Cousins!

Telling Baby M's cousins was very exciting, too!  He/She will have 3 big cousins to play with!  Garrison will be 4, Ben 3, and Wellsleigh only 3 months old at the time we're expecting Baby Massengill to arrive!  How exciting!

We wanted to tell the cousins (and their moms and dad, aka the other aunts and uncles) in a special way, too!

We went to Georgia for Caleb's birthday weekend.  As soon we arrived, we carried in 2 Valentine's bag with goodies for Ben & Garrison.  Inside the gift bag was this:

Caleb has called the baby "Gummi Bear" ever since our 8 week ultrasound.  Sorry for the often hated uterus picture, but it needed a visual aid.  It really did kinda look like a gummi bear.  And it would just wiggle around.  So cute!  

Jimbob was the first to catch on, and he told Garrison to go show his mommy his special gummi bears.  They again were all so surprised and excited!  It was awesome!

Erin with Wellsleigh (at 24ish weeks) and me with Gummi Bear (at 10ish weeks).

Gummi Bear will be one loved little baby.  Lots of wonderful aunts and uncles and special cousins to love life with!  We are SO excited!

the aunts & uncles

Baby Massengill is gonna have lots of fun aunts and uncles to play with.  Caleb and I really loved deciding how and when we were going to tell them about their future niece or nephew.  We actually told  Anna, John, Jordan, and Brittnee a little earlier than I had planned because of a ski trip.  I didn't really think going snow skiing down a big ole mountain was a good idea at 8 weeks pregnant so we had to have some sort of an excuse to get out of it.  

Remember that mountain weekend trip on MLK weekend?  That's when we told.  I just withheld a few pictures last time.

Everybody met at our house for pizza before hitting the road that night.  Anna got there an hour or so before everybody else, and I knew I wasn't going to be able to hold it in from her for too long.  It was hard enough just waiting on Caleb to get home from work.  Well, pretty much as soon as he got there, it was time to tell, in the middle of eating pizza.

I had bibs made for the 4 of them.  It took Anna a second to get it, but then she went crazy excited!  And Caleb actually had the camera around : )

Brittnee shed some tears, and the Gregory's are not known for crying.  So we all had to make fun of her emotional-ness.  It was really sweet, and she's gonna be such a great aunt!

My mom and dad were finally able to use their cups, and Mom of course showed up with some presents for the baby.

   Please read the mug.  It cracked me up. 

All 4 of these crazy aunts and uncles put their bibs on for a  picture at the mountain house.  Baby M is gonna be one lucky kid!  So blessed to have such fun people to play with/change diapers/feed him or her.  Right ?  ; )

We also let Great Aunt Jeanie in on the news!  She was trying to find my baby bump, but I told her it would be a little while.

Everyone was so excited, and we were thrilled to have the news out in the open with a few people!

Telling Mama Deanie

Some of you may think telling my grandma who went to Heaven in June about our baby on the way is silly, weird, or other things.  But it was a must for Caleb and me.  I don't know if anybody else even knows we did it, but we did.  And it was very special.  

On Christmas Day, Caleb and I went by Mama's grave on our way to Christmas dinner.  We stood there for a while, said a prayer for her sweet life, and then informed her of our pregnancy.  We weren't there very long, but those few moments were truly special.

Mama and I talked about when Caleb and I would have children before she passed away.  She always told me not to rush it, to enjoy each other, and to enjoy our kiddos when we do have them.  She was very young when she got married and had children very young.  Well, the first 2.  She and Papa almost had 2 different sets of children with the big age difference, but that's another story for another day.

Anyway, we know she's in Heaven praising Jesus for Baby Massengill, and that makes us smile.  Believe me, I'd give anything to have her back here to tell in person, but she heard the news either way.  One other very special detail:  Mama's birthday is in August.  How amazing that the Lord is giving us another sweet life to celebrate in the same month.  His timing is wonderful!

More sharing of the news!

Next on the list to tell:  Caleb's parents.  Luckily, we were going to see them the very next day.  We knew we couldn't make it very long.  24 hours was a stretch, but we did it.

So, we got to their house around 4 or 5 I think.  Caleb's sister, Erin, and her family were coming over later that night for Christmas dinner so we had to be quick.  We thought.  Like, we literally thought we beat them by about 20 minutes.  Caleb and Craig quickly carried in our bags while I made small talk with Marcia.  My heart was racing as I held in the news waiting for Caleb to get back downstairs.  I'm surprised she couldn't tell something was up right away.

