Welcome, Baby Anabelle!

If you hadn’t guessed from total lack of blog posts, I had my baby! 🙂

Introducing Anabelle Lila!

Future Crafter 😉

Purple Baby Names

Did y’all know that I’m an absolute freak for purple? I love it! All of my girls have names related to the color purple. My first daughter’s name is Lydia, who is the bringer of purple cloth in the bible. My second daughter’s name is Violet- a little more obvious. Anabelle’s middle name is Lila, which means purple in many languages including Hungarian and Dutch. My husband says we should just name our next girl “Purple” and be done with it- lol!

Nearly Born in the Car!

Although I’d been having contractions all morning, they just weren’t regular enough to go into the hospital… and then my water broke and it was on! We called a neighbor to come sit with my other kids, and left asap, but my contractions were right on top of each other! The neighbor arrived at 12:07, and we had a 30 minute drive to the hospital ahead of us. Anabelle was born at 12:45!

Y'all know me- always taking pictures!

We recently moved from Virginia to South Carolina because my husband is pursuing a career change from IT Manager to Law Enforcement. He’s been at a live-in police academy for the past 3 weeks (it’s a 12 week academy, and he comes home on the weekends). He left immediately when we let him know my water broke, but he was an hour and a half away, so he missed the actual birth. Honestly, Anabelle was born so fast that he might have missed the birth even if he had been in town. Seriously, my mom almost missed the birth because she had to park the car. He was still there within an hour of her being born, and it was such a blessing to have him there! He had been sprayed with police-grade mace earlier that morning at the academy, but it had mostly worn off by the time the baby was born… thank goodness!

Post continues after this brief information about the Catholic Icing Monthly Membership


Monthly Liturgical Membership

Catholic Liturgical Monthly Membership

Perfect for families! Each month you gain access to printable activity pages, crafts, home altar pieces, and more.
 
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Having my husband gone has been so much harder than I had imagined. He truly is my other half. What a blessing that we are able to stay with my family until he graduates from the academy in July. I know I couldn’t be doing this without my mom’s help right now!

So here we all are- a family of 6!

No Catholic crafts today- sorry! It takes forever to make a blog post with a newborn around… but I will leave you with one more picture of my new baby daughter.  🙂

Comments

  1. She’s so adorable! Congratulations! I love the “purple” theme. (Maybe name your next daughter Lavendar!)

  2. Awww, so happy for you, CONGRATS!! What a story. My second was born less than 45 minutes after arriving at the hospital. We knew it would be soon, but not that soon. Looking for #3’s arrival in July, this post makes me so excited!!!!!

    • My 3rd was born a few hours after arriving at the hospital. It gets faster each time!

  3. She’s so pretty! Congratulations!

    I think it shows a great deal of good taste that you like purple so much, and yet don’t overburden your site theme with it. 😉

    • Lol! Well, this site would be purple, but I didn’t want it to look like it was always advent or lent on my site, so I decided that pink felt less “liturgical”.

  4. Beautiful! Those fast births are a blessing, especially when you make it to the hospital for baby to be born! Take it easy and don’t worry about posting crafts for a while…we can use your archives! 🙂

  5. Congratulations! She is just beautiful!

  6. Nicole B says

    Congrats!!!! How exciting!!!! Rest up, Mama; enjoy the newness of that little one and all the sibling love. Look forward to seeing more after some “babymoon” time:)

  7. Tracy Bua Smith says

    Beautiful and what a story! Congratulations! So happy for you! 🙂

  8. Rachel @ finding joy says

    LOVE!!!! Congratulations!!!! She is adorable!!!!
    Love you, my friend!
    Rachel

  9. LittleFamilyLife says

    Congratulations Lacy! She’s lovely!

  10. How wonderful! I like how you name the girls. My favorite color is purple too! Glad y’all are doing good.

  11. Congratulations! Almost ready for a home birth :o) Great job, mama! She’s beautiful.

  12. Oh congrats! Fast babies are the best… with my second I started labour at 6 a.m., arrived at the hospital at 11:40 and had her at 12:23. I also used a midwife so I was home by 7 p.m. for supper! Way better than the marathon with the other ones! She’s beautiful, and enjoy your babymoon!

