What's In a Name?

As we sit and wait with nothing to occupy our hands adoption-wise, and too much to occupy our minds adoption-wise, one of the pasttimes I have taken up is coming up with names to add to our baby name list....only to have Troy summarily remove them. Sigh. The only thing we can agree upon is Tank's middle name. His middle name will be Fletcher in honor of Troy's grandfather. Aiden got Joseph as a middle name in honor of my dad and grandfather, so Fletcher seems fitting. We cannot seem to find any common ground for a first name, though, and that may prove to be a problem. My students have several creative, if ridiculous, choices, but they bring us no closer to an actual moniker for our little guy awaiting us in Changchun. (That is, unless we decide Hemmingway, Hemmi for short, is appropriate for our newest addition.) Troy favors somewhat more traditional names like Aaron or Zachary. I lean towards the somewhat more modern but certainly not the outrageous or unique. Some names I've thrown out are Brennan/Brendan, Braxton, Landon, Tate, and Liam -- my favorite being Liam. We're probably going to find a compromise with Brandon or Brady. Sigh, again!

Of course, we probably have way more time than I want to admit (or even contemplate) to come up with a name. Our paperwork should be on it's way back from D.C. as I type. We have to wait, though, for our I800 which could be 60+ days, putting us into March, which is HORRIFYING. If we don't get our approval soon enough, and thereby don't get our dossier to China soon enough, there is a chance, however slim, that Tank could be referred to another family. No matter how slim this chance is, it makes me heart sick to think about it. As it turns out, this little guy has already found his niche in my heart and mind. He is my son, and I need to go get him. I do have faith in our agency and one lady there in particular, but that chance still exists and it scares me. We need all the prayers anybody is willing to say for us that our government moves us through this process at light speed so we can get that last little piece of paper to the SD state department, then get it expedited through DC. In the meantime, to take my mind off the interminable wait, I'll continue to expand the name list while Troy continues to pare it down.