Sharing the News

First, thank you for all your sweet messages of congratulations to us! We are excited about our newest littlest blessing, and we look very forward to seeing what God has in store for us with this little one!

Many of you read my sisters blogs, but if you haven't already seen Cassie's, here is a funny picture she put on her blog to announce our news. I love our little photo-shop baby. Little did I know that I was posing perfectly for holding a fourth when we took this Christmas card picture in December!

Also, this next picture is one of a few on my screen saver at home. It's from mid-2007 after Abby Kate was born. It caught my eye the other day and I just started laughing as I looked at how "foreshadowing" it was. Notice the tiny bitty baby doll peeking its head out from behind Kendyll? It was pretty funny when I saw it.

Okay, on to the point of this blog!

Last weekend, we had the absolute pleasure of telling our girls the big news. This was a big deal to me and I wanted to make it a memorable occasion for them. I still remember every detail of when my parents told me that baby Cailee was on her way....and it was neat to realize that the two older ones will remember so much of this baby's birth and my pregnancy.

So, it was fun to plan an exciting way to tell the girls! After we had the sonogram and knew that this baby was healthy and happy so far, I started preparing the baskets....Big Sister Baby Kits for each girl.

In the baskets were baby diapers, wipes, baby bath, and many other "baby care" items. I also added a "big sister brag book" with a sonogram picture inside, and a new "Big Sister" tshirt (thanks to my talented shirt-designer, Cassie!).

We told the girls we had fun new shirts for them to wear out to dinner, and Kendyll guessed right away that they were "Daddy's Girls" shirts. Which I thought was a pretty good guess! So, they got dressed in white t-shirts to wait for their new shirt...even this simple idea made them VERY excited!

They had to hide their eyes while the surprise was prepared...

It was such a LOOOONG time to have to wait!!

The big reveal...but no one "got it" quite yet (which I expected). They thought they were for their baby dolls. Abby Kate dumped hers quickly, saying "babies, babies!!" She was excited to have her own diapers. :)

Kendyll still shows her excitement over her shirt that said "I'm the Big Sister!". However, since she's already a big sister, she didn't think much of it and definitely didn't clue in that this was a new thing for her.

So, then, I had her read Abby Kate's shirt. Now, that really confused them. "BIG sister?" they asked.

Next I had them look in their brag books at the sonogram picture. DING! The lightbulb went on for Kendyll and pure excitement followed.

Carlie looks around wondering what is happening. Kendyll explains the news and this is the first face we got from her...as she said "You've got to be kidding me!" It was pretty funny.

But, it didn't take long for her to get excited too, as she already started telling me all the ways she would help with the new baby.They both just kept yelling things like " I can't BELIEVE it!" "We're having a baby!" "Mommy has a baby in her TUMMY!!" and Kendyll even said "Mom, I'm so ASTONISHED!" It was so sweet to watch their joy grow as they continued to process this news. We saw faces like this all night long...

Next, was congratulations time for Daddy.

Here are three giddy girls and one very giddy Daddy. :)

This is when it really hit me (yet again!)...Abby Kate had a BIG sister shirt on. What?!

My favorite picture of the night. The re-enactment of their surprise faces. So cute!!

And, last, a "Big sister" group picture with Mommy and her tiny baby before we left for a celebration dinner at Outback (where Kendyll proceeded to tell practically the whole restaurant about our news. :)

This tiny baby has had thousands of kisses already....many, many sweet prayers from his/her sisters....and countless conversations about who he/she will be, what he/she will look like, and what his/her name should be.

This night was one of those "mommy memories" I want to hold onto forever. It has been so much fun to share this with them, and we continue to pray for a healthy pregnancy and healthy baby to join our family in November. :) Thank you all for your prayers as well!