The longest name EVER

Where did we come up with Mylei's name??  Well, I guess all things are subject to change, and since she's a bit older than we originally expected, we may have to make some adjustments along the way.  (Did I mention that every bit of clothing I bought BEFORE we decided to go special needs was 18-24 months??  Mylei is 17 months until April 25 and then she will be 18 months.  Kinda weird, huh??  Why did I buy this size when I originally asked for a baby girl as young as possible??)

Anyway, when we were paperchasing WAY BACK in Feb of 2006.  I heard a name that I just loved.  Now, before I tell you where I heard the name, I want to say that any name we chose was going to have to end with the e sound, like Shelby and Gracie!  So, I was up on a Saturday morning, watching with my girls, the very first episode of Hannah Montana.  That's when I heard the name Miley.  I loved it.  I thought is had a bit of a southern flare like the rest of our children's names (Shelby and Jackson are from Steel Magnolia's).  Miley just seemed to fit right in.  I had no idea the phenomenon she would become so sometimes I want to change my mind, but I still just love it.  We have called her that for years and I LOVE the way my little speech challenged man, Jackson, says her name.  With that said, there are some variations on the name.  Meili is a chinese name that means beautiful (not sure how to officially pronounce but it looks close.  I believe Lei in Chinese means joy.  So, Mylei would make her MY joy:-)  Now that we settled on that name almost certainly, we had to come up with the rest of her name.  I liked Mei  (pronounced May) in Chinese because I believe it means little sister.  (Now, all you veteran China adopters out there, don't burst my bubble if I am wrong about these things!:-)  So, we have Mylei Mei.  But, then I read somewhere that when adopting children a bit older, the name that she has been called should be incorporated, especially at the beginning when calling her by name.  (It would be odd to have these white people show up, rip you away from everything you've ever known and start calling you something you've never heard.)  So, the suggestion would be to call her Li Na (leena) (that is her official Chinese name) Li Na Mylei.  Then we could transition to just Mylei.  So, now we have Mylei Mei Li Na (pronounced altogether sounds like Meilina (mayleena).  And, I also wanted her to feel part of me since she is not biological. So, we gave her my middle name.  Her official name (at least as of 4/16/08) will be

Mylei Mei Li Na Kathryn Isaacs  

whew... that is a mouthful, but it I think it is pretty!!

P.S.  The picture above was our Christmas 2007 picture.  It said NOT PICTURED Mylei coming in 2008!:-)