March 19, 2019

We’re Having a Baby!

Posted in: Story of Us

You may have noticed that I haven’t been quite as active on social media over the last few months and I think it’s clear why now – we’re having a baby!

Weston and I could not be happier that we will become parents this year!  And we’re probably just as excited that people will finally stop asking us when we’re going to have a baby. 😉  I am currently just over 15 weeks pregnant and this has been THE TOUGHEST secret to keep!  (My due date is below for those of you trying to do the math).  We almost just blurted it out a few times, but we were adamant about telling our friends and family at the appropriate times.

We have a running list of frequently asked questions, so I’m going to lay it all out there.  Here are some of the questions we have been asked since sharing the big news:

When did you find out?

I had a feeling for about a week that I was pregnant, but I had to wait to test and I waited a few days longer just to be sure.  Weston always wakes up an hour or so before I do, so I knew he would be at the front of the house when I woke up.  On New Year’s Day, I took a pregnancy test as soon as I woke up and I may have done a fist pump when I saw it was positive. 😉

How did you tell Weston?

I can’t keep secrets from Weston for very long, so within an hour of taking the pregnancy test I convinced Weston that we should go read in the hammock for a little while.  After reading for a few minutes, I asked Weston what his top goals were for this year.  Then I told him I already got a head start on one of my goals.  I said it was to be a mom.  Check out the video of his reaction at the end of the post!

How did you tell your family and friends?

We had to travel all over Alabama and even to North Carolina to share the news with family and friends in person.  Thankfully, no one was suspicious when we scheduled each of our trips.  We basically pulled the same trick on everyone because we wanted to video their reactions.  We asked them to take a picture and then said, “We’re pregnant!” or “Ashley’s pregnant!”  There were a lot of confused reactions and a lot of “Are you serious?” comments, but everyone was excited nonetheless.  Check out their reactions at the end of the post!

What is your due date?

My due date is September 6th!  I’m so thankful that God knew what would be happening this year and I didn’t have any weddings scheduled toward the end of my pregnancy or near my due date.

How have you been feeling?

Morning sickness is no joke.  Mostly because it’s not just in the mornings.  It’s all. day. long.  I ate goldfish and drank ginger ale like it was my job in the first trimester.  I slept SO much.  A typical evening for me pre-pregnancy consisted of dinner, reading a book or watching tv, then working on my business (editing, posting, brainstorming, gear-prepping, etc.).  Once I got pregnant, my typical evening became eating dinner, falling asleep while watching Netflix, waking up long enough to feel bad about not getting any photography work done, then going to bed by 8:30pm.  Definitely not ideal for the night owl in me.  Don’t worry; I still got the important photography things done.  Some of them just took a little longer than usual.  The first trimester kicked my butt to say the least, but I am feeling back to normal in the second trimester!

Have you had any weird cravings?

I haven’t had cravings for weird combinations like pickles and peanut butter (gross!), but I have had cravings for food I had not eaten in years.  For example, I craved Hot and Spicy McChickens from McDonald’s.  I had not had one in about 8 years!  They don’t even make them anymore, so I had to settle for a regular McChicken.  I have also craved Ramen noodles, chicken salad, tomatoes, and white chicken chili to name a few.

Have you picked out names?

We have picked out names, but we are keeping them a surprise until the baby arrives.  We may be willing to share initials later, but the names will remain a mystery to everyone but us until the baby arrives.

Was it planned?

If things had worked out perfectly, we would have gotten pregnant a few months earlier than we did.  God knew the perfect time for us to get pregnant better than we did and that’s when it happened.   I knew deep down that stress was keeping me from getting pregnant right away and I had to separate myself from the stress.  I left my 40-hour a week day job and removed some toxic people from my life.  That’s the month we got pregnant.  Isn’t it crazy how much stress can affect your body?

I also believe that God had to teach me that I couldn’t control everything. He is in control and everything doesn’t have to be perfect in my eyes because it’s perfect in His eyes.

Why did you wait so long to share the news?

We wanted to share the news with our family and friends in person so that we could have videos of their reactions.  Both of us have large families scattered across Alabama and some in North Carolina.  We had to schedule multiple trips out of town to make sure we told everyone in person.  We drove over 2,200 miles to make that happen!  I also wanted my brides to find out the news from me and not social media.  We finally finished telling everyone two days ago, which was the day before our big announcement.