  13. Lisa@SoundMindandSpirit says

    Congratulations! What a beautiful family!

  14. Holly@ThreeSidedWheel says

    Congratulations Lacy! Hope you are all doing well and you are getting plenty of rest! I completely understand almost having the baby in the car—My doctor joked after my son was born that I should just camp out in the hospital parking lot; we arrived at the hospital at 5:35AM and he made his entrance by 6:20– the doctor never made it!

  15. dweej {House Unseen} says

    Wow, wow, wow! Congratulations!!!!

    My hubby used to be a police officer, and I remember the day that they all got sprayed with tear gas, etc. during the academy. I swear we should have just thrown those clothes away! Good luck on this new adventure. Lots of hugs and prayers 🙂

  16. CONGRATS! She’s adorable!

  17. Beautiful! Thanks for sharing. Great photo to see everyone is loving the arrival of your new blessing!

  18. Kim @ Everything Etsy says

    Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so happy for you and your family. Your family photo is awesome and Anabelle is just precious. I’m so proud of you for handling it so well! I can’t imagine having a blog with a new baby…take your time posting and be nice to yourself. You deserve all the little breaks you can get, girl.

    Big hugs to you!

    ~Kim

  19. Precious! Congrats and enjoy this time, they grow so fast!!

  20. Congratulations Lacy! She is beautiful!

  21. Melissa Spence says

    She’s precious, congrats! I love purple too!

  22. Stephanie says

    Congratulations! You have a beautiful family. God bless you!

    I will be having our second son next Monday unless I go into labor sooner. While I am hoping for a fast labor, maybe not that fast!

  23. Congratulations! What a great story you will have to share with her someday!! I had #2 five minutes after checking into the hospital…love those fast births but sometimes….!

    • Crazy, isn’t it? They didn’t even get my last name until after she came out!

  24. Congratulations to you all!!! She is so beautiful! Welcome Anabelle Lila! 🙂 (Adorable name too!) I am having my 4th in a few weeks so… I hope that my husband makes it in time! haha! My babies come QUICK once my water breaks, but I’ve always had to have my water broken for me so we’re all prepared. Has yours broken before on your own like that or was this a first? So glad you are with family and have help, your family is beautiful!!! 🙂 God bless and congrats again!!! Rest and take it easy, I think we can all forgive you for taking a blog break for now. haha

  25. Alicia@through-my-is.blogspot.com says

    AWWWWWW!!!! She is beautiful! I love the name- and the purple theme! Congrats!!!!! 🙂

  26. Jennifer says

    Congratulations!! She is beautiful. What a lovely family you have. That is quite a birth story! is her middle name pronounced with a long or short i? Just curious, I’ve never heard the name before. Rest up and enjoy!

  27. Congratulations! Glad you made it to the hospital. I had my 3rd in the car – while the fast delivery was definitely a blessing and the best of all my labors, it is MUCH easier to have the baby in the hospital than on the road. 😉

  28. Congratulations, Lacy and family! Your baby is so precious and I love the purple names! Is your husband going to work in the same branch as mine? Not sure if you remember he is also in law enforcement.
    God bless you all!

    • I d remember you saying that! My dad is a cop- has been since I was 5, so I’m having serious deja vu here. 🙂

  29. Your birth storyis alot like my birth story. My contractions were irregular, and not too too painful. But they were painful enough so in the car we went. Kids were at a friends house (our best friends). I looked at the clock at 12:01 am I started to panic cause swoosh goes my water all over myself, then like you said IT WAS ON!!
    We are only 5 min. away from the hospital, but it was a long 5 min. Then just like you 45 min. later David was born!! Isn’t that the neatest thing! A big congradulations today to you from me from my heart!! She is just beautiful!!!! And congradulations to your hubby on the job change. I bet your kids are excited!! Now the great St. Michael will be his patron saint!! 😉 My hubby is training to become a machinist. We are soo glad. Well therre goes David! Gotta go! Sorry soo long!

    • I wish my contractions had given me better warning! And yes- very long car ride- lol!

