From Callie:
I will never forget the moment when Will and Nancy told me that she was pregnant. They had been out of the studio for majority of my working day and as I was about to leave for the day, Will came in and said those daunting words “Nancy and I need to talk to you about something.” I was a nervous wreck and for sure thought I was getting fired. Thoughts were flowing through my mind, trying to remember if I had done anything wrong in the past couple of months. They came in the studio and asked me to sit with them in our little sitting area. I was sweating bullets and held my breath as Nancy said, “You know there’s just no easy way to say this, so I am just going to say it… I’m pregnant.” I immediately burst into tears and all I could say is “Are you serious? Are you serious?”

When I began working for Will and Nancy three years ago, they had been married for 4 years and I knew that children would soon be in their future. After the years of watching and learning from their beautiful marriage, I have known that they would make the most wonderful, loving parents. To hear this news brought me so much joy, not only because we will be adding one more little team member to the NRP Team, but because soon they will welcome a precious baby – an amazing little person who will be a combination of Will and Nancy.

Will and Nancy, you are truly glowing, not only in these images but everyday. It was such an honor to capture this special time in your lives and I can’t wait to meet and love on Baby Ray!

From Nancy:
Goodness I am so grateful for these images. It’s surreal to see myself in these images, carrying a baby! This time is so fleeting, I’m so grateful that I made an effort to capture this time that is so precious in our lives. (It’s so easy for us photographers to get lost in capturing others that we don’t take time to document our own lives.) Callie did a wonderful job of capturing our love and anticipation. This morning and these images will forever hold such a special place in my heart.

Hair and Makeup : Jen from Make up for your Day
Film Processing : Indie Film Lab

When Will and I found out we were expecting, we knew we wanted to take this last season of it just being the “two of us” and really make the most of it. We have loved having the first 6.5 years of marriage all to ourselves, and we wanted to celebrate this season of life together before welcoming children into our family. One thing that immediately went to the top of our priorities was planning a “Babymoon” – a vacation for just the two of us before Baby Ray arrives! After much deliberation, we decided to go to California the 2nd week of March. We split up our trip into two parts : Adventures in Yosemite and Rest in Carmel Valley. It could not have been a more perfect choice for us! It was a blend of adventure, relaxation, hiking, resting, eating delicious food, seeing beautiful sites, and spending quality time with one another. It will forever live in my mind as one of my fondest memories with Will. It was worth every penny and minute of planning! If you are expecting, I highly recommend making time for a babymoon!

The biggest challenge in planning this trip was limiting our options so we wouldn’t try to see and do all the things. Will and I love to explore and travel, and we have the tendency to make our vacations so full we come home a bit tired. This time, we knew we wanted this trip to be relaxing as well. We planned much of our trip based on the recommendations of our dear friends Emily and John, who recently took a trip to Cali and offered us some amazing resources. We ended up so incredibly happy with our choices, and on the last day we truly didn’t want to leave! It was so sweet.

Hugs to my sweet husband for my maternity photos he took while we were there! (By the way… isn’t his beard amazing?)

Our Babymoon Itinerary

Day 1 : Arrive in San Francisco / Muir Woods National Park / Drive to Yosemite
Day 2 : Sleep and settle into our Air BNB / Hike the Mist Trail
Day 3 : Hike around Mirror Lake / Watch a Movie at our Air BNB
Day 4 : Hike Mariposa Grove
Day 5 : Drive to Carmel Valley Ranch / 17 Mile Drive / Appetizers at Spanish Bay with the Bagpiper
Day 6 : Big Sur / McWay Falls / Adventurous Drive on the Mountain / Earthbound Farm / Explore Carmel Valley Ranch / Dinner at the Ranch
Day 7 : Spa Day at Carmel Valley Ranch / Dinner at Dametra Cafe
Day 8 : Yoga Class / Travel home

Film Processing : Indie Film Lab

To read Part One, Click Here

Do you want to hear the sweetest thing EVER? Last night when I came home from the Return to Rest retreat, I walked upstairs to unpack and saw that Will had painted the entire nursery while I was away! A beautiful and cozy light gray we picked out the other week! I couldn’t believe it. He has been just the sweetest husband I could ask for during this pregnancy. I don’t know what I’d do without him. Also, there’s gonna be a real live baby in my house in just a few months. What the what! This is getting real, people!

