All I can do is say thank you....

Hello friends! This post is very over due!!

I wanted to take some time away from our very full and busy life to share our sweet little girl with you. I know many of you have probably wondered "what happened" to us and I apologize for that.. To put it honestly, I just haven't had any extra time to blog!! I've been so busy raising up my four beautiful children that writing just had to be pushed to the back burner for a little while. Also, we had an incident shortly after Emmaline was born where someone was stealing her pictures and posing our sweet girl as her own. That was really hard on me so I took some time to just enjoy my love and keep her to myself. I'm thankful that is behind me.

Since Emmaline has been born, everything has been great! She has been the sweetest addition to our family and has healed our hearts in ways we never imagined. There's not a day that goes by that I don't cry tears of joy over her. She is the sweetest blessing and she helps me so very much. I want to share our birth story with you.. and everything that has happened since and plan to do so in the upcoming posts. I'm going to do my best to catch you all up on the months since our sweet Em was born..

But first things first!!! Here is a picture of me holding my sweet love for the first time.
She absolutely took my breath away!

I held my baby girl in my arms on April 17th and have been in complete bliss ever since… The tears in my eyes are a complete testament to the Lords amazing mercy on our lives.. He truly gave us a special gift in giving us our sweet mercy girl. All I can do is thank Him over and over again for this sweet blessing!

Since that moment I first held her, so many fulfilling moments have taken place.

The boys became big brothers to a much prayed for "little sister."
Watching their sweet little faces meet her for the first time was something I'll never forget.

They are the best big brothers and have been so wonderful with their sweet little sis.

Introducing my daughter to my friends and family and honesty just getting to say her name every day has been beyond healing for me.

I'll share all about our Em's birth and our hospital stay in the next post. =)

Bringing home our bundle of pink has been so amazing.. Every day since there has been a new adventure, a new "first" and a new memory we've made.. Don't worry, I've documented and photographed all of it! =)

As soon as we got home, it was Easter the next day. I got to dress Emmaline up for her first Easter Sunday and it was so very special. My Mom came over to be a part of it and we were both in tears standing over her changing table, as I put my daughter in her very first dress. I can't explain to you the emotion I felt in my heart. My mom still buys me my Easter dress each year and I can't wait to do that for little Emmaline for years and years to come!!!

Here are a few pics of our sweet Easter blessing. She will always be our little "bunny."

Watching Rick hold Emmaline and sing to her absolutely melts my heart and gives my heart such a "whole" feeling again. He was meant to parent a little girl, he is absolutely amazing with her and I'm so thankful I get to experience seeing my sweet Husband with our daughter. I'll never forget him introducing her to her room… something we never got to do with Madeline. From that moment on, I knew everything we did would be an extra blessing because it would be something we only dreamed of with our sweet Maddie Grace. God has been so good.

Seeing Madeline in Emmaline's cheeks and little dimple chin makes me hopeful. And it reminds me that she is with us every single day; in the faces of my babies and in the chirps of every bird outside my window. I feel so much like Maddie is still a part of this family.. And having Emme just confirms that for me.

We've had quite a few photo sessions done since Emmaline has arrived and I'm loving it so much.  I love having beautiful family photographs together, oh how much joy it brings to my soul.. Seeing a little splash of pink along with Madeline's shoes now in our photographs... there are just no words for the way my heart soars during these moments..

Our boys are completely smitten over her. She gets many hugs and kisses all day long..
And I'm loving watching each of them interact with her and create bonds and relationships.
I've waited so very long for moments like these and each one brings me to tears!

Every day the Lord continues to heal and bless me.. Every day I am grateful.

Emma Mercy has been the perfect addition to our family and has truly made us all feel "whole and entire" again.

Every day Rick and I still say that we can't believe we have a little girl and we praise God for his blessings.

Every smile, every new face she makes, every day she grows a little more it is such a gift and we are beyond grateful.

Some days I just sit and hold her and smell her hair and kiss her cheeks. She is like a breath of Heaven sent strait for us from the Lord.  And from her big sister. =)

I now find myself just smiling all the time.. Full of the comfort of God's grace and mercy. He has been so very good in blessing us with this sweet gift. She fulfills us in ways we never imagined. She blesses us to the fullest.

She truly is a dream come true.

This little girl is proof that no mater how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, a dream that you wish will come true. <3

I'm so very grateful that the Lord has given us another sweet baby girl. And I never take one day with her for granted.. life is just to brief for that.. Maddie Grace taught me that.


So today, we will snuggle and she will nurse and we will continue to grow in love as an earthly family of 6. I'm so thankful for the beautiful blessing God has given us....


And as the song says..


All I can do is thank you for this life I never deserved...
Wanna thank you for the grace I know I don't have to earn.
You love me, you love me your mercy is proof.
All I can do, is say Thank you... All I can do is say thank you!


Thank you Lord for your everlasting grace and mercy on our lives. We are so grateful.


Much love,
Natalie

We just returned home from our first family vacation with Emmaline and we headed back to Disney World!!! I honestly can't wait to blog about it. I promise to catch you all up with our lives the last 6 months and I pray that now that winter is coming and we will be "In" a little more, I can do just that. Thank you for loving us and praying for us from afar. We love you all!

