Michael and I found out that our best friends Bud and Jill and my sister and her husband were expecting and we were so excited!!! We had all been kind of talking about how we were getting closer to this next season of life and then all of a sudden BAM! It was happening!!! It was in those few months after finding out about their pregnancies that Michael and I learned to trust God in a whole new way. When I found out that I was pregnant two months later, I honestly couldn’t believe it. I was in shock. I always wanted to do a big SURPRISE to tell Michael but after several months of trying, I decided to just randomly take a pregnancy test when we were both home one morning and as soon as it read positive, I yelled from the bathroom “Uh Michael!! This thing says I’m pregnant! That can’t be right!!!”.

He agreed with me! We didn’t believe it! So I took another…. and it was immediately positive!! I remember my hands were shaky and we didn’t even know what to say. I was too shocked to even cry (that came later!). We called Buddy and Jill right then and there because they had JUST left our house 30mins prior. We called them and we didn’t even know what to say. I had a REALLY shaky video of the call and once they answered, Michael and I just sat in silence and they guessed what was happening!! Queue the tears!!!

We had an engagement session that night in DC and so we made plans to tell our families on the way up and on the way back through. We were so blessed to be able to tell our entire immediate families in person all on the same day!!! Some of you may remember that we lost a dear friend back in June and we actually found out about the baby the day before his funeral. In some ways, it seemed like God was giving our family a new sense of hope during such a hard week. I start crying every time I think about it. We know that this is such a gift that we don’t deserve. We also know that this little person was God’s idea to begin with and that He has been planning his/her life since before time began. Every time we see an ultrasound we’re just amazed at how miraculous new life is! My baby app tells me every week that organs are forming, growing and developing and even from week FIVE, this little girl/guy had a heartbeat! It was the size of an APPLE SEED and it had a HEARTBEAT! It’s just all so amazing!!

What’s also amazing is that I get to be pregnant with my little sister. It’s so perfect because she’s not a worrier. I’m the worrier of the two of us! So she’s experiencing everything 8 weeks ahead of me and can reassure me that certain things are normal and that nothing is wrong. We just spent a week together at the lake and my favorite memory was when we were sleeping in the same bed one night and after staying up talking until 2 am, we decided we needed to go to bed! So we rolled over and tried to fall asleep for about 10 mins and then I realized that I stayed up way too late and I felt kinda sick and needed to eat something before I started gagging!! So I said “Oh no Emy! I need food!” and she responded with “Well lucky for you I brought the whole bag of animal crackers to bed with me!”!! She rolled over with our snack and we laughed about how embarrassing it would be if someone walked in and saw the two of us pregnant ladies munching on animal crackers at 2 O’clock in the morning!!! It’s such a gift to be pregnant together. We always hoped for this but we knew that is wasn’t likely that it would happen. I get teary just thinking about how gracious God has been in the timing of it all.

Speaking of the timing of it all, I’m due on VALENTINES DAY!! My sister Emy is due on CHRISTMAS DAY!! What’s even crazier to think about is that there will be TWO babies at my brother’s wedding in MAY!!! Needless to say BOTH sets of our parents are thrilled and we’re about to experience one of the most exciting seasons of our lives!!! We DO plan on finding out the GENDER in a couple of months and as of today, I’m 14 weeks! Everything looks normal and we’re praying everyday for a healthy baby and healthy pregnancy. I have had moments of feeling nauseous but I’ve never actually gotten sick. Fingers crossed that I’m past that point but who knows! I’ve been so blessed that I have made it through the majority of our HOTTEST weddings this summer without any issues!! We should be in our new house two months before the baby and our builders have been GREAT about understanding that we have a hard deadline now!! We’re aiming for a mid-November move-in!!!

We are so thankful for this season. There is so much happening and so much to learn along the way. We’re SO thankful for all of the sweet comments, texts and calls. You all are so good to us. Thank you for being so excited for us and this new adventure!!!! :):)

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