Telling the Family

As mentioned before Mike was really excited to start telling people. I wanted to wait and tell my family after our first ultrasound just to be sure everything looked ok. But I was easily swayed and Mike convinced me that Mother's Day would be the perfect time to tell mY mom (I was barely 5 weeks.) So that morning I called my brother Bryant and let him in on the good news. He was so excited, he has been begging for a niece or nephew for three or four years now. He even got us baby gear for Christmas this year. Anyways I sent him out on an errand to break the sabbath. I had him buy a picture frame that said grandma and put a picture of our positive pregnancy test in it. I wish it was an ultra sound picture but we didn't have a lot to work with. I also had him get a card that said grandma. Inside the card I had him print out a message I had written to her as well as a picture of me holding the pregnancy test, prof that it was actually mine. So that afternoon we Skype with my family during the Mother's Day lunch. When the gifts were presented Bryant stuck my gift for mom in the mix. She opened the card first and read "Grandma" on the front. I played it off like he had gotten the wrong card, then had her open the gift. When she first saw the frame it took a little while to process. The whole family was around the table and getting excited as they all started to understand. Then she started to doubt me saying "is this a joke." I guess one April fools pregnancy joke will earn you that reaction. When I told her no and that it was May AND that it would be an awful joke to pull on Mother's Day she started to cry and said "My baby is having a baby!" It was pretty sweet. My sisters were ecstatic and immediately started to fight over who would be the favorite Aunt. My dad was all smiles and so excited to know all the details. It was fun to share our good news with them. This is the first grand baby on my side of the family so they all can't wait. My brother Andrew was at work that day so I had to call him that night to tell him. He had one of my favorite reactions to date. He was so excited when he heard and asked a ton of questions with a lot of emotion in his voice. He's hoping it will be a little quarterback that he can teach to pole vault. It was so fun to chat with him, as always. I love my family.

 

 

Poor Mike had to wait a few more weeks to tell his parents. We had agreed to wait until they came to CT for the open house over Memorial Day weekend. We had told his sister Camille earlier though since they were expecting and had been teasing us about jumping in on this grandchild rotation. Then his sneaky twin sister Melanie somehow squeezed it out of him before hand. She knows him well enough to know when he is acting funny or dodging certain questions. But other than that the other siblings and parents remains in the dark. We waited until long after the open house was over Friday night to share the news with the family. I had made this cute picture of the ultrasound with the words "Coming January 2014 .... Baby Jenson" and put it in a frame. I told Mikes mom that it was my late Mother's Day gift to her. When she opened it she wondered if her eyes were playing ticks on her. When Mikes dad saw the picture the first thing he said is {with his hands in the air, as if to be thanking the heavens} "We've been praying for this for years!" Haha I guess after being married almost 5 years and no kids, your almost asking for that sort of reaction. It's either A) disbelief or B) Thanks to The Lord for prayers answered. So fun.

Right before I went on vacation I told my grandparents. I knew my dad was having a hard time keeping it a secret and so I figured I'd let him off the hook. My mom was visiting them in Columbus one Sunday and so she had us all FaceTime together. While we were on the phone I showed them a picture of the ultrasound. It was the same question of whether or not it was real. I was able to take some really precious screen shoots of their reaction. My grandpa was smiling from ear to ear, while my grandma was more reserved (probably waiting for me to tell her I was just joking or something.) It was fun to clue them in. This will be their first great-grandchild, I hope we can have my grandpa be apart of the baby blessing. Whether in CT or OH, it would be so special to have him be apart of that.

Right before the school year was over I decided to tell one of my coworkers. I had worked in Elise's classroom the past 2 years and have really grown to love her. She is just the kindest women. I knew she would be excited. We had planned to go to a book fair and were driving together. She asked what my plans were for next year and I told her I would have to take some maternity leave. She was so excited and was upset she couldn't hug me because she was driving. When she was able to stop she flew across the seat and gave me the biggest hug. Then she told me she had been saving some nice maternity dressed for me. She had bought them for her daughters and they ended up not fitting, but she thought they might work for me. So she saved them (for over a year) until I made my announcement. I'm pretty sure she was almost as excited as my own mother. I can't wait to share all my pregnancy details with her as I know she will be anxious and interested to hear all of them .