Too Pooped to Party

A friend keeps Maya for us on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and she sent me this picture at work. She said Maya was a little tired today, and took two catnaps in addition to her usual nap. I think Eric forgot to warn her that Maya got to bed really late last night after the big 4th of July celebration. Isn't this the cutest thing you have ever seen?!?!

I was reading another blog about a mom adopting from Guatemala and she was just describing her first visit trip to adopt a little 1 year old girl. I truly admire those who can visit and then leave and come home. I just don't think I have it in me. While I would have LOVED to have held Maya during those long, agonizing, excruciating months of waiting, I just couldn't do it. I couldn't hand her back to that hogar. And we are definitely not in a position where I could just stay and foster her myself as others have done. So we will not be visiting Maria, either. I'm just not that strong.

Speaking of Maria, the discussion continues about her name. We had one heck of a time agreeing on Maya's name. Her middle name is my maiden name. But we argued and discussed, discussed and argued, and it was so hard to agree! My alltime favorite name choice was Sarah Elisabeth, after my paternal grandmother. My cousins and I used to argue when we were young about who was going to have a baby girl first and use that name for our daughter. Well, at 41, I became a mother first and wouldn't you know it? Eric refused to even consider it. He didn't like it. His choice was Savannah. And why, you ask? Just because he liked it. I hated it. We had agreed on Maya as a middle name early on in the process, as we (well, mainly me) wanted to give her one name that reflected her Guatemalan heritage. I wanted her other name to reflect her new family roots, but that didn't appear likely to happen, since Eric didn't like any of our family names (his side or mine). His grandmother's names were Madge and Ruby. I told him that Ruby is once again a popular name, but no dice. And to be honest, it's not my favorite, either. Eric's niece already has one of his mother's names, so he wouldn't consider that, either. We didn't agree on anything until one night when we were out with his coworkers, eating ribs, and we were discussing our naming dilemma. One of the bright souls there finally suggested that since Maya is the only name we can agree on, why not use it for her first name? We just looked at each other and wondered why we hadn't thought of that?! So then the discussion flowed around middle name choices. I don't know how my maiden name entered the discussion, but once it came out, everyone at the table loved the combination. So, there you have it. The story of Maya's name.

Needless to say, picking a name for Maria has been just as painful. We agreed some time ago that we didn't want Maya to be an only child, so we had discussed a few potential names for her little sister. At one point, I brought up Maria B, with the 'B' name being Eric's mother's maiden name. I thought it would be great for each of my girls to have an unusual middle name that was also a family name. 'Maria' is for my mom (one of her middle names), but also a popular hispanic name. Anyway, at that point in time, Eric actually somewhat agreed to it. So when the time came to start the next adoption process, we were matched very early with a beautiful baby girl from Poptun, Guatemala. Then the naming dance began once again. The usual standbys came up, Savannah and Sarah, and were promptly nixxed once again. Then Eric came into the room one day and says he has the "perfect name" for our new daughter..... Maria! I laughed and said 'ok'. Turns out he was serious. To this day he does not remember our previous discussion about Maria B. So no, he no longer likes the 'B' part, so the search is on for a middle name. So far Anna Maria is the current favorite, just because we both like how it flows, and neither of us hates it. My choice would be Maria Elizabeth, Maria for my mom and Elizabeth for me ... my middle name before I dropped it when we wed. No such luck. Eric is currently trying to convince me to use Maria Katarina, which I don't hate, but I like Anna Maria better than that. I will still call her Maria, despite the well-intentioned advice from friends who have been called by their middle name all their lives, and who insist it's not a nice thing to do. But Maria Anna doens't have the same flowing sound, and I definitely want to use Maria. We also discussing using R again for Maria .. my maiden name. Then they would have the same initials, and we could stop racking our brains for name options. But we have definitely not agreed on anything definite. Wish us luck....