meet mackenzie

After waiting weeks and weeks for our newest family member, July 20 seemed like it was going to be the day! That morning Laura had some intense contractions that were close enough to get us to the hospital, only to have them slow down once we got there. We walked around the hospital for 30-45 minutes and then they had us go home for a bit.

We weren't at home for very long -- after a couple hours, Laura really started to feel the baby coming and we headed back into the hospital. We were right this time and they got Laura all set up and ready to go. And it wasn't long at the hospital -- just a few hours later -- before we got to meet...

...our beautiful little girl.

We got to snuggle her right away and admire her...

...while trying to decide what name we were going to give her. We finally decided on Mackenzie Dawn Taylor -- which was probably our favorite going in but we were very indecisive!

Mackenzie was very calm...

...and very sleepy.

She weighed 7 lbs 5 oz and measured 19.25 inches tall.

Did we mention she was sleepy?

After the birth and some tests, they moved us to a nicer, quieter room on the floor above for the rest of our stay at the hospital. Laura was doing great and so she took care of Mackenzie during the night..

...while Daddy went home to help with the kiddos. We were super lucky that Laura's mom had flown in the night before the baby came and she was able to watch them while we were at the hospital. They would have done great with Grandma but we thought they might like to wake up to Daddy being at home.

Our sleepy little Kenzie bug did well her first night.

Daddy and the kiddos and Grandma got to come visit in the morning.

Can you tell someone's excited to have a baby sister?

Evan was very sweet with Mackenzie. He kept saying "Hi, baby!"

Mackenzie got a special treat -- a hospital visit from Grandma Self...

...who also brought some beautiful flowers for Laura.

"Hi, baby! Baby said 'eh!'"

Mackenzie loves daddy snuggles.

First photo of our family of five!

We felt incredibly lucky to have Laura's mom here -- arriving just the night before ended up being perfect timing as she was able to watch the kids while we were at the hospital, but still get maximum baby granddaughter time out of her visit! We were a little worried if we had a late baby that she'd miss out on that.

Mama and baby were both doing great 24 hours after birth, so they said we were good to go!

Mackenzie got to ride home in the same carseat and car that both her siblings drove home in -- we were all excited about the start of this next chapter of our family history!