One Year Ago Today...

So I know it's not Throwback Thursday, but I have a little bit of a throwback to share...

One year ago today, Julian and I found out that we were pregnant again!  I was honestly a little surprised to see the + sign on the pregnancy test.  Julian and I had only been trying for 2 months and I was convinced that it would take us awhile to get pregnant.  With Jillian, we tried for months and months, trying everything in the "how to conceive" books.  After riding that roller coaster of emotions, we finally got pregnant with Jillian.

Yup, that's my pee stick...glamorous, I know!

But as everything is with Bubs, this one just came kinda easy.  I threw out all those conception books with all their rules and methods.  Those books claim to have a method to the madness, like "try to conceive while standing on your head on the 4th day of the new moon and you are sure to have a boy."  OK, that may have been an exaggeration, and maybe that stuff actually works for some people, but we just decided to take it easy this time around and let God decide the perfect timing for us.

I remember waking up on December 3rd, 2012, a little anxious to take the test.  I was most anxious to see if we were giving Jillian a sibling.  I mean, this news was going to change her life forever.  After we found out, I went and got Jillian from her room to get her ready for the daily routine.  But I couldn't help myself from cuddling with her a little longer that morning.  The baby that I had put to sleep the night before woke up the next morning and was going to be a big sister.  Funny the way it is...

A picture from the morning we found out we were expecting #2
She's so little!

We had our first doctor's visit on December 20th to confirm the pregnancy.  And it was just in time to share the good news with our family.  Somehow, we managed to keep it a secret from our families for over 3 weeks.  If you know me at all, you know that's kind of a big deal!  (Of course, I had already shared the news with 3 of our closest friends...I can't keep secrets!!!)

For my family, this was going to be the 4th grandchild in 3 years!  We were not going to El Paso for the holidays so I chose to send them a gift to share the good news.  I made up 3 identical frames and mailed them off with instructions to not open them until Christmas Day!

From top left, Lauren (my niece), Jillian, Baby Mikey (my nephew), and the special announcement of Baby Acosta Coming August 2013

And for Julian's family, they were coming to spend Christmas with us.  So we came up with a plan to have Jillian reveal the big news to the family.  We wrapped up a special present just for Jillian to be opened on Christmas Eve.  She was so excited to get to open her present.  She took the box to Mami Mari for a little help.

And out came the book "I'm a Big Sister!"  The look on their faces was priceless!

Mami Mari explaining how the light bulb clicked on what the book meant

This Little Girl was going to be a Big Sister!

Looking back on it now, it made our holiday season just a little extra special and bright.  We knew that it would be the last Christmas as a family of 3.  I remember trying to soak in every minute with Jillian as I saw this baby girl suddenly become a big-sister-to-be.  And I  really enjoyed getting to share the gift of our baby-to-be as a little extra Christmas gift to our families.  

And funny how just one year later, a + sign on a stick would be the first sign of the miracle of our son...