Sweet Baby Girl

June 14th has always been a special day in my life...it's my birthday.  But these past two years it has held a much greater significance.  On June 14th, 2012 we found out that the precious baby I was carrying was an active little boy who would be named Ezra James.  Exactly a year later on June 14, 2013 we found out that our second baby was a sweet, mellow little girl.

The morning of my birthday we were filled with such a mix of emotions: complete excitement to see our precious baby, anticipation to learn more about who God was creating this child to be, fear that something could be wrong, yet a peace knowing that God was holding this sweet baby's future in His hands.

As the ultrasound began the first image we saw was the top of a head and two little hands wiggling around in front of it.  At that first sight of movement and life, Tim and I were amazed once again at God's beautiful design and the tears started flowing.  I can't help but cry through every ultrasound.  The sight of that little person growing, moving, and being formed leaves me in complete awe and wonder.  The technician took her list of pictures to check on our sweet baby's development and everything was looking good.

And then came the moment we had been waiting for.  Was this baby a boy or a girl? We knew before the technician even told us...this precious baby was definitely a sweet little girl.  My heart was overcome with so much emotion.  This little girl was making me a mommy a second time.  I now had a son and a daughter.  My heart was so full of love and joy at the sight of my sweet daughter.

This little girl was calm and mellow throughout the entire ultrasound.  She stayed in a curled up position on her back for almost 40 minutes and would move her hands up in front of her face every so often.  We got to see her little chest mimicking breathing and her cute little lips sucking.  How incredible to be able to see what she is doing to cause the movement I feel.

Here are a few pictures of our darling daughter measuring right on track during her 19th week at 11 ounces...

As soon as I saw her little profile I knew without a doubt she was a baby girl.  I had felt that way from early on in the pregnancy, but her sweet little face looked so much like Ezra's except with more delicate, petite features.  The 3-D pictures were incredible.  What a blessing to be able to see our entire baby girl all curled up inside of me and even appearing to have a little smirk on her sweet face.  Thank you, Lord, for these moments of seeing our baby girl living life already.

We could not stop smiling and crying the rest of the day.  We were having a baby girl!  We spent the day at the beach and purchased her first outfit (Daddy picked it out).  It was such a beautiful day filled with peace, knowing that our baby girl was growing and doing well.

Two days later we celebrated Father's Day by throwing a party to tell our family the baby's gender.  We did the same party a year before for Ezra, except we waited to find out with our family that he was a baby boy.  Ezra's party is a moment I will cherish forever.  It was a time where we celebrated the life that little Ezra was living with us.  We will always view these moments of pregnancy so differently.  We know they are not to be taken for granted and we want to celebrate every moment that the Lord gives us with them.

Here are a few pictures of our evening telling our family about our sweet baby girl..

What a sweet evening this was! So many moments have been shared with these people throughout this past year.  What a blessing to be able to celebrate this moment of life and look forward to a baby girl with our family.

We so appreciate all the prayers and support everyone has been and continues to be as we walk this journey.  In just over 14 weeks our baby girl should be here.  Your continued prayers mean so much to us.  Everyday is a new process of trusting our sweet daughter and this journey to the Lord.  Thank you so much for praying for our baby girl!