More Grace

July 10th I went to bed extremely excited that, very soon, my sister would be delivering her very first child.

I was ecstatic and was so giddy for a few days I could hardly stand it.

The time was here and I was ready to be an Aunt AGAIN!

The day began with a text from my brother-in -law saying that the Dr. was breaking her water and she was in active labor. I couldn't stand being at home just waiting, so around 11:30, I called my mother, (who was in the delivery room) asking if I could bring some lunch over. I just wanted to be there and I didn't care if I was in the parking lot I just wanted to be close.

Being rushed and trying to take care of my little ones along with hurrying up, drying my hair, I was minutes from being on the road and on my way.
Until the phone rang.

It was my mother.

I was about to answer and quickly say that I know I am running late but food would be there shortly.

And then, hearing my mother on the other end, frantically saying something was wrong was when my heart sunk and my brain went in slow motion.

I was moving fast, doing what I needed to do but my brain was in rewind mode and I was now on the other side of what my family lived through 2 years ago with me.

I couldn't believe it. Could this really be happening?
All my mom said was something was wrong. She didn't know what but shanna was on her way to an emergency c- section.

REALLY?

With only knowing that I rushed over, in tears and trying to let family know so they too could head to the hospital.
All while asking the Lord to spare us any heart ache and loss.

My only thought was could we really be going through this and would God's plans really be to send our family down this road again?

I was trying to prepare my mind but wanting nothing more than to rush into the hospital and sit right next to my sister.

I have never felt this feeling in my entire life and I think I now realize the panic my husband had with me.

I was now outside the Labor/Delivery room doors not knowing what to say to get in when my mom called me and said Shanna just had a baby girl and she was fine.

AMEN! PRAISE THE LORD! THANK YOU GRACIOUS LORD!

It was BEST for Shanna to deliver a healthy baby girl and for that I PRAISE GOD!

The rest of that day I felt like I was picking up the pieces that were thrown all at once. I had an adrenaline rush and the rest of the day I was working on getting my breathing back to a calm mode.

I am THRILLED to say I am an aunt to a BEAUTIFUL baby girl,  IRELAND KAYE!

Mom, Dad and baby are doing wonderful and they couldn't be happier!

It turned out that all of the panic was the baby's heart rate dropped and they didn't know why so their only answer was an emergency c- section.

After she was born, the only thing the Dr. could think of was that maybe Ireland grabbed her umbilical cord and cut off oxygen.

All is well now and I must say she will not go a day unloved! She has way too many Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and close friends in the same town for her to be alone.
WE ARE SO BLESSED!!!!!

I must say, I had a moment of heart ache over these two and today I am so thankful they are safe, healthy and here!

God is GOOD!

ALL THE TIME!

Pausing Time

Just a few of my 'hope to never be forgotton moments.'

38 weeks and a celebration!

We are just right around the corner to meeting both of these little precious miracles!

I am due on Oct. 21st and my very good friend Ang Wright is due Oct. 29.

(give or take a day or so)

This was her baby shower that I just couldn't wait for!

I was so thrilled to make it this far and be able to help and attend her shower!!!

I have enjoyed every minute being her baby buddy!

It was so great to see her enjoy every minute of this shower!

I think the best part was watching her oogle over all of these adorable baby gifts!

She was just so giddy, most of the room probably laughed the entire time!

Such a great night and so happy to celebrate with her and church family!

We say that Ang is having a girl and I am having a boy.

Neither one of us know for sure but it's just so fun dreaming of these little miracles!

It's just so great to see God working through both of our pregnancies!

God truly gives us what's best just at the right time!

How great was it that He allowed both of us to be pregnant at the same time to help us each through our different journeys.

LOVE YOU ANG!

(HUGS) ya, right? *smirk*

After wedding photo shoot

Just incase it wasn't noticable in the past wedding pictures, my sister is IN LOVE with Green and Yellow.

The whole point of this wedding was revolved around, yes, that is correct, JOHN DEERE!

To her joy, a friend of hers is in a family that has owned a farm for the last 176 years and they allowed all of us to take pictures after the wedding at their place and next to my sisters pride and joy!

Now, by this time it was after 5 PM and my little ones had been awake since 8 AM.

They had gone through hair do's, pre wedding pictures, waiting for the wedding at 3 PM, After wedding pictures and now even more pictures all before dinner and the reception.

I thought all the little ones this day did an AWESOME job at hanging in there and being great troopers!

As you can tell, Liv looked a bit 'out there' and was overly ready for bed.

Luke on the other hand, couldn't wait to get his hands on the GINORMOUS tractor!

Here are just 4 out of 7 (for the time being) of the new nieces and nephews that Shanna has added to her family list.

I say 'for the time being' because in just a little less than a year, these little boys and girls will have 2 new siblings from Uganda.

I think they are pretty excited to be able to call Shanna their Aunt.

See, I told you Liv was barely hanging on.

Luke, however, was still going strong and STILL waiting ever so patiently to be able to jump on that tractor!

**side note: I think the guy in this pic is EXTREMELY ATTRACTIVE!!**

OK. moving on...

Finally!

The pictures of the Bride and Groom were done and it was now Luke's turn to enjoy this massive machine!

Aren't they so small in this thing?

It made Luke's day for sure!

We couldn't have asked for a better day for a wedding and outdoor pictures!

WEDDING DAY!

     My sis and her groom have now been married a week!

   Here are some rehearsal and wedding pics!

The bride waiting in her room and super excited to get everything started!

I thought she was just gorgeous!

There she is, acting silly while waiting!

And they lived

 HAPPILY EVER AFTER!

Everything was just gorgeous and perfect and I couldn't be happier for Shanna and Devan!

Thrilled they are now married but would love to watch this day all over again!