Friends, today is our third wedding anniversary! We had the most beautiful weather yesterday – crisp, clear, warm, blue skies, low 70’s – and it reminded me so strongly of the weather on September 15, 2012. You’d better believe I’m still grateful for that!

I challenged myself to include just one favorite photo in today’s post, and I did, even though it nearly killed me. Tanja Lippert is and will always be my hero — I think she is beyond compare in the realm of wedding photography. Having her by our side on that day is another thing for which I’m still grateful!

Earlier this year, to mark our ten year dativersary, I ruminated a bit on our ceremony reading from C.S. Lewis. I was just reading over the post where I shared all three of our readings again, and a different one is standing out to me at the moment — our reading from Colossians 3.

From where I’m sitting right now, these verses make my heart feel a bit swollen and my throat a bit lumpy. Put on compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, patience, love… forgive… let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts… and be thankful. This is the reading our pastor chose to draw his message from, and in it, he told us that these words were telling us that we’d have to put on our “work clothes” every day of our marriage.

I have found that this is true – doing those things that Paul commands is not always easy, and sometimes requires work. But it is unlike any other work I’ve ever experienced. It is a JOY to do these paradoxical things, to make myself meek, to be kind, to forgive. It’s a joy because it’s in the service of one who always does the same for me. It’s still hard — my most basic instinct is always to care about myself above everyone else — but it is so sweet.

And I am so very, very thankful. (That part is easy.)

P.S. More wedding photos and a film here, two year anniversary post here, one year here.

Right from the start, we knew we wanted to tell our families our big news in person. We live far away from everyone, and opportunities to celebrate in person are few and far between. The good news? We knew we’d have our families together on back-to-back weekends. The bad news? Those weekends were not until weeks 15 and 16 of my pregnancy. Even though waiting that long was not ideal, and certainly not for everyone, we felt firmly that it was the right decision for us.

Especially since we’d waited so long, we wanted to make the announcements a little more special when they finally came, so we planned something different for each set. John’s family was up first! We were all gathered in New York City for Natalie and Joe’s baby shower, and went to brunch the next day with the whole Thomas clan. N+J opened a few more gifts, and one was ours. I ordered custom onesies from Zazzle with “Michigan 2016” for each of the three cousins in the sizes they’ll be next summer. We already have a family trip on the books, so it was a perfect opportunity on which to piggyback!

The reaction? TOTAL surprise. I think I could have knocked my brother-in-law over with a feather! Natalie and Joe provided great cover for us, I think, since everyone was focused on their impending arrival!

Next up was my family! Since my Dad’s birthday was later in the week, we wrapped up a package for him and handed it over once we were all gathered, saying it was something he’d want to enjoy for the rest of vacation. Inside was a faux North Carolina postcard that I’d made, and we taped our first ultrasound to the back.

The reaction? Not surprised at all! Actually, we were kind of like, do you guys understand what’s happening?! I’m not sure how they guessed, but they were nevertheless also excited :)

In addition to our families, we did share the news with a few dear couple friends in special ways. Nancy and Will were two of our most trusted confidantes as we walked together toward parenthood. When we went to visit Milly for the first time, we wrapped up half of a (cheesy) BFF necklace. It took them a few seconds to figure out what it meant, until I held up the other half!

Finally, we had to share the news with our friends Sam and Graham. Sweet Sam was one of my favorite people for the last year or so, because she asked us literally every time we got together when we were thinking of having kids. Some people might have found this annoying, but as I explained, I craved it. Earlier this year I did some graphic design work for them in trade for a photo session, and ever since, they’ve been urging us to redeem our half of the bargain. I, of course, had big plans for this session, but wasn’t about to say anything! When we were ready to tell them, I made up this little collection of some of their newborn images with a note at the bottom: are you free January 2016? :)

So keep an eye out for those beauties in a few months – grateful!

Since we had kept the news quiet for so long, it was definitely a little nervewracking, and kind of strange, to finally let the cat out of the bag. But, sharing the news with our loved ones in person and in special ways was totally worth it. And as a bonus (I guess?), it certainly has made the pregnancy zip along – seemingly right after the news became public, we reached the halfway mark, at twenty weeks!

I’m so curious: if you’ve ever shared the news about a pregnancy, when did you do it? I know twelve weeks is the standard, but I’ve heard of people shouting it from the rooftops at six weeks, and some not sharing until six months!

I apologize for those longtime readers who have now read 4 or 5 of my fall to do lists over the years… but they’re my favorite! Even though the items don’t change that much year to year, I love being reminded of my favorite things to do when the temperatures get cooler and the leaves get crunchy. And since I’m starting early (fall doesn’t officially begin until September 23), I have my fingers crossed I’ll check all of these off!

— Go to the driving range
— Listen to my Cozy Fall playlist on repeat
— Drink hot apple cider
— Introduce John’s parents and aunts to Asheville on our annual trip
— Make my favorite pumpkin chocolate chip muffins
— Venture out into another pumpkin recipe – I’m eyeing this one
— Buy a fall scarf – eyeing this one
— Host the third annual pumpkin carving and soup night
— Catch the goat showmanship competition at the NC State Fair (Fun story: last year an EFM reader came up and introduced herself to me while I was watching! The best!! If you go and see me, say hi!)
— Make biscuits at our church’s Fair booth
— Listen to lots of great music at the Wide Open Bluegrass festival with my parents
— Cheer at a high school football game under the Friday night lights
— Make a trip to Monuts (they are open year round but for some reason I love to do this in the cooler months!)
— Hike somewhere with beautiful leaves

What are you hoping to enjoy before December 1st? To me, that’s when winter begins :)

P.S. Linking up with Day 8 of Bailey’s Blog-tember Challenge! :)

One of my September goals is to start our baby registry, and I think we’re going to tackle it this weekend! The plan is to use a universal service like MyRegistry, Babylist, or Amazon (we used Amazon for our wedding registry) so we can add things from places like West Elm, The Land of Nod, or Etsy. We’ve already had a preliminary outing to look at strollers, but there are lots of other things we’d like to touch and feel, so research trips to Target and/or Buy Buy Baby are part of this weekend’s game plan.

20 weeks!

Other preparations? I have about a bajillion (that’s an approximation) registry guides pinned (here, here, here, here, and here to start). We took a guided tour through the baby section of Target with our new parent friends. We’ve watched other friends and siblings use, complain about, and praise everything from wraps to high chairs for several years.

We’ve got some good background, but before we head out, I would love to turn to y’all for any advice you might like to offer, too! If you could recommend just three products for our registry, what would they be? Or, if you’ve used one of the registries we’re considering (Babylist, Amazon, MyRegistry), would you recommend it? I know not all of my readers are in the parenting stage (my impression is about half of you are!), so even if your glowing recommendation comes secondhand (maybe from something your sister-in-law raves about), that’s okay with me. Can’t wait to hear from you, and wish us luck!!

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