My dear (and ultra-talented) friend Abi captured these beautiful photos for us and I am treasuring them forever. Growing this baby boy has been the most incredible, miraculous thing I’ve ever had the honor to do, and to have these photos as keepsakes is just so special. I’m just gonna leave these right here: 

Just a handful of weeks (give or take) until we get to meet this boy! I’ve been so blessed to be feeling pretty great this whole time, sleeping well, and just so in awe of my body. I will say that the occasional bouts of swollen feet and carpal tunnel aren’t the most comfortable, but I know that those are tiny annoyances in the grand scheme of pregnancy symptoms. We’ll see how these final few weeks go, but he’s worth whatever awaits me on this journey to momhood.

The most challenging thing with this pregnancy has been the whole pandemic thing and having to really surrender my vision of what pregnancy and labor looks like. It’s been hard having to miss out on a babymoon, more frequent prenatal appointments, fulfilling my favorite restaurant cravings, and just the general freedom to physically go to stores and shop for nursery things and maternity clothes. It’s going to be extra hard missing out on the parade of friends coming to the hospital to meet this boy right after he’s born. But even though there’s a lot of grief to acknowledge, in the grand scheme of things, he’s what matters most. He’s been my little ray of hope through everything going on, and seeing his sweet face for the first time is going to be everything. I cannot wait.

Any other pregnant mamas out there? How are you doing and feeling? I want to know in the comments below!

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I find myself savoring every moment of this pregnancy because the journey to get here was super emotional. It took a lot of prayer and there was heartbreak along the way, but God is so good and these little kicks I’m feeling these days + my growing bump are a constant reminder that this baby is a gift from Him. I could not be more thankful and honored to get to do this!

Being pregnant during this coronavirus pandemic has been pretty wild. I’m definitely missing being surrounded by all my people during such a special time, but thanks to all the Zoom and FaceTime chats I’m having I still feel very connected. I’ve also gotten to spend a ton of quality time with my husband before we become a family of three and it’s nice to have extra time at home for all this nesting I’m about to do. Still, it would be nice to get away for a babymoon before this kid gets here. If not I guess we’ll have to make it a newborn-moon! It doesn’t sound nearly as restful, but worth it to bask in the sun and stick my toes in the sand somewhere tropical. 

I’m 21 weeks now and thankfully, this pregnancy has been pretty easy so far. In the beginning I mainly felt like a bottomless pit of hunger and only got nauseous when I didn’t eat every hour and a half. The only things I could not stand were the sight/taste/thought of sour cream and the smell of taco seasoning. Other than being too tired to move by 8pm and having to pee 24/7 I felt pretty good (which was also terrifying, cause those early symptoms felt like such reassurance). Now that I’m a little over halfway there, I still wake up a ton at night but I’m experiencing some more of the fun stuff: good hair, a reasonably sized bump, a little more energy, vivid dreams every night, and baby kicks that keep getting stronger and stronger.  

Biggest cravings so far: peanut butter toast every single day, Special K cereal (has to be the one with strawberries), spicy Indian food, cheeseburgers, any kind of Italian food, and Reser’s bean and cheese burritos (which is weird because I hadn’t even thought about those things in like fifteen years). Oddly enough, I am preferring salty/spicy/savory things over sweets these days.

We found out the gender last week and wanted to come up with a fun way to tell all of you. So naturally, I made myself a gender reveal cake!

Without further ado, it’s a…

BOY! 

And the crazy thing is, I had this super strong feeling that we were having a son weeks before we found out. I did have a few vivid dreams that I was having a girl in the beginning, and an overwhelming majority of our friends guessed it would be a girl, but after I hit the second trimester I was just convinced it was a boy. I couldn’t shake the feeling. So when the ultrasound tech said he was a boy I was mind blown that the feeling was true! We are so elated to be having a son! And just look at his cute little profile:

I’m already so obsessed with this boy and can’t wait to be his mama! Already dreaming of his birthday cakes but trying not to think too far ahead because I hear time goes fast. In the meantime, I’m savoring every moment of this pregnancy and grateful to be healthy during this crazy time in the world. Hope you’re all safe and healthy out there and thank you for celebrating sweet boy with us! 

And one last thing: If you’re wondering about the details of how I created my gender reveal cake, here’s the tutorial for the buttercream piping technique I used. The color palette for the frosting is Americolor Electric Blue and Fuschia, mixed in a few different shades and combined for the purple color. I tinted the cake batter with Americolor Electric Blue to get that pretty shade for the cake inside.

If you’re expecting and want to make your own gender reveal cake, feel free to steal this idea or check out the tutorial for these sprinkle filled gender reveal cupcakes. Be sure to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram if you do – I’d love to celebrate with you!

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