"Sarah"

I first knew her as Sarah. I thought of her as Sarah for over a year.  After we decided we wanted her as our daughter, I called her Sarah.

On a visit to a toy store shortly after that decision, I spotted a teddy bear. Soft, sweet, vulnerable. He was alone. He touched my heart. I kept coming back to him. Finally I decided I would get him for Sarah; he would be her first toy from Mama and Papa.  His tag read, "Princess Soft Toys." Do you know what Sarah means? Princess.

Piper and I planned to reward ourselves every step of the way through the adoption process with ice cream. That plan proved too weighty- haha- so now we treat ourselves after major achievements.  But that first ice cream reward was served to us by a young lady named... Sarah.

More God signs.

I really thought we'd continue to call her Sarah- of course, that's not her real name. It's an alias given to her by the organization who raises awareness of orphans around the world. But it seemed so connected to her and to those early days of expectancy and excitement. And she looks like a Sarah.  Eric and Piper, however, do not favor the name.  And over time, I've learned her real Russian name, and begun to call her by the name we've chosen as well. At any given time, she may be called by any of those three names. And whether we keep her Russian name or give her the name we've lovingly (and inspiredly- but more on that later!) chosen for her, "Sarah" will always be special to me!