Thursday, March 06, 2008

Welcome! Come on in and pull up a seat!


MySpace Graphics
Hi Blog Party People! Welcome to my little cyber home. Pull a stool up to the bar and tell Tommy what you would like to have. Drinks are on me. Join me for awhile. Excuse me for just one sec.....Tommy, Can I get a coffee? Make it a double double. Thanks, and keep the change.... Ok I'm back, feel free to browse around my blog to learn more about me if you like. We have a daughter who is 20, she is wonderful I love her with all heart. We have a dog named Bailey and a cat named Midgie. My hubby and I are on the longest roller coaster ride you could ever imagine, we are adopting from China. We started the paperwork about 31 months ago and our file went to China almost 21 months ago. The wait has become excruciatingly long. Why you say? oh well I could give you many reasons why, lots of hieroglyphics but I just keep telling everyone in a nutshell that when we sent our file to China there was a 200% increase of files that went at the same time and that it has in a word "Bottlenecked" the process. I have settled with the idea that if it is Gods will for us to have this child then nothing will stand in the way of that and we just have to wait on His timing....I don't mean I like the wait when I say that I just mean I have resonated with myself that there is nothing I can do in my power and that it is in His hands, along side of my trust that He knows the plans for us..... to give us a future and a hope..Jeremiah 29:11. But I gotta tell ya, I feel a fire in my belly when I think of her, I cannot wait for the day when I can hold her in my arms and just breath her into my lungs and say "I Love You" To her. It may be a year maybe two before I get to see my baby girls face but I will stand here in the gap between here and China for her lifting her in prayer and having loved her no doubt before she was even thought of.
One of the things that I have to say is tough when your adopting and there is no due date is this. I really want to name her but....we would really like to see her face and be able to say she looks like a "so-n-so" but on the other hand she has just been "baby Callie"(middle name) now for almost 3 years. We had a few ideas that we were bouncing off of family and friends but about three of those names were snatched up from those very same friends who said they heard someone say the name once and they liked it! I KNOW WHERE THEY HEARD IT!!!! Ugggg hello it was me....I said it, you liked it and totally hijacked it.....OK I know they didn't do it on purpose. So I guess we will either have to keep a couple under our hat until we see her or name her without seeing her first. I'm courious what is your experiance with naming your children? Did you name them while you were pregnant or waiting to adopt or did you wait?

83 comments:

Middle-Aged Moi said...

We had our kids all named before they came into the world. I am a natural "planner" and couldn't stand the thought that they might be "nameless" for even a day. Of course, Adam and Jeane were already named, so that wasn't an issue.....do what you think is best, dear. In the end, she's your daughter and it will work out fine no matter which way you do it.

Steffie B. said...

youa re so funny.....keep the faith...God will bring you daughter home to you.

I'll take a Lava Flow please....what's that Tom, you don't know what that is....never mind...I'll have one or two or three in Maui! lol

Have a great weekend!

Kim said...

Great Post.. And that is one of my favorite movies...
We had Isabella's name picked from the beginning..
Don't know why.. just did...
Have a Great Weekend..
Hugs...

Nadine said...

I'm glad I met you last year during the party. I'm very excited to see her too and wait in prayer with you. I named before I saw the kids face. For us it was the meaning of the names. I guess waiting until you see a precious face and let that speak to you is even a better idea.

I love you D have a great time this week at the party.

Anonymous said...

An adoption huh...what a blessing for both you and the little one!

Great party and am glad to get to know ya!

Stop by mine if you get a chance:)

Michelle | Bleeding Espresso said...

Ah "Cocktails & Dreams!" Love that movie!

Looking forward to follow your adoption adventure. I don't have children (yet, I hope), but I think I'd like to have a few names ready and then pick which one the new little one looks like. I say that now, of course, but who knows what will really happen ;)

Party on!

Anonymous said...

we knew the names of our babies .. but it wasn't til we actual saw them we totally agreed on them.. I'm excited for you in y;our adoption! I think that is soooo awesome!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for stopping in at my party! Great place you have here. Hope you have a fantastic time partying this week. See you around : )

Anonymous said...

What a fun blog presentation! I love it. Our first baby had a name before birth. The other two were named after we saw them...

Anonymous said...

I think tom was awesome when he wasn't crazy!!!

Natalie said...

we named our children while i was pregnant and it was perfect how God gave us thier names to fit them even before We met them...He knew them! anyway, you can read about my kids names in my Thursday Thirteen - 1st Edition post on my blog. Happy blog party and thanks for buying me a coffee too!

