Birth announcement

Birth announcement: Azelie Patrice!

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Last summer I posted a consultation for Robyn and her husband for the baby girl they hoped to adopt, whose name they wanted to go well with her big brother Ezra, who is less than a year older than her. I’m thrilled to share the news of the baby’s birth and the finalization of her adoption! Robyn and her hubs gave her the gorgeous name … Azelie Patrice!

Robyn writes,

“As you may remember, we adopted a baby girl who arrived on Sept.14th! She was incredibly tiny at only 4 lbs but completely healthy. (Thank you, dearest Lord and Blessed Mother) We just finalized her adoption this past Monday so it is all official and legal, SHE IS OURS FOREVER!!!!!

We decided on AZELIE PATRICE for her name. We call her Zelie and Zelie Patt and her big 4 year old sis calls her Pumpkin Flower;) I think the names Zelie and Ezra go so perfectly together.

I loved the name Zelie right from the start. When I first came across the name I immediately put it with Patrice after my beautiful mother who passed away in 2010. I got chills right away but when I ran it by hubby, he wasn’t so sure. He thought it might not age well. He was certain that the name had to be Italian. So, we put Zelie on the back burner and played around with many, many other names and eventually settled on one. Then hubby, totally out of the blue, brought up Zelie again. He was learning more about the Saint and that her given name was Azelie. He liked that Azelie gave our daughter more options as she grew up. He still wanted an Italian middle name so we thought Lucia or even Catherine. Isn’t it amazing how the Holy Spirit works!!!!!

We were privileged to be at Zelie’s birth. One of the nurses who helped us and birth mom was just so sweet and considerate (as the situation was a little unique). As we talked we found out that she adopted her 3 children as well. We felt an immediate connection and her name was Patricia, my mom’s name!!!!!! We felt it was as if my mom was there is some way. When my husband asked what her name was as I was holding Zelie for the first time, with tears streaming down my face I pronounced, Azelie Patrice and he whole heartily agreed. It was the perfect way to honor my mother and in a special way for us to honor the Blessed Mother, because it was my mother’s very deep devotion to Mary that led me have a close affection for her myself. I can’t wait to tell Zelie Patt (that is how my mom shorten her name with two t’s) all about her Grammy and how much she loved Mary.

Azelie is 6 months old now, rolling over, cooing and babbling, sleeping through the night and absolutely has all of our hearts! All the children adore but especially Ezra, who at 16 months says “baby” and smothers her with kisses! 😉 She is a amazing gift to us and we are so grateful to her courageous birth mother and to our loving and generous Heavenly Father!“

Were you all as moved as I was at this story! How wonderful!!

Congratulations to Robyn and her husband and big siblings Noah, Elijah, Aaron, Gianna, and Ezra, and happy birthday Baby Azelie!!

 

Clockwise from top left: Azelie Patrice; “Sister Snuggles”; “Our Three Adopted Blessings”

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The whole family at Zelie’s baptism ❤

Birth announcement: Paxton and Porter!

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I did a private consultation for Lauren and her husband back in the fall — they were expecting twin boys, and Lauren has let me know that they’ve arrived! They’ve been given the awesome and significant names … Paxton and Porter!

Lauren writes,

“Our babies were born on Friday, January 26, via planned cesarean. In the days leading up to delivery we became more anxious about not having settled on names, but eventually decided to wait until they were born and see what felt right. Upon arrival at the hospital, everyone asked what we’d chosen for names and we told them we were still undecided. In desperation, we told the nurses to take a poll amongst themselves and let us know what they liked best.

For so long, we’d shared name possibilities with just a few people, so speaking the names out loud didn’t happen very frequently. Once we started speaking the names aloud to the hospital staff, it became apparent how much of a tongue-tie it would be to go with Paxton and Payton. The names just sounded so similar and I kept getting confused every time I talked about the choices out loud. For me, it was starting to become obvious that Payton just wasn’t going to work.

