Introducing Karlena Anne Smith

On December 20th, 2010 at 11:03pm I heard the words that we were waiting for 9 months to hear....your daughter is here! What an amazing night and an amazing blessing!!

I wasn't sure if it was the "real deal" earlier in the evening and so when I finally did call Dominic to tell him he needed to come for sure I was worried that he might not make it on time.  They had TONS of snow again in Tyler and so he had a terrible drive to get to me. Thankfully my mom was with me and encouraged and supported me until he got there. 

It was a fast and tough labor and when Dominic walked in the door I just bawled. So very thankful he had made it in time!!

I only had to push for less than 15 minutes so that too was a blessing. Karlena was crying right away and I got to just have her on my chest as they checked her out. She was perfect and healthy - Praise the Lord!

She weighed 7lbs (our smallest baby yet!) and was 20in long. She has long fingers and toes and LOTS of soft brown hair. She has some of the same features as her brothers but looks so much leaner than they did!

She is a beauty and we are thrilled to have her as a part of our family. God has blessed us in so many ways and this Christmas will just be time of celebrating our Savior's birth that made our new blessing possible.

Thank you for all of your prayers throughout this season. We feel so blessed by our amazing family and friends and can't wait for you to meet our daughter in person!