Friday, June 10, 2011

Her name...

I know people who give birth not knowing what they will name their children. They want to wait and see who they look like. Sometimes, they wait weeks... (you know who you are! ;) I completely understand it, but it is so not me. I'm a planner - always 3 steps ahead.

My daughter's name was chosen years before I was even married! It's Irish, 2 syllables, and is originally a boys name. Thankfully, my husband who also has Irish heritage - approved of it. Muffin's middle name is Sierra - completely from nowhere, but meaning "Mountain". We lived in and love the mountains, so we thought it was fitting and pretty.

My son's name was chosen during my pregnancy with him. I thought I had created the name - but it is now very popular, so apparently I should have patented it! Ha. It is also Irish in origin... I created it by adding a letter to an already Irish name, and then found out that it actually is an Irish name. Mister took my husband's first name as his middle name.

I know it is still very early - but it's only natural that I have a name chosen already. I will share it with you now... even though I know I may have to delete it later on. When we are blessed with our adopted daughter - her name will be Zahra. Zahra is African in origin... Swahili meaning "Flower". And that is what she will be, our little flower. Swahili is the national language of Kenya (in addition to English!)- so it will be perfect for a baby Kenyan girl! Zahra from what I understand is pronounced - ZEE- ER-AH. Obviously, this will cause some difficulties in the English pronunciation, and she will be forced to spend the rest of her life correcting others - so we will pronounce it ZAR-AH. But we will likely call her Zee... for short. We will keep her first born name as her middle name.

NOW - don't get all crazy and stuff - but there is the slight chance that we will ask for a single girl or twins. Why, is a whole other topic which I will save for later. However, if this does happen - the other sibling's name will start with an "A". A - Z. The beginning and the end. Amen.

6 comments:

Sharla said...

Zahra is a beautiful name...one that I have always loved. I suspect your daughter will suit it.

Anonymous said...

I have been browsing your blog, and I admire your determination to change a young child's life. I am only 20 years old, but I have been to Kenya twice and I am familar with the adoption policies of Kenya. I worked at a school of orphans (we called them boarders) and since then I am convinced that I too will one day adopt a child from Kenya.

Anyways, I have also given thought to what my Kenyan daughter's name would be (it might be a little early for this...). But Amani means peace in swahili, and I think it would be a beautiful name for a daughter (and it starts with an A!).

Thank you so much for this blog, and good luck with the rest of your adoption journey.

Jolene said...

Thank you Sharla!
Thank you Anonymous! I appreciate the visit and the comment you left! I too also love Amani... and there is a very good chance we would use it if we had 2 girls! You are very young, but have experienced so much - and will undoubtedly do so much good in the world because of your experience! I hope to pass this on to my children as well through this journey!

Good luck in your future endeavours!
Jo

Monika said...

Really neat to see your profile. WE too are a BC (shuswap) family of four, hoping to adopt. Maybe we can swap stories sometime.
Monika

Kristen said...

LOVE that you are adopting from Kenya!!! I lived with the Maasai tribe when I was in my 20's. They named me "Nashepai" which means the happy one :) This was after I showed them how to do the electric slide. Now I'm showing my age ;) SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!! Praying for a quick process!
Kristen

Jolene said...

That's awesome Kristen! I find the Maasai fascinating! How long did you live with them for?