and baby makes three: Spreading the Word

So there were a lot of things that pregnancy has brought on that I wasn't prepared for (more on some of those later), but there was one emotion that caught me completely by surprise-- feeling ineffectual. I guess other mommies can attest to the fear that comes with being pregnant. That is a spiritual battle. For a solid month I quoted "For God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind" (2 Tim 1:7) over and over in my head. I feel like during pregnancy you are acutely aware of how fragile life is. The thing that I struggled with the most is there is absolutely nothing I can do to change that. You can do everything "right" and still have things go terribly "wrong"-- no amount of prenatals, resting, or yoga will alter God's plan for you and your baby.

For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.

My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.

Psalm 139:13-16

With all of that in mind, it was incredibly challenging deciding when to share our secret. Those who know me well may be shocked to find out that I didn't even tell my mom for 3 whole weeks! It was SO hard.

Once Nathan and I knew we couldn't keep it a secret any longer, we set to planning the perfect (second) reveal. We knew 4th of July was the perfect excuse for a family-wide gathering. Neither of us really knew what to say, so we thought we'd let the picture do the talking. I took paper plates and cut slits in them so that we could pop our "bun in the oven" picture in the middle. I think they turned out pretty cute--