For the longest time, my “party of two” was just that: two people. Me and Isabella. Then, last August, we upped that number to three when I married Justin.

I’m happy to announce that we will now have a party of four.

I’m 14 weeks pregnant with my second child, though it feels like the first time all over again. After all, my first rodeo was nine years ago! That’s almost a decade! I’ve forgotten a lot about what pregnancy is like, and yet some aspects are very familiar. I assume that raising a newborn will be similar. And of course, this time around, I have a loving husband and an exuberant daughter to experience this roller coaster ride with me.

Isabella has been asking me for years, “Mom, when are you going to have another baby? I need a brother or sister!!” I would always tell her that I needed to be married first. So her next mission was to find me a husband. She tried desperately to convince me to sign up for The Bachelor so that I could get married and have babies. (Yes, I’m ashamed that she knows what The Bachelor is.) And as soon as Justin and I told her we were engaged, she said, “Yes! Now I get to have  a brother or sister!” As if a baby comes automatically with a marriage. “I now pronounce you husband and wife… and we’ll throw in a baby for ya, too!”

When we first told Isabella that her wish finally came true, she knocked me over because she hugged me so hard. Ever since then, she’s talked frequently about all of the things she wants to do with her new little sibling. (She’s hoping for a brother so that she can hit him in the head with a pillow when he’s five years old. She dreams in specifics, that one.) And I just know that she’s going to be a huge help to us. She’s already started practicing changing diapers on her stuffed animals. Plus, she loves kids. She has two cousins under the age of three whom she adores and has no problem playing with at family functions. That comforts me and makes me proud all at the same time.

Oh, and the baby’s due on Isabella’s birthday.

In just a year and a half, our little party of two will have doubled. We have been so blessed.