Pocklock.com
I Wanna Be A Cowgirl

I’ve been wanting to write this post for about six months now. I’ve wanted to write it for a lot of reasons, but the main reason being that these were moments I don’t want to forget. Ever. What better way to remember then to blog about them!?

Telling our parents and families we were expecting was something we had been looking forward to for a long time. A. Long. Time. And both being of the creative mind-set, the “how” to do this was something we had stewed over. And over. And over.

The time of year would come in to play of course. Would it be anyone’s birthday? A special occasion? Or just an idle Sunday dinner? It was impossible to decide until we actually were pregnant. (Hi! Planner! WAIT for something? Yikes!)

Lucky us, in more ways then one, the time for us to tell our families landed right around Christmas. The holidays are a zoo for us. EHH and I both have divorced parents who are all happily remarried. This means roughly four stops between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It’s a circus. Only the strong survive. Of course for us, this past year, that meant four announcements. Four different opportunities to be creative. We relished.

EHH is as tight with his Dad as I am with my Mom so those two weren’t given the Special Surprise. Instead, when the stick read one word and not two, they both got the call immediately. And my Mom has to be the WORST secret keeper ever so she told my step-Dad within .2 seconds. I was okay with it. We’ll get ‘em next time. *wink*

We trekked up to MIL’s house on the Sunday before Christmas. It’s a long ride. Mostly back, winding roads with amazing scenery. This wasn’t working well for me during Week 5. I tried not to focus on the nausea and take in the pretty New England churches set high on hills, dairy farms (with many cows!), ponds, lakes, etc. I was about three seconds from telling EHH to pull over when I spotted MIL’s road.

We were both itching to get to the present opening. Not out of greed for ourselves, but because we were dying for her reaction. We made small talk. We avoided references to wine and me, “I brought my water. Thanks.”, and finally sat down to exchange gifts. We presented MIL with a card. It wasn’t a Christmas card. It wasn’t fancy. It was just a card. I clutched the white envelope containing our first ultrasound photo in my hand and waited for her to start reading. EHH told her she had to read it out loud. She began reading the words I composed just that morning,

It’s a little too early
to start buying toys,
but next year at Christmas
I’ll be a good girl (or boy).

My picture is tiny and blurry,
but it’s still me.
You can make out the spec
at only five weeks.

I arrive in August
under bright, sunny skies.
And I know only one thing.
Can’t wait to meet you guys.

She had barely made it through the second sentence when the tears flowed from her eyes and she choked through the rest of the phrases. EHH and I were beaming. Gotcha.

We left there and headed to SIL’s. FIL and S-MIL were also there and a big roast beast dinner of some kind was planned. EHH and I had bets on whether or not FIL had spilled the beans to S-MIL. I was convinced he had. Convinced that spouses are completely off limits to secret-keeping. EHH stood by his Dad and said that he’s loyal to his word.

We got there and were attacked by nieces, offered our usual drinks of choice (I lied, “No thanks. I just had a glass of wine at Mom’s”.), and tried to figure out our plan of attack without being too obvious or actually speaking to each other. BIL sent the nieces to play while the adults relaxed for a bit. That happened to work out perfectly as we were against the kids knowing the news until after our next ultrasound. I grabbed another card from my purse and shoved it at SIL.

“You have to open this gift from us now.”
“I can’t! The girls have been waiting all morning. If I get one, they get one.”
“It’s just a card. It’s nothing big. We need you to have it now. Not in front of the girls.”

She looked at me. Completely perplexed. The room was still busy and I nudged EHH to try to get everyone to quiet down and watch SIL open her card. Again, I clutched the little white envelope.

She opened it and read it quickly. Then she looked at me and EHH with a puzzled look on her face. We were both smiling.

“Read it again,” I told her, “Out loud this time.”

She started to read the same lines we heard MIL utter just a few hours before. By the fourth line, the room had caught on. Then I saw the card begin to shake and her voice started to elevate. By the time she got to the end, the tears of happiness were streaming down her red cheeks and she couldn’t stop shaking. The room erupted. FIL congratulated us on another successful announcement and I turned my attention to S-MIL who swore she knew nothing.

We were all crying and answering a million questions. EHH had another drink in his hand immediately, poured by BIL. And I was just psyched we got through it without anyone ruining the surprise.

We planned to tell my Dad’s side of the family on Christmas Eve. The idea had come to me during one of my longer commutes the month before - before I even knew I was pregnant. A sort of, “Wouldn’t it be cool if…” line of thinking. And I was going to be able to do it.

We were hosting Christmas Eve at Casa de Pocklock this past year as we had done the year prior. I love hosting. I love decorating my house, the table, having a fire in the fireplace and having my awesome family with me. It’s something I get from my Dad’s genes. He too, loves hosting.

The count was 15. The table was set and at each place was a Christmas Tree place-card holder with a white card stuck on the top like the star of the tree. When it was time for grace, everyone stood behind their assigned seats and held hands. We said the blessing together and then I spoke up in my wee little excited voice, “There’s a little present for everyone on the table. If you pick up your place-cards and open them, inside you’ll see what your place-card will read next Christmas.”

I looked at my Dad as he opened his card and mouthed the word, “Grandpa.” and then lifted his eyes to meet mine. A smile of gargantuan proportions spread across his face. My Aunt squealed. My cousin cheered. LFM laughed (since she had known for two weeks). EHH and I were again, beaming.

My Grandparents hadn’t quite caught on. They were still reaching forward to pick up their cards and didn’t quite know what the ruckus was about. Finally my Aunt broke the suspense, “THEY’RE HAVING A BABY!” She exclaimed. My Grandfather looked up, “Who?” he said. My Grandmother shrieked with delight.

My favorite moment occurred a few minutes after. The dining room table was long and diagonally placed across the room. My Dad was at one end and EHH and I at the other. He had to walk through the living room and into the kitchen to get to us. He hugged us both. Told us what a great surprise that was and then turned to attend to his lasagna and garlic bread in the kitchen. I followed him so I could serve as he plated.

He stood in front of the oven, quiet. He looked up at me with red eyes and cheeks and said, “Look what you did. I’m all flustered now. What the hell did I come in here to do!?” I cracked up laughing and hugged him again.

And there you have it. The whole story. Congratulations if you made it through all of that. Had I written it when I wanted to - about five months ago - I would’ve broken it up and spared you the length, but that just didn’t happen. At least now it’s here. Feel free to steal any of my ideas should you be looking for ways to announce your pregnancy. I’m all about sharing.