The Telling of the News

Brian and I had told no one that we were entertaining the idea of starting a family. Anytime people would ask us, "So, when's your turn..." We would respond with some answer consisting of work, school, house remodel, etc. and say maybe sometime in the next few years. So, it was quite the surprise to most people when we came out with the news, and we had SO much fun telling people. It would have been fun to get photos of everyone's reactions like our friends the Garaways did, but we were only able to snap a few here and there.

The first people we told were Brian's parents, who were in Kauai at the time. We tricked them into getting on skype because we told Brendon that Brian had broken a pipe while working on the house and we needed him to look at it for us. Brian told me to bring the pipe over, but instead I showed up with a positive pregnancy test....I think they were a bit shocked and excited, and Brendon was relieved that there was no broken pipe :-) This is their first grand baby, and I am so excited for the amazing grandparents I know they are going to be...they couldn't be happier about the news!

My parents had invited the two of us over for dinner, so the timing was perfect. We wanted to get a photo of their reaction, so Brian took the camera and asked to get a photo of the three of us.... "1, 2, 3, Emily's pregnant..." *click*

Ummm, why am I the only one who looks surprised in this photo? They didn't believe us; they just thought Brian was trying to get them to smile....so he tried it again...."I don't think you guys got it, let's try this again....1, 2, 3, Emily's pregnant!" *click*

Nope, they still didn't get it. I guess this is what you get when you try to surprise people. "Let's take one more....are you ready for your 8th grandchild?" *click*

And finally we have a winner....the look of shock and surprise!

Though my brother may look shocked and horrified he really was excited...I think he was just processing whether the news was real or not, haha :-)

Lauren and I had a morning outing to our favorite donut stop, Stans (seriously, unlike any donut you've ever tasted...their maple bars are out of this world). I'm taking a wild guess here, but I think she's been wanting me to have a baby for quite a while now, so she was quite thrilled to hear the news!

This is Stan's maple bar....A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

We had a lot of fun telling the McLelans. Their baby boy, Magnus, is due in just a few weeks. When we told them we thought it would be fun to pretend that we were giving Magnus a present. Brian and I made a can telephone, you know, the ones with two cans attached by a string in the middle....and wrapped it up. They looked a bit confused when they opened it, so we told them that it was so they could talk to Magnus in the womb. We had Luke try it out and then I took over....AnnHelen held one of the cans to her belly and I talked to Magnus through the other can....I said, "hey Magnus, want to talk to your newest friend?" and then I held the can on my belly. I SO wish we had photos of their reactions...it was priceless! Here we are giving the little ones some time to talk to each other....

We decided to use the same trick on the Wysuph's, so we wrapped the present back up and headed to their house to give Benjamin his gift. He just so happened to be asleep, so we had Dan and Sara open it.

We told them they could use it for Benjamin and Magnus to get to know one another before Magnus was born, then Ann Helen and I showed them how it was done....

I used the same line, "hey Magnus, want to talk to your newest friend..."

We wish we could have gotten photos of everyone else we told, but that didn't work out....we're glad we got the few we did!

The Bump

It's a strange thing having your body change in ways it never has before, but it's exciting knowing that there is a little life in there who is making all of the changes worth it. For some reason I didn't start taking belly photos until week 11, and even since then we missed weeks 14 and 16. But hey, at least we have documentation of the progress.

Week 11: don't mind me, this was during my sick period...the last thing I wanted to do was take a photo. At this stage baby is the size of a fig (just over 1 1/2 in. long).

Week 12: again, still sick...at this point baby is the size of a lime (just over 2 in. long).

Week 13: you guessed it, still sick....here, baby is the size of a medium shrimp, totally random, what happened to the fruit and veggie theme here (almost 3 in. long)?

Week 14: no photo, but baby is the size of a lemon (just over 3 1/2 in. long).

Week 15: At the end of this week I started feeling better...YAY!!!!! Hooray for no more nausea! Baby is about the size of an apple (4 in. long).

Week 16: no photo, but baby is about the size of an avocado (4 1/2 in. long).

Week 17: baby is about 5 inches long from head to bottom and weighs as much as a turnip.

Week 18: today marks week 18, so I don't have a photo yet. It's crazy to think that we're almost half way there! Today, baby is the size of a bell pepper (5 1/2 in. long).

In just two week from today we get to find out if baby Baer is a boy or a girl! Most people suspect a girl, and we kinda do too, but who knows. It will be nice to call it something other then the strange nicknames we've been calling it...everything from Herbert the Sesame Seed to Carl with a "C."