One Year Ago...

Today Carter turns four months old. He is changing so much in every little way, but I'll talk about that later. This post is about what happened a year ago today. Last year at this time Linc and I were celebrating the Fourth of July with my family at Lake Oconee. Little did we know that the very next day our lives would change forever!!

We had been not not trying to start a family for a few months and were curious to know if it worked this time around. On our way home from the lake we stopped off at CVS and bought the economy size of pregnancy tests. We wanted to have a few extras because we were about to leave for Greece and wanted to bring them along in case I did not start my period. Linc wanted me to go ahead and take one of the tests but I hesitated because I had been drinking a lot of water that day and was afraid of getting another negative test (we had gotten a negative only two days earlier anyway and I did not want to feel that disappointment right before our big vacation). I did not hesitate for long though, took my sample in a cup, and then went about packing for our trip to Greece.

A while later, while we were walking around the kitchen, I saw Linc's face completely light up! "OH MY GOSH," he said to me and rushed to give me a hug. I saw the results on the test and immediately started crying! I could not believe it had worked! We were really pregnant! After crying, hugging, thanking God, and asking tons of questions I still couldn't believe it was true so....I took another test (and another...and another...) and imagine my surprise when they came back positive! We knew we should wait but we were SO excited that we called our parents right away!

I would have loved to tell them in person but we weren't sure when we would see them all together. Lincoln was so excited I actually had to stop him from dialing the minute we read the tests!! I know people say wait until you're further along but Linc and I decided that if something were to happen we would benefit from the love, support, and encouragement of our families. My mom's first reaction was a laugh and then she asked why we didn't tell her earlier that day! Ha! I knew it! My father was really sweet and so excited, and Alex screamed in the background! Next I called Kristin and woke her up from bed. She seemed very shocked (as were we!) and couldn't believe it! I also called my bestie Candace and gave her a huge birthday surprise! She did not believe me at first but then was so happy for us! During this time Linc was calling his side of the family and I heard his mother's scream from across the room!

We went from this first belly
shot taken at 7 weeks 0 days....

to this last belly shot
taken at 36 weeks 1 day!

We went from meeting our sweet boy
for the first time on March 5, 2010...

To watching him grow into a strong, curious,
and happy little baby on July 5, 2010!

One year ago today our lives changed forever. There is never a perfect time to have children and life certainly does not prepare you to be parents but over the next eight months we grew more and more excited. The day Carter was born was one of the happiest days of our lives. He is our world and we love him more than words can express. One year ago one little test changed us forever and I could not be more grateful.