Secrets, Running, and Christmas

Secrets:
  So this last weekend we FINALLY got to start telling people!  On Sunday, we told our immediate family and have told some close friends in the days since.  We plan to keep telling those close to us through Christmas day, and then will let it be public when I hit ten weeks- next week!  It was SO fun to be able to tell people.  Some of the secret spilling went exactly as planned; others had some snags (you never know when Skype won't work, or people's schedules change!).

Running:
  Even before the precious plus sign, pregnancy reared its head in my running life.  I have been running 3 miles 3 times a week for over a year.  Right before I got pregnant, I had been working on my speed I was excited for the progress I was making.  Then all the sudden on one of these runs I found myself needing a... walking break?!!  What??  It was like I had jumped back a year ago.  Sure enough, it was no fluke.  The next time I ran I needed to take a couple walking breaks.  The next time I ran, I had that plus sign, and knew why the runs were so tough.  I have kept up the running, and hope to through the whole pregnancy.  But WOW has it been challenging!  I feel pretty much comatose by the end of my runs!

Christmas:
  Being pregnant has opened my eyes to many wonders of life and tiny miracles as I study week by week how the baby is developing.  It is astounding the way God begins a life!
  Of all these wonders that have blown my mind, Christmas is no exception.  Looking at the week by week growth of a baby, I can't believe this is how Christ began His journey on earth!  That He was once the size of a pinkie fingernail with a little heartbeat and a tail!:)  And then little webbed hands... the hands of God!  So amazing to me to think of the beginning chapters of the incarnation!
  It also is especially beautiful to me to think of Mary.  I mean, being pregnant is already such a privilege... that God would permit me to carry a human He has created is so humbling.  But to think that Mary was privileged to carry the Son of God...!!! I just cannot imagine how overwhelming, amazing, and beautiful that was for Mary!