in the names

continuing your questions, my answers!

Beth asked how we came up with all 5 of our children's names. [i LOVE names, too!]

On our SECOND date, 10 years ago, Matt and I were in Chicago. At one point we were walking and browsing in stores. It ended up being a game of "If we got married, this would be our..." You name it, we picked it out.....right down to the Crate and Barrel dish pattern that we wanted. [Sweet Pea.]

Of course, then he asked about kid's names. [and by "he," i totally mean "I."]

So, we named 3 girls and 3 boys. [can you believe he didn't take off RUNNING?!]

Chloe is a name I had loved FOREVER. i remember doodling it as far back as 5th grade!
it means blooming.

Anika is a Scandinavian name he's always loved. His paternal great-grandparents are Swedish. I tried to switch the spelling to Onika so she wasn't call ANN-icka, but traditional spelling won out.

it means gracious.

Ella or Ellie is our 3rd pick together....just something we liked. We decided Ellie and I'm so glad we did. What a little Ellie she is!

it means shining light.

We were "out" of girl names from that 2nd date, but so excited to be having another girl.

Bianca is just a name I've always loved and felt was so glamorous. Old Hollywood-ish.

it means pure.

We chose Colin as our first boy's name. When my sister called me excited that they had finally found a boy's name, it was Colin! He is the oldest of our 4 nephews and I couldn't imagine any other name for him.

Matt chose Clayton in honor of his Grandpa that passed away in 1985. He has fond memories of him, as well as the fact that his Grandpa built custom homes just like Matt does now. I wrote the beautiful God-talking-right-to-me moment of how Clayton got his middle name right here.

Lori asked how old Clayton is and how long our adoption process was.

We actually are unsure of Clayton's exact age or birthdate. We are sticking with the random date they guessed in Africa because our pediatrician doesn't think it is that far off. So, he is 14 months old. 3 months older than Bianca.

We knew it was time to adopt in November of 2008. We began our paperwork a few weeks after Bianca was born in February 2009 and brought Clay home in November of 2009. So, 9 months. {amazingly quick!}

Donya asked:

How did Matt and I meet?

We met in college. He was visiting friends and they were sitting behind us at a football game. His friends knew my friends and he got a hold of my e-mail address. We have huge binders filled with our early days of e-mailing.

What was the hardest part of the adopting process?

I'd say that it was leaving Clayton at the orphanage after the 1st trip. It is so hard to think about loving this little person with your whole heart and you can't just bring them home. [There are so many families in this situation right now and I'm praying for you everyday! We need to get these kids HOME.]

What is your favorite perfume?

This is totally embarrassing, but IF I wear perfume {rarely} it is Fantasy by Britney Spears!

Where would I take my family on a vacation?

Fiji! I also dream of us going on a family mission trip to Africa.

I'm so thankful so many of you have been saying HI lately. I've loved hearing from you and learning about you.

So tell me, what is YOUR favorite boy or girl name??

{I love Mason, Luke, Fiona, Amelia and Lyla.}