Hadley's excited! Daddy's excited! And I am beyond ecstatic! A perfectly healthy baby girl on the way! I feel like I've won't the lottery TWICE! I've taken up residence on cloud nine at the thought of my two girls growing up together! Sweet sisters! God is good and I am so thankful for our newest pink blessing! 

We're so ready for February to be here! Can't wait to meet you Baby Girl! We love you so very much already! 

The longest wait in the world is the time between getting a positive pregnancy test and having your first visit with your doctor! We found out that we were expecting on June 18th and our first doctor's appointment was scheduled for July 18th! A whole month of nervous anticipation!!

Finally the long awaited day arrived and we got to hear the sweet, reassuring sound of our baby's heartbeat! We also got confirmation that there is only one cooking in there (thank goodness)!! Here are a couple of baby's first snapshots taken at the doctor's office: 

The due date we were given is Feb 27th, which was several days later than I thought it would be, but we'll go with it! ;)

Our only concern at the time with this pregnancy was our upcoming anniversary trip to Mexico. Although it is not mentioned in the media as much as it was last summer, contracting Zika is still a risk in Mexico. We even considered canceling our trip, but we talked to our doctor beforehand and she felt that with the particular area that we would be traveling to and the fact that we would be staying on the resort, our risk was incredibly low. So we decided to just go. I know some may consider that an unnecessary risk to take while pregnant, but we felt that with our doctor's "blessing", so to speak, and by being super cautious we'd be okay. We traveled with heavy duty mosquito spray and hosed ourselves down anytime we left our room. While being sober in Mexico wasn't quite the let-loose, child free anniversary trip I'd been hoping for... it was still nice to get away and I guess it turned into an impromptu babymoon! 

We had our second doctor's visit on August 25th.... more WAITING! But everything was great! A strong heartbeat and not much else to report. :)

Tomorrow we go back for the very much anticipated Anatomy Scan where we will hopefully learn the sex of our baby!!! SOOO EXCITED! Knowing if it's a boy or girl really helps it feel more real to me. I can finally start visualizing our future and making plans and preparations more easily! 

I really don't have a major feeling one way or another... in the beginning I really felt like it was a boy due to feeling way more nauseous than I did with Hadley. I also felt like my hair was a lot thicker than during my first pregnancy, which they say can be a boy hormone thing. But now that I'm not nauseous, my hair doesn't feel as thick, my face is breaking out, and I seem to be carrying high like I did with Hadley I'm leaning more toward girl! Only God knows right now! 

Oh and apparently Hadley! This is her family portrait she made at school earlier this week...

Maybe she's onto something!!! We'll find out soon! 

We really just pray for a healthy baby and know that God will choose what is best for completing our family of four! We're just along for the ride!

Come back tomorrow and I'll let you know! :) 

​XOXO

After I informed the Father-To-Be about our new baby on the way, it was time to start thinking about how and when to break the news to the rest of the fam! I try to put a little bit of thought and effort into how I surprise people with our baby news (makes it more fun/memorable, than just blurting it out) and I also try to capture their reactions on camera, which adds an extra level of trickiness! People tend to be suspicious if you just start video taping them out of the blue, so you have to be discreet! 

Luckily, we had plans to see most of our family (who sadly all live out of town) within the next few weeks, so we didn't have to do any additional trip planning. It was also right around 4th of July time, so I went ahead and ordered this shirt for Hadley to wear during our announcement reveals.

Here is Big Sister modeling her shirt! 

The first person on my list to tell was my Mom. We actually didn't have plans to see her in the next few weeks and I was DYING to tell someone, so I had to let her know over the phone. I got her reaction on FaceTime, though....so no worries! The quality of the video isn't the greatest, because as it turns out videotaping an iPhone or laptop screen doesn't work so well. 

 "So are you still going to Mexico!?" Haha! I'll post more details about THAT debacle later! 

Next on our list was to tell Mason's parents. They kept Hadley for us while we were in Mexico, so we wanted to surprise them after we got back from our trip with a "souvenir shirt" for Hadley! Unfortunately, another blurry video...

Last, but not least we told G-Daddy & Nana and my brother Connor our special news. We waited until we could see them in person in mid-July for our annual beach trip to Port Aransas! 

