How we learned baby two was a girl!

95% of you know by now, but yes, we are expecting a baby girl!!

Today I wanted to share how we learned the news and how we told our families...

With Hugh we took the usual route and waited until our 20 week ultrasound to find out.

I knew this time around I did not want to wait that long.

I felt like I bonded so much with Hugh once I found out he was a boy, helping form his little identity.

I was ready to experience that with this bundle as soon as we could.

Our doctor's office doesn't perform gender ultrasounds so we went to an

ultrasound service that specializes in gender reveals-

something I didn't even know existed until one of our amazing nurses told us.

 

I was surprised to find out they could identify the gender as early as 14 weeks!

We would be traveling to Alabama the next week to visit our families so

we knew we wanted to squeeze in an appointment before we left to surprise everyone with the news.

Let me go ahead and say, Jonathan and I were both convinced this one was a boy.

It never even crossed my mind it would not be. My family has a dominant streak of boys, 6 of 7. 

So like I said, I did not see pink in my future.

As the tech was performing the ultrasound Jonathan and I still thought it was a boy.

We would later find out it was the umbilical cord we had mistaken;)

After a few minutes of examining she revealed it was a girl!

I believe my response was, "Are you serious?!?"

Jonathan was like, "Whaaaaat?!?"

Shocked. We were shocked.

We're SO excited though!

You guys know what a girly girl I am so this will be right up my alley.

J and I always knew we wanted boys and girls and I can't wait to see him with a little girl:)

Back to telling our fams...

everyone thought we were waiting to find out at our 20 week appointment

so no one was expecting gender news anytime soon.

We shared by telling everyone that we had new ultrasound pictures to share.

On the last picture it was typed in, "I'm a girl!"

It was so much fun sharing the news.

A double surprise, we knew the gender AND it was a girl!

We're so blessed, so happy to add this precious little lady to our family.

Just 19 weeks to go...

A fall preview with SummerSkin.

Visions Of Vogue / Straight A Style / Book Of Leisure 

Love Zahra / Upbeat Soles / Eat Pray Wear Love

 Dress: SummerSkin, c/o; Sweater/Duster: Forever 21; Booties: Sole Society; Hat: similar here

Is anyone else seriously longing for fall?

Being pregnant in this South Carolina heat,

I'm thrilled to see fall lines beginning to make their appearance.

Today I am wearing an adorable SummerSkin dress 

that I'll be able to wear throughout my pregnancy.

Such a bonus!

The great thing about this company is that all of their clothing

 is sun protective, blocking harmful UV rays.

So important, especially as I'm becoming more

 concerned about sun exposure as I get older.

The particular dress I'm wearing is currently available for pre-order,

but go ahead check out the rest of their amazing apparel here.

You can also use code "Elizabeth20" to receive 20% off your order!

 

 Have a beautiful Monday, guys! xo

20 weeks + Kendra Scott

Visions Of Vogue / Straight A Style / Book Of Leisure 

Love Zahra / Upbeat Soles / Eat Pray Wear Love

Earrings, ring, necklace: Kendra Scott, c/o; Kimono: old but love this, this and this;

Tee: Tommy Bahama, c/o; Cut-offs: ASOS Maternity; Wedges: Nordstrom

I'm excited to team up with Kendra Scott today to preview their 2016 Fall Collection.

Every piece in the collection is gorgeous and can truly be rotated year round.

Be sure to take a look!

On the pregnancy front-

I can't believe we're already half way through. Crazy!

This one is definitely flying much faster than my pregnancy with Hugh. 

You don't have much time to sit around and ponder when you're chasing a toddler;)

We talk to Hugh about the new baby all the time.

 He loves kissing my tummy (cue the heart melt),

but I can tell he still doesn't totally get it.

He definitely knows something is different-

he's been much more clingy/needy these past couple of weeks.

I've been told the best way to handle this is to go ahead and appease them,

be supportive, and the phase will pass more quickly.

So that's what we're doing.

Well, that's where we are this week. 

Lots of change happening but excited and ready to grow

this little fam from three to four:)

P.S. More coming on the gender reveal later this week.

Have a great Monday!

