mostest.

rylie is here! and things have been a little busy, to say the least. and through it all, i have been so concerned with making sure emma gets enough time, love & attention to ensure she does not feel replaced at all by her new baby sister. really, it's a self-inflicted anxiety. i have actually been missing emma over the last few days. i'm just craving time with her, and feeling a little wistful for the way things "used to be," although that is so entangled with joy for "the way things have become." emma is actually dealing wonderfully with this "little" transition. the love she has already for her sister is overwhelming. we are so thankful for it.

i will post, soon, about rylie's arrival and all that has happened over the last week, but i wanted to share this sweet moment. so i don't forget it. :)

this afternoon, i got to take a shower... my first since we've been home. {i know, it's gross, but it's the reality of being the mommy of a 5-day-old.} as i was finishing up, emma came in, just waking up from her nap and asked if she could join me. usually, this would be almost a burden for me, since i am admittedly a bit selfish of my shower time... it's one of the only blocks of time i get that belong solely to ME. but, today, i saw it as an opportunity to steal some one-on-one moments with my emma-girl.

and i'm so glad i did, because this precious conversation took place:

me: {kissing emma on the forehead} i love you, emma-bear.
emma: i love you too, mommy!
me: emma, do you know how much i love you?
emma: yes... i do.
me: you do? how much do i love you?
emma: mommy, you love me the mostest.
me: {tearing up beacause i'm so relieved she knows this & because i gave birth 5 days ago} that's right! i do love you the mostest! do you know why i love you the mostest?
emma: because you do, mommy. because you love me. because i'm your baby. and you always love me.

then she smiled at me the sweetest, most confident smile, gave me a big kiss, and went back to playing with her "ariel" doll in the water.

and that's all i can ask for. that she is sure of my love for her.

and it seems like she's got it down. :)

blessed.

we were so blessed last night to have beth of beth moore photography take some incredible family and maternity pictures for us! she is such a sweet heart, and obviously so talented.

these 6 pictures are just a sneak peek of what's to come... i am in LOVE!

this was emma's "excited face." classic.

could she BE any cuter?
by far my favorite picture of emma. 

ever.

baby rylie belly.

i heart this one.

j + s = baby r

our family of 4!

what do you think??

the best part is, beth is coming back within the first 10 days of little rylie's life to do a newborn session! i cannot wait... it'll be so neat to look back on these pictures - rylie is IN MY BELLY. 

and so soon, she'll be in my arms. 

:)

baby face.

again, i've been horrible about keeping up with this. i have so many blog posts rolling around in my head that i mean to write but then i never do because something else becomes a priority.

and i feel awful that the last several have had nothing to do with emma... she can't take the backseat already!!! rylie's not even HERE yet! :(

so, i'm really going to try and be better about blogging - however rylie will be gracing us with her presence within the next 2 weeks, so i may go on a bit of a hiatus for awhile... you know how those newborn days go... and if you don't know from experience, well... just trust me. ;)

so once again, here are some sonogram pics of our sweet rylie-girl. these pictures are absolutely amazing because you actually can see her face. i mean her real face. they are regular sono pics... it's just amazing!

the following pictures are from our sonogram on 05.05.10 - 33 weeks:

here, she was suckling and sticking out her tongue a lot... we caught her in mid-tongue-sticking! :)
(it does look a little like something from a horror movie; as if her jaw were unhinging...)

her cutie little foot - looks so much like emma's feet - long & wide :)

rylie's profile - looks like she has mommy's nose! :) and cute pouty lips...

our first look at her face. literally her face. we can see her eyelids, nose, chunky cheeks, beautiful lips and little heart-shaped chin. she looks like a little baby doll!

another look at her face... can you see her eyelashes? isn't that wild???

another profile picture - definitely mommy's nose. and apparently angelina jolie's lips... goodnight, baby girl!

i could look at her sweet face all day (soon, i'll be able to)! :) she has the fullest lips ever - daddy is SO in trouble!

this is one of my very favorite pictures... it's two different shots of her lips. you can see almost up her nose. in the left picture, you can see her eyes a bit too, in the shadows...
how gorgeous are her lips???



these next pictures were taken at my last sonogram on 05.26.10 - 36 weeks:

sweet profile - sucking her thumb!

another shot of her face

angel face

another profile.



that was probably our last look at our baby girl until she blesses us with her presence in this part of the world. we can't believe that's in only 2 weeks!!!

we think rylie will be just as big and strong as her sister - at 36 weeks they "measured" rylie to be around 6 lbs. 9 oz., which is exactly what they measured emma to be at 36 weeks!

emma was 7 lbs. 12 oz., which i know is almost 8 lbs.... but she was also 21.75 inches, which is SO long - so she was pretty long and skinny... so i'm not worried about having a big baby. :) i know i can do it!

we can't wait to meet our rylie-girl and introduce her to her big sister... who is going to be the best big sister ever, i'm sure! :)