Due to the timing of our news, we weren't going to be able to tell our immediate family (parents and siblings) until two days later on March 17th. The good ole NCAA tournament was starting on the day we found out and Mike was going to be gone for the next two days!
Of course I couldn't keep it a total secret so Becky was the first family member that heard the good news. I asked her to run some errands with me after work on the day we found out. So we're in the car, chatting about The Hunger Games, and come to a red light. So I say "Hey, look at the picture I took today" and proceed to show her the picture of the positive test and date. To say she freaked out would be an understatement!! She started with "What?!? Oh my God!!!" and screaming, jumping in her seat, laughing hysterically, and crying a little too. She made me laugh and tear up a bit also. Needless to say, she was excited and the majority of our errands were spent talking about the morning and being excited, plus in disbelief!
The night before we were going to share the big news, I had made these little goodies to give to our parents as our way of telling them:
So we set out Saturday afternoon for a day of exciting news! We went to my parents first and since my mom was in the house and my dad was in the garage, I decided we'd just do one at a time. I gave my mom the box and said, "I made you some treats for St. Patrick's Day!" She opened them and said aww and then after reading the top of the box and taking a moment to let it register, she said "Really?!?!" and screamed!! We hugged and cried and quickly dried our eyes so we could tell my dad. Becky called him in the house and I gave him a box, saying the same thing. He opened it, read the top, and said "ALRIGHT!!!" More hugs and laughter. So we hung out and talked about the great news, filled with lots of smiles and giggles.
Next was Mike's parents. Luckily, they were both together so I had Mike give his mom the box and I said the same thing I told my parents. She opened it, read the top, and after a second, said, "Really?!" and then showed Mike's dad and we all hugged and laughed some more. Unfortunately, Mike's sister and brother-in-law were not home so we have to tell them tomorrow. Mike called his brother in California and put him on speaker to tell him the great news. He was surprised and excited, saying congrats and all that good stuff. We spent a couple hours over there, hanging out and talking about the big news before heading to the next place...
My sister's house! We were not ready to tell our nieces and nephews, so it was going to be a little trickier to tell them without little ears around. We were all enjoying the beautiful weather on the porch and once the kids went inside for something, I softly told Chris "I'm pregnant!" Was she ever excited!! Again, more hugs and laughter, as well as tons of talking about it all. We had dinner with them and anytime little ears weren't around, Chris and I were talking about it!
On Sunday, we headed back to Mike's parents to tell his sister and brother-in-law. Earlier in the week, we had taken our niece, Kiernan, to a hockey game for her birthday so I was going to use those pictures to share the news. (Sidenote, the hockey game was the day before we found out the news and Kiernan had asked me when I was going to have a baby. Then when we left Mike's parents on Saturday, she told me my belly was bigger as we said goodbye! That girl has a sixth sense for sure!)
Anyway, I put the positive test picture that I had shown Becky at the end of the hockey pictures so as they were looking through them, there it would be! Once Kelly got home, I casually gave her the pics of the Wolves game and once she got to the pregnancy test, she paused...smiled...then hugged and congratulated me. We chatted up about it all, which of course made me super excited again! A little while later, Shaun came home and I did the same thing. More congrats!
I love, love, love telling people because it gets me so very excited!
To tell my brother, we had to wait to set up a Skype date. I was 6 weeks pregnant when we were able to Skype him in Vietnam. He was sharing all the exciting details for his Thailand wedding and at some point just came out and said "Is Allyson pregnant?" so I said, "Actually, I am!" He was very excited for us and congratulated us. Tom and Sindy are getting married on November 17th in Thailand so Mike and I will not be able to attend :( I was very nervous about that and had sent him an email a few months prior to let him know that we were trying to have a baby and he was so great about it all! My mom said he would ask about me every time they talked. He was very sweet about it and was very happy for us, which eased all kinds of stress for me.
We're waiting a bit longer before telling our nieces and nephews, knowing they won't be able to keep the secret :)