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful thing to adopt.
I will think positive thoughts for you during this long process.

We named our children before they were born.

Anonymous said...

How exciting for your family! You must be a very strong person because I heard the process could take such a long time!

As for naming my children, it was done while pregnant.

Thanks for hosting such a great party!

Anonymous said...

So nice to meet you!!! Thanks for visiting me this morning! I think this party is going to be a blast!

Blessings!
Shera

Anonymous said...

HEy Debz:
Back on deck in the home town.
Miss you
Interesting questions, we had the boys all settled long before they showed and Our girl was when we actually saw her.
Needing some serious nail care just snapped another come next week who knows what you will have to work with, sheesh this getting unpacked should happen all by itself.
Til Sunday
Luv ya
Iris

redmaryjanes said...

I named my children after my ultrasounds, when I knew the sex. I named Sophia right after I turned in her adoption paperwork.
It's all so fun. Hang in there...I have had a name stolen too,and it is frustrating : )

Unknown said...

Oh, good luck and much prayers in your adoption process. I cannot believe you have had to wait so long, I feel for you.

My first son's gender was not know until he was born, but we had a boy name picked out because I was pretty sure. My second son was named while in the womb and we started calling him that shortly after we decided on it, before he was born.

Again, good luck and happy bloggin'!

Kristy said...

My daughters name is Astrud and I had read a book in High school and that was the character's name, and I loved her so it stuck. Astrud Alise!! (bff picked out alise). Now with our little baby from China we are waiting to go get, Franceska just leaped out to me, and her middle name is Danielle. And that is in honor of someone I really admire. It helps me and I guess all of us, because calling her name and referring to Franceska has made her so real to us. But you have to do what is best for you and what feels right. Have a great weekend!

Love, Kristy

Kathryn said...

I'm so excited that you get to adopt a baby! I have a little boy and we didn't name him until he was 3 days old. (he had to have a name before I left the hospital). It was really hard because you have to give your baby a name but you don't really know him/her yet. Now we are planning on waiting until after they are born for any future naming. Hope this helps!

♥.Trish.♥ Drumboys said...

Hi I am Babyamore from Australia -dropping by from random click at UBP
Good luck on your adoption journey.I love that verse from Jeremiah.

I have an adopted son now 14yrs he was already named when we adopted him at 1yr old.
Our twins sons we named before birth and never waived. I chose one name for twin 1 (A) and my husband the other twin 2 (B).
Samuel meant gift from God and I knew he was always going to be.
Great theme - I wish I had chosen Tom (LOL)- I am having a cocktail themed party too.

Susan said...

Hi,

Wow, your blog is SO NICE!! I love it...

Praying you get your dream come true. I just know she'll be WORTH the wait!

So nice to meet you~

Kim said...

Just a little reminder...Like you told me...LOL..
Can you see if "Sunshine" knows what the writing on the box means.????
Thank you girly..

Mocha with Linda said...

Wow, what an incredible journey of faith to wait and wait! What a blessing that little girl will receive being placed in your homes!

We picked both our kids' names before they were born. We knew what gender they would be and it just worked out. And we can't imagine their being any different.

Enjoyed meeting you!

ZONE F DG TEAM said...

Funny story, I have MANY adopted cousins... two of which are black. As a child my parents never knew if the truth was told to any of the adoptees about their adoption. Subsequently, it was always hushed up. A few years back I was at a family reunion and chuckled to myself when I told my (BLACK) cousin Melanie that I had never known as a child if she knew she was adopted. Duh??? Her parents are white.

Hope your adoption goes smoothly. I'll try and pop back often.

elizabeth embracing life said...

Wow, what a pretty sight,site,okay which one is it? I have five wonderful children all with "E" names. You check my blog to see these handsome children. I loved the name Elliot or Emily for my first child. So when the first one was a boy, he was named. Elliot was the name of the dragon on Pete's Dragon. Well the rest just rolled of the "e" line.

beckyjomama said...

Hi, just stopped by for the party and have to comment on a few things!!! GOD BLESS you on your adoption!! We have adopted twice now - one came to us as a foster child and one through private adoption. BOTH are the blessings of my heart!
Regarding the names:
Hattie Grace had been named since high school - but because we were doing foster care I was worried about "giving the name out" too soon, so I asked God to tell me when she arrived... and He did. The first time I held her, I just knew. And 16 looooooooong months later, she was Hattie Grace legally!!!
As for Sophie, we had a couple of names picked out and let the birthmom help us choose. I did do a LOT of research, I didn't want a name that was so popular that 20 other girls in her class would have the same name... Sophie was around the middle of the list, so we chose it.
She was born in Sept. and in January I learned that the name had made a huge sure to the TOP of the list! The MOST popular name of 2007 - talk about uuuuuggggghhhh! She will now be known as Sophie B. or Sophie Lee forever! There is already even another Sophie in the nursery at church!!!!!