After the babies were delivered, saying the names out loud continued to be confusing. Baby A turned out to be nearly a pound smaller than Baby B, which pushed me more toward the Paxton/Porter choice. Baby A was always the one that seemed less active in the womb and seemed generally more content even after delivery (that still holds true today). It became apparent that Baby A was to be named Paxton, leaning heavily on my desire to have a “peaceful” child. Since Baby B was so much larger, and also apparently more vocal (plus disliking the complexity of a Paxton/Payton combination), he became Porter. So while my husband was concerned about the “porterhouse” label, it actually held true at the time of delivery and even became a running joke between us.

These days, Paxton is still SUPER chill — he only cries when hungry and sleeps allll the time (the cyst in his brain may be to blame, but we’ll go with it). The gap in size is closing, but Porter still remains obviously larger than his “older” brother, and is certainly more demanding (though he happens to be breastfed while his brother is not … the two issues are related, perhaps?). As a family, we have found the transition from one to three much easier than zero to one, likely because our first was super high-needs and this time we are not combating that with the lack of experience as parents in general.”

I’m sure Lauren won’t mind me sharing that I’d suggested Porter with Bl. Solanus in mind, since he was the porter (doorkeeper) at his monastery, so I’m extra delighted that they named Twin B Porter! And Paxton, with its pax=peace connection, is so meaningful.

Please also pray for both of the boys — they both have medical concerns that are being addressed by doctors, and I know Lauren and her hubs would love be assured of your prayers.

Congratulations to the whole family, and happy birthday Paxton and Porter!!

Paxton and Porter with their family ❤

Birth announcement: Francis Leo!

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I posted a consultation for Erin and her husband back in January, and Erin has let me know that her little green bean has arrived — a baby boy given the handsome name … Francis Leo!

Erin writes,

“I wanted to just let you know baby is here!
We have another BOY!

Francis ‘Finn’ Leo was born February 22, 2018 weighing 8lbs 10oz and 22inches long!

After you sent the consult I went [and] looked more around your blog and came across a post about Francis and using the nickname Finn instead of the common Frank. It immediately spoke to me and I told my husband and he loved it! Since we loved Francis and really wanted that as a middle name because Frank just wasn’t our style Finn being a nickname option pushed us to make that his first name. (Francis is my paternal grandfathers middle name.) Then we thought about middle name. We wanted something to refer to my husband because our other boys all have a strong tie to my husband. My husband decided Leo would be perfect. Leo is his maternal grandfathers middle name. His grandfather passed away when his mom was young so my husband never met him.

Both Francis and Leo are such strong catholic names too. So many Saints to look up to!

He has such a special name. Thank you for helping us find the perfect name for our little man!“

I’m SO EXCITED that Erin and her hubs are using Finn as a nickname for Francis! I love it so much! And Francis Leo is just such an amazing, saintly combo!

Congratulations to Erin and her husband and big sibs Caleb, David, Isaac, and Lucilia, and happy birthday Baby Francis “Finn”!!

Francis Leo with his family ❤

Birth announcement: Leo Ignatius!

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I posted a consultation for Arenda and her husband back in January, and Arenda has let me know that her little green bean has arrived — a little boy given the aMAZing name … Leo Ignatius!

Arenda writes,

“I just wanted to let you know that we had a little baby BOY! He was born at home (which was planned) on Sunday morning, but sped into the world so quickly he was delivered by myself and Jeremy, whom I woke up 8 minutes before the baby was born (not planned!). But the Lord took care of us and all is well. We’ve named our little lad Leo Ignatius.

