We are over the moon to be welcoming a little girl into the world! People closest to me know that I have only ever wanted two kids, ideally one of each. I joke all the time that we built a house with 4 mudroom lockers, so that was going to be the size of our family. Ben and I are very much in sync about most things in life, including how many kids we wanted. We discussed this when we were dating in college actually. All that said, any baby is a blessing and a healthy baby is all one can ever hope for. However, we all have wants… and in my heart of hearts I knew I wanted a girl one day. So, I am SO happy to be able to even out our little family and give Braden a little sister.
After losing a baby girl in Dec. 2016 and having complications in this pregnancy, I was so anxious to even share I was pregnant much less the gender of this baby. Family members have been trying to get it out of us for weeks, but we wanted to wait even though we’ve known since early Dec. And no, we will not be sharing the name until she is born. Frankly, I don’t really want anyone’s opinion unless we ask. It’s surprising how people can be so judgmental about names!
I’m now 26 weeks, and I’m feeling pretty good. I’m officially off of all my activity restrictions so I can now exercise if I want to and not live this sedentary lifestyle anymore. I exercised 3x a week in my first pregnancy, and this is probably the longest I’ve ever gone with such little exercise. My schedule has been a bit hectic lately so exercise has hard to squeeze in, and let’s face it — after being on bedrest for six weeks and having activity restrictions and so much anxiety, it’s hard to get started on an exercise program at 24 weeks, which is when I got the ‘ok’ from my dr. I really want to do what I can over the next few weeks before this little girl arrives, but I’m not going to stress about it. I definitely prioritize sleep over exercise, so if I can get back into yoga and lifting weights ( my main activities when I was pregnant with Braden) over the next three months, I’ll give myself a pat on the back for trying.
Gender reveal photos
We took these gender reveal photos back in December before I had my big scare and visit to the ER. For awhile, I was too nervous to share them for fear of something terrible happening again in this pregnancy. Thankfully, that’s not the case, and I’m so glad we took these photos. I want to give a shout-out to Tiffany Harston for capturing these special family photos for us! She has been so understanding about me being hesitant to share, and I appreciate that immensely.
If you are in the Houston area, please consider working with her! She was easy to work with, great at providing feedback to all of us during the photoshoot and very personable. She has the capability to create some beautiful photo galleries for your home as well through some of the software she has. Decorating our home is such a work in progress, so I’m not quite ready to pull the trigger on that yet but if you’re wanting to explore something like that, she can definitely guide you through the process. During the photoshoot, Tiffany was so great at wrangling Braden and capturing some of those cheesy little smiles of his. I just love this kid so much, and I can’t believe he’s growing up so fast! It’s wonderful to have these precious memories before we welcome one more to our little family.
More soon!
LL
All photos c/o Tiffany Harston Photography
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