It's Another Girl!

Here it is! Our first official photo of our Family of Four. Tori Mae Draper became an official member of our family on Wednesday, October 10th at 8:53 AM. Jenny is so happy to be done with being pregnant. Tori was five days overdue, and Jenny was really anxious to get that writhing mass out of her belly.

The vital stats that everyone always needs to know are that she weighed 7 lbs 14 oz and measured 19.5 inches. Madeleine, in contrast, weighed 7 lbs 1 oz and was 21 inches. So, they're pretty comparable. I think they look a lot alike as babies, but here are the pictures so you can determine for yourself.

Their respective bows give away who is who: Tori with the orange bow for her near-Halloween debut, and Madeleine's Christmas bow, since we came home from the hospital with her on December 25. Could you have told them apart without the bows?

For those of you who don't know, we decided to name her Tori after much deliberation. Jenny and I hemmed and hawed for several months about what to name her, with Tori always being in the running. Then, last Thursday we got the unexpected news that my Grandma Draper had passed away in her sleep, a month before her 85th birthday. Grandma Draper had always been a wonderful example and friend to us. For a year and a half after Jenny and I got married, Grams let us live in her basement off campus at USU, rent-free, while I wrapped up my Masters Degree. She was always so active, keeping the big old house and yard in good repair, tending to her large vegetable garden, and generally making us feel bad that we were being outpaced by an octogenarian. She was a magnificent example of service and work to us, and even before her passing, we thought we might name our baby after Grandma's father, Torrey Lynn Austin, in her honor. The sudden news last Thursday sealed the deal for us. Tori's middle name, Mae, is in honor of another great lady in our lives, my own mother, whose middle name is also Mae.

Finally, here are two more photos of Jenny and I mere minutes after Tori's grand entrance. You can tell in this picture that it's 9:00 AM from the clock on the wall, meaning she's just seven minutes old.

This picture of Jenny was taken nearly immediately after she had given birth. Two thoughts here: 1) Aren't epidurals magical?, and 2) Let's hope Tori winds up with Jenny's looks and not mine!