How We Told Our Family

Since Alex and I have been trying for while to get pregnant we’ve had some time to think about what to do to tell our family once we were expecting. First up, my parents.

THE THOMAZINS:
Growing up, every Friday night, we had Family Pizza night where my parents would order pizza and we would watch movies. So, Alex and I called Dominos Pizza on our way to Riverside and ordered a pizza with the words “Baby” spelled out in Pepperoni. They were less than helpful and ended up telling us they were too busy to accommodate us — Boo, Dominos. But Alex took control and called Romano’s Pizza in Canyon Crest and they graciously created our pizza.

I wrote on the inside of the lid “We’re having a…” and then “Baby” was spelled out in the pepperoni. We drove to my parents after being stuck in traffic for 3 hours and arrive with a cold pizza. My parents had already eaten, I was starving and my parents were already in bed. Nevertheless we were so stoked to share the news with them. I opened the box and said, “Oh my gosh, guys… look what they wrote on our pizza?”

My parents stared and in unison said, “We’re having a… Pizza?” With utter confusion on their faces.

My jaw dropped. “Mom, Dad, what does it say ooooonnnn the pizza?”

In unison, “We’re having a…. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Then they jumped out of bed and hugged us and screamed (well, my Dad said, “Ah-hah! Well good deal!” and hugged us).

Then we ate the baby pizza.

My sister and brother weren’t there for the occasion so I had to think on my feet about how to tell my brother. It went something like this:

JT: “So, I’m looking at two cars. One has a lot of space for my drums and the other is really cool looking.”

Me: “Cool, well just make sure you get one that can fit a car seat.”

JT: “Yeah.”

Me: “For your little niece of nephew.”

JT: “Yeah.”

Alex: “Cuz, you’re going to have one…”

JT: “Wait… what?”

Then he hugged me.

For my sister I designed a onesie with an iron on that said, “I <3 My Aunt”.

I wrapped it up, put it on her bed and told her she had to call me when she was opening it so I could hear her reaction.

She opened it an said, “Nat… are you serious?!”

Then we virtually hugged, talked about baby stuff and wedding stuff and cried because we were both so excited for each other.

 

THE LOPEZS:
On Sunday we were driving back to Camarillo and planned on seeing Alex’s family in LA since they were serving at the Harvest Crusade. In Alex’s family COFFEE is a huge deal. We all LOVE coffee and especially Starbucks — yes, we’re a cult and proud of it.

Anywho, Alex and I text everyone (Mom, Dad, Chris and Amber) to ask what they wanted from SBUX on us. We didn’t know they had already had some and we were meeting them for breakfast so no one was really into coffee. NOOOOOO!! But Alex and I said, “Forget it. We’re getting it anyway.”

So we pulled up and ordered everyone their usual, but on each cup Alex wrote their respective names: Grandma, Papa, Uncle Chris, and Aunt Amber.

Then we took bets on who would notice.  We both decided Amber would notice first.

We found parking and we’re about to meet up with them when a HUGE Harvest mob started coming towards us. Everyone was stopping us for hugs and quick chats but I was so nervous I’m pretty sure I just stared awkwardly at everyone and I was so nervous that someone was going to see the cups!

After the crowd passed Alex’s Mom reached for the tray and said, “Oh! Grandma, that’s me. And here’s Papa’s.” And didn’t think anything of it, since they are already grandparents to little Julian. Alex was holding Amber’s and she said, “Does mine say, ‘Amber Amber’? Wait… does it say, ‘Aunt Amber’?”

Booya, we were right. She figured it out first! Then Debbie turned around and screamed, “Are you pregnant?!”

I was so nervous I just keep shaking my head yes and Alex had a HUGE grin on his face. Everyone shouted and hugged us and Julian looked confused — probably because he was wondering where his Starbucks was.

So there you have it, folks! The family reveal — we are so blessed by this crazy group.

Love you guys!

Baby | 8 Weeks (but really 10)

8 (ahem, I mean 10) weeks! I’m so glad we’ve made it this far little kumquat! Alex and I have begun praying for you specifically based on what size you are, so this week we’re praying for our little kumquat.

I’ve had horrible morning sickness that has lasted all day for the past two weeks and I’ve been extremely exhausted. It now takes me about 45 minutes to get out of bed and shower — a task that usually takes me 10 minutes. I basically have to sit down every 10 minutes in the morning until I’ve had something to eat.

I’ve been a biiiiiiiit hormonal, in fact this week I yelled at Alex while we were enjoying dinner at Panera and everyone started staring. It was not my finest moment and Alex laughed so hard that he cried — so, I started laughing at how ridiculous my whole freak out was.

I don’t have much of a bump yet (the above picture is more of a food baby than an actual one) and that is perfectly fine with me, but I am definitely feeling a little thicker around the middle. I’m going to ride this out as long as possible, but this little baby has had me eating constantly! This past week I ate entire pasta meal for a family of four… by myself. It may have taken me three hours, but I ate it and I’m not ashamed.

So, what were some of your remedies for “morning” sickness? How did you maintain a healthy diet during pregnancy and what workouts do you suggest? I’ve been pretty good about maintaining some cardio, but it’s been hard these past two weeks.

Over and out,
Leelo and Ander +1

I Love Technology

Technology is amazing, let me start off with that. You know why?! Because, I was able to actually see my baby yesterday (10/4/12). It’s about the size of kidney bean but it has a heartbeat… a heartbeat, you guys! I’m telling you, it’s the moment that changed everything for me. I’ve been so skeptical this whole time, worrying if this baby was viable, taking pregnancy tests every day for a week straight, praying and praying and praying for this appointment to come! And it came and it. was. magical.

Just look at that little kidney bean. This picture totally doesn’t do it justice and seeing it move around in there was just ridiculous! It jumped and flinched and I almost lost it. It’s a baby — an actual baby… and I love it so much.

On the not so bright side, this baby is kicking my butt. I can barely eat anything and nothing sounds good except bready-salty things. I haven’t gained any weight yet, mostly because anything I eat ends up in the toilet. Morning sickness is in full effect and I’m pretty much married to my bed. I love sleep… almost as much as I love technology.

But not as much as you, you see… but I still love technology.

Always and Forever.
Leelo and Ander +1

Leelo is Enceinte!

One of my favorite I Love Lucy episodes in called Lucy is Enceinte. In the episode, Lucy finds out that she’s pregnant and tells her best friend Ethel how she’s always dreamed of telling her husband they were expecting. In true Lucy fashion, she tries but everything goes wrong and she doesn’t get to tell Ricky in the way she had hoped. At the end of the show, Ricky is performing at the nightclub and Lucy shows up to tell him in a different but very special way.

Since I know you are all dying to find out how she told him, I thought I would also use this clip from my favorite Lucy episode to tell you all…

Leelo is Enceinte!