New names!

Biggest thing I forgot to tell you yesterday and the one thing that you really need to know is that Drew and I have decided to re-name the boys. I know, I know, their names are all they brought with them from Liberia and they are a link to their Liberian past---their family, their parents, their tribe.

It was a hard call to make, but when it came down to it, Kalee's name was just proving too hard for most every one here in the States to manage. For whatever reason, most folks couldn't get the pronunciation right, so it always ended up sounding like Collie.....or Callie....or Kayley.

As much as we would have loved for Kalee to hang on to that piece of his history and heritage, we just couldn't see setting him up for a lifetime of awkward introductions and roll calls that would result in the complete butchering of his first name.

So.......in a return to our tradition of giving our sons names of one syllable that are easy to spell and pronounce, Kalee is now Ty.

During our Christmas trip, when we discussed changing Kalee's name, Amos expressed interest in changing his as well, but he didn't like any of the options we threw out to him. The frontrunner, Brice, was apparently too close to rice to suit him. John fell flat. Jack was a possibility, but.....no fireworks.

Drew and the big boys never got on board with any of my personal faves, either. Kemp was too different. Cash was too edgy. Gray was nixed because it rhymed with Jay. And they all seemed to think Brooks and Lane were both too white. (Yeah, yeah, whatever.)

Then, when I went to Liberia in March, Amos told me that HE had already decided on a new American name. He wanted to be called Luke, in honor of his teacher's Ghanian nephew, whom he'd met recently. After lots of conversations over the last weeks, and despite my secret prayers that Amos would agree to be called Matthew, Drew's middle name, Amos stuck by his guns and repeatedly told us that he preferred Luke.

So.........Luke it is.