How We Told People

Telling our families has been so much fun.

Some people already knew, my girlfriends who I knew would keep the secret. (Thanks girls!!!)

But family, we didn't want to tell anyone until we were sure everything was okay. We just didn't want to backtrack if, God Forbid, something went wrong.

We told Brett's mom and grandma first. His grandma's birthday was on the day of our first doctor's appointment, so, Brett was excited to tell them that day. We planned on having the ultrasound that day so we went and bought special "Grandma" and "Great Grandma" picture frames and were going to put the U/S picture in them. Obviously we didn't have the U/S that day, so I was kind of disappointed. Even still, Brett wanted to go ahead with the plan. So, we wrapped the frames and had them open thm at the same time. Brett's mom looked at me and said, "Are you trying to tell us something???" I shook my head yes and they just couldn't believe it. "Really? REALLY?" The were so happy. Right away they were asking about names and were shocked to know that we'd already known for about 6 weeks. Brett's brother came over a little bit later and true to male Lias form, he didn't show much excitement. But, I know he's happy for us.

Ultrasound day came Wednesday and we told a good portion of my family that night. Telling my family on the phone wasn't the way I'd always pictured announcing my pregnancy, but, it worked. I called my Dad first....keeping this secret from him was SO hard. Each time I talked to him on the phone, he'd ask, "Anything new?" and I'd have to lie and say, "Nope, nothing big. Same ol', same ol'." Anyway, my dad LOVES to house paint...and we're trying to get him moved here by the end of the year. So, we asked him if he plans on being here by Christmas because we have more painting to do. He asked what we were painting and we told him we had to have a baby's room ready by February. I think he about had a heart attack. It was so cute. For those of you that have ever heard a Cubs game broadcasted on the radio, he sounded like Ron Santo announcing that the Cubs has won the World Series. He just kept repeating, "Oh my God. This is UNBELIEVABLE!" Over and over and over. I love it. Brett couldn't stop laughing at him. Then we called my sister, she was genuinely happy as well. Told me she has a cradle waiting for the baby when we need it. (Yay!!)

I called my Aunt next. Aunty Peg is the woman who's been behind me ever since my mom and I stopped talking. She went wedding dress shopping with me, she's the one I go to when I need motherly advice. We've been very close since I was little. A few weeks earlier, she sent us the cutest book. It was a take on "Goodnight Moon", called "Goodnight Chicago". Just as "Goodnight Moon" does, it goes on to say Goodnight to various items....but in this book, all of the things are Chicago related. In the book she wrote a note saying she hopes this book will be a bedtime story very soon, something to teach the baby of Mommy's home. So, when I called her, I simply told her that the bedtime story she sent us was going to start being used in February. She screamed to my uncle, "KATY'S PREGNANT!!!" and started weeping. She said it was the best news she's heard in months. Sigh.

The we called my cousin, she's like my big sister. Again, she was so happy for us. I didn't really tell her in a special way, just a simple, "We have a baby coming in February!"

On Thursday, it was Brett's stepmom's birthday. Essentially, he wanted to do the same thing for her that he did for his grandma. This time we had the U/S picture though, so we simply included that in her birthday card. We were in Outback Steakhouse and she jumped up and screamed. Again, so cute.

The rest of our family and friends, we had to tell via phone, text, e-mail, whatever. Every time it was a complete success and everyone is so happy for us. This baby is already so loved, it's amazing.