Why the name Storie?

As you guessed, there is a story to this! It all started two years ago when we decided to adopt for a second time. We started discussing what the name would be. Those of you who know Kurt know he can be very, well how should I say it, picky! He can find something wrong with almost anything. If I were to say " Oh look, the sun is out today!", he would respond " Yes, and it's killing the grass." It has become an on going joke between us that he always can find something bad with just about anything. So give him a name and he can find something bad about it.

To get back to the name, we started talking about names we liked. Kurt stated from the beginning that the name had to meet certain criteria. I was thinking, "Oh boy, here we go." He started listing the criteria. The name had to start with an "S". The name had to be two syllables. The name had to end with the long "e" sound. The name had to end with the letter "y". ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? I looked at him like he was a complete nut. I mean come on, it is hard enough for a husband and wife to agree on a name for their child and then to add all of those requirements! Right, like that was ever going to happen.

I'm sure you are asking why he wanted the name to meet all of those criteria. It can be summed up with these words, Shelby and Sydney. That's right! He wanted to continue with the theme. I need to tell you that the theme was never my idea. When we named Sydney I was never thinking about the fact her name started with the letter "s", had two syllables, ended with the long "e" sound, and ended with the letter "y". It simply was a name that Kurt suggested and I liked it. Kurt, on the other hand, picked the name because it was the name of a character on a show he liked to watch. That show just happened to star Jennifer Garner as the character "Sydney". Hmm, now that I think about it, was it the name or the person that he liked??? Gee, I wonder! Don't let Kurt fool you. I am sure if you asked him he would tell you he planned the name Sydney to match Shelby's name. Sure he did!!!

So we started the name game, trying to find names that met his criteria. It didn't leave much to work with. Sally, Susie, Sherrie, Sadie, Stormy, Sunny... No offense to those of you with these names or children with these names but they just weren't working for us. At first, Kurt liked Sadie until he discovered it was the second most popular name for dogs. Needless to say, he moved past that name. I, on the other hand, didn't feel the name had to start with an "S". However, I played the game and tried to find a name that worked with all the rules he had given me.

The name Storie was thrown in the mix and I initially didn't like it too much. Kurt and Shelby were more in to it than I was. I was stuck on the name Gabriella. I wanted this name and kept trying to convince Kurt that we didn't have to do the whole "s" thing. We were unable to agree on a name we liked and the wait to adopt from China kept growing. We decided that we would talk about a name as it got closer to the time of adoption. Who knew it would be two years!

I continued to refer to the baby as Gabriella and Kurt continued to roll his eyes when I did so. He would politely say " We will discuss it when the time gets closer." Okay, sometimes it wasn't quite so politely but who could blame the guy. I wasn't exactly tactful about it most of the time. I was certain that our baby would be Gabriella. One would think with two years to decide we could have come up with a name we both agreed one. Even one that met Kurt's rigid criteria! However, we continued to put off deciding on a name because we could never agree.

During our two year wait we have had to deal with so many problems surrounding the adoption. From personal struggles to the many changes in the China adoption program. It has been a very trying experience. There are too many things to get in to with this post but believe me, we have dealt with so much. I say that because it leads us to what this post is supposed to be about, why the name Storie?

At the beginning of July we were visiting Kurt's parents. During the trip we started saying we needed to decide on a name once and for all. Remember, I was convinced her name was going to be Gabriella. Somehow, the name Storie came up and I thought it sounded pretty cute which was much different than my thinking two years before. Unexpectedly, the next week we received a phone call from our adoption agency telling us we had been matched with a baby girl. Strangely enough, she was from the same city in China as Sydney. We couldn't believe it! We had waited two long years and had so many road blocks and bumps along the way, that for the road to take us back to Sydney's beginning was simply amazing. When I looked at her picture for the very first time I knew her name was meant to be Storie. There had been too many things that lead us to her for it not to be. There was a "story" in our journey to her. A story of faith and courage and of special people who are near and dear to our hearts. It is for these people and reasons that we have chosen our daughter's name to be Storie.

P.S.

I know you are saying to yourself, " But the name ends with an "ie" instead of "y". Yes, Kurt wanted "y" but I over ruled him because I liked "ie" better. I guess I couldn't play by the rules after all!

CA received!

We received our CA today!!!! For those of you not up on your international adoption lingo, it stands for consulate appointment. That is the final step needed to travel home with Storie. The appointment is with the US consulate in Guangzhou, China. On October 15th Kurt and I will take Storie with us to the US consulate building. They will look over some of our paperwork and then we will have to raise our hands and swear to have her vaccinated, so forth and so on. It is really a very benign appointment but one that we must complete. They are basically giving us permission to bring Storie into the United States.

Since we received our CA we can now finalize our travel dates. We were told today that we would be traveling October 3rd through October 17th. It is a relief to finally know when we are going to go get our daughter. We were originally told last week that we would be traveling in September to bring Storie home. Unfortunately, due to the Olympics many adoption agencies postponed travel for their adoptive families. What has since happened is there is now a mad rush to get these families to China to get their children. The problem we had was getting an appointment with the US consulate. They are booked through September, so our adoption agency was unable to secure an appointment for us. We found out on Monday that September was not an option. We have been waiting to see if an appointment could be obtained for October. It was a relief to find out today that we will leave for China on October 3rd.

We still have to make sure Kurt will be able to take time off from work to travel to China. He has some very important things going on in October that may pose a problem to him going with me. We went ahead and booked his flight but will not find out until later this week or next week if he will be able to come. We had been hopeful that our adoption agency would get us there in September so we would not need to worry about him taking time off in October. We thought that the Olympics would not affect us since we knew we would be traveling after the conclusion of them. Boy we were wrong! While we would have liked to travel in September to bring Storie home, we realize that it is out of our hands. One thing you learn while adopting from China is nothing is in your control. We just have to look at this setback as one last pothole on this very bumpy road to China.

Follow Along

Hello to our friends and family! We are so excited that you want to join us in this special occasion of bringing our precious daughter home. Most of you know we started this journey two long years ago. We have had many bumps along the way but are finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Soon we will be traveling to China to meet Storie Alana Haihu Humbert for the first time! It is an honor to have all of you along for the ride. Many of you have supported us along the way and we want to thank you for all you have done.

This blog is our way of allowing you to be a part of our travels. We will post daily updates from China to tell you what we did each day. Along with the posts, we will place pictures and videos for your viewing.

We welcome and encourage you to post to us. We want you to be a part of our journey. We will be half way around the world and it is comforting to have a piece of home with us. So please feel free to let us know you thoughts and send us words of encouragement.

Please keep in mind that we will be twelve hours ahead of you. Your night time will be our day time in China. Our posts will more than likely be done at night just before we are going to bed. So if you get up and check for a post from us first thing in the morning we may not have it done yet. I would recommend you check back in a few hours. Also remember we will be caring for a seventeen month old child. Her adjustment to being with us will determine how much time we will have to post. Some unexpected problems may arise that prevent us from posting everyday. While we will do our best to post daily, we ask that you be patient with us if we are unable to do so. We will update you as soon as we can.

So sit back, grab a drink and enjoy Our Storie!
Julie