22 down 18 to go

Officials to Discuss Gay Adoption in Virginia-

http://www.nbc29.com/story/14441627/coalition-urges-girginiaovernor-to-support-adoption-policy-change

Not sure this means much for us personally but we got wind of this actually through our fabulous attorney, Elizabeth Vaughn.  (I'm sure she wouldn't mind the plug)  She was asked by a colleague of hers at the VA Social Services to testify on behalf of the proposal and sent the info along to us.  Virginia has a long deep rooted history of homophobia and although we haven't had any problems, its clear to us that many folks here just have no idea what to do with us.  Most recently, as we have shared the news with co-workers and other parents we know through the boy and his sports - a few times we have gotten the "OH!"  and then the change of subject, no acknowledgement, and certainly no Congratulations.  I will say that most folks here follow the rule, "If you have nothing nice to say, then say nothing at all"

Here's an interesting but nice (I think) example:  Coworker of mine whom I don't know very well, he is an older gentlemen in his 50's, we had an offsite business lunch to discuss work.  The subject came up that DW had an appointment that day (it was gender scan day so I was beside myself excited) and when I told him, he said NOTHING.  He then sent me an email later that evening thanking me for my time and that he thought it was valuable.  I responded with a similar response agreeing and also dropped the "BTW, It's a girl" and NO RESPONSE.  Then randomly today, I got an interoffice note on an index card that said CONGRATULATIONS with two tiny ducks with pink ribbons signed simply RG with his initials.  I called him to thank him and he said, I thought maybe one for you and one for Mary (knew her name) for our offices as a tiny reminder of whats to come.  SERIOUSLY, how sweet is that?  Some people just need a little more time than others.

NAMES:  We have had a LOT of healthy debate about names over the last few months and a LOT of requests from friends and family as to what we are batting around.  While we are not at liberty to divulge the impending identity of our daughter, I will say that we have something we like very much. 

Guess you'll all find out when we introduce her to the world - don't be mad!

BUT just to give you something to work with, here are some of our criteria (and NO even if you guess correctly, we won't admit it)
1.  Prefer names that can't be chopped up into a million potential nicknames
2.  Prefer an easy to spell name since she will have to spell her hyphenated last name to EVERYONE for the rest of life.
3.  Prefer names that are not high in popularity - we don't want the poor kid to think her name is "Emily B." until she is in college.
4.  Prefer unisex names paired with a really girly middle name

Happy Guessing :)