How We Told the Family

With Coffee mugs. And Christmas ornaments. And pictures. We never actually said the words "We're pregnant!" but we left everyone to their own devices.

The first family member I told was my sister via a text picture of the pregnancy test, and I am still amazed she kept it a secret for 6 long weeks! But thank goodness I had her to talk to, get excited with, and save me with Preggie Pops.

So 6 long weeks later, my Mother-in-law Lynn and my Dad (with his girlfriend Heidi and her son, Coty) came out for my graduation and to help us pack up and move, and since we knew that a) me not enjoying a brewski would be suspicious and b) we were dying to tell them, we made a plan.

First, we ordered these mugs from Zazzle.com. We wanted them to look exactly like the one that says "World's Greatest Boss" on The Office.

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Obviously, my mom knew before we did. Miss her everyday. This is the last picture we took together back in 2008.  I ended up telling my grandma (mom's mom) sooner than I thought I would because I was supposed to gather as much information about her pregnancies as we could remember, but I'm glad I did.   

Lynn flew in first on Thursday. We picked her up from the shuttle with lunch in tow from Avenue Bread and headed back to our place. We set the table, laid out the sandwiches, and Ross asked his mom if she would like anything to drink, intending on serving whatever it was she asked for in the World's Greatest Grandma mug while we had water out of regular glasses. Ross gave it to her, and we sat down to eat. And... SHE DIDN'T NOTICE. Ross and I just kept looking at each other and I started giggling like a school girl, and she noticed that. Kept asking what she was missing, what was going on. 

Grandma-to-Be Lynn, Me and Ross after my Graduation 

Ross finally said "I guess we should have just served her drink in a regular glass." Then, after what seemed like an eternity, it dawned on her. Her response: "What, what, how does that work?" Bahahahaha. Then she gave me a big hug and asked all the usual questions... when are you due, when did you find out, who else have you told. Definitely surprised but definitely excited.  

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Since my Step-dad Brad (Or as Ross calls him, my Step-Brad) wasn't able to fly out, we decided to call him Thursday night. We knew the next few days were going to be so hectic, so we took advantage of the lull and texted him a picture from the ultra-sound that said "Hi Papa!" He called back soon and said "What the hell!" in a teasing voice but I could tell he was really excited. Since my niece was born last year, he knew the drill and had already gone through the anticipation and shock phase and was just excited. We ended up calling Ross' sister Lauren that night to tell her as well. He reaction: "I knew it!" How? We don't know. 

Papa-to-be-AGAIN Brad and Me just a couple month before my wedding

Then my Dad came up on Friday, but he didn't make it before Ross had to work, so we changed plans and had to take the mug to dinner. We ate at the Chukanut Brewery and while we were waiting to be seated I "went to the bathroom." I really did, but on the way I tracked down the hostess and had her give the mug to our server, telling them both that whatever my dad ordered to drink had to be served in this mug. They were SO thrilled to be in on part of the scheme, and all so exciting. 

As it came time to order drinks I simply told the server that I wanted to sample everyone's beer first and then decide. My dad ordered a Kolsch, and a few minutes later our drinks came. The server gave it to him, saying that this mug had been especially selected for him. He got it pretty quickly, and was speechless. Then Coty (8 years old) looked at it and stated very loudly "I thought that was what happened after she had a baby." HA ha ha classic. His mom looked at him and said "Think about it Coty." He got it eventually. Such a fun dinner! 

Me, Grandpa-to-Be Don 

Since Rod (my Father-in-law) couldn't fly out either Lynn had to wait an entire 3 days back after arriving back home without saying a word. I have to give her a lot of credit, I don't know if I could have done it. The night we arrived in the moving van we served him up some wine the mug. He took one look at it and said "Are you trying to tell me something?" Hugs all around. Then he asked "When?" And since it was so vague I said "Ross' birthday." Ha ha I had to get that in at least once! 

Lynn, Grandpa-to-be Rod, Ross, Me and Aunt-to-be Lauren 

For Ross' side of the family, we decided to give the grandparents ornaments that looked something like this and have them open it as a gift in front of the extended family. Ross' maternal grandma (Lynn's Mom) just read it and said "How nice" while cousin Kjersten was about to pee her pants. Slowly it dawned on the other 20 people standing around but Kjersten had to whisper in Grandma's ear and explain to her what happened. It was pretty hilarious.

Ross' paternal grandma got it right away but kept really quiet, to which Aunt Julie shouted "Did you even read it?!?!" and was bursting at the seams!

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We told other family members on my side while we were driving from WA to MN (the first time) so that they would know before Christmas, and it was a bummer to not get to do anything more fun but with traveling it just didn't work out. I've heard lots of fun stories about framing grandma/pa picture frames with ultrasound pictures and such, but I'm so happy with how we told out family. It was fun and simple, and as it turned out, came with some great stories!!! 

And then, there's how I told you!