Anyhoo - your site is lovely, I will visit again!
Come by and see me - I love comments!!!
Becky Jo

Abby's Mom said...

Fun post :)

Anonymous said...

Hi there,
That's such a lovely story! I hope your princess makes it home to you at the earliest.
As for my son, we waited till after he was born to decide a name - we were just too superstitious to do it before that!

Melissa~ said...

Hi,

Thanks for inviting me to your pretty blog party!

We named ours long before they came along which in the case of the little one was good since he decided to come a month early!

Here's a little hostess gift for you!

See you soon!

Melissa~
Pink Paper Peppermints

Shane H. said...

Okay, you win my vote for THE best party yet! I love me some Tom Cruise. :) :) Best wishes on the adoption. Come by and see me at www.shaneshares.blogspot.com or www.adhdguide.blogspot.com. Take care.

KarenW said...

I LOVE your template. It's so cute!!

When we were picking out names for my son, every time we mentioned a name, someone told us what they didn't like about it. That got to be irritating. So when we finally chose one, we didn't tell anyone. It made it a lot easier. For child #3, she was several hours old before we could decide on a name. Girls names were harder.

I sure hope you are able to bring your sweet little girl home soon. God bless!

Anonymous said...

I love your background design! Nice to meet you - and we named both our boys well before they were born :)
All the best with your adoption wait...

Mrs.Naz@BecomingMe said...

Precious post. I will come back again. You have great wit and a welcoming style. I hope you are able to meet your sweet baby girl soon. We named both of our children after they were born, but we had two names chosen for both of them, we just wanted to meet them first.

Rebekah said...

That photo of Tommy made my heart stop for a moment!! Not a fan of his now, but back then - yeah, yeah!!

You have such a strong heart to wait for so long for your baby girl. It will be all the sweeter when she is finally with you.

Picking my kids names was like a bad tennis match played with my husband - when one liked a name, the other rarely volleyed it back in agreement. And I had a difficult time naming someone I didn't "know" yet. And, with my second, I held out until the very last minute (three hours before my planned c-section) hoping, he'd concede to the name I really wanted - and he did :) So we did make up our minds before they were born, and then kept it a secret from everyone else until the birth.

Candi said...

I hope your new little one is in your arms soon. I'm sure the wait is hard.

We named our sons while pregnant. With our first, we had a girl name picked out and we were still working on the boy name. Well, we went to my ultrasound and learned we were having a boy!! We went through a book and the whole time Logan just jumped out at us. We both wanted it!! With our second son, it was harder for us to choose. We had a list and narrowed it down and talked about each of them. Finally settled on Lucas. It's funny because I think the names suit both of them well!!

mommy24treasures said...

hey girl!;) Great post. I love that movie. I loved the end.

Jerri at Simply Sweet Home said...

What a love site you have! I love your banner and all your pictures.

The Bookworm said...

hi, great blog party post! I love mary englebreights art, its so pretty.

tom, I'll have a margarita please :)

I named both my kids before they were born.
good luck with your adoption.

http://yarnchick.blogspot.com/2008/03/party-time.html

Unknown said...

I really love your blog name. So original. I'll pray for you regarding the adoption process. What a long process it is, but will be sooo worth it. We hope/want to adopt some day, too. We didn't name either of our kids until they were born. My daughter didn't have a name for 2 days! Have a great time at the party . . . :)

OziMum said...

I TOTALLY hear you on the name scenario!!! Did I tell you that one of the Pastor's at church called their daughter Lucy BELLA HOPE - that's my name!!!! (not the Lucy bit) And you know what, people call her Bella as a nickname. And Todd wonders why I wanted to change our name?!!!

As you know, I love Callie too! BUT we won't use it - LOL!!!

With Mikayla, we had Mikayla or Georgia (I think!) picked, and Aaron if she was a boy. When she was born, she was a Mikayla! With Harrison, we didn't even have a girls name picked as the ultrasound said he was a boy... but we did like Isabella or Bella.... hence why our China-sweetheart was named Bella!!!

Keep it under your hat - is a good idea! That way if you change it, it doesn't matter!!!