It is so hard to believe that I will already be 6 months pregnant THIS WEEK. My belly has grown quite a bit since the photo was taken above… this whole process is still quite surreal. I’ve been told that I’ll never really get used to it, even when the baby arrives, and I know that will be the case for me. My prayer is that I would slow down and enjoy every season of this, knowing that I’ll never be pregnant for the first time again.

Since I last shared my heart about my journey with this sweet baby, not much has changed, yet everything has changed.

I’m still the same independent, goal-setter, anti-clutter, love-my-sleep, entrepreneur, love-my-husband, focused, love-to-travel, joyful Nancy that I’ve always been. And yet, I am ALSO a Mama who loves to feel these kicks, who loves the challenge of planning a maternity leave, who loves the thought of Will being a Daddy, who loves tiny hats and mittens.

For some reason, I thought that I couldn’t be all of these things at once. I thought I’d have to sacrifice my ambition for mommyhood. But I’m realizing, I don’t. It’s ALL who I am. I don’t have to choose one or the other, I simply have to choose to be comfortable in who God made me to be.

Day by day, month by month, I’ve traded my anxiety for joy. I honestly am very surprised at how much I am enjoying this journey. I thought I’d be kicking and screaming the whole way, since I dreaded being pregnant for so, so long. I’m thankful for God’s goodness to me early on – that he began to prepare my selfish heart for this season long before I got pregnant. This is God’s good plan for me, and it’s much sweeter when I lay down my own expectations and plans and simply embrace His plans.

Some highlights of my pregnancy so far:

We’ve decided to keep the gender a surprise
After much deliberation and many conversations, we have decided to keep this little one’s gender a surprise. We are praying and hoping for a healthy baby, and while we both think it’s a boy, we are very excited for the moment of anticipation in the deliver room when the doctor says, “It’s a ____!” We decided this for several reasons: First, we want practical and neutral gifts that can be shared among siblings. Secondly, I’ve heard its great motivation in the delivery room when you are ready to meet your baby. Lastly, it’s one of life’s last greatest surprises, and we wanted to keep it that way. People have been surprised for thousands of years, and I love the anticipation of it. Not to mention – every single couple that has highly encouraged us to wait to find out has done it themselves, and said it was the best thing they’ve ever done!

Names
The plan is that we will pick out one girl name and one boy name before we go to the hospital! We have a handful of names that we like, but we are very undecided. Hoping it will become clearer as time passes!

Cravings / Food
I love salty, savory, vinegary food. My favorites have been pickles, Olive Garden salad, anything with banana peppers, and all dairy products! Whole milk has never tasted so good. I also eat granola + bananas + yogurt every morning and it never gets old.

Movement
This has been my favorite highlight of all! I’ll never forget when I was lying on my bed one night at 20 weeks, and I felt this baby having a dance party in my belly. Will hadn’t felt it move yet, but I was convinced he would be able to feel it. I called him into the room, he knelt down beside my bed, and after waiting with this hand on my belly for a few moments I felt a solid kick. He looked at me and said, “WAS THAT IT?!” We both started laughing and I said, “YES!” Since then, our little one has not stopped. It’s constantly moving and kicking and I love it!

Learning
Let the book reading begin! Will is reading The Birth Partner and the Expectant Father. I’m reading What to Expect and How to raise a Healthy Child in Spite of your Doctor. We have a long list of books on parenting we want to read this year, which we will be sharing soon. We signed up for Birth Classes and we watched the Business of Being Born Documentary as well. Goodness there’s so much to learn. I want to educate myself as much as possible, while keeping an open mind and being willing to welcome whatever story God chooses to write when we welcome baby Ray into the world.

That’s it for now, friends. The same ol’ me with a growing Mama’s heart. For all you entrepreneur Mamas out there – I’d LOVE to hear from you! What are your favorite books? Resources? Advice?