Merry Christmas

Having spent last year in Denver with Tif's family, I was looking forward to spending my first Christmas in Pennsylvania in 10 years... unfortunately, the airlines could not easily acquiesce. It would have broken our piggy bank in pieces to make the trip and if we didn't have a little one on the way, we would have swung it. Fortunately for the little fetus, his parents know what a responsibility and sacrifice (and, of course, joy) it is to have kids. (Personally, I think that's why we didn't plan on it!) We decided to spend a nice relaxing Christmas together after working on the baby room all week. We had Gammie over the week before (thanks for the camera) and Grandma Judy and Poppy (thanks for the new desk) over the day before Christmas to celebrate with them. Christmas was a great with Tif wanting to get me up early after I couldn't fall asleep that night. After opening presents we watched Christmas movies in our PJs all day, as well as played with our new presents and napped. One of the best parts was getting to Skype with my family and seeing Alex playing on Christmas morning. It was a wonderful Christmas I'll never forget.

Start Spreading The News

It was tougher for some than others, but everyone kept their mouth shut. Sierra really had to try not to tell anyone. We decided Thanksgiving, which was the end of the third month, was a good time to spread the word. Great grandparents were called, and Great Grandma Leeser was happy for us. Great Grandpa's predicted response was "How 'bout that." Fitting. Trev was told when he came into town. It didn't take long before horrible name suggestions started spewing out of his mouth. We know they weren't real, but really, Bertha? Mike called his family in Chicago and talked to aunts and cousins, spreading the good news person by person. Mike's other side of the family all gathered together at cousin Tim's house. We arrived and made our announcement. Gammie had a bottle of champagne ready for celebrating (except for me). She could finally not worry about keeping the secret. Thanks a lot Dan for introducing Mike to Angry Birds on the iPad. Mike and I were happy to celebrate the first trimester rolling to an end with only one bout of morning sickness. If you don't count the flu that I swear was brought on by that stupid flu shot. Poppy was given free range to spread the news with his sisters. I guess I should tell my principal at work before it shows up on Facebook and spreads through the staff. Mike will be happy to share the secret with some of his coworkers as well.

Viva Las Vegas

Get down, get down! Look at Tif dancing like wild. I wasn't able to convince anyone that she was the only sober one out there! This weekend we went to Las Vegas, a trip we were planning long before we learned about the incoming family member. We went with our friends Daryl and Tammy, who almost has her own room at Harrah's. Tif and I aren't huge gamblers or drinkers, but it was fun for both of us to nap during the day and stay up late at night. Tif even had her drink of choice, half cranberry juice, half water. It keeps you from bloating and you look like you're enjoying a vodka cranberry. I had a bit of "baby luck" on the slots. One machine would not stop giving me money. Another Wheel of Fortune slot spit out a hundred bucks. All said and done, I was up about 350, which recoups my lifetime gambling losses. It paid for part of the trip, a buffet round, and an ornament for the Christmas tree. The drive home was good and we only had to put up with 2 hours of traffic between the Cardinals and the Nascar race in town. The trip was well worth it, especially when I forgot about the hundred bucks I had stored in my pocket. The laundry has never been that profitable!

Thank God, There's Only One in There!

The first doctor's appointment was at 9 weeks, which we found out that count includes a few weeks before the baby even exists as a single cell. I was not happy to find out that not only did I have to pee in a cup (awkward!) but I needed 10 vials of blood drawn. Tears streaming down my face, Mike was so kind to take me out to dinner. Si Senor helped my misery, but I think the flu shot put me over the edge that day. It wasn't all bad news, there was one steady, healthy heartbeat. About 180 beats per minute. High heartbeat is a girl, right? The due date was determined as June 11, 2011. Since babies don't ever seem to come on their exact due date, that's one day I can be sure not to be going to the hospital.

Telling The Parents

First, a phone call to Grandma Judy. She screamed ecstatically and was so thrilled. I actually called her back later to remind her that she was not allowed to tell anyone. Second, tell Gammie. She was so caught up in Mike's long story about how Sierra wasn't eating, we completely caught her off guard. Surprise! She, too, was overjoyed for us. Last, but not least, dinner with Poppy. He's not much of a baby kind of person, and he was as shocked as we had first been, but of course he was happy for us. It felt nice to share it with our parents, but we weren't ready to tell anyone else yet! Until . . . Mike couldn't avoid his sister on the phone and couldn't not tell her once they were talking. Kris immediately promised many sewing projects among her enthusiastic screams.

Sierra's First Camping Trip

We went to Christopher Creek, a favorite camping spot. The weather was perfectly cool and crisp. The husky even shivered some. This was where some good things happened. We accepted the fact we're having a baby and even talked about baby names. A girl name was quickly picked, although we are keeping it a secret. The boy name is a lot more elusive. Sierra finally started eating again, that weirdo! We got a lot of comments about her being a wolf. Especially from one very adament boy "I know these things, Dad, that's a wolf" declaring as we passed on a walk. Sierra was, however, put to shame by another couple with two huge huskies. She looked weenie! Sierra was not an ideal tent camper, but we imagine she'll get better as we camp more. Babies camp, right? The trip home was not as pleasant. We ran into car trouble that slowed us down to a shaky forty miles per hour top speed all the way home. As it turned out, if we had turned the car off and back on, we could've made it back to town a lot easier, although we still would have had to take it to the shop. But, you shouldn't risk turning your car off in the middle of nowhere in case it doesn't turn back on. Too many scary movies where bad things happen to stranded campers. Speaking of stranded, at least we didn't get caught hiking in a hail storm this trip!

Getting Some Knowledge On!

You can imagine our surprise... We needed to get used to the idea of becoming parents and soon. We scheduled an appointment for the doctor, but it was in another 4 weeks. Left to our own devices, we could just Google search our way through parenthood. However, we knew we were now responsible for a delicate human being and needed a bit more than morons on Yahoo answers. A quick trip left us with some vitamins and reading materials... and it was awkward. For the first week, the only people that knew we were pregnant were the cashiers at Walgreen's and Borders Books. Despite both of us almost hyperventilating, we came out of an awkward day with two great books we'd definitely recommend to some shocked, squeamish parents-to-be. The first book was The Pregnancy Instruction Manual, which is funny and has awesome pictures that don't make you lose your appetite. The other book is Your Pregnancy Week by Week. We read that week's chapter every weekend and despite making Tif feel the pregnancy is going way too fast, it gives us the low down about what's happening each week. A major topic of discussion that weekend: when are we going to tell everyone?

We're what!?!?!

The month is October. The Phils are beginning their playoff run (I won't tell you what happened). Tif had been having a tough couple of months at school with her class. She started teaching a 1st / 2nd Grade combo and was stressed out. A month into school, she was very relieved to hear she'd be losing her 1st Graders and gaining some more 2nd Graders to fill out a 2nd Grade class. The group of kiddos were much tougher and the stress was mounting. By the time early October came around, along with Fall break, Tif thought stress had to do with some strange goings on in her body. Meanwhile our dog, Sierra, was not eating a thing. (Dogs know all.) We should have known what was up, but decided to take a pregnancy test later in the week to make sure it wasn't just stress. Following the Phillies' Roy Halladay and his playoff no-hitter debut, we set out to Walgreen's. Another trip to Walgreen's and 4 pregnancy tests later, we still couldn't believe it. A million thoughts, feelings, and questions surged in our heads.... We were pregnant.