A new little voice has arrived in Mary Sarah's life!
The Voice season 10 contestant, 25, welcomed her first child with boyfriend Mitch Clark, daughter Avalyn Mae Clark, on Wednesday, Jan. 6, in Nashville, her rep confirms exclusively to PEOPLE. The newborn weighed 6 lbs., 12 oz., and measured 18 inches long.
"We are just thanking the Lord for a perfectly healthy baby girl," the new mom tells PEOPLE. "We were blessed to have a truly incredible birth and now we are just taking in every moment as new parents! She is extremely observant and cuddly and we could not be more in love. She is our whole world. Thank you to everyone for all the love and prayers. We can't wait to share more of our journey with you all."
Mary Sarah also revealed how they chose the baby's moniker.
"Mitch and I are both big believers in the meaning behind a name. We had tossed around several ideas before having some interest in the names Addeline and Ava," she explains. "Mitch kind of put the two names together and said, 'What about Avalyn?' We sat on it for a couple of days and then went to check the meaning and found 'sound, voice, power, beautiful breath of life.' "
"We felt like that was a perfect fit for our girl," she adds. "The middle name Mae came from a list of things. My nickname is May, we found out I was pregnant in May. Mitch was a May baby, and the name Mae is in Mitch's side of the family."
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Mary Sarah and Clark, a singer-songwriter, announced her pregnancy in September. Sharing a series of black-and-white photos of the couple posing outdoors with their hands on her belly, the country singer wrote, "Come next year, #LaborDay will have two different meanings for me!"
"I am so excited to announce that Mitch and I will be welcoming this little bean (Swipe To See) into the world Jan. 2021!💗👶🏻," she added on her post, which also included ultrasound photos. "Gosh, it's been a hard secret to keep! We are beyond excited and cannot wait to finally get to share this journey with you guys!!!! Happy Labor Day Y'all! 😉🇺🇸🥳"
They revealed the baby would be a girl the following month, when Mary Sarah shared a gallery of snapshots from their sex reveal that showed the couple celebrating as a cloud of pink smoke and confetti enveloped them. "Thank you to everyone who helped to make this day the most magically joy filled day … we could not have asked for anything better to announce our BABY GIRL!!😌🎀," she wrote, in part.
"She is so loved by so many already and it just fills my heart to know that she is gonna be surrounded by the people God has blessed my life with," Mary Sarah continued. "And @iammitchclark, I love you so much. You are gonna be the best #GirlDad ever! (Aside from my dad of course 😉)"
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For one of her most recent Instagram posts, Mary Sarah shared an image of herself, her beau and their pup kneeling in front of their Christmas tree. The couple shared a kiss as the singer cradled her baby bump, which was topped with a silver bow.
"This year, I am extremely blessed that @iammitchclark and I are starting our own little family!" she captioned the post, in part, adding of their solo holiday amid the pandemic, "Hoping that next year we will all be back together!"
Before her appearance on The Voice (where she placed fifth, under the tutelage of Blake Shelton), Mary Sarah grew up performing with Kidz Bop at 12 years old and went on to record her album Bridges in 2014, which featured collaborations with huge names in country like Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and Vince Gill. Her first album, Crazy Good, dropped in 2010, and her latest offering, Dress Up This Town, was released in 2015.
Bridges was reissued by Time Life in November — "a powerful reminder that great country music and great country artists always stand the test of time, bringing joy to the generations who grew up with them and to those who have just discovered them for the very first time," according to a release.
She is also working on new original music, and recently teamed up with singer David Frizzell to record a 40th anniversary duet of "You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma," to be released later this year.
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