Pink! Pink! And more Pink!

We are expecting our second baby this September, and we’re having a girl!!!

I truly couldn’t be more excited. So are my husband, and our just-turned two year old daughter, the baby whisperer. She told us long before we knew the baby’s gender that she’s having a baby sister. I really think the girls have already learned how to communicate with each other when Madeline rests her head on my stomach to say hi.

Now that I’m pregnant with our second child, and living in a constant state of exhaustion, raging hormones, and fear of the unknown, I spend many sleepless nights thinking about what it will be like to have two children, and what that means for our growing family.

I’m an only child, and I like it that way, so I really can’t draw from personal experience. In a few months, Maddie will no longer be the only child who gets all the love, all the attention, and all the stuff. She’ll have to share it all, which for a while, made me sad for her.

Fortunately, I got over that pretty quickly. In fact, even writing it I feel a little silly. Of course I shouldn’t feel sad for her. I should feel so happy and excited for her! Sure, she’ll have to share it all, but that’s an important core principle we’re teaching her anyway, and she’ll gain so much from having a sister.

It won’t always be sunshine and roses. They’ll get mad at each other. They’ll argue. They’ll have to learn how to work through their issues. But they will love each other. And (hopefully) they’ll become best friends that will always be there for each other.

My whole life, I’ve always known I would one day be a mom, and that I would love my child. But I truly didn’t understand how deep and profound that love would be. I really can’t explain it other than to say I love her so much it hurts.

Because of how much I love Madeline, I sometimes worry that I won’t love the second baby as much just because it isn’t physically possible. Do our hearts actually have the capacity to love our second child as much as we love our first?

Even though it doesn’t seem possible, I rest assured on the advice from so many moms who had the same fear before having their second child, that the heart does in fact have an infinite capacity for love.

The thought of having two girls – while admittedly a little scary when imagining the teenage years – is incredibly exciting. It also means that my husband now has no chance of getting a balance of hormones in our home. Except for our (neutered) male dog, Stan is destined to be surrounded by estrogen for the rest of his life… He isn’t complaining though. Now he’ll have not one, but two daddy’s girls.

I am so eager to hold our baby in my arms. I can’t wait to see Maddie’s face when she meets her sister for the first time. And I couldn’t be more proud and honored to watch these two little girls grow up.

I want to thank Erica Parris of Parris Photography  for taking these beautiful pictures of our family for Madeline’s second birthday, and to announce our pregnancy. We have worked with Erica many times, and we are so grateful for the beautiful, timeless memories she has captured of our family. If you’re in the Central Florida area, I highly recommend her!