our biggest blessing. :)

if there was ever a good reason for updating this blog - and really, reviving it - it would be this! we are, as of today, 13 weeks and 2 days pregnant. :) i kind of feel like i've gone back to being a little kid, when people would ask me how old i was and it was never just "6 years old" or "8 years old", but "6 and 3/4" or "8 and 1/2". because each day closer to this baby coming is pretty much the coolest thing in the whole world!!!

shay and i had always been open to the feelings we hoped we would get that would tell us that the lord was ready to send a precious little soul to join our family. we both thought those feelings wouldn't come until 2013, but instead of the feelings, it's this little bean that will arrive in june. we are feeling a jumble of emotions even now - happy, excited, nervous, anxious, and even a little scared. mostly though, we feel so humble and grateful for this, the biggest blessing we have ever received. we know it's going to be amazing!!

i had a feeling i was pregnant from almost the very beginning, and was so impatient to be able to take a test. one night as i was signing up for insurance, i was asked if i was pregnant on the questionnaire. to give the most accurate info possible, i decided to take a test even though i thought it was too early, and - surprise! - it came back negative. i was so disappointed. i knew it was wrong, but when only one line showed up...well, i couldn't dispute that. so i went back to the questionnaire and got ready to send it in.

i had a feeling to check it again, so i went back and pulled it out of the garbage can. i probably looked a lot like a cartoon character at that moment. the double take i did was so fast! there it was, shyly appearing next to the bold evaporation line - the line that meant my whole life was about to change. the line that meant a whole new world was being created inside of me.

because the line was so light however, i didn't trust it. so i did what anyone would do: i grabbed shay and we ran to target to buy 6 more tests, 3 of which i took that night. maybe i was thinking it was a majority rules type of deal? either way, our jury came back totally unanimous...i was going to have a baby!!

it was so fun to tell our families about the baby, many of whom gave reactions that helped us feel their total love and support on our behalf. i know i speak for both of us when i say that when others are excited for us, it really makes a difference to us! this is a big thing in our lives - the biggest! - and means more than i can express when we can tell that others are looking forward to it just as much as we are.

we've decided to make more of an effort to keep this blog updated and let more people know about it, as many of our loved ones have asked to be kept in the loop about the baby. thank goodness for modern technology!