Surprise Surprise!

Well, as most of you may have seen on Facebook (because Facebook is the window into everyone's lives) Jon and I are expecting our second baby in June!!! Oh goodness, this has been such a roller coaster from the beginning. No, more like The Rocket - everything was fine and dandy until suddenly and unexpectedly life decided to blast off. See, Jon and I had discussed possible timeline's for our next little bundle - and the conclusion was that we wouldn't even try for at least a year. This was in October, shortly after Jon's cousin moved into our spare room. Prior to this we though of next November, and I panicked a little at the thought of having another baby "that soon". Ha ha, little did I know! Two whole days after deciding to wait at least a year, I took a test - not expecting much, but only slightly worried - and life went from predictable and stable to numb. Yep, I was numb. For hours. I had just dropped Jon off at school and Sophie went down for an early nap, so I was alone in my room staring at a test thinking "Huh." So I tried to go through the motions of daily tasks, even tried to go to a Halloween party with some of the other Midwestern Wives (they have a sort of club) but wasn't feeling it and left early. After I picked Jon up from school, I decided that regardless of my lack of any type of emotion other than raw shock and slight fear, I would be damned if I didn't tell Jon in a clever way.

At first I planned on getting a card or something, but they didn't have any that said "Congratulations Daddy!" or anything like that, so I walked around looking for a "Big Sister" shirt for Sophie or something along those lines and came up with...nothing. After about an hour I decided to settle on simple. I bought a baby bottle, filled it with mini Gummy Bears, and bought some Sugar Babies and left it at that. I went home and Sophie was down for another nap (rare, for her age, but she hadn't slept much the night before) so I found Jon alone in our room studying. And that's about the time that the fear emotion decided to go crazy. Because of this, I couldn't talk, so I tried to lightly toss the baby bottle on the bed and managed to throw it pretty hard. Jon picked it up and said "Oh Gummy Bears! Thanks!"

.....Yeah he didn't get it. On to Phase II of the plan. I threw the Sugar Babies at him. To this he looked a little confused (it's not a candy we ever buy) but said, "Oh, I haven't had these in a while. Thanks."

.....Still didn't get it. Okay, Phase III. It was an impromptu phase, but I pulled out the test showing the little blue plus sign and threw that at him.

This time, he got it.

He smiled and said "Really?" and that was the moment that all my numbness went away and a river of emotions came out. I told him how worried I was about adding more stress to his schooling, how unprepared I felt, and the biggest one - how the due date was right when he was supposed to start his rotations that he requested to do in Utah. I don't have insurance in Utah, you see, so I was sure that I would be left alone here in Arizona to have the baby by myself while Jon was on rotations in another state. That's when he informed me that for 2/3 of the summer quarter they are on rotations, but for the other 1/3 they have vacation, and for medical reasons he could request the first part off! So I cried a lot more because of pure relief at this, and he continued to tell me how excited he was. Honestly, his response was the best thing ever! It was still hard to get used to the idea of TWO kids, but at least I knew that it wasn't unwelcomed. :)

So yes, that is the story. It was a stressful first few weeks while I wrestled with my fears, but after hearing the heartbeat I started to get excited. :)

We also decided to keep it a secret from our families until Christmas. Since we live in another state, it was pretty easy! I did break down and tell my mom when I had a bad day, but other than that it was a complete surprise. I was also lucky in that by the time we were in Utah to tell everyone and to celebrate Christmas, my morning sickness was gone and I had a pretty good baby bump to show off. (Yes, my uterus likes to pop out at a ridiculously early timeframe...) Shoot, at 11 weeks I had this to show!

Yeah, I was really glad we were in Arizona because otherwise I'm not sure how I would have kept it a secret at all. (Sorry the picture is super fuzzy)

Anyway, so when it came time to go to Utah for Christmas, we figured out quickly that I was either going to have to wear a huge hoodie the whole time until the big unveiling, or just tell people early. Well lucky us, we had a ton of family over the next morning so I was able to announce it to my Mother-in-law and 3 of my sisters-in-law! Their husbands found out that night when we all when to dinner that night, so the only ones who didn't know at this point were Jon's other brother and wife who couldn't make it and his aunt and uncle and cousins who we would see on Christmas Eve. Oh, and my family of course. :)

This was how we announced. Cheesy, but (mostly) affective. :)

When Jon's brother saw me with my bow on Christmas Eve he thought I was just "packaging" myself for Jon. I had to explain that we had already done that and this was the result. (Hee hee hee)

We went up to Cache Valley after than and announced to my family - who was just as thrilled! It was so fun to be able to finally tell everyone! Truthfully it kind of made the whole first part of the pregnancy go by faster, in my opinion, when I couldn't complain about it every second of the day! Also, it's a huge relief letting people in my ward and neighborhood know that I'm not just getting a grotesque pot belly, but there's a reason for it. :)

And then of course there's the picture that I announced on Facebook with. See, I didn't have my camera cable, and I didn't want to put the bow on again, so this is what you got. :) Side note - this was the day before we left for home and I got really sick that day and couldn't eat anything but soup. Makes for good pictures, but sure wasn't fun! :-\

Sophie seems to be taking it well. Okay well really, I don't think she has any idea. I try to tell her, and she'll point and my belly and say "Baby" and I think "Yes! She understands!" until she turns around and points at Daddy's belly and her belly and says the same thing. (Sigh) Soon, I hope. The fun part lately has been asking her if she wants a girl baby or a boy baby, or asking if she wants a brother or sister. She switches back and forth, but lately she's been sticking with boy. :)

Anyway, this has been my pregnancy thus far. Filled with sickness, worry, happiness, and joy. We find out what we're having on the 18th, and I can't wait! Truth be told - I want a boy, but will be very happy to have another girl too. :) So, to send us off, here's a randomly cute picture of Sophie wearing her new scarf that Aunt Amber made for her. :) Enjoy!

(P.S. If anyone knows of any names that have some sort of meaning along the lines of "Surprise", "Meant to Be", etc, let me know! I haven't found any for either a boy or a girl! Not that we will necessarily use them, but it's fun to know!)