Ideally, we would have told them together at the same time,, but only G-Daddy & Connor came down to our car to help us unload our things & Hadley was already in her Big Sister shirt. I'm telling you videoing people's reactions makes things a lot more complicated! 

The best part of this, is that even though Connor clearly read the shirt - he didn't get that I was pregnant until about 5 minutes later! Hahaha! I wish I would have captured THAT realization on video! 

We had to capture Nana's reaction separately, since she was upstairs in the condo! 

So much fun! I just love surprising people, especially with such exciting news! 

There is a bit of a plot twist, however! We also were on the receiving end of some surprising news! When we broke the news to Mason's brother Cameron and his wife Keisha - they informed us that they are ALSO expecting in February!!! We are only 2 and a half-ish weeks apart!!! How crazy is that!?! Guinn family baby boom!  

Once everyone was in the know our next thing to look forward to was our first Doctor's appointment on July 18th! More on that next...

The Game Plan
You know what happens when you go around saying that you will NEVER be pregnant during the summer, because it's too hot and you like rosé too much? You get pregnant in May, because God's funny like that!   

Mason and I are big planners, well... at least I AM! I pretty much planned Hadley's conception and subsequent birth down to the DAY, as I wanted and needed a May baby. I had just enough vacation days stored up to ease out of the school year after the STAAR test and not have to come back to teaching with a new baby at home. Obviously, with a little help from above, my little plan worked perfectly!

Fast forward two years later... we definitely wanted and were "ready" for a second child, but wanted to wait to try until later on in the summer, AFTER a few vacations we had planned, including our 5 year anniversary trip to Mexico! We were hoping for maybe a March or April springtime baby. 

What Actually Happened
Maybe a little bit of an over share, but before getting pregnant, my cycles were a little unpredictable, getting shorter and shorter over a few months time. I also had started working out a lot more during the spring to try and get my summer bod back (the surest way to get pregnant is to tempt fate by working on getting skinny again... ha!). Anyway, so when my period was a little late this past June I didn't really think too much about it. I figured my cycle was getting back on track, or maybe it had to do with my new workout routine, I really did not think I was pregnant, AT. ALL, 

I woke up on Father's Day (June 18), with plans of brunch and a day full of fun to celebrate Mason! While I did not believe that I was pregs,  I did find it strange that I had still not gotten my period. Wanting to set my mind at ease and rule that out, I dug out a pregnancy test that I had buried in a cabinet. I took the test, then got in the shower, and well you can guess the rest. A very faint, but clearly positive line was waiting on me when I got out.  

OH. MY. LORD!!!! Are you serious!?!??!??!??! We are leaving for Mexico in 11 days!!!!!!!!! Are you freaking kidding me!?!?!??!??!??!??! I. was. shocked. My mind was racing! Should I tell Mason right away? Surprise him? It IS Father's Day! How's that for irony!? I decided to sit on the news for the moment and got ready for brunch as if it was just a normal day. 

The BIG Reveal 
I will brag on myself for a moment here and let you know, dear reader, that I am an excellent actress. I made it through our morning brunch like NOTHING was going on, even though my mind was racing with what this news meant for our future, for our summer plans, for our Mexico trip! Ha! I locked it up though, because I wanted to surprise Mason later at home when he opened up his gifts. Here he is, an unsuspecting father of one... or so he thinks! 

Once we got home. I dropped the bomb on him, because now I really couldn't keep the news to myself any longer! 

Ha! SURPRISE DAD!!!! The ol' "positive pregnancy test wrapped up in a waterford box" trick! Get's 'em every time! ;)

We definitely weren't expecting this sweet blessing, but as always, God had a special plan in store for us and a reminder that though we might think so, we are not the ones in control! Now that it has sunk in, we are overjoyed and can not wait for our second sweet baby to join the family this February! 

​Thanks for following along! Stay tuned for how we shared our exciting news with family! 

​XOXO

We've been keeping a little secret ALL summer long! 

Hadley has been studying for her role as BIG sister!!

Final EXAM: February 27, 2018

And now, that our secret is FINALLY out. I have so much to catch you up on! 

Lots more blog posts coming your way! HOORAY! 

We are so excited to share our journey towards becoming a family of FOUR! 

XOXO, 

​Caroline, Mason & Hadley