Welcome, Mattingly Rose Handy!

After 13+ hours of labor, we finally welcomed Mattingly Rose Handy! On Monday, March 30th, at 7:29 p.m., Matti was born. She was 20 inches and tipped the scale at 7 lbs. 15.6 oz. 10 fingers, 10 toes. The most precious little thing just entered our lives. Nothing in the world mattered except for her. By now, J.'s parents and my entire immediate family were anxiously waiting to meet the newest addition. So anxious that they were practically rushing into the room while my doctor was finishing up on me. Yeah, we had to put a stop to that.

Her name was inspired by 2 things. 21 years ago, a young boy was diagnosed with Burkits lymphoma. His wish was to sit in the Yankees dugout and meet all the players. The Make-A-Wish Foundation granted him this wish. Not only did he get to sit in the dugout and meet the players, but he got to meet the player of ALL players. Don Mattingly! aka Donnie Baseball. aka The Hitman! By the way, that young boy was J. So here's to you, Don Mattingly. Matti's middle name was inspired by the flower. No, it wasn't. That would be lame. J.'s step-dad, Marc LaRose, helped raised J. since he was 2. Fast forward 28 years, J. and I had a conversion that went a little something like this, "Marc raised me for the majority of my life. He disciplined me, he taught me everything. We may not be blood related, but I've always looked at him as my father." Here's to you, Marc.