Our story begins almost 18 years ago with that first date to a hockey game. Chapter Two would be a summer trip to Heidelberg, Germany, and Chapter Three, getting married while I was still in high school. Almost 18 years later, we are about to embark on a very new, yet familiar, chapter in our story. The next chapter began nearly five months ago when we found out we would be having our fourth child: this comes after two very difficult miscarriages and the very scary and unknown start to this one. It has been almost 11 years sense our last pregnancy and with a 15, 13, and 11-year-old, this is shaping up to be one exciting chapter.
This next chapter has for sure had its ups and downs, but it’s the interaction with our three children that has made this so special. The initial reactions were mixed: our 15-year-old son apparently is able to decipher parent code, and figured out we were expecting sooner than we anticipated. He says he’ll be out of the house in four years so it doesn't affect him. (He is excited: he just won’t show it) The two younger kiddos are somewhat excited but concerned about the change. We took all three kids to the ultrasound to find out the gender. The baby would not cooperate at first, but after nearly 30 minutes the tech was able to distinguish that this was indeed a little girl. Our 11-year-old daughter about came out of her shoes with joy, and the boys -- well, the boys sank in their seats and their heads just kind of lowered in silence.
It didn't take long for possible names to start flying around. (In fact, name proposals began during the 30 minute car ride home from the ultrasound!) The best part was when we brought everyone together as a family and named this little girl. The oldest found a large mat board and a Sharpie and we all started calling out names. Lilly, Autumn, Harper, Candice, Bella, Ella, Emma, Joy, Molly, Izabella, and Faith were some. We narrowed it down to the top 5 then the top 3 then had a family vote. (lol) Then we moved on to the question of a middle name, which was settled quickly due to only having three possibilities. We came together as a dynamic family, and a 15, 13 and an 11-year-old united to name their little sister. Izabella Joy was the almost-unanimous choice. Izabella originates from the Hebrew words meaning, “Devoted to God,” and we choose the spelling for its uniqueness. Joy… well Joy is just that, we are so joyful that this little girl is going to bless our family that it just seemed appropriate.
It’s amazing to be where we are, at this very point in life: we are able to see a direction. Although it may be hazy or immersed in a fog, it is still a direction and I can sit here in awe, reveling in the mere fact that this chapter has started but can be completely written by me. As I look back on our past we were never able to see that and I don’t believe we would be able to do this without our foundation, our cornerstone of faith and God as the center of our family and marriage. We look forward to sharing the backstory with you, as well as the rest of this exciting chapter, as it unfolds.