Kiva Victorie!!!!

Kiva is here! We are blessed! Just look at her! Today was a magnificent day and an exhausting day...

I would love to write all of the amazingly sweet and powerful things that we experienced with the Lord today, but for now, you get the facts...that is until I have a little more energy!

Kiva is beautiful. Really. She has light brown hair, deep blue eyes, is 5 lbs 15 oz and is 19 1/4 inches long. She is perfect with her sweet tiny feet and hands and we could just stare at her all day!

Labor was a gift too...I labored for 4 hours and it was so so tough, but God was so kind in letting me have a natural birth quickly! Our good friend, Nanci, is a midwife and was so key in the labor and delivery. Contractions were tough, I only had to push three times, but boy was that hard :)

Brian, my mom and his mom were all a part of the laboring too and I was so grateful for all of their love and prayers in those moments!

Jada came up to the hospital with all of our parents this afternoon and that was a really special time too. She climbed into bed with me and Kiva and was literally giddy. One of the sweetest moments was when Jada sang a song for Kiva "From the rising of the sun, to the going down of the same, the name of the Lord shall be praised"... just smiling and staring right at Kiva the whole time. I wept such happy tears. My two daughters in bed with me...what a gift!!!

We are about to go to sleep after a very eventful day, praising God for the gift of life! Enjoy the photos and we will write more later with more fun pics!...AND THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR PRAYERS FOR US!!!

fall festval and rest!

We went to the fall festival in downtown Bryan on Saturday...it was a full day of fun, Jada had a blast and we also were able to see the dancers perform which Jada could have watched forever :) Here she is in the bounce castle, the race car, obstacle course and painting a van. We had a great time! The downside was that I have been "overdoing" it a bit and my blood pressure is a bit low...so I am resting while MiMi takes care of me and Jada! Actually Mike and my mom came over and did so much around our house with Brian while entertaining Jada...I am so grateful!

As for me...other than two episodes of my heart feeling like it was going to beat out of my chest, I am feeling great and Kiva is moving around wonderfully. We get to meet her in TWO DAYS!!!!

normal people do this kind of thing...

Tonight is an absolutely beautiful night here! Brian and I were officially putting off all sorts of stuff that we need to get done around the house so that we could enjoy eachother's company and enjoy the evening. So...about 9:00 we decided to make hot chocolate and go outside with the fresh crisp air and just talk. We took two lawn chairs into our front yard. That's right, our front yard. As we were sitting there enjoying the moon and stars we got a good laugh as we realized together:

Normal people do this kind of thing in their BACK YARD!

Not us...see, our back yard has a massive hole in it with crumbled up cement and lots of clay. There are remains of what used to be our pool in different areas and somehow the hole collects nasty rainwater. Yep, it is nasty and grose and if we had extra thousands of dollars we would totally have a normal backyard...with land and grass...but until that extra money comes in, we are working in stages. Most days I ignore it...sometimes I get pretty sad, irritated and totally frustrated...and sometimes I get a good laugh out of it...today was one of those days.

We were totally happy in our front yard. Strange as we looked, we are so thankful to be together and talking about all sorts of stuff, including the fact that this time next week we will have TWO precious daughters asleep inside. We are blessed...and a bit ghetto too!

Kiva's room and Jada fun!

Here is an update on Kiva's room...we are still waiting on the wall words to come in, but I am excited! Brian is not on-call this weekend so we will get some fun family time just with Jada! I thought I would add a little pic of Jada in the car...random, but she is just so darn sweet!

Kiva is coming...and Phi Lamb Retreat!

First things first...KIVA IS COMING OCTOBER 28th!!! We are inducing Wednesday unless she decides to come earlier. We are super excited!

And this weekend I was able to be the speaker at the Phi Lamb retreat. It was a really sweet time with the girls. I shared my "story" and then two other talks. So many things going on with them and it was truly neat to see how the Lord really touched them in their own unique ways. In true college fashion, I was there last night until after 1 am and back there this morning at 7:30 :) So, my body is feeling it! But thankfully I was able to sleep some today (thanks to Brian and MiMi).

