Secret Revealed

As you may know by my previous blog entries, we took our first pregnancy test at the end of May. We decided to reveal our secret to our families at 7 weeks! I really wanted to tell our families in a creative way so Ryan and I brainstormed for awhile before we finally settled on two different ideas. We told my family first.

I headed to Kansas the weekend of Father's Day (i would be spending that week on Tabor's campus). I stayed overnight with my Mom on Friday night in Salina. She knew we had been trying for a baby so of course she asked if I was pregnant. And I lied straight to her face. (forgive me Mom). I had it all planned out when I would tell her, my sister and Dad and really wanted to wait for that. I attended Dallas and Megan Pruitt's wedding the next day (Saturday) and planned to tell my family that evening. I had asked my Dad to come to my sister's house to celebrate Father's Day with an ice cream cake. Dairy Queen ice cream cake has always been a favorite in my family, I think my Dad was more excited to eat that than to see me. ;)

My mom waited in the car (per my request) when I ran in to get the ice cream cake. I had them put it in a paper bag so no one could see it. We went to my sister's house, talked about life (i think my sister asked me if was pregnant too, sorry I lied Ang) all the while me feeling more and more nervous. Looking back, I don't know why I was nervous, I knew they would be excited, I guess I just wanted it all to be perfect.

Finally, I called everyone into the kitchen to dive into our cake. Dad did the honors while Mom and Angela went talking in another part of the kitchen. I wanted them all gathered around the table but I thought it would be a bit obvious to draw attention to that. So I stood by the table while Dad tore back the paper sack. Here is what he found:
He looked up at me with big eyes and said "Who's pregnant?" I raised my hand, smiled and then pointed to Mom and Angela and asked him to bring them to the table. They came, stared at the cake for a few minutes and started screaming. Here is what I saw:
I just love this picture! I do wish I was holding the camera horizontally so I could have captured my whole Dad and Sister's face but I am thankful nonetheless. The rest of the evening was filled with questions, giggles and lots of hugs! It was truly one of the best memories I will ever have with my family! The only thing missing was my wonderful husband. My family called him shortly after the secret was revealed to wish him a Happy Father's Day. Such a special time in my life!
My Mom hasn't stopped smiling! In the weeks to follow, she asked me every time we talked if she could tell this person or that person. I hated telling her no, I was having a hard time myself keeping it a secret. But Ryan and I really wanted to wait until we were close to the 2nd trimester to tell the world. I did allow my Mom to tell some other family members just so she wouldn't explode. It is incredible to speak so freely of our baby now! Thank you God for getting us this far, we trust You for the future months!

So how did we tell Ryan's family? We thought they were coming to visit us the weekend before Father's Day so we planned to tell them in person. However, a change in their plans challenged us to be creative once again. We didn't want to just tell them over the phone so we decided to send them a onesie in the mail. Ryan bought it (i was in KS for my job) and put it inside a card we sent to his Dad for Father's Day. Special instructions said to open it with his Mom. The card read: "You won't be the only one celebrating Father's Day next year. We have news. Call us!" I didn't think I would be home when they called but God worked it out that I had come back from KS just in time. It was so fun to hear their excitement over the phone! And get this, Ryan even bought a long-sleeved onesie-perfect since we are going to have a winter baby. If you asked him, he would say it was by accident but I don't believe in accidents, I believe in a God who has a purpose for everything!