announcing a new addition

when it came to announcing a new little one, we waited. i was eighteen weeks before we finally told everyone. why? fear. fear of another loss. fear of disappointing people (i couldn't face my nieces again). fear of having to explain. eighteen weeks seemed very safe for us. we were thrilled and we were bursting to tell all of our friends and family, but we just waited a little longer than the norm.

when trying to decide how to announce, i wanted something simple, but almost fairy-esque. like fairies should be frolicking around us. i know that is totally odd, but this baby was magical. we found out exactly one month after losing our sweet blueberry and hearts were cracked. but this news, it was magic. it was fate. it was exactly what God had wanted for us and the news was given to us on what would have been a terrible day.

we called our favorite photographer and i got to work on the very simple background. i used the "baby" letters i whipped up in less than an hour for eric's surprise and bought a ton of ikea's sheer curtains. just attached them to a photo backdrop and viola! a fun backdrop. the location i chose was muddy, mesquito-y, and parker was mega grumps, but we still managed to get a few photos!

Isn't he a handsome dude?

Here you are, my sweet friends, our family in the outtakes and  a very big stick that kept a toddler happy.

Always running. 

That stick. 

from three to four (and one in our hearts)...

I am so late in writing this! New Years Resolution is to get better at this. Maybe change it up a bit, add some fun stuff? Who knows. Let's see what the new year brings us.

As everyone already knows, I am very excited to announce that another little Fitz will be joining this family at the end of March. It almost seemed unreal, the whole experience. To lose a baby and, exactly one month later, find out you are expecting again, it doesn't feel like real life. We can only sum it up to, God is good.

I never had a cycle between the miscarriage and the pregnancy, so I had no idea where to start. I took an ovulation test daily, but never got my hopes up because when I found out I was pregnant with Parker, I never had a positive one. This time around, I actually got a positive one. Then, when I estimated I should start my cycle, I started testing like a crazy person. I can't take those tests that are just lines. I need one that tells me that I am pregnant or not, my poor husband probably hated the test expense! Oh well, he loves why we are doing it, so it doesn't matter at the end of the day.

This time around, I decided to surprise Eric. I have found out so early the past two pregnancies and this one was no different. So, if I took a test in the AM, it was positive, but my PM test would be negative. So I sent him a photo of the negative one. Mean? Maybe. But it made the surprise so much better. I went with an 80's prom theme and decorated the entrance of the house. I even unplugged the garage door so he had to go to the front, ha ha! Poor guy. I bet sometimes he just sits and thinks "what did i get myself into marrying this lady?!" but we are pretty lucky to have each other. with overly pink and blue  and gold decor, this man walked in to justin bieber's 'baby' song blasting and parker and i were dancing for him.

it was fun to surprise eric. i feel like he never gets surprises and that he really deserved this one. such happy news and such happy delivery of the news. this husband of mine definitely deserves it. we love you so, eric keith! i cannot tell you how blessed we feel to have this sweet baby trusted to our little family. from the moment we found out about you, we loved you. we prayed for you. we cannot wait to meet you, sweet little one.

Dear Parker (Half Birthday!)

Dear Monkey Baby,

Oh my sweet baby! Happy, happy half birthday! Be prepared. Mama goes BIG on birthdays and half birthdays. Cake, presents and all. My mama made every birthday so special and I want to continue the tradition. We'd come home to a fully decorated front yard and even more inside. We'd have a huge family party (isn't everything huge when you are one of five kids) and we were the center of attention all day long. Yep, that is your future.

|| Learning to 'show food' ||

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