Why did you wait so long to get pregnant?

Weston and I had a few goals we wanted to accomplish before starting our family.  More accurately, I set a few goals early in our marriage to justify waiting for a while to have a baby.  I was career-oriented and wasn’t even sure if I wanted to have kids.  We have been pressured to have kids since we got married and every time someone made a comment about how we “needed” to have kids, I wanted to put it off for another year.

Our three goals were to get my teeth fixed (which required braces and double jaw surgery), pay off all our debt (read how we paid off $135,000 in less than 5 years), and travel to Europe (read our Europe blog post here).  We wanted to celebrate our 5-year anniversary before we had kids too, but that wasn’t a firm goal.  As long as we got the other three done, we were perfectly happy.

Also, I don’t feel like 28 is an old age to start a family.  I know plenty of people that didn’t start their families until their 30s and some even in their 40s!  Everyone is different and I don’t think there is a right age to have a baby.  I wrote an entire blog post about this when I was frustrated with how many people told us the clock was ticking, but I haven’t had the guts to share it yet.  Maybe I will later this year!

Can I touch your belly?

Only a handful of people have asked me this so far, but the short answer is no.  It’s still weird to me that I’m growing a person, so it’s even more weird that people suddenly want to touch my belly.  If you didn’t touch it before I got pregnant, please don’t touch it now haha.  I’m sure you’ll have plenty of opportunities to hold the baby after he or she arrives.

Are you going to find out the gender?

YES!  I promise we are more anxious than you to find out if we are having a boy or a girl.  We have always wanted to do a gender reveal party.  Unfortunately, due to tax season, weddings, sessions, and our vacation, we don’t have a free weekend until June.  As difficult as it will be, Weston and I are going to wait until our gender reveal party in June to find out the gender.

If you still have questions after reading all of this, feel free to message me!  I’m happy to answer any questions you have about Baby Mason!  We are thrilled that God chose to make us parents this year!

I got my dress from Amazon super cheap!  It has pockets and it is so comfortable!  Oh, and there are multiple colors and designs! Here’s the link if you want one for yourself.  Just so you know, this is an Amazon affiliate link. 🙂

Huge thanks to Aly Hughes for getting up early on Saturday to take photos for us!  And huge thanks to Candace Doak for convincing us to get the baby balloon!

Okay, here’s the video of everyone’s reactions!  Enjoy 🙂




  1. Judy says:

    Congratulations!
    Your video is priceless! LOVE IT!

  2. Kathy Dunning says:

    This is amazing Ashley and Weston! Such a beautiful way to share the love!

  3. Stephanie Herrod says:

    I LOVE this video!!! Weston and his brother’s reactions are my favorite!!!! So sweet. You will be the best parents!!! Congrats to a sweet sweet couple!

  4. Kathy Harrison says:

    Now I’m crying too! That’s such wonderful news! Can’t wait to watch your little one grow up. He or she is going to be very blessed and so loved!

  5. Kathi says:

    I love it! The video was a cute idea and you will always be able to remember those moments! I’m happy for y’all!

  6. Gwen Thompson says:

    Congratulations 🎉❣️👏
    Y’all are going to be wonderful
    parents!!

  7. Ann says:

    Love love love the video. So happy for y’all!

  8. Dea Powe says:

    Precious way to tell everyone! Congratulations Ashley and Weston!

  9. Victoria says:

    I absolutely love this!! I cannot express how happy I am for you and Weston!! You are going to be amazing parents! Congratulations!! 🥰🥰 I can’t wait to watch your little one grow the way you have watched mine grow!!!

  10. Jan Hulsey says:

    Awesome video!! Wade’s reaction was priceless! I’m glad I waited until Jacob explained when he told me he was going to be an uncle!!!🤦🏻‍♀️😁❤️ So happy for y’all!

  11. Doug Shelton says:

    The video had me bawlin’! Great compilation! Very Excited!!!!!!!!

  12. Doris Talbert says:

    That is the sweetest announcement I believe I have ever heard. It looks like you included all your families; that is so considerate. How special to have a record to reflect on and to show your little one how happy everyone was to know he/she is on the way to this great world.

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