blogging.  Aryana is three weeks old today and I'm not doing a very good job recording these (sleep-deprived) moments!  I guess it's because I'm too busy holding, rocking, singing to, feeding, and changing (the ubiquitous poopy diapers of) the precious little princess herself.

Luckily for you, (really, I am happy for ME) my sister has some SKILLS with a camera.  She came over to capture memories of Aryana when she was a mere 9-days-old, just about 24 hours after she arrived home.

I just love the colors and texture of the cocoon Briana made for her up against her skin.

 Aryana Joy

I want to record our thought process behind Aryana's name.  We found two different meanings for her first name.  The one citing it as being of Russian origin meant "most holy".  In Sanskrit, Aryana means "a noble and pure woman".

Her middle name, Joy, is after her first mother, whose name is Abigail (which means joy) and Aryana certainly is a source of joy to us.

Precious Aryana Joy, may you always be "a noble and pure woman filled with joy from the Most Holy One."

Nicknames

My husband gives my children more than one name. There is the name on their birth certificate, which we choose together (some names have more of his influence, others have more of my influence) and then there are the names he really calls them. He is a big fan of nicknames, especially for people who are special to him.

Sugiebear

Briana has always been some variation of Sugarbear. This is frequently shortened to Shoog or Shugie (however you would spell those names!). We called her that when she was a baby and it fits her perfectly for she is as sweet as she could possibly be. I call her Shugie as often as I call her Briana.

Jefe

Destry's nickname has changed over the years. Currently, Alan calls him Jefe (pronounced Heffee or Heff-A) or just Heff. Why? I have no idea! :) This is a nickname I have not adopted--I tend to call him 'Son' if I'm not calling him Destry. The irony of this nickname is that it is a Spanish word (Alan doesn't know Spanish and can't even pronounce Hola correctly! You should hear him read Dora books to Kiana!) and means Boss. Hmmmm. . .

Paco

Easton is mostly called Paco by his dad, which rhymes with taco. I just call him Easton, or Son.

Poopsie

Kiana inherited a name Alan used to call our friend Patience. It started out as Poopsie-Doopsie, was shortened to Poopsie, and she is now frequently called 'Poop'. Yeah, I don't think she's going to appreciate that one of these days. "C'mon Poop, let's go get in the car," is frequently heard from both Daddy and Destry. If I don't call her Kiana, I call her "Baby Girl". That might also be something she won't appreciate one of these days! (By the way, this smirky grin and that sparkle in her eyes are reminiscent of Patience at that age--isn't that interesting?!)

Teddy

My brother-in-law dubbed Tyrell "T-bone" which I thought was pretty cute, but Alan wanted to come up with his own nickname for him. It took him awhile to find what fit, but he has definitely settled on "Teddy". He calls him Teddy all the time--I can't even think of when he has last called him Tyrell. If I don't call him Tyrell, I might call him "Little Man," that's really the only name I've called him besides Tyrell.

I was thinking about these nicknames the other day and wondered if we are just really strange with our nicknames. As I reflected, however, I remember that my dad always either called me Pumpkin or Charlie Brown. My sister is still called Skeet (Skeeter, or Skeeter Beat) and my brother is Newt. When we were playing ball, we always knew when it was Dad calling out admonitions because of that special name.

So, I guess it's not such a strange thing to have a special name for a special person. We'll see what the kids think of their nicknames when they are adults.

Waiting

So, we are being presented to a birthmother sometime today. Her name is Keisha and she is expecting a baby girl around July 27. We will hopefully know tomorrow whether she chooses us to parent her baby or someone else to parent her baby.

Have I mentioned I'm not so great at waiting???

I'm trying not to get my hopes up because. . .well, you know how this particular adoption journey has been. I've honestly been thinking it just must not be God's will for us to adopt again. Our home study expires in October, but other things will start needing renewed before then--like the child abuse screening which expires in July. I've even parted emotionally (though not yet physically as I haven't seen her yet) with the sweet little baby girl clothes my Bunco friends blessed us with in plans to pass them on to a Bunco babe who recently had a little girl.

