We have a winner!

We have finally decided on a name for the newest member of our family. Let me rephrase that. We have finally agreed to go with the name we chose 6 years ago. It has been a long process, especially for me. When we found out we were having a boy in 2005, we were shocked. We had been certain up to that point that our first child would be a little girl. Choosing his name, however, was not difficult. We knew if we were ever blessed with a boy, his name would be Daniel. That is, after all, Fernando's middle name. There were other names on the list that we liked, but we had always planned on using them for any subsequent boys in the family. His middle name took a little while, but was easily chosen. Our first thought was Joseph. To reconcile ourselves to the fact that we didn't choose to name him after his maternal great-grandfather, Ralph, we were leaning towards Pop Pop's middle name. But once Isaac popped into mind, we knew that was it. Thus, Daniel Isaac Orona was named. We hoped and prayed that he would one day have a sister so that we could use the name we had already chosen for her. Last month, we found out she was on her way. But for some reason, I was struggling to commit to what Fernando (and Daniel-quite honestly) were already calling her. I've prayed a lot for confirmation and received it. Thank the Lord!

For those of you who don't know, Fernando had an older sister (born the same year as my older sister) named Josephine. She was very sick as a baby and passed away when she was only 1 1/2. It was a heart wrenching time for his parents and older brother. He has always hoped to have a little girl and name her after his sweet sister. On the other hand, my paternal grandmother, Josephine, was not quite as sweet and innocent. Thus, the name does not carry the same connotation with my side of the family. Before we were married, we had discussed this fact and tried to come up with some derivative of Josephine- not an easy task, I might add. That way her name would still be special, but not conjure up images of a bitter, old, Italian woman (may she rest in peace). :) To add to the confusion, both of our mothers are named Margaret Elizabeth. So we set out on a mission to find a way to pay tribute to Fernando's sister, the two wonderful women who raised us, and hint towards her Italian background.

Over the last few years, however, the name we decided on has grown in popularity, which is why I have had such a difficult time committing to it. I have never wanted to choose a "trendy" name for any of our kids and because we put such careful consideration into their names, I have never wanted anyone to assume that we followed the crowd. I finally came to the realization (after attempting to call the baby every other name that popped into my head) that there was only one that was fitting. I also realized that I'm almost 32 and should know by now not to care what other people think. Something I should have come to terms with after junior high- one would assume.

At any rate, we are happy to announce that Sofia Margaret Orona is healthy and growing and will be here in about 16 short weeks! There, I said it. It's official!

What makes me smile...

...a nice, hot shower
...the smell of fresh coffee brewing
...sunshine and blue skies
...the sight of squirrels romping around on our back fence
...Daniel's happy voice in the morning
...shopping for my baby girl
...knowing the weekend is coming and Fernando will be home
...my son singing Jesus Loves Me at the top of his lungs in the grocery store
...talking to my mom on the phone
...dinner with friends
...cheesecake for dessert!

Happy New Year!

We hope and pray that your holidays were as special as ours were and that the new year brings many more wonderful blessings your way.

We celebrated Christmas with family in Arizona this year. Boy were we glad to get back to some warmer weather (there's a phrase I never thought I'd say)! After a couple quick days, we loaded up the car with suitcases, presents, and portable dvd players and headed to Anaheim, CA to spend Mom's birthday (and Christmas with the family) at Disneyland. Nance and Wade drove down from Flagstaff and Bill and Caitlin joined us too. It was the first time our entire family had been at Disneyland all together. Last time Nance and I were there with our folks, it was 1984. After a couple of whirwind days in sunny California, we headed back to Phoenix and made it just in time on Christmas Eve to celebrate the birth of our Savior at Palm Valley Church. We so miss our church family and it was WONDERFUL to see so many of them again.

We had such a wonderful time, but were happy to be back in Little Rock when we arrived home. Daniel was especially happy to be home and sleep in his own bed. He loved Christmas this year and had a blast opening all of his presents. He liked it so much, in fact, that every time I come home with any type of bag, he says, "presents?". Maybe we need to consider cutting back a bit next year. :)


Just two days after Christmas we got the best news of all when we found out that we have a healthy baby girl on the way! May just can't come soon enough! I've already been combing stores looking at pink clothes galore and Daddy is already coming up with ways to spoil his little princess. We can't wait to see our sweet little girl and see how Daniel reacts to being a big brother. He has such a tender heart and we know he will take good care of his baby sister (once he realizes he cannot hit her with his Little Tykes hammer). Please begin praying for us now. :)

Last year was such a huge year of change, we cannot even begin to imagine what God has in store for us in 2008. We are so excited to see what He has planned for us