Meet Emmaline Mercy!!!

She's here!!!!! And we are completely in love!


Emmaline Mercy came into this world on Thursday, April 17th at 10:10 pm weighing in at 7 pounds 7 ounces and was 20 inches long. Holding her in our arms has been such a dream come true!! We feel so blessed by this precious gift the Lord has given us.. I plan to write more soon but have had my arms full of love. In the mean time, enjoy this beautiful videos of our sweet new girl.


Much Love,
Natalie


Just click on the link below.


https://www.dropbox.com/s/twutjwrdc85hrtg/em.wmv

A dream is a wish your heart makes....

My heart has been overwhelmed lately as I have had the wonderful opportunity of planning for and putting together a nursery for our sweet Emmaline.


It's still hard at moments to believe we are having another daughter, and I find myself quite emotional so much of the time thanking God for this precious gift.


As a mother of a little girl in Heaven, there are so many "earthly" moments I feel like I've missed out on with Madeline the last three years. And so much of what I dreamed of with her just never was able to come true.


Oh how thankful I am for second chances... =)


So as we have now prepared for baby girl number two, I find myself dreaming again.... a lot.


I can't help but do it, as I have always longed to do so many things with our daughter one day.. Even before I ever had a daughter, I dreamed of so many things...


Having tea parties.. Playing dress up.. Watching Disney movies and playing with baby dolls. Going shopping and getting pedicures and just being "girls"...


After 10 years of marriage and 8, 6 and 2 years of mothering little boys... It still doesn't seem real.


But it is!!!!!!!!!!! And TOMORROW, Thursday April the 17th... we will be meeting our sweet little girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


2 Christmas' ago, my sweet sister in law, Becky bought us a beautiful water globe for Maddie. They remember her every year at Christmas and always give us such sweet special gifts.


It was a Cinderella carriage with Maddie's name on it. It is so very special and I cherish it so much.
Then this year they got us another special snow globe.. It is a beautiful carousel and it plays the special precious song, "A dream is a wish your heart makes" from the movie Cinderella.


Becky pointed out the words to me... "No mater how your heart is grieving, if you keep believing, the dream that you wish will come true"


Whoa. How did I miss these words all those years of growing up watching, listening to and pretending to be Cinderella?


I suppose as a carefree child, grief just didn't relate to me.. but oh how it does now!


We put Madeline's Cinderella globe and carousel globe in my china cabinet with all her other special things and I peek at them from time to time, dreaming of what my little girl in Heaven is like... always with the same little song on my heart.. A dream is a wish your heart makes... I always find myself softly singing or humming it, dreaming and praying.. Thinking of Madeline, praying for Emmaline.


So, as we began preparing her nursery, I knew I wanted one of the little Cinderella quotes to be somewhere in her room.. After all, she is my princess just like her big sister and I feel like this is one way I can keep them both together..


So as I started planning and preparing what I wanted, something so special happened. At the end of the year work party for my Husband we received another VERY special gift... They had bought us a gift for baby Emmaline and presented it to us at Rick's work dinner.
And you won't believe what it was.... =)
The same Cinderella carriage, but this one had Emmaline's name on it!!! <3


I got chills as we opened it and I immediately felt the Lords arms around me.. Oh how he knows our hearts. Oh how many times I wished I could put Maddie Grace's snow globe on her dresser and play it and twirl around with my little girl.. and though I didn't with her, I truly believe I'll get that opportunity with Emma Mercy.. What a blessing!


Two little gifts, for my two little girls who will always be my princess'...
When we left his work party that night I reminded Rick of the same snow globe that had been given to us for Madeline. I just couldn't believe that this was a coincidence. God laid it on those sweet ladies hearts to get this for Emmaline just like he had laid it on Rick's sister's heart to get it for Madeline. It made me smile.. I just love when God does things like this for me to further confirm his plan.. It truly blesses my heart and gives me strength to move forward..


So now a little Cinderella carriage sits on Em's dresser underneath the words, A dream is a wish your heart makes...


Oh how special it is...


Read these precious words...


A Dream is a wish your heart makes, when your fast asleep.
In dreams you lose your heartaches, whatever you wish for, you keep.
Have faith in your dreams and someday, your rainbow will come smiling through.
No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing..
A dream that you wish will come true... ~Cinderella


Oh how I can relate to these words... The dreaming, the wishing, having faith, and the rainbows through the grief...


Emmaline is truly proof of that and I'm so thankful that the Lord is blessing us with her. She truly is a dream come true!


Please pray for us this Thursday as we will be welcoming our little girl into the world. Our arms can hardly wait to hold her, our hearts can hardly wait to meet her. She truly is a dream come true and a beautiful answer to a prayer from a God that is SO full of mercy! We are blessed!


Thank you for walking this journey with us. I feel so very grateful to have so many sweet friends I've met through this blog. We can't wait to share our little blessing with you.


Thank you!!
Much Love,
Natalie


Emma Mercy's room

For some reason the blog isn't letting  me load any more pictures... I'll try again soon. I can't wait to show you each detail to her sweet room and the beautiful snow globe.