Haby Baby ~ Part One

Rather than to have a ridiculously long post about all the events that go along with pregnancy, but that I couldn't share until the news was out, I decided to break this announcement post up into two parts.  So let's begin today with the very beginning, part 1 ~ cleverly titled...

Before

     

     Brett and I were married June 21, 2008 after dating for over 6 years.  We were high school and college sweethearts, which I think is pretty cool.  If your relationship can make it through the wildness of college, especially at  a university as big and "out there" as UT,  you can make it through a lot.  Brett and I both love kids, I'm a teacher and he is pretty darn good with my nieces and nephew, so when we got married our original plan, I'm a planner, kind of OCD about things following a predetermined plan, but I'm working on that and have actually chilled out a lot in the past year, was to start thinking about having kids about 2 years in.   Then someone decided to start grad school right about the time someone else decided to make a career move, so the baby idea got put on hold. 

What I got used to seeing for awhile.

     Fast forward to the fall of last year (2010) and we come to the chat where Brett and I realized that if we started trying for kids fairly soon that even if I got pregnant on the first try, the baby would not be due until I was done with grad school, which sounded like a good plan.  However, I did not get pregnant on the first, second, third, etc. try and instead began to learn to live by God's plan not mine.  I do not suffer from infertility, and I pray for those who do because I only had a glimpse of that kind of pain and can not imagine enduring it every day.

Matthew 6:34

      The whole experience is something I am glad I went through though becaues it deepened my faith in the Lord and brought me closer to my husband.  Matthew 6:34 has become my favorite verse and I have also grown as a person by finally learning to "Let Go & Let God".  At the end of the day I am glad it all worked out the way it did and realize that God's plan is 25 times more awesome than my plan and his includes a lot of wonderful blessings along the way that I might not have recognized without the hurt I felt.

 I  threw myself into teaching and grad school and even though I think I tend to overdo it with one and complain a lot about the other, I am so proud of how far I have come in both.

I worked on my eating habits and general health and discovered some tasty new foods and recipes.  And, according to my most recent blood work, kicked my anemia's butt!

I also read a lot of books about fertility/ pregnancy and learned all about the huge difference in "not preventing" vs. "trying", charting, basal body temps,  opks, etc. 

    

I found the joy in loving on other people's babies and how amazing it is to watch a baby chick hatch.  

I got crafty on a regular basis, simply enjoying the process of making a gift for someone I loved by hand.  

I rediscovered some awesome songs on my ipod.

 

I enjoyed time with my husband whether at the beach, watering the yard, or watching Dexter.  It totally creeped me out at first but now I like it.  Plus we have to watch that kind of stuff before we have kids. ;)  He is a downright amazing guy and I am so lucky to call him mine. Plus, he puts up with me and I put up with him, so we work. :)

Most importantly, I learned to just enjoy the 

God created glory and beauty in sunrises and sunsets.

Then finally, on May 16, 2011, we got this little gift.