Wow, so much time has passed since I last posted! We had a very busy late fall/early winter and it hasn't seemed to stop in craziness as we've gotten into the full swing of Spring!
In November we went to Disney World for 4 days during the NJ Teacher's Convention. Kev's family and extended family all went and we had a blast! We even wore shirts to the Magic Kingdom that said "The Griswolds" (Chevy Chase would have loved them) with our Seinfeld nicknames on the back (a mix of two pop culture references but it worked!) the shirts were all powder blue. I was so against wearing them but we ended up being the 'hit of Disney' (I'm quoting myself).
Some of our group showing off their Seinfeld nick names.
My Prince and I at Magic Kingdom
In early December, I hosted my (2nd) Annual Crafting Day! I invite my girlfriends over to craft something holiday themed. We drink wine, we eat snacks and I serve lunch. This year we made wine cork Christmas orna (this is the time in our program where I think my necklace is tickling me and when I look down to adjust the necklace a spider is crawling towards me OUT OF MY BRA) My goodness did I scream, freak Ms. Rudy out. Ugh. OK.) Back to Craft Day...so everything was all set! Except one thing was nagging me. A little thought that I couldn't quiet down no matter how hard I focused on party planning...my period was about 10 days late! Yup. Me, Ms. Regular-To-The-Hour-On-The-Day was late. And by more than a week. So in my last minute shopping for the Crafting Day, I grabbed a pregnancy test.
I should mention I grabbed a pregnancy test from the supermarket that was going out of business in our town and therefore (aside from having cheap bread for paninis) had reduced priced, generic brand pregnancy tests. So I bought a pack (2 were inside) and got my sourdough bread and headed home. Now, to be clear, Kevin and I had decided to 'start trying' when we got back from Disney. (We both were ready to start our family but as my last selfish act as a non-mommy I made my last request to not be pregnant when we went to Disney and thus squashing my chance to ride (basically) any rides. I'm a ride goer and I would be super upset if I didn't get to go on Space Mountain/Splash Mountain/RockNRoller Coaster/Etc. So once we were home and it was time (per the app I had on my phone) for me to begin ovulation, Kevin and I decided we wanted to 'officially' begin trying.) I should mention, I had been off of birth control pills since June 2012. I knew we were starting to think about having a family and I wanted my body to be drug/hormone free for when we did decide it was time to try. So we did that first cycle after Disney and for whatever reason fate thought "First Times a Charm" and I was pregnant.
So when I got home from the store, I told Kevin I was going to wait until after Craft Day to take the test. I'm an awful secret keeper and I didn't think I would be able to keep anything to myself especially with my closest friends around me! Yeah, I think that idea last 2.2 seconds before I chugged a glass of water and headed for the bathroom. So when the agonizing time (3 minutes?) elapsed I walked back into the bathroom to read the verdict...it was POSITIVE! POSITIVELY PREGNANT! I ran over to hug Kevin and although he hugged me back, he goes "I don't trust that test, you got a cheap-o brand". So although one test (generic/reduced priced) said I was pregnant my science-brained husband decided a few tests should be run before we proclaimed me "knocked up". So off to the drug store Kevin went and bought TWO more different brands of pregnancy tests. My friends came over and I sipped a glass of wine casually throughout the day though the level of liquid in my glass never really changed...wonder if anyone noticed? :)
Once the girls left, I headed upstairs to take the 2nd and 3rd tests. What do you know? POSITIVE...ALL OF THEM! Kevin and I hugged again, Rudy came upstairs to investigate all the excitement and we hugged her. Now to survive the holiday get togethers without anyone noticing me not drinking (this was going to be hard).
Suffice it to say, we survived the holiday party season with minimal notice (though some close friends did question my choice of clear liquid instead of beer/wine). And once a HORRIBLE first trimester was over (goodbye morning sickness) we announce our upcoming pregnancy. I decided to announce it to our friends in person, when I saw each friend by showing them our sonogram photos. To 'announce' it on Facebook/Instagram I posted this photo with the caption "8/12/13":
The 'big sister' got to be part of the announcement <3
By far, the best announcement I got to make was to my Grandparents. My parents hosted my mom's family for my Grandmom's 86th birthday. After my Grandmom opened her gift from Kevin and me, I told her I had another present for her and that she was going to be a Great Grandmom. My Grandmom suffers from dementia and has trouble with comprehension sometimes and finding the words to express herself. She didn't have trouble understanding or communicating her excitement when I told her the news. It was by far one of my favorite moments in life (thus far). She's so excited to meet her Great Grandchild (as is my Grandpop) and it truly is a beacon of light for her in a sometimes shadowy world where things don't seem quite what they used to be for her.
I've written so long about this and I'm only to February 2013 when we announced the big news! Well I'll be posting next about my blogger inspired pregnancy photo project and the way we revealed the gender of our baby to our family. So stay tuned!