  30. Melissa G. says

    Congratulations. Thanks for sharing the pictures. I was almost born on our front porch. My Dad had to pry my mother’s fingers off the porch railing to get her in the car to the hospital. I was crowning by the time they got there.

    I hope the rest of the time your husband is at the Police Academy goes by quickly for you. Blessings to you and your family.

  31. Sonja Campbell says

    Congrats Lacey on your beautiful daughter’s birth! I like the name Lila and I love the clor purple too! Especially lilac or lavender 🙂 Take it easy(as much as a mom with a newbie can!)and we’ll be here waiting for your next crafty idea. Very patiently 😉

  32. Love, love, love: the babies’ names, your “speedy delivery”, and your treasure of a husband! Congratulations “Catholic Icing”

  33. Congratulations! She is beautiful!

    I have an Anabelle too! same spelling, wonderful name. 🙂

  34. Stephanie says

    Congratulations on your new addition to the family! I really enjoy your blog, and am quite happy for you and your family.

  35. Beautiful baby! Gorgeous family! Congratulations!

  36. Judy Dudich says

    Blessings to you and your dear ones!
    Thank you for sharing a glimpse of sweet Anabelle Lila with us.
    “Name the next kid purple” is SO something MY husband would say, too!
    God bless your husband in his new career!
    So glad you and baby are healthy and doing well:)

  37. Lacy – Congrats! She is so beautiful! You are very blessed! My prayers are with you and your family!

  38. Sneaking out of lurking to say Congratulations! She’s so cute.
    God Bless.

  39. She is beautiful! Congratulations Lacy!

  40. Congrats! You all look wonderful! I love being a mama of 4! Life is full of joy!

  41. Jami @ An Oregon Cottage says

    What a cutie! Enjoy her, Lacy. 🙂

  42. Kris @ WUHS says

    She’s beautiful! Congratulations!

  43. Congratulatios!!!! Thank you for sharing pictures of you beautiful little girl, she is absolutely perfect 🙂 Your family looks just like mine, four little ones, no one sits still and someone wants to snuggle the baby 🙂
    Congratulations again, and try to rest!!!

  44. Christina says

    What a blessing. What a beautiful baby I am so happy for you. Lots of prayers to you and your family!!

  45. Praise God for your beautiful blessing. May God give you the grace to heal, rest, and enjoy your time with your dear husband.

    Pax Christi, lena

  46. Congratulations! What a blessing everything went so smoothly.

    But, just to clarify, purple in Dutch is paars. There is a shade of purple called lila, in which the ‘i’ is pronounced as the first ‘e’ in evening.

  47. Congrat! 🙂 God bless!
    Janka from Hungary 😉

  48. Patricia says

    How beautiful! What a blessing! Congratulations, I am so so very happy for you and your growing family! May God Bless you always.

  49. Congrats, Kins! She is so cute and I just love the names you pick for your kids! I also love the way you talk about Mark (then again, I’m a bit mushy about marriage these days :P). Can’t wait to see more pictures!

    • Congrats to you, too! Marriage is awesome, it only gets better. I’ve been so sad since Mark left and my mom keeps saying “My goodness! You’ve been married almost 8 years now- shouldn’t you be over this?” but no. 🙂

  50. Congratulations and God bless you and you new little miracle!

  51. Christine says

    Congrats on another little lady! My favorite color is a hybrid of purple and blue-periwinkle. Sounds more like a middle than a first name though.

  52. mare ball says

    What a beautiful family! Congrats to all of you. Such sweet “purple-y” girls. Enjoy your time off, there’s always time to blog later! God bless you all!

  53. Congratulations! What a beautiful blessing of life! I love purple too but didn’t think to name any of my 4 daughters with the color in mind. I especially love purple because of it’s liturgical significance… anyway, hope you are able to get some rest and enjoy that precious new baby!

  54. Congrats! Beautiful baby and a beautiful family! I had just became a follower of your blog and didn’t realize that you were expecting. I was wondering where all the cute posts were! Now I know! Congrats again!!!

  55. Congratulations! What a beautiful family. Welcome to the world, Annabelle, and welcome, Lacy, to the greater police family!

