Tuesday, August 28, 2012

it's another little girl.

the big news. we will welcome another little girl this coming january.
here she is a bit smashed...but she is perfect to us.


we sat holding hands real tight as the ultrasound technician took what seemed like hundreds of little measurements and photos. she kept saying..."oh, beautiful. right on. good job. looks great." to which there are no words for what those words did to our hearts. we could breathe. she is fine and she is healthy and she is ours. something we do not take for granted. not even a little bit what an incredible miracle all of this is. when we saw her little profile and her ankles crossed we knew it was a girl...ava crossed her ankles when she was a baby, too. when she officially announced it was a girl...i wept. a boy would have been the best but in our heart we knew it was a girl. in a second i could envision our family and what ava would be like and that it will probably be hard b/c girls can be a pain for sure. mostly i cried because we are here. i am 20 weeks pregnant with a healthy little girl. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!? this is real. this is life. i did not know if my body would ever be healthy and strong enough to grow a little human. but it is. God is good. this is incredible. i realize i have been pregnant for a while now and you would think the joy and emotion would already have sunk in...but clearly not. seeing her little hands and feet and how she likes her hands real close to her face...is nothing short of one of the most amazing things i have ever seen. she is a she not an it or a baby...but our daughter. almost exactly two years ago to date i sat in a chair wondering if i would see ava grow up or grow old with justin and in two short years i am healthy, with a little girl on the way, and my hair is to my shoulders. who would have thought? but i love it. i love that time heals. i love that in one second everything seems to change forever and then you realize that in the midst of all the ways it changed us...we are making it and our story will not define us but simply add to our character, our heart, our strength, our life, our family, and how this little girl...she signifies victory. ava gave me purpose to fight and this little girl has given me hope. hope of a full and more complete life than i ever imagined. today my heart is bursting with thankfulness.

***

we want to tell ava together that she is going to have a sister so we are waiting for tonight when justin is home from work. i may even video tape it. so if she does something real cute or even if she does not we will have it recorded. instead we celebrated with lunch at the park even though ava had no idea what we were celebrating.



she is constantly on a bug hunt. today it was butterflies.


thankful for technology because we feel so many of you celebrating this joy alongside us.

19 comments:

  1. Love your littles with all your heart because time has a way of flying by. from a mama of 2 grown-up girls ~

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  2. Congratulations to you! Super exciting!!

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  3. I am so so so so so happy and excited for you guys!!! :)

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  4. JOY beyond words ... then again, two words: "Answered Prayers"

    Blessings, friends.

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  5. Wonderful news!!! Wow, you are already half-way there!!!!!

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  6. Libby and Justin, I am soooo happy for you guys. You know I feel the same way, you can NEVER EVER take a healthy baby for granted. Ava will be such a good big sister. Today is a special day for our family too. We will all be celebrating tonight!!

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  7. CONGRATULATIONS! Just think....we sent our two sweet little girls off to JMU to be with the Ryders. Blessed by you, your family and the way you choose to live life. Do try to videotape. Thanks for sharing.

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  8. Congratulations you guys :) It is so incredible how amazing the lord is!! Can't wait to see little Ava's reaction :)

    Meg

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  9. Libby, I have tears rolling down my cheeks right now as I read this. I am so happy for you and your family. I never get tired of hearing about the miracles that God gives us. Its amazing how he can take the most horrendous situation and make it absolutely beautiful. I know that having cancer was awful but do you think that this experience would be as profound if you hadn't ever been sick? We are so happy for you. The Heatherington's

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  10. Congratulations Libby and Justin on the wonderful news that you are going to have another beautiful daughter and congratulations to Ava that she will have a darling little sister to love. xo

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  11. I am so happy for you Libby. Two little girls! They will grow up so close/ God is so good. The c word took our young son. It took me awhile but I now KNOW that it was all for the glory of GOD! You had more work to do here. The way you tell your story and the way you praise God is beautiful. How exciting for you. Big hugs coming your way!
    Cathy.
    P.S...Your baby bump is adorable!

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  12. YAAAY! This is so exciting. Sisters! We are thrilled for you guys. Hope to see you guys this fall!
    Love to you all!
    Stacey

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  13. CONGRATULATIONS! I am so happy for you and the miracle of this new baby. God is good and it is truly amazing how our bodies can work. I'm sure Ava will be thrilled to have a little sister. I always read and don't often comment but your blog is so inspiring and this post brought tears to my eyes so I couldn't not wish you well.

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  14. Congratulations! I am so incredibly happy for your sweet family.

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  15. praising God for this miracle of life! what a joyous and wonderful time.

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  16. Congrats!!!! Very happy for you :)

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  17. I have been so out of touch on the blog world recently and its been months since I have been able to read your posts :( But today I got on to read and read this and got tears!!! I am so happy for you. What a blessing! And boy do you deserve it! So excited for Ava to have a baby sister, I think she will be a great big sis to her! Congratulations to you and your family!!! :)

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