It’s Official – The Test Confirms our Gift

The first week that I realized I was pregnant, it wasn’t a big shock.  My husband and I had been trying to get pregnant for several months, and finally KABOOM! The test read positive….twice!  The first test we took, I knew something was different.  This faint vertical line was starting to appear. I rocked the stick back and forth, looked up at my husband (Aaron) and said, “I think we are pregnant! This doesn’t look like it normally does…” Sure enough, as the seconds ticked away, the vertical line was now making a “plus” sign that was getting darker and darker.  Aaron wasn’t convinced.  He thought it was too light and too indecisive.  Luckily a few weeks back I had bought a digital test for this exact reason. One of my good friends in Florida had called to tell me she was pregnant! Hooray! She said that her husband didn’t believe the faint lines and made her go get the digital test, then he was convinced.

When our digital test read out “P-R-E-G-N-A-N-T” we both got a big smile on our faces and embraced.  Finally! What we have been waiting for!  

The best part of this story is this: The whole reason we decided to take the test that night was because Aaron’s dad’s birthday was that day. He has wanted grandkids from the day we got married, and has never stopped asking. His mom even promised to handle day care for me if I had a baby by the time she was 53 (she turns 53 this October- do you think I could convince her to still do day care even if it’s a few months late? She’d still be in her 53rd year…!). So I thought, ‘Well wouldn’t that be a great birthday present?’ And sure enough it was!

We had a family birthday party a few days later, and managed to keep it a secret until then, which wasn’t an easy task! We had to wait until the end of the night for the big reveal. Aaron and I had gone out to a local bookstore and picked up four books for his dad’s birthday present: 

The Grandparents Handbook by Elizabeth LaBan

Books by Mercer Mayer

Just, Grandpa and Me, Just Grandma and Me and Bye-Bye, Mom and Dad all by Mercer Mayer .

When Aaron’s dad opened them the first thing he said was “Is this supposed to be a hint? Is there congratulations due?!” “Yes there is!” we said. And the whole family erupted in shouts of joy – all 7 siblings, two parents, a girlfriend of one of the brothers and three close friends.

Then it began….the art of telling, and NOT telling people that we were pregnant!

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A Weekend of…Sleep and Appreciation

Looks like Grandma also took a little nap!

Every year my uncle throws a start-of-summer party in Paso Robles, CA, and it’s always a good time. The week leading up to it, my husband was very sick and just didn’t have the energy to make the three hour trip. Instead of us completely canceling, my parents offered to take Lilah with them. It’s always hard for me to be away from her, but she was so excited to see her grandparents, great grandparents, and other extended family that I couldn’t say no, so I dressed her up in le•top’s Butterfly Wishes top and striped capri pants (party festive!), packed her up and met up with my parents.

Once I dropped her off I realized that my husband and I had the weekend to ourselves. We immediately made plans to go see the new Star Trek movie since we’ve only seen about two in an actual movie theater since her birth (2 ½ yrs ago). On Saturday we did the regular chores but they went so much quicker without our little one around that I had a chance to mop the entire house! I know, the exciting life of a mom, huh? We got in some cat naps, worked in the garden, saw a great movie, and zzzzz slept in zzzzz Sunday morning until 9am. I don’t think we’ve gotten so much sleep since the last time she went out of town which was close to a year ago. Sunday was pretty similar except we managed to watch two videos too. It was heavenly.

Lilah gets doggie kisses

Don’t get me wrong, I thought about her the entire time and every time we did something that she would have normally made a funny comment about or done something crazy, we talked about it and her. Sometimes, though, it’s nice to have the time to appreciate her instead of just being in the thick of it.

I was soooooo happy for Lilah to come home on Monday. I heard all about her adventures with her grandparents, and I’m still hearing about how her grandma painted her toenails and put flowers on them. I guess she partied so hard that she slept in the middle of the party for five hours. Part of me wishes that I had been there for those fun times, but most of me is happy to have caught up on some sleep.

The five hour beauty nap, painted toenails and all!

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