Can't wait to see your angel and hear her beautiful name!

Life's an adventure said...

Wow...you are one of my heros! I would love to adopt from China. I have been following lots of blogs of families adopting from China for years now. I just can't convince my husband it is for us. I will pray blessing for your family and that your Gotcha Day with your forever Callie will be soon!

momofmhasr said...

Thanks for the visit.

Lisa W. said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. My prayers are with you and your future little one. :-)

Anonymous said...

Callie is going to be one lucky little girl! Good luck and keep the faith; I know you will.

It was cery nice to meet you and enjoy the rest of your week!

OH MY #6 said...

I just love this post my friend.

We just settled on a name! It has been a few years to get to it though. I just say, you will both know when its right!

Care to share your choices so far?

Lea

Anonymous said...

Hi! Just stopping through the party...good luck with the adoption...hoping it happens soon!

Happy blogging!

Fliss and Mike Adventures said...

How do I get in on this? I hadn't heard of this 'party' before... come one Debz... leaving me out in the cold... hehehe

Unknown said...

We named our babies before they were born. You have a great blog here and thanks for stopping by mine. Congrats on the baby coming and we would love to put her in a panda outfit! Good luck in the prize drawing and happy party hopping.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for stopping by, it's nice to "meet" you! I think your adopting is so wonderful. My boyfriend and I have been talking about our future together a lot lately and it includes some wedding vows and kids (though nothing official as of yet) and I brought up adoption as that is a route we likely will HAVE to take to have kids. He is very sure we will have at least one of our very own though and he's got his heart set on a little girl named Chloe. That is the only name we have agreed on in advance - any other kids we have some we'll think up some names but agreed we won't name them till we meet them. It just feels right that way. :)

Fliss and Mike Adventures said...

Ok Debz... I am in the party... thanks for the invite... hehehe... take care

Shawna said...

I think I'll just have a dance with Tom!! I really hope you are able to adopt your little girl soon. Our daughter is 2 and a half, and we named her while I was pregnant.

Jenni at talking hairdryer said...

One of my best friends adopted from China just before the bottleneck happened. I'm excited for you and know the anxiousness you feel. Some day I'll tell you the stories about how we named our kids. I have an 8 yr old son and twin girls that are 4. They were all hard...

CC said...

Hi there! thanks for coming by my party. I love meeting other adoptive moms. My children were both born in Korea. My son's referral came much sooner than we had anticipated, so he wasn't named until we saw his little face. We waited a long time for my daughter so we'd already chosen a name by then (but didn't tell anyone until we got her referral). Our good friends didn't name their child until they actually went to Korea and met their child.

The Korea process is different than the China process in that getting your referral is only 1/2 way through the paperwork mess. I had to wait 6 months to bring my son home after getting his referral. I don't think I could have waited that long without a name for him!

Anonymous said...

Hi! I've been having fun reading the crazy Fear Factor posts and following your adoption journey.

Honey and I knew that naming a child would be difficult so we started discussing names when we got engaged. Six years later when I finally got pregnant we still had no clue as to what to name our child. We spend countless hours looking over baby name websites and came up with a list of possible names for boys and girls. Then we waited until we held her in our arms for the first time. That was when I knew that girl name #1 was the one for her.

Anonymous said...

It was great getting to know you. I hope the best with your adoption, I'm sure you will be meeting your daughter soon. How exciting! I named my first son after Samuel in the Bible, he was given to Hannah by God and used for great purpose, I loved the idea of that. Zach, I just loved that name and Allison was a girl I knew years ago that was a customer at a bank I was working in. She was so sweet, that when I had my daughter I just loved that name. We usually call her Allie!

Angela

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog party!! I hope you adoption process goes smoothly and as quickly as possible.

All of our were named during pregnancy. We just discussed names we liked and looked up meanings and discussed some more and crossed some off our list and kept at it til something finally "fit."

superfizz said...

Good for you for adopting! I can't imagine what you must feel with all the waiting.

It is nice to read about everyone on the party.

I'm a 34 year old librarian, mother to a 6 month old girl. It is wonderful.
Nice to meet you!

~Michelle
superfizz(at)bust(dot)com

Anonymous said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. Love the wallpaper here... love that Bubbly song... I have different type names for my daughters.... but I didn't share them with anybody I thought might take them before they were born.
Party on!
Tammy :):):)
http://snpnmnmi.wordpress.com

Anonymous said...

It's so nice to meet you! I'll join you in that cup of coffee! :-) Happy Blog Party!

Melissa in Mel's World said...