    • It seems that I can’t escape the police family thing. My dad has been a cop since I was 5. I thought I married a computer nerd, but apparently, no. Lol! 😉

  56. Jennifer Ramirez says

    Congratulations. God bless your beautiful family! She is sooooo sweet!!! I love the name Purple, I say go for it :).

    Jennifer

  57. Have just started following your blog….what an absolutely beautiful baby! She is precious beyond words. Your family photo is so sweet. Congratulations to all of you! And God’s richest blessings–

  58. Congratulations! Enjoy hugging and kissing her and don’t worry about posting!

  59. Gardenia says

    beautiful and lovely. love the name. love purple. she’s be crafting with her siblings before you know it!! congratulations and many blessings!!

  60. Teresa Arsenault says

    Congratulations Lacy. Your darling Annabelle is a wee beauty. What a lovely family you have. Children truly are a blessing from the Lord. Our dear friends have 5 children aged 5 and under; each one is a treasure and a blessing.
    Blessings,
    Teresa

  61. Congratulations, Lacy! A beautiful family!

  62. Susana of Montessori Candy says

    Congratulations Lacy and family! What a wonderful blessing God has given you! Thanks be to God you have family helping you, I know it can be a lot to adjust to at first 🙂 We have had our children 2 years or less apart, so I know it can require lot’s of love and patience 🙂 I will keep you and the family in my prayers dear Lacy! Enjoy this time as much as you can. God Bless!
    -Susana

  63. Congratulations Lacy and your hubby too! What a blessing that you were able to make it to the hospital in time, that a neighbor was able to watch your children and your mom could take you! So happy to hear that your hubby was able to get there too.! May God’s light continue to shine about you all and cover your sweet family with his love, goodness and his graces!

  64. Congratulations!!!!!! Anabelle is beautiful! Glad you are all doing well. Enjoy your newest little blessing 🙂

  65. Corrie Wagenaar says

    Dear mrs,

    I only knew your site for a few weeks. I realy love your nice crafts and used them already in children church here in Holland (The Hague). The children and people in church were very enthousiastic wiht the nice crafts.
    I am working on the gynaecology department in our hospital, so I’am always interested in deliveries. Very nice to hear everything went right. It is a blessing if your child is healty born. We wish you all the luck with your big family. God bless you. (In Holland most deliveries are at home – I did it once in hospital and twice at home- and that’s realy not that bed, reading all the carevents.)
    Kind regards

  66. Congratulations! You have such a beautiful family!
    And I love the name Anabelle. That is my oldest daughter’s name (even spelled the same way) and I have never seen anyone else spell it that way before.

    • Really? I was trying to spell it “normal”. Lol. Just thought double n’s and double l’s would be too much. 🙂

  67. Congrats! So happy for you!!

  68. Adrianne says

    Congrats Lacy!!! She is beautiful!!!

  69. Oh boy, you’ve got me nervous, hehe. I am 38 weeks pregnant and having lots of random contractions tonight, lol. My last birth was awfully quick! Anyway, she is a beauty, congratulations!

  70. She is BEAUTIFUL! Congrats to your whole, very young family. 🙂
    My 1st birth was super fast, 3 hours start to finsh and was at the hospital only about a 1/2 hour before my son was born. Number 2 was at home with a midwife and it was 5 hours. Number 3 came 15 minutes after I called the midwife, needless to say she didn’t make it for the birth but my husband did a great job. 🙂
    I have a son studying to be a police officer. He was sprayed with the strongest pepper spray there is and it burnt the skin around his eyes. It took him about 48 hours to recover. Two of his classmates ended up in the ER several hours after being sprayed, they just couldn’t take it.
    People don’t know what many police officers go through in training.
    Take care of your new princess and don’t worry about blogging or crafts for a little while.

    • So true about police officers! They had medics there when everyone was sprayed. Some of them did have some trouble breathing etc. So glad my husband had recovered so he could drive!

  71. Jennifer says

    Congratulations!!! What a beautiful family!! I’m glad I’m not the only one who has a hard time getting things done with a newborn in the house. That is a beautiful name.

  72. Congratulations on another beautiful blessing!! My best friend had babies in the car en route to the hospital twice before finally giving in and having home births (which I highly recommend!).

