We Have Some Exciting News To Share…

This December we will be welcoming a new baby into our family!  We are absolutely thrilled, slightly nervous, and giddy with excitement about growing our family.  I’m a couple days shy of 13 weeks pregnant, so 2nd trimester is right around the corner.  Jack is excited for another new baby and keeps telling me he has a baby in his belly too.  The other day he woke up in the morning and said “my tummy hurts, my baby doesn’t feel well,” and we talk about babies all the time.  It’s neat that he kind of understands what’s happening this time around (Caroline was a total shock to him) and he hopes the baby will be another little sister.  Caroline is oblivious but she loves baby dolls and any baby she sees, so I have a feeling she’s going to be smitten.  Good thing we bought that minivan last year!

I found out I was pregnant on April 8th, and I immediately told my parents because they were visiting us and flew home later that day!  I’m so glad we were able to tell them the news in person.  I have such a hard time keeping the news to myself and have wanted to shout it from the mountain tops from the very beginning.  This sweet little baby in my belly is our lifelong souvenir from our Asia trip back in March 🙂

I was blessed to have easy pregnancies with Jackson and Caroline, and thankfully this one has been the easiest of the three.  I haven’t felt tired or low on energy, I haven’t really been nauseous, and overall it’s been such smooth sailing that I haven’t really felt pregnant at all.  The ultrasound I had at 11 weeks really helped ease my mind because I was starting to get a little concerned over my lack of symptoms.  It’s been such a blessing though, since I have two other little ones to chase around this time!  I feel like I started looking pregnant really early and it’s been tough to hide this time around.  A lot of my clothes no longer fit and you’ll find me wearing clothing without real waistbands from here on out.  I plan on sharing more maternity style (including non-maternity pieces that work with a bump) this pregnancy, so if you’re interested in those kinds of posts let me know!

Ready for a shocker?  We won’t be finding out the gender this time!  We found out as soon as we could with the other two, but since we already have a little boy and a little girl and we haven’t gotten rid of any baby stuff yet it’ll be much easier to let this one be a surprise.  I’m a bit surprised that my type A personality can handle this huge unknown, but I figure that there are few times in life where you can have such a big surprise and I think it’ll be fun and exciting to find out if it’s a boy or girl once the baby is born.  Tom, don’t let me waiver on this when we go in for the anatomy scan in a few weeks!

I’ve wanted three little babies for as long as I can remember, and I’m so thankful Tom was ok with going along with having another little one.  He has two incredible children from his first marriage, Audrey (age 20), and Tommy (almost 13), who live in South Carolina (we’ll be seeing them this summer and they’re two of many reasons we hope to end up in SC after he retires from the Army next year) so he will have a bit of an age span between his kiddos, but if anyone can handle it I know he can.  I’m so glad I have such an amazing man by my side who is such an incredible husband and daddy.  We love living in Hawaii but long for the day when we can get everyone together much more frequently.

Special thanks to my dear friend Stephanie of Stephanie H Photography for taking these amazing photos for us!  We had photos taken on this beach when Caroline was a newborn and we play here almost daily, so it’s special that we have another big memory to share in this magical little spot.

My simple yet dreamy maxi dress was a gift from my favorite dress company, Madison Mathews, and you can message them if you want this dress and they’ll help you out!  This is the regular length navy tiered maxi and I’m wearing a small.  I’m pretty sure I’m going to live in this until I get too big for it in the 3rd trimester.  I bought Jack and Caroline’s “big brother” and “big sister” outfits from Smocked Auctions, which is one of my favorite sources for classic smocked clothing.  Caroline’s white eyelet bow was a gift from Nashville Bow Co. and it’s pretty much the only bow she wears now because it’s so perfect.  My earrings are from Tuckernuck.

Have baby questions?  I’d love to hear them and will do a Q&A in a follow up post!

Katie Vail

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