Happy Thanksgiving Everyone - including CJ?

Anyone who knows me, knows I absolutely love Thanksgiving. This year is extra special because we have a new Nephew that's just a few weeks from being born, and we're moving right along with our adoption process.

The big news I can share is that we've settled on a name for our daughter. Now that everyone in my family has heard this news - I feel comfortable sharing it with the blogosphere. Actually, to be honest, at first it seemed weird to settle on a name so early, but then again - most parents do so. Almost every baby born that I know since I've been an adult - I've known their name before they were born.

Carmen Julia!!!

So, what do you think?
Interestingly, Carmen is a name we'd been thinking about for a girl for some time. Julia was my late Mother's name (everyone called her Judy), and we've always wanted to use it as a middle name in her honor. The fact that the name Carmen has some Latin roots is merely a coincidence, but kinda neat as well.

In all likelihood, we'll also call her CJ. Fist of all, this is seriously cute for a girl. Plus, just about every person who's heard about this has asked if it's OK to call her CJ. I'm not the type to dictate nicknames for a child - seems like it should develop naturally. Can't get much more natural than this.

One thought I just had sitting here. It's quite possible that CJ's was conceived by Thanksgiving this year. Based on the timing, she will be born some time next year. So this year, she may already be alive in the womb of a Guatemalan women struggling to decide whether adoption is the best choice for her and the baby. Our Pastor pointed out something similar to this recently when she refered to the fact that God is working through all involved, including the birth mother.

Otherwise, this week has been ridiculously busy because we're working on all this paperwork, plus we had vacation from which to recover. Now ya'll know why I have not posted much this week. But I said I hope to post at least once a week,and here it is. There are plenty of things I'm planning to share as we continue to fill out our paperwork. A bunch of very thought provoking questions for us. I'm expecting some quiet time this weekend, so perhaps I'll share some of this with you soon.

One more thought. Thanksgiving was at our house, and we're relaxing after having cleaned up. Everyone in my family is very excited about the arrival of a new nephew/grandson in December, and then a niece/granddaughter some time in the next year or so. It occurred to us that depending on the timing, CJ will likely be less than a year younger than her cousin. This is very exciting for all of us.

Pretty cool!!!