What's in a name?

On the day our daughter was born, we were completely unaware that across the country our prayers were being answered and our dreams were coming true. We wouldn't know of her arrival for nearly a month.

So on January 2, 2012 Brandon and I rented a movie to watch after the kids went to bed. It's a completely inappropriate murder movie that I will not be letting our daughter watch, but it plays a part in this story. Besides, if I don't fess up that I got the idea for her name from a movie, some smartypants is going to pop up in the comment section and blow me in :) When we were watching the movie, I said to Brandon, "That's a really pretty name. Do you want to put it on our list?" He said sure, because at some point or another every name has been "put on our list"- from Clementine to Isabella. Neither of us knew this day and this name was different. On this day our daughter was being born and she needed a name.
Generally when you have a baby, you know what she will look like based on her parents appearance. When we were told this adoption was a go, we had no idea what the baby or her parents look like. We only had a vague description of her. She is of Mexican heritage, has big brown eyes, and lots of black hair. I knew she needed a feminine name with a little flair. Then I was thinking about what we were doing when she was born.... That's her name!!! It's on our list!!!

Cataleya is derived from Cattleya- a beautiful species of orchid that comes in many colors and can be fragrant. Orchids are very fragile. They need very particular care, but when you give that care they bloom into something spectacular. Just like our baby girl.

Carina is an alternate spelling for the name of baby's First Mom. As son as we heard it, we knew we would use it as Cataleya's middle name. It flows so nicely and it honors the woman who gave the world the gift of Cataleya. I was so pleased when I looked it up later and found out Carina means "beloved" and "pure". That is certainly what we want to her name to mean.

Cataleya Carina,

I can't wait to put a face to this name that was chosen just for you.

Love,
Mommy