It's a Girl!

I have to admit, I thought it was going to be a boy. So after 20 hours of labor, I was surprised and delighted when my second daughter was placed on my chest.

Latest Family Photo

Chester had wanted to keep this one a surprise after having found out the gender of each of the other children at the time of our 20 week ultrasounds. I wanted to know what we were expecting. He won the coin toss, and so I embraced the mystery of not knowing...

Tola, age 3, meets her sister for the first time.

The children, at home with Oma, eagerly awaited the news of their new sibling's arrival. They thought for sure they would know before bedtime on Sunday June 22.

We headed in for an induction after Mass that morning, thinking we would have a baby by day's end.

Tait, 5, couldn't wait to hold "it."

But this baby had other plans and she kept us waiting until 8:28 the following morning, Monday June 23.

Oles, age 8. Such a tender heart this one has for babies.

 Weighing in at 7lbs, 11 oz and somewhere between 19 and 20 inches. (The hospital said 19. The next day she had stretched to 20 at the dr's office...)

We did not have a name for her yet. She didn't have a name until today, June 25. We needed a little time to get to know her, to stare at her and try out different options.

Biggest brother Ziven, 10, the same age I was when my sister Colleen was born.
He's feeling protective already.

 Each of our children have Polish names, and so we scoured the lists of Polish girl names and tossed a few back and forth. Finally, we realized we kept coming back to one name in particular. And it just seemed to fit this sweet soul.

Oma and Tola with baby girl.

 And so, without further ado, we are happy and proud to introduce our daughter,

Zoja Florence.

Zoja (Pronounced Zoy-ah. In Polish, the "j" is pronounced as a "y") is the Polish form of Zoey, meaning "Life."

Florence was Chester's maternal grandmother, and it means "Prosperous, Flourishing."

Zoja Florence

Welcome to our family, sweet girl! You have 3 big brothers who simply adore you and a big sister who absolutely beams when she holds you. They all want to sit by you and hold you and kiss on you...You are well loved and we are so happy God brought you to our family! May you have a Flourishing Life!