2013 Bluebonnets

I'm always amazed at the beauty that blooms around this time every year! I have to say, it's worth living in Texas simply for the state flower...Gorgeous!! Although, I am bias since it's my favorite color! We couldn't resist snapping some recent shots of our family of 5! 

Oh how we adore our girls!! We love witnessing them grow every day and delight in seeing their similarities & differences! 
They are such a blessing and we are grateful to the 
Lord for His perfect design and  gift of life!

Ian Mader Family

Mama & her little ladies

Our three year old twin princesses

 They were quite distracted by all the pretties

 But sometimes the "distractions" make the cutest pictures

 Sweet Karis

 Spice-of-life Kelsie

 Kels being a ham for the cam!

 Kare's perfecting her curtsy, and notice her "glass slippers"

  Admiring His Majesty's handiwork!

 A little stroll...

 A little twirl...

 A little smelling of the flowers

 Poor Rilyn wasn't too thrilled to be out in the bright sun. 

That's why there aren't many shots of her. ;(

Always at peace when with their Dad 

 No better place to be

 Loving the beauty that the Lord lays out for us to enjoy! 

We praise Him for a great many things! 

HAPPY EASTER, Friends!

Dedication Sunday!

We had the privilege of dedicating our little jewel to the Lord at Grace Bible Church on February 10th along with our best friend's son, Rhyder. There are 7 weeks between our babies. 
It was a beautiful ceremony!

We feel so incredibly blessed by our three lovely ladies!

Proud big sisters!

Our beloved Ratliff's dedicating Rhyder Josiah

Deuteronomy 13:4 is Rilyn's dedication verse!

Dedication ring from Nana & Grandad. It has little hearts on it!

Our sweet Rilyn Kaylee!

Karis snuggles her baby sister!

Kelsie snuggles her baby! 

We love the Lord and are SO grateful for His goodness and blessings to us!! 

To God be the glory!!

Rilyn Kaylee Mader!!

Yes, nearly a month after our sweet baby girl is born and I am just now blogging about her arrival. For shame! Definitely not winning "Mama of the year" award! I must say, I have had little time for anything but eating, drinking & sleeping. Ian has done everything else! Love my Super Man!

I have absolutely fallen in love yet again! 

Rilyn's name is uniquely hers. It has no meaning or origin, and yet it describes her rarity & beauty; hence the reason we were calling her "our little jewel" before revealing. The only explanation I have of her first name is that it was God-given because it popped into my head one day and I couldn't forget about it. So I chose her first name and Ian chose her middle name! "Kaylee" has been a favorite & was chosen before "Rilyn" was.

Rilyn is a wonderful baby! A few things we've noticed so far is, our girl is feisty in a fun way! She is a noise maker...grunts, snorts, sighs, squeaks, coos. She has many facial expressions! She is constantly moving. She likes her arms out of a swaddle & up by her face all the time. She likes to sleep on her side. She likes to cuddle & eat. She only cries when hungry, dirty, or really sleepy. She always burps twice. She is not shy about passing bowel movements. She gets hiccups a lot. She likes to fall asleep to movement...put her in a sling & she's out in under 5 min.

I'm going to add pictures of her birth & caption them to tell her story!  

 She's here! Born at 12:19pm, 8 pounds, 20 inches!

 C-section went well. No complications this time!

 Eyes open moments after birth & meeting big sister Karis! 

 Meeting big sister Kelsie!

Watching intently from nursery window

 Our family of 5!

A lovely picture with Psalm139:14 on it that Aunt Amy had made for Rilyn!

 So thankful that our Oregon family got to be here for her birth!

 Lovingly held by Nana & Grandad! 

Our awesome McReynolds nephews! I just love these guys! 

 Trish came to meet baby & visit with us a while!

Derrick & Cherise brought Rhyder to meet his new girl-friend! 

 Pat was our amazing 81 year old nurse! She was so fun & spunky! 
She was Cherise's nurse too when Rhyder was born! Cool lady!

Amanda was Rilyn's nurse & she was incredible! 

She had a gift waiting for Rilyn before she was born!

 Bright-eyed beauty!

 We're home 2 days later!

Dad & his 3 lovelies

Mama's sweet bundle

 Karis & Kels joined Rilyn on the playmat 
the moment I laid her on it! Sweet sisters!

Our jewel! 

Ian was able to take the whole month of January off work, so we've been enjoying family time! We are beyond blessed & thankful to the Lord for His goodness!