We had put the positive pregnancy test (inside a ziplock baggie) in our Christmas card envelope.  I was gripping it in my hand about as tightly as humanly possible when Caleb came back into the kitchen.  I just looked at him and asked "Now?".  Apparently, Craig kinda caught on to what I was saying to him.  Marcia, however, did not.  She continued to talk about anything and everything while my pulse increased to about 200.  Finally, I just shoved the Christmas card and the envelope into her hands.  As soon as she opened it, she knew what the tests were.  I don't know if she ever even looked at our Christmas card.  Like any good Massengill, she started crying, and many hugs were shared.  They have passed this crying thing on to me now as well.  It's kinda sweet.

The McElroy fam didn't show up until about an hour later so we could have relaxed a little bit.  Oh, well, the pressure drove us to shout the news as quickly as possible.

Craig later admitted that he was trying to get her to take the card from us.  He could sense the urgency.  It was kinda hilarious.  They were also thrilled about the news!  Our secret was being shared, one person at a time, and we were all loving it!

Sharing the news!

Caleb and I were actually quite different in our initial desire to share the news.  While we were both beyond thrilled, I wanted to keep it quiet.  Just between us.  At least for a little while.  It's so special.  And secret.  And I loved it!  Caleb, however, would have put up a billboard the day we took the test.  So like any married couple, we compromised.  We started telling a few select people.  Beginning with our parents.

The day I took the test was also the day I was scheduled to go to the dermatologist to have a cyst removed from my shoulder.  Being the good patient that I am, I told the doctor about my positive test.  Not only was she the very first person I told, but then she refused to remove my cyst.  Geez Louise.

Later that night, we went to my parent's house for Christmas with my dad's sister Margie and her family.  Apparently, I got a little too excited playing Partini, and Caleb was worried about my acting out different scenarios.  It's all for the game, and my team won!  Baby Massengill probably enjoyed it : )  We decided we would tell my mom that night, but only her.  My dad may have been tempted to tell his sister or my brothers so we left it with Bev.

John and Brittnee literally would.not.leave.  Normally, we love when they stay for a while, just hanging out and such.  But that night, we were so eager for them to get the heck out of the house so we could tell my mom.  Finally, they left.

I laid the positive pregnancy test on the counter where my mom was standing.  Obviously, she wasn't expecting anything because she thought it was one of Izzy's (the dog's) toys.  I guess it has been a while since she had taken a pregnancy test.  Once we spelled it out for her, she was sooooo excited!  We swore her to secrecy, and somehow she did it!  She kept it quiet for 8 long weeks.  Go Mom!  We told my dad a few days later.  I think it was on Christmas Eve.  He was also forced into staying quiet, and he did it, too!  He already picked out his grandpa name:  Grrrrand-Pa.Pa.  Rolling the "R."  

We also gave them tervis tumblers that said "Grandma" and Grandpa."  They had to hide their cups until the secret was revealed to others.

It was very exciting!  Caleb and I realized we are pretty terrible about capturing these moments and expressions on camera because we were so "IN" the moment.  So I apologize for the lack of pictures.  But believe me, the faces and excitement will never be forgotten in our minds : )

13 weeks

I'm going to write about how we shared our pregnancy news with family and friends soon, but I thought I'd start with a weekly update.  I hope to do these each week, mainly for Caleb and I to remember the little details.  Sorry if the pregnancy-ness of this blog bores you, but it has kinda taken over our lives for the moment : )

So, I'm just over 13 weeks now, and I am so happy to be in the 2nd trimester.  I'm gonna use one of these pregnancy templates things to keep me updated.

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far along? 13 weeks!

Size of the Baby? Itty bitty, but growing by the second!  My phone app says the size of a lemon, 3 inches, 1.5 oz.

Maternity Clothes? Not yet, but I’m really looking forward to them.  Luckily, I have a lot of winter pants that were a size too big.  They fit great now!  Maybe it's a good thing my mom buys me clothes a size ahead as if I'm still a growing kid, ha.

Gender?  We don’t know yet.  I’m kinda torn on when/if to find out.  I know we will, but I sort of want to wait a little while.  It’s tough when you work in an office with ultrasound machines everywhere!

