So, most of you are my facebook friends and saw my "announcement" that our little family is growing...Joe and I are expecting a bundle of joy (we ordered a boy bundle) on August 31st. I am 12 weeks today and so decided to finally spill the beans!
The first time around, I suffered a miscarriage which was the saddest thing that's ever happened to me. And though God has given me beauty for ashes and turned my mourning into joy (hello? Has anyone met my perfect daughter?!), some sadness will always linger. Like when you find out you're pregnant, you worry...incessantly. Even after having a healthy, happy pregnancy with Genevieve, I still worried and fretted about telling people before I reached 12 weeks, when the chance of miscarriage decrease drastically. And you just know that when you tell the world, you will later regret it and have to back pedal and explain that for some inexplicable reason it just wasn't meant to be. Wow, I'm surprising myself with this post--I hadn't intended to discuss my loss...just to talk of my unspeakable joy and spread the news...but it feels good to be open and honest about something so many women have experienced. In any case, due to the miscarriage, with Genevieve and with this little peanut, we decided to wait the 12 weeks...
...and then we talked about how we wanted to share the news. I am not so creative when it comes to things like this...I couldn't think of anything fun or original...I just wanted people to know already! With my family, I kind of let it just spill out, as in we were at dinner and a friend of my mom's said "Can I have Genevieve? You can just have another one?" to which I, seeing this as a golden opportunity, replied "We will...in September." Now at that point, I thought my family would start jumping up and down and hugging and kissing me. Instead everyone stared at me for what was probably 30 seconds but felt like 10 minutes. Did anyone kiss me? No. Did anyone congratulate me? No. Instead my mom asked about a bajillion times if I was kidding. She then looked at Joe...who I have to admit was a bit shocked himself at my diarrhea of the mouth. At Joe's expression my mom knew I wasn't kidding. I think it was one of my nieces who finally said "No, they are really having a baby...in September." Finally about 5 minutes later, I got a hug from my sister. So...that went terribly wrong. LOL. For Joe's family, since we couldn't think of anything crazy unique we decided to get the whole family together and to have Genevieve wear this adorable shirt. So, the shirt arrived, we planned a movie night...ready to share our secret, when...cut to the next scene. Everyone cancels and no one can make it! Finally, we end up just going to Joe's parents to tell them...So we dress Genevieve in her little shirt and about 7 minutes into our visit, Nannie reads her shirt and realizes grand kid number 7 is on the way. A little anti climatic but now the secret's out!
A special shout out to Zoey's attic for their adorable HIGH quality announcement shirts. It's so soft, and there are no peel ons, iron ons, or embroidered stuff. Good ol' fashioned "digitally printed t-shirt means that the fibers of the shirt are actually died with eco-friendly water based inks. There is no iron on, heat transfer or other material that can be scratch, peel, crack and fade.
That = awesomeness!"
The first time around, I suffered a miscarriage which was the saddest thing that's ever happened to me. And though God has given me beauty for ashes and turned my mourning into joy (hello? Has anyone met my perfect daughter?!), some sadness will always linger. Like when you find out you're pregnant, you worry...incessantly. Even after having a healthy, happy pregnancy with Genevieve, I still worried and fretted about telling people before I reached 12 weeks, when the chance of miscarriage decrease drastically. And you just know that when you tell the world, you will later regret it and have to back pedal and explain that for some inexplicable reason it just wasn't meant to be. Wow, I'm surprising myself with this post--I hadn't intended to discuss my loss...just to talk of my unspeakable joy and spread the news...but it feels good to be open and honest about something so many women have experienced. In any case, due to the miscarriage, with Genevieve and with this little peanut, we decided to wait the 12 weeks...
A special shout out to Zoey's attic for their adorable HIGH quality announcement shirts. It's so soft, and there are no peel ons, iron ons, or embroidered stuff. Good ol' fashioned "digitally printed t-shirt means that the fibers of the shirt are actually died with eco-friendly water based inks. There is no iron on, heat transfer or other material that can be scratch, peel, crack and fade.
That = awesomeness!"
I'm curious-- How long did you wait to tell people about your pregnancy? And in what unique or fun ways did you do it?!
Do Tell...
Pregnancy is such a special time (well, once you get past the vomiting & etc.), especially for your first child, and never more so than in those last few weeks before you deliver. You are just weeks away from meeting someone you’ll spend the rest of your life loving more than you can imagine!! I never did maternity photos, but I wish I had, especially with my first. (I was much cuter the first time around!) If you’re pregnant, or hope to be in the future, DO IT! I shot Tiffany's with my Nikon D80, but even if you just grab a friend and a basic point and shoot digital camera, take a second to snap a few shots. Not sure how to pose or what to do? Google maternity photography and you’ll have dozens of cute shots to replicate. Do it in a place you can feel comfortable, preferably with great natural light and especially with someone you can relax with. (Fore some great tips for the photographer, check out this article by the amazing Natalie Norton.) Don't worry about baring your belly if you're not comfortable with it... a fitted top looks just as cute! We don't all have adorable little buddha bellies, but that belly you're carrying around is perfect and beautifully shaped uniquely like your little one. While we don't always feel our most beautiful pregnant, just find some flattering angles (YES you do still have some!) and shoot away. It might take a bunch of tries to get it just right, but I promise you it will be worth it in the end!
While researching maternity photos (more on that later), I discovered a fabulous website that carries women's, girls, preteens, plus, and maternity clothes. Talk about one size fits all; this site truly caters to every woman. I am totally into pretty much anything aesthetically pleasing, so the layout of this site and its adorable name, Shabby Apple, caught my attention immediately. But besides the package, the content is incredible. They offer a solid variety of couture-ish pieces at affordable prices. Seriously, this chic maternity dress in the most amazing green ever almost makes me want to stay pregnant a bit longer! (I said almost).
But since I'm in the home stretch, I'm happy to peruse the baby clothes instead. This adorable "queen of hearts" dress is just one of the many charming and original pieces on the site. If you're loving me for introducing you to this site, you're welcome. If you're hating me for feeding into your online shopping addiction, I'm sorry. Nevertheless, Enjoy. ☺
