My First 13 Weeks of Pregnancy

Ahhhh it feels so great that ya'll finally know that I'm pregnant! I know it sounds silly, but telling ya'll has made the news officially real. I blog what's really going on, and it was difficult to even know what to say without giving myself away.

So to catch ya'll up, here's what's been going on in our pregnancy for the last 13 weeks!

... And then comes BABY

Edited to add: for some reason blogger is filtering the photos. If you would like to see the originals (that are so much prettier than the blogger version!) go HERE!

At long last! Our secret no longer needs to be kept!

(Now do you see why I've been so quiet?;)

Jon and I are almost 13 weeks pregnant with a precious little boy or girl, due August 2, 2017. And we couldn't be more excited!
Throughout our marriage, we have always tried to be open to God expanding our family in His timing (you can read about our birth control story here).
However, since last summer we - particularly I - had been hoping that pregnancy would be sooner than later... and becoming increasingly "more open" to pregnancy;)
But the Lord still had some more work to do in our life and hearts before He showed up in this awesome way.

Those six-seven months of being "more open" - waiting and hoping - were discouraging at times. And it was in that time that I realized that I had always believed that pregnancy was something granted, something that just naturally happened. That I was somehow destined to motherhood, or that it was my right.
There were so many moments of doubt in my time with God.
Was I really meant for this? 
What if I never have a child?
What would I be?
I knew that God would still be good and that Jon would still love me and that it just meant there was another plan for my life. But I had never considered that before. And honestly, the thought scared me a little. It made me realize how sure I was before that God would just give me kids because I came from a big family and I liked them. Ugly, faithless areas of my heart were exposed, and He graciously worked on every one.

There were also the struggles with feeling like I was "doing everything right." Was our timing never right? Was there something we were missing? There were some months when I would take that test and think "There's no way we aren't pregnant this month!" ...just to see that heartbreaking negative.

Throughout the discouragement, though, there was a consistent word that I kept hearing in my heart from the Lord: "When your season of pregnancy comes, you will know 100% that it was from me and because of me, and not you, or anything you did." 

He wanted me to be confident in His timing, even when I didn't understand it. He wanted me to understand that children are a gift, not something that I earned or deserved by "checking off all the boxes."

Sure enough, November was the month I took the test thinking "We are totally NOT pregnant this month." 
Lo and behold, if that one wasn't positive!
(The only reason I took the test to begin with was because it was the day before Thanksgiving and we were going out for margaritas for my brother's birthday that night! Lol.)

We didn't tell anyone for an entire month. This was easy at first, because it was hard to even believe myself that I was pregnant! But the secret has become even more and more difficult to keep, and it feels so wonderful to be able to share it with family, a few friends, and finally, YOU!

I know that six-seven months is nothing compared to the journey some have been with becoming pregnant. I have sweet friends who have battled infertility for years, and I can't imagine! But I know that every pregnancy story is differently, specifically because the Lord is all drawing us closer to Himself, and that journey is as unique as the person.

I cannot wait to write more about what this first trimester of pregnancy has been like, and to share more about what these last three months have been for Jon and I as we prepare for our family to expand to include our first little one:)

Again, I'm so excited to finally include ya'll in this new experience... Shoot me with any questions, and moms, I'll be shooting ya'll some questions of my own! ;)

All photos taken by the fabulous Arielle Bacon!  Find her Instagram here and her blog/photography here! (And don't forget to check out the originals!)

Linking up with some awesome parties here!

Keeping Up with the Capra's: Holidays, Snow, and... Springtime?

Welcome back to normal, holiday-free life everybody! Honestly, it's always a bummer when the holidays are over, but there is also something fresh and inviting and exciting about a new year, a new planner, and unlimited possibilities for the coming months.

I took a longer break than I planned, but something in me is always hesitant to jump back into blogging before I feel excited and refreshed. This keeps me from treating it like an obligation or another homework assignment. So, I'm sorry for my absence, but not sorry for how I've spent it!

Holidays!

Jon and I are so fortunate to live very close to both of our families, and we were able to spend a lot of time with all of them, for Christmas and New Years. It was great! And fairly restful, since we didn't have to travel. 

And of course, it was our first Christmas with Penny-girl;)

My favorite part of the holiday week, though, was our Christmas Eve service. I didn't go to a lot of Christmas Eve services as a kid, but since Jon and I have grown to love our church so much we didn't want to miss out. It was a candle light service, and if you've never been to one, let me tell you what surprised me most: how much light fills a room when everyone is just holding one, tiny candle! It was incredible, and symbolic, and brought tears to my eyes. 

New habits

I have a word for the year I want to focus on (more on that later) instead of making a bunch of goals, but I've still be trying to pay attention to the habits I'm bringing into to 2017. For the last two weeks I've been reading more and doing yoga every couple of days, along with drinking tonssss of water. January is such a great time for optimism and big goals, but I'm still trying to keep is low-key and realistic, especially since I'm still in classes. 

Snow days

Our corner of southern VA got a bonafide blizzard last weekend! It shut down schools for a whole three days, and I got Jon home for an extra week day. We took the pup on a lot of snow walks, but spent more of the days holed up inside watching movies and watching the snow fall.

Jon's Birthday!

This week, along with the snow, we celebrated Jon's birthday! I didn't get any pictures because he was at work all day and we didn't get to go out...  Even the rum cake I tried to make him didn't work out! We did, though, get to go out the next night for AYCE crab legs with his family which was a lot of fun.

Happy birthday to my crazy funny husband, you're my greatest gift of grace and I love you more than anything 💘👫 #Studly #studlieststud #studhubby

A photo posted by Casey Capra (@caseygcapra) on Jan 10, 2017 at 6:17pm PST

And after snow... comes 70-degree, sunny days???

Yes, you read that right... we went from snow on the ground to a 70 degree day that promptly melted it all away! But hey, I ain't complaining! The sunshine was a welcome change, and Penny and I enjoyed our walk feeling less like winter and more like spring!

I obviously don't have an current posts to share with ya'll, but I'm very excited about what I have planned to share with ya'll in the next week or two!

What was your favorite part of the holidays?

Have you had any schizophrenic weather lately?

Linking up with some awesome parties here!