Movement?  It’s a movin’, but I can’t feel it yet.  I can hardly wait for that first movement.  I think it will make it seem so real!

Sleep? Pretty good.  I wake up to visit the little girls room at least once during the night, but other than that I’m good.  I still sleep on my stomach, but the doctors say it’s fine.

Cravings? Pizza!  Especially Pizza Inn!  Any kind of cheese, bread, Zaxby’s.  Sweet Caleb has made many a late night Zaxby’s runs.  I do eat some healthy things in between the bad cravings : )

Symptoms?  Nausea, reflux, vomiting here and there.  It always happens at the most inopportune times.  Like driving down the road on the way to work or in Waffle House.  Frequent urination, fatigue.  But all that goes away now that I’m starting the 2^nd trimester, right?

What I miss?  I really can’t think of anything.  Maybe feta cheese.  Or Mexican cheese. Really though, I'm just so happy!

Milestones?  Starting the 2^nd trimester.  When you do this OB thing for a living, it makes me entirely TOO aware of things.  So praise the Lord for little milestones!

Weight Gain? 4 pounds already.  Yikes!

What I’m nervous about?  Um, everything.  I’m a pretty anxious person, and now I have another human to be anxious for.  I’m just nervous about doing everything right for this baby.  I have a great devotional book and spend lots of time in prayer when my mind starts to wander.

What I’m excited about?   Again, everything!  I can’t wait to start feeling movement.  I'm excited that we've finally told people, but I did enjoy keeping that sweet secret.

There's the 13 week bump.  I can't wait for it to really show!  I'll probably be eating those words soon.

December 22

December 22, 2007:  

I woke up at Caleb's parent's house after a little pre-Christmas visit.  I showered, said my good-byes, and headed home.  I was already neglecting to fix my hair or put on make-up, an obvious sign that I felt way too welcome with his family.  Caleb was planning to drive to my parent's house later that night to spend a few days with us.  I got home and started helping my mom clean the house.  She said we were having some family over that night for a Christmas party.  I was dusting, cleaning toilets, a little bit of everything.  In the midst of my hard work, Caleb called.  About 3 times.  I kept missing his call because I was so busy, but I finally heard my phone and talked to him.  He said his car had broken down in Clinton when he stopped to drop off his tuition check at PC.  I completely bought the story because his car had been having some issues, and he had just shown me an email or something saying his tuition was due.  Totally believable.  I then asked John, my older brother, if he would go pick Caleb up from Clinton.  Luckily, John was in on the surprise, and he refused.  Mean brother.  My dad also declined so I had to hop in my car, cleaning clothes and all, and drive to Clinton.  When I got there, Caleb was just standing out beside his car.  I didn't even stop my car.  I just said hop in, we gotta go!  He said no, just get out for a second.  He was at the exact spot where we met in 2004, and he wanted to have a romantic moment.  He then pointed out some white rose petals.  I assumed it was just trash and I wondered why in the world I had to go look at it when there was a Christmas party happening in Buffalo.  I walked over toward the trash/rose petals, found a note, and started reading.  It was the.sweetest.thing.  I have ever read.  At the end, it read:  "By the way, my car isn't really broken."  I then turned around to find Caleb down on one knee holding a beautiful diamond ring, asking me to marry him!!!!  Ahhhhh!!!!  What an awesome surprise!!!  By the time we made it back to my parent's house, the "Christmas party" had turned into an "Engagement party" with all sorts of wonderful friends and family.  It was the BEST day!

I will never forget December 22, 2007.

December 22, 2011 is pretty memorable, too.  I woke up around 6:30 AM, walked into the bathroom, and took a pregnancy test.  I, rather calmly if I can say so myself, then told Caleb he may want to come in there.  It was positive!!!  We were thrilled!  Just like when he proposed, Caleb cried, and I laughed.  We had prayed for a baby, and now there's one on the way!!!  We then crawled back in bed and thanked the Lord for this miracle.  We could hardly believe it, but it felt so right and perfect at the same time.  It was quite possibly my favorite day ever!

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, those who have been called according to His purpose."  Romans 8:28

Needless to say, December 22 is a pretty awesome day in my book : )  We could not be happier right now!!!!  Praise the Lord for this wonderful blessing!  Ahhhh!!!  We're gonna be parents!!!