Little Miss Ivey Kate has been such a joy. It's been so amazing to me to see prayers answered through my children. I love seeing the specific things we prayed for our children shining through. The Lord is so good to us.

One of my sweet friends took some precious newborn pictures of Ivey Kate for us. She took a few of the whole family and of course some of the proud big sister.

This bible belonged to my precious, late grandmother. It's so special to me. I love reading all the notes she wrote in it. I love that I'm still learning from her by reading those little bits of wisdom. It makes me feel close to her still. Here, her bible is open to Psalm 139:14 "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." I'll always cherish this picture.

2 Christmas Angels

Mattilee loves "holding" little baby sister.

Ivey Kate doesn't always enjoy it quite as much.;)

She's singing "rocky, rocky"

Our Christmas dolls.

Such a big girl!

Love those tiny arms.

Opening gifts Christmas morning at home.

Pretending to call Gigi on the phone.

Tuckered out;)

Sweet Ivey Kate's Arrival

Ivey Kathryn Hope

7.7lbs 20 inches

December 6, 2011

Minutes after arrival.

Getting acquainted with this sweet baby.

Mattilee meeting Ivey Kate! Such a special moment.

First picture of our family of four.

Kisses for new baby sister.:)

Daddy loving on his new baby girl!

Coming home from the hospital in the same outfit that Mommy and big sister Mattilee wore home from the hospital.

Although I started dilating at around 33 weeks and I was told to do as little as possible to stop labor, Ivey Kate decided she would take her time coming. We decided to induce on December 6. They broke my water at about 7:30 or 8:00 that morning and we had our new daughter Ivey Kathryn in our arms at 10:42 am. It was such a smooth, easy delivery. Thank you Lord! I have been so blessed in both pregnancies and deliveries. Ivey Kate weighed 7.7lbs and was 20 inches. She was so beautiful and healthy. Again, thank you Lord!!! She immediately stole our hearts! That precious, perfect face staring back into ours is the sweetest thing. I had the same wonderful feelings as I did after the birth of our first daughter; that my heart might burst from the love welling up inside. It's amazing the unconditional love God immediately gives us for our children. It just makes me all the more in awe of His love for us since I know my love for my children doesn't even compare! Every little intimate detail of my precious baby, not to mention the miraculous pregnancy/birth process, causes me to praise our creative, beautiful Heavenly Father.

We spent our first few hours and days with Ivey Kate admiring every precious detail about her and sharing her with lots of sweet visitors. We were one of the first to deliver in the new Brookwood Hospital and the facility was so nice! Every doctor that checked her in the hospital told us she was perfect, but we already knew that.:)

Ivey Kate is a perfect addition to our family. From the beginning she has been an easy baby. She loves to sleep, which is perfect because so does everyone else in our family and when she is awake she is generally happy. I had forgotten how incredibly sweet and cuddly newborns are! We love to cuddle with her and she LOVES to be held. Her daddy and I can't kiss that sweet soft skin enough and she tolerates it for us most of the time. :) She has been drawn to Mattilee's voice from the beginning. She lights up when she hears her big sister. Mattilee adjusted perfectly to her new baby sister. She is so sweet to Ivey Kate and she wants to kiss and love on her all the time. However, being gentle while we are loving on baby sister is something that might take us a while to master... :)

More details of our new life as a family of four will come soon!

Just days before we became a family of four!

Our big girl got a "big girl" bedroom before new baby sister arrived. Every new thing we did or added to the room she loved and would squeal with excitement. She loves taking friends in to see her new room.

Mattilee and Daddy going to feed the horses at Pop and Gigi's. I love this picture and them. Matt is such a wonderful Daddy to his girls!

Our little turkey on Thanksgiving Day.

Just a few days before she became a big sister. :)

I've been a terrible blogger. It has been months since my last post and oh how life has changed! We have added another precious baby girl to our family and our hearts have been filled with so much joy and love through this precious blessing. I will introduce her very soon, but first let me briefly catch myself up-to-date starting with where I left off. My intentions with this blog were to help me document our lives with our little ones and to act kind of like a baby book so I don't want to skip those precious months since I last logged on.

The last month or so before our new angel joined us was very special for me. It seemed my days at home with Mattilee had a different feel and outlook. I remember feeling I needed to really soak up this precious individual time with the little doll who made me a mommy. It had been just us for 20 months or so and knowing her world was about to change by adding another precious baby to our family made me so excited for her and also a little apprehensive about how she would adjust. I wanted to try to prepare her little heart as much as I could for our new addition. We were so excited for our new baby girl to join us and we talked about her and to her all the time.:) I will always cherish that time with my sweet Mattilee.