You know, any opportunity that I have to share how good, kind, generous and redeeming the Lord has been in my life I am just reminded once again how much I have been given. Last night, being there with some of my sweet friends, Ashley, Bernie and Donna was also fun for me to feel God's love for me in tangible ways. It is one thing to KNOW that we are loved by God, and it is something even sweeter to FEEL loved by Him...and it was humbling to feel that love in super tangible ways through those friends! When I share myself with the girls, it is a vulnerable spot for sure...and it was nice to feel supported in the moment and by your prayers as well!!! Thanks!

I will update the blog with Kiva's room pics later this week...it is so fun!!!

kiva's room...coming along

I am really getting excited about Kiva's room!!! My mom finished Kiva's bedding which is AMAZING!!! I love it. I can't say how great it really is...you just have to see it! And my friend Whitney, an amazing artist, painted the most wonderful butterfly on her wall this morning! I am ordering a scripture (some wall letters) to go on the wall whimsically around and beside the butterfly. I am super excited. The walls are bare now, the curtains need to be hung and the lamp shade finished...but if Kiva decided to come tonight, she would be cozy :)

whitney hard at work!

the finished product...so far!
isn't it great???

Jada and Sera entertaining themselves with the drum

here we are...

The last week has held a lot of things for us...I will attempt to post a bit about life for the Lee's. I will begin with our year memory of Mia and end with Kiva's coming plans :) with all sorts of things in between...

Last Saturday was October 3rd, one year after we had lost our Mia. Brian and I truly had a peaceful day. It was raining here. Something was actually quite nice about the rain. We wanted to take Jada out to the cemetery and release some pink balloons then go play at the park. Instead, Jada stayed in the car and watched a movie while Brian and I both took umbrellas and stood out by her headstone. As we sloshed through the muddy ground and totally drenched our legs, we cried/no wept as we just stood there for a while. Then Brian read the letter that He wrote to Mia and read at her funeral. It was beautiful. As Brian was reading I was staring at a pink lily that one of our good friends brought by. The lily was magnificent as it held the rain drops on it's petals...almost unwilling to let the water fall off. I was thinking about the rain and what I had recently read about the wonder of rain and how majestic, powerful and miraculous God is in rain...and how He is that way in our lives. He is the Lily of the Valley that sends rain and holds our tears dearly, not willing to let one tear fall without holding it. And He so understands!!! Hebrews 5:7 & 8..."During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered.."

We were glad to remember Mia and we had to leave her grave b/c I have to go the bathroom so frequently in the pregnancy :) ....which was another reminder of God's kindness towards us!

We were also able to go through Mia's trunk when we got home. As we read through letters and emails, held onto the same blanket that Mia was wrapped in, looked at her sonogram pictures...we ached in the reality of our loss but were once again overwhelmed with how much we were loved and carried through that terribly hard time! Scriptures, songs, poems, thoughts, and personal stories once again touched both Brian and I in ways that we will truly never forget! The body of Christ that loves us is truly Christ's body that gave us comfort this weekend and a year ago.

And Jada and I have been preparing Kiva's room for her! I unpack boxes of baby toys and clothes and Jada plays in them :) It has been fun...and crazy how time flies...wasn't Jada just wearing and using all of these baby things?

I added this pic b/c Jada decided that all of these stuffed animals and babies needed to ride in Kiva's carrier :)

and our three year old jada playing in a bumbo :)

And our sweet Kiva!!! She is getting ready to be here in some serious ways. Some of you commented on how low I am carrying, and yes, I am...she dropped even more about three weeks ago. So, at this weeks' appointment, after the ultrasound and dilation check (so fun :)~) my doc recommended we induce late October!!! What??? You mean less than three weeks away? Yep! I am really wanting to have her naturally (w/o an epidural) but I totally want to induce too...so here we go! I will let you all know the date when we decide for sure...but we are on high speed finishing Kiva's room and the other to-do's that I thought would be nice to have done. However, we are ready for her to be here, in our arms asap...whether or not the cute curtain rod and hooks are bought yet!!!

I think I want to make sure and say something to close: This time last year we were literally being carried by you all, our church family near and far and our family...you grieved with us so well. This year we really want you to know that we celebrate Kiva even more because of the ways you have already celebrated and encouraged us with her life! THANK YOU!