We Are Having a Baby!!!

We are having a baby! I am still in shock even writing these words!! Dan and I couldn’t be happier to be welcoming a little one into our lives and beginning our family. We can’t wait to meet our little squishy nugget (I’m just sure he or she will be squishy!) The Lord’s hand and direction has been so prevalent over every twist and turn throughout my life and He feels so near and so kind to us in this new season. 

I will be 18 weeks on Monday and it honestly feels like it’s just setting in. The last few months of carrying this little one have been such a precious gift. We really didn’t know what to expect out of pregnancy with all of my normal GI symptoms but it has been easier than I ever could have imagined (all by the Lord’s grace!). I’m actually throwing up fewer times a day than pre-pregnancy (umm…bizarre??) and other than some pretty strong exhaustion in the first trimester (since when do I take naps??) really have felt like myself. I have bad days of course, but it feels so different knowing there is a reason other than just my general sickness. I’m growing something good!! I’ll happily take some rough days for that. 

We have had both a boy and girl name picked out since long before getting pregnant and I am starting to picture our baby as the one to hold one of those names. We can’t wait to find out the gender in just a couple weeks! I’m starting to feel some major temptation to shop for soft cuddly clothes and find my thoughts drifting to the baby pretty much every second of the day.

The end of the year is such a special time for us. Dan’s birthday is December 18, we got engaged on December 24, married on December 21, and of course Christmas has been my favorite holiday/time of year since I was a little girl. It seems both funny and only natural that our first baby would be due January 3! Let the holiday celebrations continue!

We can’t thank you enough for all the kind words, well wishes, and prayers we have received. This baby is already so very loved and we couldn’t be more excited and thankful to begin this new chapter of our lives.