During my pregnancy, I’d been so sure that this little one was a girl, so I focused most of my baby name thoughts on girl names. When he was born and we found out he was actually a boy, I was totally shocked — and not sure about the boy name we’d chosen. I mentioned this to Jeremy (“To be honest, I’ve barely thought about baby boy names! I think I need some time before we decide!”), and so we talked about various names. Then we read through your baby name consultation again and, though I’ve suggested Leo several times before and Jeremy’s always said no, this time he loved it. We read a bit about Pope St. Leo the Great online (defender against heresy) and both agreed he would be a wonderful patron saint for our little lad. His middle name is for St. Ignatius. Like your husband, Jeremy read the letters of St. Ignatius early on in his journey to the Catholic Church, and found them very convicting.

Thanks again for your wonderful consultation, and for suggesting Leo — we love it! 🙂

PS — I attached a couple photos, one of our little sweetie, and one of what life with four little ones looks like most of the time! Haha! 🙂 “

Isn’t that a wonderful story?? I was so excited to read it! Leo Ignatius is such an amazing combo!

Congratulations to Arenda and Jeremy and big sibs James, June, and Alice, and happy birthday Baby Leo!!

Leo Ignatius with his big brother and sisters 😀 ❤

Birth announcement: Benjamin Peter!

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I posted a consultation for Laura last summer, and an addendum a day later, and I’m delighted to share that she’s let me know her little guy has arrived and been given the so-handsome name … Benjamin Peter!

Laura writes,

“Good morning, Kate!

I just wanted to let you know that we welcomed out little guy! He was born exactly six weeks ago today on January 12th. Name wise we went with out gut instinct — Benjamin Peter.

I’ve never really been one to name a baby in-utero, but this time around it’s almost as if he named himself. No matter what, we just kept coming back to Benjamin, and when I would talk to him I’d use his name. I just find Benjamin to be such a strong name but also so sweet. I love it’s Biblical roots and although it seems to be gaining popularity, I still feel like it’s not super common.

We chose Peter as the middle name as a nod to both my grandfather and father. My grandfather was born Pietro but when he came to the US everyone called him Peter, so when my dad was born they named him Louis Peter. And of course St. Peter is pretty awesome, so there’s that.

And just to refresh your memory, Benjamin (also called Ben and Benji — a fun nickname from his siblings) joins

Matthew Darren
Margaret (Maggie, Mags) Claire
Abigail (Abby, Abs) Regina“

I looooove Benjamin, and I love it with Peter! What a handsome addition to this wonderful family!!

Congratulations to Laura and her husband and Matthew, Maggie, and Abby, and happy birthday Baby Benjamin!!

Benjamin Peter with his big siblings ❤ (and check out Laura’s Instagram for more photos of this sweet family!)

Birth announcement: McDonald John!

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Grace and I had an email conversation about middle names a while ago, and she’s let me know her little guy has been born and been given the handsome and meaningful name … McDonald John!

Grace writes,

“I wanted to finally report back on what we ended up naming our baby!

Our son was born October 1 and we named him McDonald John. We’re calling him Mac. John was the name of my father’s only brother who passed away suddenly and fairly young a few years ago. After I got your email we talked mostly about John and one other idea and just really couldn’t settle on one or the other but after spending time with my dad one day and talking about his brother a lot I came home and was just overwhelmed with tears thinking about how much it would mean to my dad to have a grandson named after his brother so we settled on John. As I predicted, my dad was super touched and that means so much to me.”

McDonald is a family name for Grace — I love when family surnames work as first names! And I love love love love the nickname Mac, one of my favorites! And I love how meaningful the middle name is for Grace’s dad. Honor names can just be so amazing!

Congratulations to Grace and her hubby, and happy birthday Baby Mac!!

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McDonald John

Birth announcement: Mathilde Agnes Julia Frances!

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I had the great pleasure of posting a birth announcement for reader Isabelle’s second boy two years ago, and she’s let me know that she’s had a third baby — a little girl! She’s been given the gorgeous names Mathilde Agnes Julia Frances!

