A SPECIAL SURPRISE REVEAL!
As much as I never stopped believing, there was still a part of me that honestly didn’t know if we would ever be able to put this dream announcement in one of our blog posts, but here we are!
Announcing Baby Lyon: joining our family earth side in August !!!
When we first started our baby journey, it was the only thing on our mind. Right before our son’s terminal diagnosis, before I started “advocating like a mother,” before Randy had to change jobs not once, but twice... before a huge child support court hearing, before Owen’s Make-A-Wish trip and before our online shop existed. You get it, before ‘all of the things.’
It literally blows my mind to see how much we’ve done and it brings me to instant tears to look back on what we have made it through in the last 3 years alone.
Do you KNOW how many times, through all of those things listed above, I thought to myself or cried out loud “I can’t do this. I won’t be able to make it through this...” Losing sleep, crying in the fetal position, locking myself in the bathroom or hiding in the pantry away from the kids to hide my emotions for a moment… so many other situations come flashing back when I sit and think about these moments.
It’s been a HUGE MENTAL CHALLENGE. And I know it won’t be the last time that life will put my heart and mind to the test again. But I do know that these past years of hardcore and continuous growth have completely changed me. And all the while we were trying to conceive. I know NOW that God was absolutely protecting me from ‘all of the things’ that lied ahead back then, so that I could mentally and emotionally enjoy this baby and everything it deserves in my most physically healthy state of mind after going through this last chapter.
Delay is never denial, my friends. It is simply a pause for you to have what you need at the RIGHT TIME. I know and I’ve learned that it’s better to wait for the right time and have it all come together and make sense, rather than to force it when you think you’re ready, just to have it all fall apart.
The thought of having a brand new baby alongside all of those times... just NO. Of course we would have loved it just as much as we plan! But NOW... now some of the dust has settled, this year ahead looks so calm and peaceful and we can literally just LIVE, and LOVE and make memories and as a family, enjoy nothing else simply but bringing this NEW BABY into our family and loving it wholeheartedly.
This is what we deserve as a family - a light, a gift to bring us all together after so much sadness and stress and THIS is what the baby deserves to have... our time, full focus and love. We have been talking about this addition to our blended family since we started talking about our future together. And I’m not going lie to you that after the years would pass, as the kids were getting older and then when the other health issues came and hit us like a bag of bricks to the face, I started to just believe that this may possibly not be part of our future.
When I was young, all I can remember was wanting to be a mom. I wanted a big family “with 4 to 5 children” I would always say. I had Owen, and when I had met Randy, he had his 3, which instantly became “my 4.” I never let go of the “or 5,” and now I know why. I began to accept our family, our love and our story for exactly what it is and what it has been together. We did, after all, have a beautiful blended family. I just started getting my mind prepared for the unknown possibly being that this was us as a whole and all that it ever would be.
We found out about our surprise miracle on December 13, 2019 - exactly 4 years to the day that we got engaged. I was 21 when I got pregnant with Owen, and I’m 31 now. I had Owen when I was 22 and I will be 32 when I bring this new little one into the world. All the little things add up and just make my heart feel bittersweet seeing how life comes full circle.
We had to keep it a secret from friends and family until after the Holidays. Finding out that early in December was so hard! We didn’t’ even celebrate our family Christmas until the week after Christmas Day! Haha. Talk about the worst timing. But it did make it fun to have the surprise come around the Holidays! I had a massive sinus infection just in time for all of our celebrations and was literally down for the count with that on top of the beginning stages of my body changing for this pregnancy! I was miserable. Thankfully though, this gave me my excuse on why I couldn’t have any cocktails with the family and “feel” my best for our secret!
We told our kids just a few days after finding out on their own time to make it special for our family and I still can’t believe that they KEPT THE SECRET!!! They had a present to open together with 4 notes attached, one for each child to read out loud.
“You all deserve so much in this world.”
“The best thing in this life that we could ever give you is each other.”
“We love you all more than you’ll ever know and we count our blessings of having you in our lives every single day.”
“And together as a family, we will always continue to take ‘one day at a time.’”
Together, they opened the present. Inside, there was a small white stocking, a little draw string bag that said “believe” which held two small ornaments, one blue and one pink. There was a lion stuffed animal with Owen’s handwriting from our shop that says ‘one day at a time,’ and there was a newborn onesie with a baby lion face on it.
It took them a few moments but then it clicked and they were all excited! The look on the older boys’ faces were so priceless to me and Owen didn’t quite understand what was happening, but he liked the lion stuffed animal and will understand a little more soon when my belly gets bigger! Not even 10 minutes later, the kids were all gathered around and already making their list of baby names. My heart has never felt so complete.
What better way to start off the New Year of 2020 with a SURPRISE!!!?
Thank you for following our story and being right by our side in our journey.
I’ve created this shirt for our shop for the new year to celebrate this next chapter of our journey. And I always HOPE that what we have available will always be sentimental for you and yours.
Keep holding onto hope, love. We are right here beside you. xx
**You can view our impromptu home video baby announcement here: Owen’s Story on YouTube