Be Still My Heart

Rylee Lane Howard is now 7 months old.  I can't believe how fast time is flying by us!  When she turned 6 months, we did a family session with Jamie Sapp Photography.  Jamie did an amazing job capturing our little family!!

I can't believe it has been over a year and a half since we said goodbye to our McKinley Grace.  McKinley is and will always be a part of our family and we wanted to include her in our family session.  Thank you Jamie, for capturing such a sweet moment!  This picture packs a lot of emotions for me. 

Here are a few more shots from the session...

A very, very special picture...

Wow... I have not posted in a really long time!  Needless to say, things get a little hectic with a new baby and you just can't find the time to do things that you use to.

Well first and foremost, I would like to introduce you to McKinley's little sister, Rylee Lane Howard.  She was born on November 30, 2012 at 11:56 pm.  She was 9 lbs 4 oz and 21 inches long.

Here is a more recent picture, taken yesterday.

She has brought us more joy than we could have ever imagined.  She has also brought a lot of healing to our souls.

The other reason I wanted to write a post on McKinley's blog was to show you a picture.  Most likely one of the sweetest picture I will ever see in my life.

To give you a bit of the background of it...  When McKinley was born, my parents and Matt's parents found these little white stuffed puppy dogs.  We wanted McKinley to have something to take with her.  It was placed with her in the bassinet in the hospital and also laid beside her in her casket.  We all got one for ourselves as well.

Last night Matt and I were at his parents house visiting and Rylee decided she wanted to fuss!  It was just one of those fussy times of the day. All I could hear was crying while preparing her bottle.  The next thing I hear was complete silence as Matt was walking into where I was to show me this picture.  Matt's mom was trying to console her and decided to show her McKinley's puppy.  I will let the picture do the rest of the talking...

I should add that yesterday, when this occurred, was McKinley's due date...

I will treasure this picture for as long as I live...