  73. She’s a beauty! Congratulations!

  74. kimberlee says

    Congratulations, Lacy and family! She’s beautiful! Enjoy a blessed, blissful babymoon. Deo Gratias!

    • Thanks, Kimberlee! Hoping to participate in this year’s Marian ATC swap- we’ll see! 🙂

  75. Congrats on your new cutie! Your family is the same as mine now 🙂

  76. Lacy, your family is so beautiful!! Congratulations on your new baby girl!! I am glad everything went well for you and the baby. May God bless you!!

  77. Oh my goodness! She is lovely! May God hold little Anabelle, her special mommy, and her entire beautiful family, in the palm of His hand always! Welcome to our world little cupcake!! 🙂

  78. Jennifer @ Crafolic says

    Congratulations! She’s beautiful!! You and your husband have a house filled with blessings!

    Ya know, it must be something about the contractions you get with a 4th baby! When I was contracting with my 4th baby I wasn’t worried ether. They were much like you described . I decided to go to the doctor and I even drove myself. (Not the smartest thing I’ve ever done!) Well, the doctor discovered I was 9 cm and he was coming :-O…….emergency drive to the hospital!! Thankfully my water didn’t brake till I got to the hospital.

    I’m very glad it all worked out for you and your sweet little saint! May God bless you and your wonderful family.

    • That’s crazy! I guess I will try and take the contractions more seriously next time! (Can I say “next time” on here? Everyone in my real life keeps looking at me like I’m crazy and asking if I’m finished yet, but the Catholic Icing crowd knows better… right?) 😉

  79. Stephanie Rubio says

    Congratulations! She is beautiful. My baby Annabelle will be 11 this summer. Time sure flies. I like the purple name business. It’s neat that the girls all have that link. Good luck to your husband with the career switch. My husband made that switch just before we were married. He spent 4 of the first 6 months we were married at the academy and I lived on the other side of the country at the time. Our baby Annabelle arrived just about nine months after he came back home. Go figure! 🙂

    • Great story! At least I don’t live on the other side of the country from him. That would be so hard!

  80. Veronica Maria Jarski says

    (((((((((((((((((((((hugs))))))))))))))))))))))))

    Congratulations, sweetie pie! Love the story, love the names, love the whole sharing of it. Thanks for letting us know what’s been going on.

    If we lived closer, I’d hop on over with some homemade yummies, so you didn’t have to cook for a bit! Instead, virtual hugs it is. ((((((((((((((Hugs)))))))))))))))))))))))

    Take care… and I’m keeping your family in happy prayer.

  81. Lisa Bonocore says

    Congrats and God Bless! My third’s birth, my only girl, was similar. Hubby went into lobby to tell my mom I’d have the baby by the am (it was 11:00 pm and we just got there) and when he came up three minutes later, she was already here! We had a 25 min drive. Had I had her in the car, my husband may have been in ICU! Ha,ha!

  82. Congrats Lacy! She is so beautiful! I also love the name…my oldest daughter is Annabelle! I also love your purple theme witht the names. Lila is a cute middle name. We also have one boy and 3 girls but now currently pregnant with our 5th which will be a surprise (hoping a boy but as long as he or she is healthy) God Bless all of you! P.S. I have been using your curriculum book this year with my younger two chidlren. I love it because it is easy to follow and easy for the kids and the crafts are ready in a jiffy with all your ideas. 🙂

  83. Beautiful news about your beautiful family! Fast deliveries are crazy and wonderful… Our last was 45 min. start to finish. Thankfully I had a home birth planned with a midwife. But I couldn’t even get up the stairs to my nicely planned out “birthing room” or she would have been born en route. Nope, came right in the living room. I am pregnant with #4 and still hope for a quick birth but secretly want it a bit longer, maybe enough time to get in a warm bath? No time to get to a hospital that’s for sure! A highway birth does not sound like fun 🙂 May Our Lord continue to bless and keep your beautiful family. He has certainly blest your family with a wonderful mom and wife!

  84. Congratulations to the whole family! Proud dad, happy older siblings and wonderful mum!
    Welcome to the world, Annabelle!
    Now the adventure begins for you, cutie! God bless you all