A beautiful 9 months...

We found out we were expecting our second little blessing the day before Thanksgiving...fitting right?! We decided to keep it a secret until we went to the doctor to confirm the pregnancy. Secrets concerning exciting news about myself usually last about an hour. I can't save Christmas presents until Christmas morning and if I purchase a birthday present before your birthday, you will know about it. I just can't help it. My sister came by on Thanksgiving morning and before the door was even fully opened I blurted out, "I'm pregnant!!" I felt better after I told her and continued the secret for about another week before I told a few of my best friends. We then waited until the doctor appointment to "announce" to the rest of the world. My excitement lasted the entire pregnancy. I felt some of the usual discomforts of pregnancy (tight pants & round ligament pain) but other than that, I felt amazing! I love being pregnant! There is something so incredible about knowing a PERSON is growing inside of me. A tiny little person, created by God to be something great! (my definition of greatness is not the worlds) Knowing that a beautiful boy or girl created in the image of God is inside of me just makes me feel full of life...literally. :) So, I embraced every bit of it! I am happy to say that I didn't gain the 48lbs I gained with Anna...I only gained 24lbs! It's actually not because of anything I did either. I still indulged in my favorite sweets and I am not proud to say that I "exercised" enough times to count on one hand. (I am not endorsing that..just being honest) I did drink half of my weight in water each day though! Anywho... We found out the baby's gender at 16 weeks at an early ultrasound. We found out we were having a little boy!!! :) We could not have been happier! After many, many months we decided to name our little mister, Micaiah Elan. Micaiah is a hebrew name and it means: Who can compare to God? Elan is also a hebrew name and it means: Strong Tree, like the Oak. The first name is obvious. But the second name is very special to me... we almost decided to call him by Elan, but Micaiah seems to fit him better. I have a thing for trees. I can't even count how many times I have been inspired by their strength and beauty. The Oak tree specifically is amazingly strong, with roots that go as far down deep as the tree stands tall, incredible! And I LOVE the fact that every leaf on EVERY tree ever grown is different. There are no two "designs" alike. Who can doubt there is a God? A very artistic God at that! His creativity is so endless that He could come up with countless leaves all shaped differently, with different DNA. So, that in a nutshell is why I love Elan so much. It reminds me of God and His amazing creativity and how He designed US ALL to be so unique and different. One of my best and most creative friends did some maternity pictures of me and my sweet boy. Check her out! :) Thanks Tayla!