Isabelle writes,

“So, we have two boys (you posted a birth announcement for our second, Gabriel Nicolas Peter, our eldest is Jude René Marc) and for both of them, the names were fairly easy to find. I had liked Gabriel since I was a teenager, and always intended to use it, but by the time I got pregnant with my first I was feeling more “Jude”. My husband was happy either way, and we pretended to ourselves for a while like we hadn’t decided (we totally had, we never seriously considered any alternative).

When we found out our second was a boy too, Gabriel was the obvious choice, and again although we told ourselves we were considering other options, we really weren’t. All the while, our girl name was all chosen and waiting for a future girl: Alice. But two months after Gabriel was born, my cousin had gorgeous twin girls: Madeleine and Alice.

Fast forward a few months and I am pregnant again. And we’re stumped. A few boys names are swimming about (Nicolas? Can we use a middle name as a subsequent sibling’s given name? Methink we can) but for girls, it was getting complicated fast. I suggested we go for Alice anyway, but it felt a bit too soon. We loved Juliette, but Jude-Gabriel-Juliette felt a bit repetitive, so again, we felt we needed a few more names in the middle before using Juliette. That’s when I contacted you about consultations, but we decided to wait to find out the gender and then ask you if we were still stumped.

We discovered we were expecting a girl shortly afterwards, and my husband (who normally leaves me to talk names at him) was suddenly pushing for Virginia, he’s grandmother’s name (with the intention of nicknaming her “Ginny”, like his grandmother was). Whilst I really liked Ginny, I didn’t want Virginia, or use a nickname as a given name (I’m helpful like that). Besides, Ginny broke our rule (We’re a French-English couple, so we really try to choose names which are the same, or near enough in both languages – Jude was a stretch for the French since it is vanishingly rare as a French given name, people are much more likely to use the “Thadée” form to honour that apostle, but Jude is in the Bible so we went for it).

My long-suffering husband then offered Genevieve as another way to get to Ginny and still honour his grandmother, and whilst I love the sound of it in English, and it is spelled exactly the same way (with added accent in French) I couldn’t really get over the “middle-aged woman” feel the name has for me (due to when the name was popular in France). So stumped again.

I was starting to remind him that you offered a very handy service for people in our situation, when, in a totally unrelated instance of spousal awesomeness, my husband took me to Vienna for a little getaway just the two (and a half) of us. So here I am, on the train from the airport, doing what any self-respecting former PhD candidate in history would do, reading up on the history of Vienna and the Habsburg family, when suddenly, in a random paragraph about the Holy Roman Empire, I come across saint Matilda (she’s awesome). And that’s it. My husband is fully on board (although he pretends like he still favours Elisabeth for a few days), but he wants to spell it the French way, but pronounce it the English way when we speak in English (so, spelled “Mathilde”, pronounced “Matilda”). I’m ok with that. We decide the middle names will be the grandmothers (Agnes and Julia) job done.

Except, not quite.

Plot twist: giantly pregnant by then and extremely overdue, I am given a date for my induction: 9 July. Simon’s sister’s birthday. His sister passed away at just sixteen – she had a brain tumour. Feeling like we can’t just ignore the coincidence, we think of ways to honour Hannah in our little girl’s name and decide to just add a third middle name, even though Simon’s other sister already used “Hannah” as a middle name for her daughter.

Plot twist again: the induction is pushed back to the 10th. What do we do? Without the same birthday, Simon doesn’t feel right about copying his niece’s middle name (I have no such qualms, but then I come from a giant Catholic family where repeats are a fact of life). So I push for Hannah’s middle name, Frances. (I am a big fan of Saint Frances of Rome, and was planning on using “Francesca” as a future middle name – as soon as the grandmothers had been dutifully honoured (another French thing here, people almost always honour family members with middle names, so grandparents would take offence)).

And that was finally that (well, after the quickest, most ridiculously eventful labour).

Mathilde Agnes Julia Frances. Born in 45 minutes on 10 July 2017. All the names, all the saints.”

Can you believe that story?! Amazing! And I love love love all of Mathilde’s names!!