Debz,

Thanks for Stopping by Mel's World with Melissa Mashburn and Mel's World Travel Biz.

I am so glad to have the chance to meet ya and hang out a bit.

Your blog is totally fun, energetic, and awesome. Can't wait to come back and hang out!

Take Care,
Melissa

Angie Seaman said...

Happy partying and much blog love!
Blessings, Angie Seaman
www.angelicagracedesigns.com/blog/
www.angelicagracedesigns.com

Jenn said...

Wow, that's such a big adventure you are on. I know the waiting must be hard but I think it's great that you were able to hand it over to God.
Good luck with the naming, that can be tough. We had our names picked before our kids were born.

Pam said...

This blog party is so fun! Happy partying! Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Heather @ Marine Corps Nomads said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. You really are on an emotional roller coaster. I have a lot of respect for those who adopt as it's a very difficult process. Have a wonderful week!

Anonymous said...

That is such a long time to wait! It will all be worth it when you meet your little girl.

All 3 of our boys were named before they were born.

Little Ladybug Designs said...

Thank you for stopping by my party! Great blog! We adopted our daughter from Guatemala. I would love to chat with you more about your journey.

TheChinaPainter said...

what a long wait. I cannot even imagine waiting so long. Thanks for stopping by my blog. Happy blog party.

Anonymous said...

Hello! What a great blog title.

We had a boy and girl name picked for the first baby. The second baby I had 2 names that I didn't decide on until after her birth. the third baby we picked her name ahead of time but didn't tell anyone until after she was born. They already knew it would be a girl; I wanted some surprise.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Unknown said...

Hi, what a journey you are on. We started the Russian process but were scared of the controversy. Through years of high tech intervention we now have two babies but still would like to persue what we started. I think we live very close as well.

Uniquely Yours said...

It'll happen when you least expect it. My music minister and his wife were just considering adoption when the Lord blessed them with their son. Thanks for dropping by my site.

Anonymous said...

Hi, Debz! Thanks so much for visiting my party! We named both our boys while I was pregnant. The first time was easy. The second, not so much. Callie is a beautiful name. :) Best wishes to you!

Stacey said...

"you had me at hello" (sorry, couldn't help myself since you started it!) and i stayed awhile to venture around your place! how lovely!

i can tell i will be back a lot!! i have several canadian friends that i have "met" since starting last year. truly amazing!!

Anonymous said...

Well, I can tell you I don't know much about picking names, but my dear friend Kimmie at http://overthemoonwithjoy.blogspot.com is a mama to five adopted and one homemade. She prayed and God clearly told her what to name each child. She explained to me that there is power in a name, which made perfect sense to me, as we can read about names being given in the Bible. So if I had to do it all over again, I like to think I would seek God, but I can be stubborn, so who knows!

I have really enjoyed reading!

Tammy said...

Thanks for stopping by- so great to meet you!
God bless you as you work towards adopting your little one from China!

Kimberly said...

thank you for stopping by my blog party! I have barely made it through 1/2 the list!

Lynn said...

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! Tom Cruise... before he was Tom Cruise crazy, I guess, but still!

Thanks for dropping by!

Ivanhoe said...

My cousin's name is Karolina. We called her Kali for short. I love that name - it's close to Callie. Whatever you name her, I'm sure it will be perfect. How exciting! I wish you good luck and lots of patience. Thanks for visiting!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog! I LOVE your ME background. And how exciting to be adopting a baby from China. Some days I think that I might like to adopt a child (much later down the road when I'm married and ready to be a mommy).

Busymama Kellie said...

Thanks for stopping by our party, I see my buddy Karen has already visited with you! You have some interesting stories, esp about the adoption. A friend of mine just started the process and expects it to take at least 3 years. Yikes! Good luck and I'll be back to visit again soon!

Jane said...

I love your blog.....really, I do!!!
Now that's the Tom I loved....he's too wigged out now!
I pray that you will get your precious little one from China very soon. She will be a very blessed child.
Blessings and thanks for stopping by, I hope you will visit again!

Anonymous said...

Praying you get to meet your sweet baby girl soon.

In answer to your question, all nine of our children were named before they were born. Their middle names have some sort of significance (such as being from a relative), and their first names were just names we liked.

Their names do all fit them though, very well.

Wendy said...

Thanks so much for swinging by my party:) We had our names picked out as soon as we had the US telling us what the sex was!! I am a planner and have to be prepared for everything!! LOL!!

Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba) said...

Thanks for the invite to your party. Good luck with the adoption...