It’s official! We’re pregnant—baby Macy is coming in May, and we are so, so excited. Cue the blog posts about pregnancy and parenting!

We started telling people relatively early. I told Sam, then quickly shot a text and pic of those two pink lines to my sister and my best friend. Then, we kept it quiet until we could tell our parents. After that, we didn’t mind letting other friends and family know as it came up in conversation.

Making a (Holiday) Baby Announcement

The holiday season has always been my favorite time of year. Starting with my brother’s birthday on November 30th, it is a marathon at my house with my sister’s birthday on December 13th, Christmas on the 25th, my birthday on the 27th, and my mom’s birthday on New Year’s Eve.

In 2017, Sam proposed on Christmas Day, which solidified it for me—it’s the best time of year.

Growing up, parents create the magic of the holidays for their children.

Pair the traditions they create with a few weeks off from school, non-stop Christmas movie marathons, and cookie swaps? Now you have the recipe for easy magic.

As we get older, it is common for the childlike feeling of awe, wonder, and coziness to get lost in the hustle and bustle of adulthood. But, the magic of the holiday season is something we can hold onto as we get older if we stay intentional.

For me, that means getting the tree in the house and decorated as soon as possible.

It means swapping out our usual mantelpiece plants and photos with garlands and stockings.

It means spending months slowly buying meaningful gifts for loved ones and wrapping them intentionally (while watching cheesy Hallmark movies).

It means Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving and building traditions with Sam we can follow for years to come.

As I think about the little life growing inside of me, I am committed to creating that same awe and wonder for him every year.

When I realized holding off on an “official” announcement until after our 20-week appointment would coincide with the holidays, it was an obvious choice.

I pictured a super cute “blue holding the ultrasound pics in front of the tree” kinda vibe. Fair to see we (read: he?) knocked it out of the park?

First & Second Trimester Recap

3D printing a tiny human has been a wild experience so far.

Overall, I’ve been pretty lucky when it comes to the traditional woes of pregnancy. I felt pretty tired and mildly sick (all day long) through my first trimester but never got hit with actual morning sickness.

Then, come my second trimester, I got sick every few days first thing in the morning but felt great for the rest of the day—a much better situation than trimester one if you ask me. As I finish my second trimester, energy is coming back up, and food is staying down.

Over the past 20+ weeks, I’ve learned a lot—about myself, about Sam, about our relationship, about the stress that comes along with the first 12 weeks… and continues past those 12 weeks more than people tend to talk about.

As much as I remind myself to focus on what I can control, it’s still easy to let my mind get away from (or ahead of) me. Sam and I have so many questions about what is to come but I try to remind myself that we’ve already learned so much.

I also trust that we’ll figure it out… and when we still aren’t sure, we can lean on each other to make the best choice we can with the information we have.

As always, you’re welcome to follow along as we discover and share.

xo