Congratulations to Isabelle and her husband and big brothers Jude and Gabriel, and happy birthday Baby Mathilde!!

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Mathilde Agnes Julia Frances

Birth announcement: Wendy Emilia! (And a St. Gerard story!)

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Do you all remember last year when I posted about the priest who’d done a mission at our parish and told us about his great regard for St. Gerard’s intercession in helping couples conceive? And how he would encourage couples to pray to St. Gerard and then let him know when they were expecting a baby, because he was so confident that St. Gerard would come through? I just got the most amazing email the other day!

Evva (who I follow on Twitter) writes,

“Hi!
I found your blog about a year ago and started following you on twitter. At that time my husband and I had been trying to get pregnant for a little while and reading about and talking baby names was so fun and loved all the name information you had! After some more time passed I was started to get discouraged we still weren’t getting pregnant and around that time you posted something about St Gerard and his intercession for anyone who wanted a baby. After that I decided my husband and I would pray a saint Gerard novena. My husband is not catholic so it was his first time praying one. Anyway that very next month I found out we were pregnant!! I couldn’t believe it. I just wanted to reach out to you and say thank you and share our story, My baby girl was born on the feast of the immaculate conception!“

OHMYGOODNESS!! What an awesome story!!

So of course I had to ask all about this baby girl! Evva explained,

“Like I said before my husband isn’t catholic so the real catholicky names he wasn’t going for haha. We had a real tough time picking a girl name for some reason we just couldn’t agree on anything so settling on one was a lot of back forth but we finally decided on the first name Wendy for no reason aside that it was one we could both agree on. And for her middle name we went with Emilia. I read on your blog that it was Saint Pope John Paul II’s mom name and I loved it plus I thought it flowed nicely with the first name. 

Here’s a few pictures of her with a St Gerard medal I bought soon after we completed our Novena.”

Wendy Emilia

Isn’t this all so wonderful?! Congratulations to Evva and her husband, and happy birthday Baby Wendy!! (And if any of you have St. Gerard stories, I’d love to hear them!)

Birth announcement: Benjamin Locke!

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I posted a consultation for Ashley and her husband last month, and Ashley let me know her little guy has arrived! The so-handsomely named … Benjamin Locke!

Ashley writes,

“We had our little guy last Thursday.  His labor and delivery was by far the most difficult of all 5 of them. He started being difficult a few weeks before delivery by being breech and then it just continued. I was calling him my little troublemaker for the last month.

We went back and forth a lot over naming him and didn’t decide until Day 3 after he was born. We ended up really considering Locke, Ben, Leo, and Jack. We ended up settling on Benjamin Locke Wagner. And we will call him Ben. I had been so anti Benjamin but after he was born, I saw more of the softness in Benjamin and our little guy was just so perfectly sweet and still a week later never cries, that the sweetness of Benjamin kind of won me over.”

What a great name story!! I love this: “the sweetness of Benjamin kind of won me over.” ❤ ❤ ❤ I also love that his big brother has a family surname for a first name and a tradition given name for a middle, while Ben has a traditional given name for a first and a family surname-type name for a middle. Well done!

Congratulations to Ashley and her hubs and big sibs Nash, Clare, Holly, and Anna, and happy birthday Baby Benjamin!!

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Benjamin Locke

Birth announcement: Charles John!

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I posted a consultation for Allison and her husband back in November, and Allison’s let me know her little green bean has arrived — a baby BOY! He’s been given the so-handsome name … Charles John!

Allison writes,

“Baby BOY arrived yesterday healthy and safe, thank God! We switched up the name at the last hour and went with Charles John. He just seemed like a Charlie and is as sweet as can be. In the end, we thought he needed his own name! (Although there are Charlies on both sides — just more distantly).”

I just love Charles John, and Charlie is the sweetest nickname!!

Congratulations to the whole family, including big sibs Caroline Constance and Gerard Patrick, and happy birthday Baby Charlie!!

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Charles John