"i3" is a...

Immanuelle Marie 

That's right! "i3" is a GIRL!

We are so excited and a little beside ourselves in thinking of all the change our DAUGHTER is going to bring to our home, our family, our future.  The Lord is so good and we are so thankful and delighting in His plan to build our family. So far we only have one pink item in the whole house for her... this...

A cloth diaper! Anthony said he bought it weeks ago and hid it from me (he was a little more confident in his guess than I was!) He dropped me off for my appointment then went and parked the car. When we left the doctor's office I opened the door to the car and there was that cute pink and purple diaper sitting there waiting.  I said, "How did you do this?" He said, "Well, I guessed, but I figured if I was wrong we could just give it to Bobby and Martha for Mary Grace."  My cousins Bobby and Martha juuuuust had their 3rd baby girl Mary Grace. SO excited to give Mary Grace a cousin her age that she can play dolls with! (wait...hang on...having a moment here thinking of all the different kinds of toys soon to invade our house!) Go see an ADORABLE picture of Miss Mary Grace here!

About our name choice:

First. We know it is usually used for boys born with a Latin American heritage.  I grew up in a majority-Mexican town and am well aware of this. She will probably spend most of her life not in the presence of very many Latinos, and we're good with her name being "different."
We also know it is a long name, but are confident that she will be smart enough to learn to say it, spell it, read it, and write it one day.  There are a plethora of nicknames that can come from her name, so if she decides she's a "Mannie" or an "Iman" (faith in Arabic) or an "Elle" "Ellie" or "Ella" more power to her.  We just know these things have rolled through our heads in deciding and the few who know her name already have said similar things.  We love it and think it will fit her perfectly!

Immanuelle
I first thought of this name, with this spelling, when I was 18 weeks pregnant with Isaac. So nearly 4 years ago. I clearly remember the night I was washing dishes, wondering if the next ultrasound of our baby (Isaac) would show again that he was REALLY a boy. We hadn't thought of a girl's name and loved the name Isaac Joseph. Then out of nowhere (I was by myself in the kitchen), really before it even went through my mind, I spoke the name "Immanuelle" out loud. Just barely audible, but 'out' there. Isaac WAS a boy, so we just packed the name up.
For those of you familiar with the Christmas story and any Christian worship songs where a "list" of names is given about Jesus,  know that "Emmanuel" or "Immanuel" is part of that. "God with us" is what it means.  A name full of promise.  Sure our Latin American friends like to use it a lot, but it's a Hebrew name, just like her big brothers' names.
The boys names both start with "I-S-A" and while Isabelle was surely a contender we're good with this choice and think it goes well with the boys. "Isa" (Ee-sa) is the Arabic pronunciation of "Jesus."  So while the boys have "Jesus" IN their names, Immanuelle will have one of Jesus' actual names.

Also, the more I say it, the more feminine it sounds to me. Those guys I went to highschool with fade from memory when I say it.  Immanuel (Eh-man-you'll) or Manuel (Man-well) is how I've always heard it pronounced with "boys." We are saying it "EE-man-u-elle" like it's sometimes sung when the syllables are all drawn out :)  And the "-elle" on the end like "Michelle" or "Danielle" makes it look more feminine as well. 

Marie:

Isaac's middle name is Joseph, which is Anthony's middle name and also a family name on my side. Isaiah's is Kingston and while not originally chosen for this reason (we chose it while we were pregnant with Isaac too, so didn't know we'd have a half-Jamaican son!), his birth father was born in Jamaica and so his middle name heralds his ethnic heritage. 
"Mary" is Anthony's Mom's and Grandma's name. Mary Lou and Mary Ann respectively.  I have no problems with Mary, but when said with Immanuelle, "Marie" following it seems to have a nice rhythm to it. Like the accent in Marie goes with Immanuelle better than Mary. Say both of them, "Immanuelle Mary" and "Immanuelle Marie"...you agree don't you? I thought so! ;)
The "connection" behind the name will certainly be, and we will tell her, that she is named after her grandmother and great-grandmother on her father's side.

So there ya have it folks. Our little girl. Pink. Purple. Dolls. Braided hair. Disney Princesses. Nail polish. Wedding gown. All of it is headed to the Rivers house care of Miss Immanuelle Marie.

And here is a belly picture at 20 weeks.  This is the FIRST belly shot I've ever taken with a fellow-pregnant friend. She's about 2 weeks ahead of me, but is carrying twin boys. Oh. My. As much as I get comments that "Oh, I can't even tell you're pregnant!" I think we're holding our own next to twin boys!