Having a baby is the most amazing, emotional, magical, beautiful thing in the world. I find the feeling hard to describe. Those of you who have kids know what I’m talking about. For me, it was two of the most special moments in my life. Ones I will never forget. But as beautiful and amazing at those two moments were, nothing compares to experiencing my girls meet for the first time.

When I announced my pregnancy with Isla, I talked about our loss and how I mourned not having children closer in age. It was sad losing a baby, but Ada losing a sibling hurt more. When we got pregnant again, it put our kids at 3 year age gap. At first, I was so sad about this. I thought I wanted a two year gap. As the pregnancy progressed, I discovered that for me, at this stage in my life, 3 years is the perfect amount of time.

My favorite part was how involved Ada could be with the pregnancy! She was SO excited to meet “baby sister”. Every night before bed, she’d run to her side table, kiss a picture of her kissing my belly and say “I love you baby sister”. The bond that developed while Isla was still inside was nothing short of beautiful.

For months I dreamed of the moment my girls would meet. What Ada would do, what she would say, the smile she’d get on her face. Would she love her as much on the outside too? It was a moment I dreamt about with such anticipation. Kyle and I actually chose not to send out any pictures of Isla until Ada met her. We wanted her first experience with Isla to be in person, and we wanted to be the ones to experience it with her.

Leading up to this moment we did lots of prep on our end and with Ada. She’s a child who requires lots of notice with new things and how they’re going to happen. We talked to her about the hospital, about her special outfit, how CC (Carter) would be taking pictures and we’d have someone there filming it too…and for Ada it all went down so smoothly, with only one little hiccup of having to convince her to wear her big sister shirt, but that’s pretty standard around here.

When Kyle headed down to the lobby to meet Ada, I sat in the chair holding Isla and trying to hold back the tears. Carter sat with me, trying to help me hold it together. With every noise outside the door, we jumped. Was this it? Was Ada about to meet her sister? We sat for what seemed like an eternity. And then, we heard her giggle and her little footsteps. The door squeaked open, Ada peeked her head around the curtain and her eyes lit up with only what can be described as pure joy. I pulled her up onto my lap and watched as my little girl became a big sister.

I’ll never forget her trying to figure out her name and calling her “baby Island. Or how she squealed “baby sister’s out of your tummy. You can hold me now!” But the main thing I’ll never forget is how from the second she met Isla, she wanted to smother her with love. And I literally mean smother. We say give her space more than we care to around here, but honestly as annoyed as Isla probably gets having Ada in her face, she’s one lucky little girl. Nothing is more beautiful than the bond between sisters. I pray they remain this close and grow up to be inseparable best friends. That together they move mountains.

I love these two little girls with every fiber of my being, and tell them every single day how proud I am to be their mama.

These pictures, this video are the most special possessions I have now.

Carter, thank you for capturing these moments for me. They are priceless treasures. I can’t wait to return the favor in a few short months!

Phil, Lucy, Katie, Anna, the whole Twenty-One Films team, we can’t thank you enough for this truly beautiful and moving documentary of our girls meeting. You have once again proved to us the importance of video. Photos can’t capture the adorableness that is Ada thinking Isla’s going to wake up and talk to her any second, or the way she smiled when we first held you. We are so blessed to call you all friends!