In a rare interview published June 30, Second Lady Usha Vance described family life with Vice President JD Vance—dog walks, date-night dinners, their 12th anniversary on June 14—and shared why they chose to expand their family again, as well as her summer read
On June 14, Usha Vance marked 12 years of marriage. In a wide-ranging interview published June 30 by Moms for America, she said she and Vice President JD Vance planned to celebrate with a dinner out—and then stayed practical about the logistics at home.
“We also we have a really big dog who needs a lot of exercise,” Usha Vance said. “So we like to take walks together and leave our kids at home with a willing grandparent or if a friend is visiting.”
The comments are the kind that come from a family already running on schedule: a shared rhythm of evenings together. a routine that includes their dog. and help from family or friends when they can manage it. In the same interview, she offered a rare glimpse into how that schedule works around motherhood.
A rare look at life with three kids—and one more on the way
Usha Vance and JD Vance already share three young children: Ewan, 9; Vivek, 6; and Mirabel, 4. They are expecting a boy due in July, and Usha Vance described how that fourth pregnancy entered their lives.
She said she had “always wanted to have two kids. ” then felt pulled toward more after enjoying the arrival of their second child. “I had always wanted to have two kids and then I thought when I had the second child. I just loved it so much that I wanted to have a third and that just seemed so clear. ” she said.
But she also tied the timing to the stress of campaign life, recalling that their third child was born during JD Vance’s Senate campaign, and that the months afterward brought “epic chaos.”
Another baby, she said, was “really not on my bingo card at first,” because her husband “always really wanted to have another child.” She described repeated conversations about it, then a shift in her own mindset.
“We talked about it a lot,” she said. “And I started to feel this sense of openness to it. And I thought, well, if I’m feeling openness, I should just see whether it happens or not. Give myself a window of possibility.”
Usha Vance added that she knew she would be content either way, and she said she is “really thrilled” about how everything turned out.
They haven’t settled the baby’s name yet
If the pregnancy is moving toward its due date, one detail still hasn’t: the baby’s name. Usha Vance said the couple has not narrowed down a choice.
“We haven’t actually decided on a name,” she said. “So, it’s neither top secret nor something that we can share. We just don’t have it. Yeah. But that’s always been the way for us. We’ve always been pretty indecisive until right when the baby arrives.”
She also referenced a pattern of waiting until the last moment, when certainty seems to arrive with the birth itself.
In an earlier interview with JD Vance earlier this month, he said the couple has yet to pick a name for their fourth child. He also said he and Usha Vance chose the names of their three children “very late,” and that they did not settle on names for two of the three until the children were born.
“Usha and I have very different perspectives on what to name kids. and so we’re always kind of debating names as we go into the delivery room and then once see the baby. that’s usually when we decide. ” JD Vance said. “So, no baby name yet. We know it’s a boy. that’s all we know. and I’m sure we’ll name the child by the time we have to put a name on a birth certificate. just like we always do.”.
A summer reading challenge built around keeping kids on track
Usha Vance also used the interview to talk about a summer program she kicked off last year. This year, she said she wants to make it “many times bigger.”
She described the goal of the Summer Reading Challenge as helping children avoid forgetting what they learned during the school year, while keeping their skills “sharp.”
“You want you want to keep them in a routine of learning, of exploring new ideas and ready for the next year, so that they don’t backslide,” she said. She added that she has seen her own children keep up their skills as they’ve participated.
For her, the challenge is about more than reading lists—it’s also about reaching children where they already are. She said, “our ultimate goal is to get books and get excitement about reading books into the places where kids actually are.”
The interview also says the story was updated to include more photos.
One paragraph tying the details together
Between planning anniversary dinners around a dog’s exercise needs and talking through how they made space for a fourth child after “epic chaos” from JD’s Senate campaign years. the interview keeps returning to the same theme: real life doesn’t arrive neatly on a calendar. Even the process of naming their children—deciding “right when the baby arrives”—matches the way Usha Vance describes summer routines that aim to prevent backsliding. not by forcing a perfect schedule. but by building one children can actually stick with.
Usha Vance JD Vance second lady motherhood summer reading challenge Moms for America 12th wedding anniversary Ewan Vivek Mirabel baby name