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It's story time! Translation: really long post and lots of pics! I figured it was about time to write down the who, what, where of how we found out about baby and how everyone else found out. As you know we were trying, but it was still a shock to us. I remember saying while we were engaged that I wanted to wait 2 years and then start trying. So that was our plan...until our 2nd anniversary came along and yours truly wasn't ready. I fully admitted that I wanted to be selfish a little longer and wanted to be a little more financially stable. We were about to close on our first house a few weeks after our 2nd anniversary and honestly I wanted to lose all the extra weight I'd gained in the first 2 years of marriage so I could be healthy and prepared for the baby weight. Flash forward about 10 months and we started talking again about having a baby. After figuring out a plan of when to try and time the birth, I realized that I had to stop taking my pills right then or it would be too late. Well, it kinda freaked me out and I wasn't ready...again! After thinking about it for another month we decided to put our trust in God and I was going to leave my pills behind when we set out for our 3rd anniversary trip to Destin. I honsetly was afraid that it was going to take a long time to get pregnant or something was going to happen, so I didn't want to wait a whole other year just to try and time it perfectly. Well that was June 3rd that I stopped taking them and on August 15th at about 8 o'clock in the morning we found out I was pregnant!

The weekend before I was with my mom and sisters on a full day shopping spree for my mom's birthday. I remember telling them the whole time that I was about to "start" because I had all the symptoms and I was a little moody. So honestly, I didn't think anything of it and just waited for my little friend. Well that week I started to have some weird, vivid dreams and I remembered my sister telling me that that happens when you're pregnant. I started to wonder, but like with other things, I've always had weird dreams so it wasn't that big of a deal. But still, no friend arrived. A week later on August 14th, Tray and I had gone down to Lake Jackson with my mom to have dinner at my sister and Joe's. I remember telling her that I hadn't started and I was having weird dreams. Of course she said that I should check and she wanted me to check then, but I told her I would wait a couple more days because "there's no way I can be pregnant already." So now it's Sunday morning and Tray and I had just woken up and we were just lounging in bed while the dogs slept. I started thinking about it and told him that I was just going to go ahead and check. So there I go to the bathroom with my trusty digital test and within 2 minutes I get an answer: pregnant! I don't even know what my first thought was, or if I even had one! I come walking out of our bathroom and Tray, ever so casually and jokingly, says, "so did you pass?" I go lay back down and show him the test and say "not exactly." Mind you it's a little dark because we had the curtains closed and I think he got a little nervous so he starts saying "well I can't see, turn on the light!" And that's when I started to cry. I cried because I was scared. I cried because I wanted to lose more weight. I cried and said "what about the dogs?" And I cried because that's just what you do. Of course I was happy, but in that moment I felt like a little girl who wasn't ready to leave her mommy on the first day of kindergarten. We quickly got over the shock and we've been excited, happy, nervous and anxious ever since.

At my sister's house the night before we found out. This little guy can't wait to be a big cousin!

Now came a real problem...when would we tell family? I wanted to wait until I had my first official appointment to tell family. When we found out I was 5 weeks pregnant and I still had 3 weeks until my first appointment. So what did we do? We pretty much avoided our family, especially my mom. I felt bad because I went 2 weeks without seeing her, and that is NOT normal for us. I was just afraid that I was going to start crying or it would slip out, so I just didn't see her. I did still talk to her everyday and pretty much lied to her a few times when she started to ask when we were going to start trying. I don't think anyone really had a clue! My sister's knew we were trying, but they were still surprised!

I had my first appointment on Friday, September 10th. That weekend was Grandparent's Day so it was perfect timing. Tray's parents and sister were already coming over on Saturday to watch OU (O who?) play. In case I haven't mentioned it yet, since Tray's family is from Oklahoma, they're huge OU fans. It's caused a little trash talking between us, but it's all in good humor! Anyways, I printed one of the sonogram pictures and framed them for our sisters.

For Tray's parents we gave them a frame that had a saying about grandchildren and 4 picture slots. This frame actually had a history because we had actually bought it about 2 years ago when we lived in Greenville. I had it in the closet and then it made the move with us to the new house. I just thought it was too perfect and I knew one day we would get to use it because Tray's sister has 3 children and that would leave one slot for ours! I can't believe the day came that we actually used it! Tray brought it out from our room and told his mom that I had found something that I thought she would like.

On Sunday morning we went to my parent's house and told them. Now I have to give a little background info. About a week and a half earlier my mom had called just to tell me that she had hung up my sister's and my bridal pictures and underneath my sister's she had a picture of Anthony. She wanted to tell me that under mine she was also going to put a picture of Anthony since we didn't have a child yet. I told her to put her granddogs, but she didn't like the idea too much and just wanted to make sure I knew that there was a spot ready for when the time came. Later that week I went and found a frame that said grandchild and put the picture in it and that's what I gave to them. I brought it in when she wasn't looking and replaced it. FYI: she did put pictures of our dogs in the spot! When she walked into the living room Tray said, "I like that picture better."

So, that's how we found out and how we told our families. I'm glad I finally wrote it all down so I can remember it and look back one day! We're excited to one day replace those pictures with ones of a little boy or girl in their Longhorn gear! (just kidding! kind of!)

Love, Mariel