Christmas baby joy for Greek Australian family

By Penni Pappas/Neoskosmos.com
The Iliou family were given an extra Christmas present this year at Christmas with the birth of their daughter on Christmas Day. At 7:45 am their bundle of joy Despina was born.
“It was a great Christmas present for us,” mother Nomiki says of their baby girl, the third child born to her and husband Theo. “We are very, very happy.”
It was a different Christmas had for Nomiki being in hospital, but her family made sure to visit her for the birth and return with plenty of food, enough to feed the nurses and staff at the hospital.
The parents say her birth is made even more special as she shares her birthday with Jesus. Named after her grandmother Despina, she is the youngest member of the Iliou family with her big brother Antonis 5, and sister Xanthippi 3.
“Antonis is very gentle with her because he understands she is very fragile but Xanthippi keeps bringing her stuffed toys for Despina to sleep with,” says Nomiki.
Born in Kalymnos, Nomiki came to Australia when she was six months old and given her husband’s Greek background, they are committed to raising all their children Greek.
“It’s really important we raise our children to know our background, culture and religion being Greek Orthodox. We try to instil as much as we can given they are in Australia, so they don’t forget where they come from and where we come from.”
And with that, they have a trip planned to Greece at Easter so little Despina gets her first chance to embrace her Greek heritage.