So many things come up while going through the process of adoption. While they are all worthy investments of time as they are all a means to the end – which of course is to bring our kids home; they are not all “fun”.  But, one of the things we have had fun with is selecting names for our kids.

One thing we knew from the beginning is that we wanted to keep their given names. Even if that meant we needed to adjust the spelling in order to make them more readable or pronounceable in the states.  We felt that even if we had to change the spelling some, we could still honor their heritage; something we want to be sure and encourage, especially since they are coming to us as older children.

The good news is we only needed to adjust their names slightly. We’re excited that the integrity of their names is intact and we can’t wait to share those names with everyone.  The bad news, is that we can’t quite share their names yet.  Not until we’ve been to Ethiopia and gone before the judge will we be able to. BUT, we can share with you the middle names we’ve chosen for each of them.

So here goes:

To the oldest, we’ve given the middle name Lucas – he’s the caretaker and the one who has accepted the responsibility of caring for his younger siblings. And because he’s the oldest child in the orphanage, he seems to be the one the other kids look up to as well. We’ve heard stories of how he’s comforted younger kids who’s adoptive parents have left (two trips are required when adopting from Ethiopia) and encouraged those parents by letting them know he’ll watch after their children. What an amazing little boy.  Lucas means “bringer of light” – seems so fitting given the type of child he is.

To our girl, we’ve given the middle name Raine, which means warrior like, or strong.  She is exactly that.  She seems to be a bit more serious, and one of the things she is most serious about (again, from stories we’ve heard), is taking care of her little brother.  She must be so brave as she’s had to step in to the role of mother.  We’re already so proud of her.

Then there’s the youngest, our little boy, who we’ve given the middle name Tate.  We can’t wait to show you pictures of the kids, and one of the main reasons for that is so you can see his smile.  Seems the smile on his face is always lighting up the world around him.  So, Tate, which means spirited, or happy, was a no brainer.