Start Spreading the News!!!

Written on June 19, 2011

It was a busy and exciting weekend for us!  We shared our good news with our immediate families and could not be more thrilled with their reactions.

The Eakers never got a copy of our wedding album, so I had been meaning for some time to create one for them.  Using the handy features on the Snapfish site, I created an album full of wedding photos, and on the very last page put a picture of our positive pregnancy test with “Baby Baum, Arriving February 2012” written underneath.  I did a similar book for the Baums, but instead of wedding photos I used photos of our nephews and niece in a “Grandchildren” album.

We were trying to figure out how we could get our families all together to tell them, but we couldn’t figure out how to make it work, and the timing seemed bad – plus we didn’t want them to suspect anything!  I had the books shipped to Raleigh, so all week I was absolutely DYING for Dan to get to Charlotte so that I could see the books (and in the meantime still drinking fake vodka cranberries and forcing myself not to go to bed at 7:30 p.m. so that no one would suspect anything).  My time finally came when he arrived earlier than expected on Friday afternoon.

The books turned out beautifully, if I do say so myself.  When Dan arrived, my parents were at the store – which was perfect, really, because I got to look at the books and devise a plan.  They were gone for what seemed like FOREVER, but finally they returned home and I ran downstairs with their book in the box it came in…only to discover that my Dad had chosen this exact moment to begin yardwork.  Seriously, Dad?  I busied myself with other things to try to pass the time, and Mom told me that their besties Jeff & Denise and their son Ryan were coming over for dinner.  FINALLY, Dad is done piddling in the yard.  He comes inside, and I race upstairs to get their book, so excited that I can barely stand it, only to hear a horn honking and discover upon my return downstairs that the besties had arrived.  Plan B: I will try to stay awake until after everyone leaves, and we’ll tell my parents then.

We had a great dinner and a lot of fun, but I could not wait for the house to clear out so that we could tell my parents (sorry Niecey!).  Finally everyone left and it was my time to shine.  My parents further hindered the plan because they refused to sit beside each other, and I couldn’t figure out how to make them do so without being weird and in turn making them suspicious.  So, Mom looked at the book first.  She is flipping through, oohing and aahing, so excited about her beautiful new wedding photos.  I know the exact moment she reaches the last page, because her eyes get huge and fill up with tears and she looks straight at me.  Not wanting to spoil the surprise for Dad, she composes herself the best she can and hands him the book saying, “Look honey, at the gorgeous book Sarah gave us!”  Dad, in typical fashion, begins to flip through at a snail’s pace.  He is oblivious, and wants to stop on every page and reminisce about how much fun we had.  For the first time ever, I don’t want to talk about the wedding.  Finally, Mom gets impatient, walks up to him, and flips through the pages REALLY quickly saying, “Oh yes, this is gorgeous, oh wow what a neat gift.”  When she gets to the last page, she stops.  Daddy cried, Mom cried, Syd cried, and of course I cried, too, as it takes practically nothing to provoke tears from me these days.  My favorite part was when Daddy gave Dan a hug and said, “This will be the best time of your whole life.”  Insert more tears here.  Katy and Josh arrived home a little later, and they were very excited, too, but we didn’t get any tears out of them.  We spent the rest of the evening lecturing them on why they couldn’t tell the whole world Tracy.  J

Fast forward to Saturday evening.  Bill and Susan were coming into town to get ready for Father’s Day, which we planned to spend with the Baums.  We invited them over for drinks, and made my family clear out of the house (Mom later told me that they were sitting out at the pool trying to figure out if they could tell when we shared our news based on reactions – she said she knew the minute it happened!).  We gave them their book almost immediately, because I was yet again so excited, like a kid at Christmas!   They were so appreciative of their book, and we flipped through it slowly and talked about how beyond cute Ryan, Erica and Ian are.  When she finally got to the last page, there was a LOT of squealing and hugging.  They agreed that they were all shocked – Susan admitted that she thought we might be trying, but she was not anticipating our announcement in the least.  It was a wonderful surprise for all.

Chris and Andrea already knew our secret.  When we found out I was pregnant, they were the first people we called and swore to secrecy.  I had a lot of questions for Andrea, and I know it was nice for Dan to have someone to talk to as well.  They have been so supportive and excited for us, and I don’t really know what we would have done without them for the past several weeks!

Finally, Father’s Day arrived.  Mere and Mikey had been in Greenville, SC visiting the sweet babies for the weekend, and we were all meeting at Bill’s apartment for Father’s Day brunch.  Susan put the book that we made her on the table, and poured me an orange juice on ice so it would look like I was drinking a mimosa.  I wasn’t sure how long it would be before Meredith noticed the book, but thankfully she noticed and started flipping through it immediately.  She got to the last page, and was confused – she admitted later that since the photos were all of Chris and Andrea’s kids, she thought it might have been a photo of an old pregnancy test of Andrea’s, until she looked at the date and realized it was us.  She was so surprised and excited for us, but Mikey hadn’t yet seen the book, so much like my Mom, she was trying not to ruin the surprise.  She handed the book to Mikey, who started flipping through and asking, “Am I supposed to be looking for something?  Have I missed it?”  I assured him he’d know when he saw it.  I think his reaction when he finally got to the last page was one of my favorites.  He was utterly shocked, and just looked at us and kept saying, “No. Way!!!”

It was a wonderful weekend spent with family.  Everyone is so excited to meet this baby, and we are thrilled that we got to surprise our families with the news.    I really wasn’t sure I’d be able to pull off the surprise, or keep the secret from my Mom for a whole week, but we couldn’t have planned it any better.  The general consensus was that everyone likes “Geronimo” better than “Herschel,” so Gernonimo stuck.  Lord willing, everyone will forget that name by the time the baby is born so it won’t stick permanently.  Although Katy has insisted that similarly to the Harry Potter series, we aren’t allowed to talk about the baby in front of others (she keeps saying, “it which must not be spoken of”) so we should call him/her Voldemort.  Y’all KNOW I love Harry Potter but even I draw the line at that. 

More to come tomorrow on our first visit to the doctor!

Sarah