January 31

Mother and Daughter

Blog

39  comments

Jennifer and Lily are both doing great.

Jennifer was a super trooper during this labor! And now she’s resting comfortably and just absolutely amazed me with how strong and incredible she was during the labor.

And I just made the coolest discovery. Lily has the most crooked pinkies of all our kids. That’s a trait from my mom’s side of the family.

Some people have asked about her name, and I have to thanks Jennifer for going with Lily.

Lily M. Gyldenvand was my great aunt and a tremendous influence on me when I was a kid. Painting, writing, drawing, speaking about faith – that’s what Aunt Lil did her whole life. Google her name and you’ll find references to books she wrote decades ago.

She died more than 15 years ago of Alzheimer’s, and as soon as we learned we’d have a daughter, I wanted to call her Lily. Grace (her middle name) is a tribute of sorts to our Blessed Mother, who the angel Gabriel called “Full of grace”. For all the Hail Mary’s we’ve prayed, it seemed appropriate.

About the author 

Greg

Greg is married to Jennifer. They've got five kids.

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  • Congratulations!!! Welcome Lily. What a beautiful name. Lily is absolutely beautiful. Congratulations. God blessed you with beautiful baby Lily and wonderful sons. God Bless you and your family.

    Mary – Sugar Grove, IL

  • She is so precious. She reminds me of Sammy as a baby in the pictures of her taken right after birth. Can’t wait to get my hands on her…hmmm, maybe a road trip in the near future!

  • Congratulations & thanks for sharing the photos with us! Looks the road trip for dinner paid off – so she’ll have picture on the wall!

  • She is so very beautiful. Congratulations! I bet the boys are there by now and loving up on both Lily and Mom.

    God Bless
    June in KS

  • AH she is so cute! 🙂 I really want to see her. What a beautiful name. I love it. I hope you are all doing great. I miss you guys. Have fun with the new girl 🙂 🙂 🙂

  • Thanks be to God! She’s lovely. Give her lots of hugs and kisses from all the Catholics Next Door and Rosary Army Podcast listeners. The eggplant parmesan musta worked, huh? 🙂

  • Congratulations beauteous family!!!! So absolutely blown away, and incredibly happy for you. I am not at all surprised at how magical Jennifer was today. Her inner strength is pretty darn tangible across many borders 🙂

    We visited naming our little one Lily Grace. I’ve always wanted to name my daughter Grace (middle name) and my family calls me Lili, so why not. We decided against it simply cause we ended up wanting to give Hunter her own special name 🙂 I adore Lily Grace! xoxoxoxoxooxox

  • Well, that was quick.

    God Bless you all.

    BTW, did Jennifer get her hair done before or shortly after Lily’s arrival? They both look great an no worse for wear.

    Jim from St. Louis

  • CONGRATULATIONS Greg and Jennifer on your beautiful baby. The Lord Bless and keep you and your whole family. Our prayers remain with you!

    Lily: a symbol of innocence and purity as well as beauty; you have chosen a great name.

  • Okay, hearing (reading) where you got Lily’s name from I’m all teary eyed and choked up ::Whimper:: How amazing a story to tell your daughter. I think I have heard you on a podcast talk about your Aunt Lil, if so I do recall how much she meant to you.

    What a blessing : )

    Adrianne

  • Beautiful baby (and Mom) lovely name (although we thought it would be Gianna) and lastly good job Greg! God Bless your whole family Tom and Tammy

  • I love the name and the inspiration behind it.
    Jennifer looks fabulous and so happy to have that “big” baby in her arms.
    SO SWEET! Thanks for sharing your journey.

  • Congradulations to you all, beautiful pictures of the two of you.
    Jack, I hope you are praying for this beautiful family.
    Love you all,
    Pat
    PS Good Job Jennifer!!

  • CONGRATULATIONS!

    Lily is a beautiful name for a beautiful young lady — when I celebrate Mass in the morning I will have a special intention of Thanksgiving for her safe arrival mentioned.

    God bless you! I look forward to hearing more.

    You start my day each and every day as I go to our local nursing home where I am the chaplain. You are a great way to start the day as I prepare to celebrate Mass shortly after I arrive. Thanks!

    In His Love,
    Fr Cliff

  • Congratulations! Glad to hear all is well with mother and baby – I’m sure all the boys can’t wait to get them both home 🙂

  • Congratulations! Glad all went well. I L-O-V-E LOVE her name! Your darling girls are beautiful! 🙂 And Jennifer, your hair looks like a MILLION BUCKS!!! You go, girl! Best wishes now and always!

  • Congratulations on your baby girl! Lily is such a lovely name – and I’m sure with a doting daddy + brothers, she’ll be spoiled in no time.

  • Great job mom. Lily is a beautiful baby and I should know since I see so many working at the hospital. So proud of you for trusting your body to tell you when the baby was ready. I can’t believe how much she weighs. You look wonderful in the photos. You make delivery look glamorous. As I said when I called into the show. It’s all about the latch. email if you have questions about feeding. Glad to help. Bless you, Greg and all the family Donna

  • she is so pretty! Robbie has the right idea…road trip! Love you all and I know those boys are on cloud 9!

  • Congratulations!

    I’m so happy for you!
    She is beautiful and… the name is so beautiful and inspiring!

    I’ll keep you all in my prayers!

    God bless you!

    Alessandro

  • Man, I hope I look as good as Jennifer after I give birth. We will see. Probably soon too!

    Congratulations again, and I am so glad you can finally enjoy that baby.

  • So beautiful! I’m glad mom and baby are doing well. God Bless you and your new bundle of joy!

  • She is so beautiful! What a gift from God. I guess the Italian restaurant helped also? God Bless all of your family.

    Steve

  • Congrats you guys! I’ll bet as soon as you get home Lillian is going to have a security detail of four waiting for her! 😀 Now when they play “Star Wars”, they’ll really be able to rescue the princess!!

    Peace,

    Dan

  • Thank you for letting us come along for this ride… “Lily” is beautiful, and omigosh… all that hair!

  • Congratulations guys! Sorry to be late to the party here. Just now got time to write.

    I’m so happy for you. You picked a great name. I’m glad everything turned out great. How exciting! Having a little girl is great fun.

    One of the reasons I didn’t write earlier was because this weekend was my son’s birthday. He’s one year old now and he was also born on the 31st. Lily and Dante share a birthday, YAY!

  • How proud you all should be of your new addition to your growing family! Princess Lily needs to get ready to know that she probably won’t learn how to walk until she’s 6 or 7, though! Being the baby in the famly, AND also the ONLY girl, with 4 ‘big’ brothers…she’s going to be a ‘little’ spoiled! Get ready mom and dad, it’s going to be a fun ride!!! May God be with you all! Thank you for being so open and not selfish with us in ComputerLand, I know I enjoy journeying daily with y’all!! Beautiful….

    Aunt Donna!! 🙂

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