Antonia Lucienne Vontz was born on December 24th at 8:14 a.m. Six pounds and seventeen inches. "Antonia" was the fictional name given to my great, great grandmother Annie Pavelka by Willa Cather for her novel "My Antonia". Lucienne was the name of my wife Angel's great Aunt for whom her mother Lucy was named.
After a long and, for me -- isn't it all about the dad anyway? -- mostly sleepless night Antonia made her debut and I got to hold her for the first time (thanks to my mom Bonnie for the skillful camera work):
Then it was time for ALV's first close up. She, not unlike her brother and sister, is a little camera shy:
Also, not unlike her brother and sister, she has hands (I'm tired and running out of clever things to write here): 
Because I'm a pro and this is what I do (and because I'm much, much bigger than her) I was able to get a picture of her without her hands in front of her face:
Later that day, the kids got to come up to the hospital to meet their sister for the first time. A beaming Emma Cate holds her little sister for the first time:
Then it was Owen's turn. You might not be able to tell it from the picture but he's decidedly less impressed than Emma Cate with the baby. Could be because he knows that he's now out-numbered:
Of course he became a little more interested when he realized that Emma Cate wanted to hold her again and, because she was holding the baby and that's the way it works with siblings, he decided to show interest and try to take her back:
After two long days in the hospital under the skillful care of the good people at North Kansas City Hospital, Antonia finally made it home. And the kids finally got to open the last of their Christmas presents.
Many thanks to all the friends and family who have helped us so much to ease Antonia's transition homeward. We're blessed to have three beautiful children and to have so many people in our lives to help us deal with the realities of that circumstance. 
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