A floral dress with Tommy Bahama

Visions Of Vogue / Straight A Style / Book Of Leisure 

Love Zahra / Upbeat Soles / Eat Pray Wear Love

 Dress: Tommy Bahama, c/o; Heels: ASOS, c/o; Bag: Mimic Design, c/o; Sunnies: ASOS, c/o

I'm so excited to bring you guys an outfit post after weeks of morning sickness.
Hooray for feeling like a human again!

No better way to get back to it than in this Tommy Bahama floral number.

You've heard me rave about their relaxing style before,

and their new collection is truly beautiful.

 Their prints never disappoint!

The heat here in South Carolina has been ridiculous lately, staying in the low 100s.

So, I'll absolutely be keeping these pieces on rotation until fall arrives!

Pregnancy story on baby numer two!

 Hi guys!

Man, it's been a while since you've heard from me here.

If you follow me on Instagram you know that this second pregnancy has

been pretty rough. The complete opposite of my pregnancy with Hugh,

which was a dream. This go-round the nausea and fatigue have been intense,

which is why I've been laying low the past couple of months.

Thankfully, I have been feeling much more like myself the past couple of

weeks and I'm look forward to everything settling back to normal.

Today I wanted to share with you the story of this pregnancy.

Most of you know that our journey to conceive Hugh was a little involved.

A brief refresher...after a year of trying to get pregnant on our own it

was discovered that I had endometriosis, along with abnormally low hormone levels.

After a surgical procedure to remove the endometriosis, along with a round of Clomid 

we were ecstatic to become pregnant with Hugh.

I realize so many couples endure much, much more than this. I can't imagine.

We were incredibly blessed that our situation was a relatively simple fix,

but at the time it was still quite emotionally trying for us both. 

I bring all of this up because as we started planning to try for another baby,

I had prepared myself that we once again may have a long road ahead of us.

Also at this time I had some physical symptoms recurring that were

 leading me to believe that my endometriosis may be returning.

It was almost time for my annual exam anyway so I went ahead and made an

appointment with my OB. At my appointment she confirmed that indeed

it did appear my endometriosis had returned. We agreed that we would try

two rounds of Clomid and if unsuccessful they would go back in and operate.

 I was discouraged to hear her confirmation but was happy to have a game plan.

The next few weeks I prayed intently that God would allow us to conceive

without the need for another surgical procedure. The process of trying to become

pregnant has always stressed me out, at the same time it also gave me a complete

Divine dependence because I had to rely solely on Him. I cherished that reliance.

We completed the first round. No pregnancy.

I strangely wasn't that upset. Like I said, I had mentally prepared myself

a lot going into this. I also had a Godly peace that it would happen in His time, not mine.

A lesson I had absolutely learned the first time.

The second month I woke up early Easter morning feeling incredibly nauseous.  

I knew it was too early to already be feeling sick even if I were pregnant but I went 

ahead and took a pregnancy test. Negative. Ugh. After looking at negative

test after negative test trying to conceive Hugh I swore I'd 

never take another test unless I was at least a week late. Oh well.

I would later quickly realize that I'd come down with a stomach virus. Woof. 

Anyway, another week passes and guess what? Still no monthly visit.

I didn't get my hopes up though. I had a negative test a few days prior and I knew

it was common to get late periods on Clomid. I decided I'd give it until the weekend 

and if it still hadn't come I'd take another test.

Saturday morning finally came and I of course woke up at like 5 am anxious to take the test.

I sat alone in the bathroom while everyone else was still asleep

and what pops up but two pink lines. The most beautiful sight ever. 

I went back to bed and laid there (for what felt like an eternity) for Jonathan to wake up.

When he finally did I passed him the test and told him to take a look.

We were so, so happy.

No surgeries. No months and months of endless worry and frustration.

Just like that, our second baby was on the way.

{I later figured out that when I took the first test I 

was still in that early gray area where it may or may not show up.}

So there ya go. That's how this second baby came to be.

I'm 17.5 weeks and it still hasn't fully set in.

We're still floating on cloud nine.

I'm just so thankful. So grateful. 

And thank you so, so much for your sweet comments.

We have loved reading each one. I love you guys and I'm so excited

to share these next few months with you.

Most of you know the gender, which I already shared on social media.

I will be telling you that story and how we revealed it to our families

some time over the next week or so. Again, thanks for reading

and following along. Have a blessed Fourth and a safe weekend!

Much love to you all!! xoxo