the meaning behind the names

isabella: zuzu's great, great, great grandmother - on jenn's father's side
christine: in honor of zuzu's aunt christy (jenn's sister) and grandma chris (ty's mother)
hope: so that zuzu will always know how much we prayed for, waited for, and hoped for her existence in our lives; as well as our hope for her future
zuzu: a character in the 1946 classic, "it's a wonderful life."
the movie is one of our favorites.

in this film, george bailey (zuzu's father - played by jimmy stewart) returns home amidst the most stressful day of his life (he's possibly going to prison because of a misplaced $8,000 bank deposit) - only to find that his youngest daughter, zuzu, has come home from school with a fever. he checks in on her for a moment, comforts her, and encourages her to get some sleep. when zuzu insists that her father give her flower a drink of water, the flower loses a few of its petals. zuzu asks her daddy to "paste it" - to fix it. he takes the flower and the petals, turns to the side and puts the petals in his pocket. he turns back toward zuzu and lets her know that it's all better now. he kisses her goodnight, tucks her in, and leaves her to get the rest she needs.

my desire as a father is to be able to love my zuzu to the fullest, no matter what happens to be going on in my life at the time... to "fix" flowers, to shower her with hugs, to constantly encourage her... to give her the most "wonderful life" i can.