Now that little spark of hope is renewed, shining faintly deep inside. And do you not think "Shalana" is a cool name? My husband's name is Alan, put my Sh in front of it and feminize. . .it means precious, awakening. Hmmmm. . .

What's in a Name?

Yes, we know how to finish the above. . .

That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.
--William Shakespeare

So that tends to imply that the name you choose for your child isn't too big of a deal, right? In the past I haven't even thought about what a name means, we just find a name that we both think 'sounds nice'. Something that fits in with our family. Something that looks good on paper, and that flows well with our last name.

But have you ever heard "words have meaning and names have power"? I read a website not long ago which shared how parents named their children by knowing the meaning of the names, and then they put together a first and middle name that MEANT something--something of character--something of a promise to their child--a standard for the child to live up to as 'who they would be'. Some examples of what a first and middle name meant include "Victorious Mountain Flower", "Gift of God of Excellent Worth", "Praised Right Hand Son".

Isn't that just beautiful? I never thought of doing anything like this. We have always thought long and hard about names (and sometimes felt like we would never agree on one!) because we know "The name of a man (can be) a numbing blow from which he never recovers." But we never thought of bestowing upon our children a vision within their name.

What sorts of standards have you used in picking a name for your child? With our boys, we have tried to pick strong, masculine-sounding names. We also don't really want our kids to have the same name half the other kids have--I'm used to being the only 'Shonya' that anyone knows--so we tend toward the more unique. To me, our boys' names have a bit of a Western feel to them. I can picture these names in western books (in fact, I got Destry's name from a Louis L'Amour book and later learned there is an old western movie called "Destry Rides Again"--which I've never seen).

For Briana, we both just liked Briana Leigh--it is pretty and feminine and we didn't think it was overly popular (although it's more popular than we would prefer). When Kiana came along, we wanted a name that fits in with her African-American heritage. We loved the sound of the name, and it rhymes with her big sister, which we though reflected her being a part of our family. Her middle name, Jayde, is a shortened version of Jayden, the name her birthmother really liked.

We are thinking about this as we are once again making that decision of what to name a child if the Lord sees fit to bring us another. According to this website, here are the meanings of my children's names to date.

Briana Leigh--noble/virtuous, strong, delicate (I know! oxymoron!)
Destry Alan--western flavor (seriously, I'm not kidding!) precious
Easton Alex--noble power, defender, warrior
Kiana Jayde--ancient precious stone, protection

Some of them have meaning to them--I especially like the meaning of Easton's name--Noble Defender. WOW! And really, I think Briana's name fits her--she is virtuous, and she is both strong and delicate. So, ok. Destry is precious to me, anyway! :) And Kiana, hmmm, she doesn't seem ancient to me. . . :) Still trying to stretch that one.

So, the names we are thinking. . .

The girl's name would mean "Precious, awakening lily"
The boy's name. . .the first name I really, really like, and so does Alan. . .means. . .are you ready for this???? "STUBBORN" !!!! Does that scare you?! It does me!!! :) But I love this name! And I haven't had a "not stubborn" child yet. . .

So, is this crazy? We are looking for a middle name that would make stubborn a good thing. Like 'Amal' which means 'labor, hard work, pure, hope'. I could take stubborn about purity, stubborn to get the work done, stubbornly holding onto hope when others have given up hope. But Amal???? hmmmmm

'Aman' means honest, faithful, trustworthy. Stubbornly honest? Stubbornly faithful? Stubbornly trustworthy? Oh yes, I'm all over that. But Aman. . .hmmmm (you might notice the other two boys have middle names beginning with A--not married to that idea, but it might be kind of neat if I could find something that fits. . .)

Then there is Justis or Justice which means just, upright, righteous. Again, stubborn goes well with these character traits.

I don't know. . .but it's fun looking! I'm starting to think a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches (Proverbs 22:1). What do your children's names mean? Were you thinking about name meanings at the time? If not, what made you pick that name? I really want to know!! Leave a comment--even you lurkers! :)