For nine & a half weeks, Craig & I had been holding in the biggest news of our lives! I was literally BURSTING at the seams to tell someone, ANYONE, that we were adding a little person to our family! I even had to avoid some of my very best friends for fear that I might slip & tell them before our first appointment when we knew everything had progressed & was safe! Anyone that knows me at all, knows I can't stand surprises...& I can't stand keeping them, either! This was truly a test for me! As always, Craig was amazing. He helped me to keep our secret safe, & he put up with me talking non-stop to him about anything & everything baby! I couldn't help myself...I was just so excited! :)
Anyhow, directly after our visit with Dr Ertmoed on October 13th, we couldn't help but come home & go directly to Craig's parents' house to tell them. Craig thought up a cute way to break the news, which went a little like this...
In the few weeks prior to this big day, we had dropped the hint to his parents (& mine) several times that we were going to start looking for a Tahoe or a Yukon. Because neither of them had any idea why we might want to get rid of our great, sporty little Maxima, they all thought we were somewhat crazy. After all, we only had the Max just under a year...oops. :) But, Craig & I knew that we were going to HAVE to get something bigger, as we were already bursting the seams of our little sportscar with Erica & Julia...let alone adding a carseat! So, on our way home from Springfield, we stopped by the GMC dealer & picked up an informational book about the new Yukons. Since we knew his parents were less than thrilled about us ALREADY trading in the car, Craig came up with the idea to put the new sonogram picture on the second page. When we arrived at his parents, we gave the book to them & told them "this is the reason we ran to Springfield...we looked at these (meaning the Yukon), we think we might buy one, but our main reason is on the 2nd page"! After giving us "the look", they each opened the book to page two. After a few seconds of figuring out what they were actually looking at, the big smiles came out!!! Baby C will be Len & Susie's 7th grandbaby, & although I think they knew this day couldn't be far off, we still surprised them & even all got a little teary-eyed! :) Even after six others, it's still a miracle & a blessing! :) That following weekend, we were lucky enough that Allison (Craig's sister), Jerry (her husband), & our two precious little nephews, Matthew & Nathan, were planning to come down for a visit. Since they were coming down, Ashley (Craig's youngest sister), John (her husband), & our adorable little neice & nephew, Reese & Drew, planned to come over, as well. How perfect that we were all together at the same time that weekend?!?! So, Craig & I started planning on how to tell them, too. We came up with the idea to take a little pumpkin & tie a picture of the sonogram on it with a little note saying "We're adding a little pumpkin to the Corzine Patch...May 16th, 2011". Luckily for us, it was just the right time of year to announce our "little pumpkin"!
Now it was on to telling my parents! There was no way Craig or I could have ever told them over the phone, so we starting making arrangements to make a surprise trip down to their house. On the following Tuesday, Craig & I took off a little early & made the trip to St Wendel. Since neither of my parents knew we were coming, we had to be sneaky. :) I think I actually talked to my mom 2 or 3 times on the way down...she never suspected it! :) When we pulled up, she came to the door surprised (but not the most surprised she would be that day...). We handed her a pumpkin just like we did for Craig's family with a copy of the baby's sonogram picture attached to it! After she thanked us for the pumpkin, she finally read what was written and about fell off the back step...I think her chin stopped her from falling when it hit the ground, though! Haha! She was so excited...after all, this will be the first grandbaby in my family! :) But, we still hadn't told Dad...he was off running errands. So, Mom called him & told him he needed to get home & gave him an excuse other than that we were there while we hid our car in his shop. ;) When he came home, he came right in the shop & saw that we were there. After looking suprised, Craig said to him, "you know...the last time I made a surprise visit, I had a really big question for you...I asked you if I could marry Ashley. Now, I'm here to ask you another really big question...CAN WE CALL YOU GRANDPA?" Again, my dad was completely stunned, but SO excited! They immediately called some of their best friends, Jon & Barb Raben & Donnie & Leanne Seibert, over to the house & showed them the pumpkin! It was a huge celebration after that...even I had an O'douls with them! Haha! When Uncle Adam came home from work, we showed him the pumpkin, as well! He was just as excited as the rest of us! He loves spending time with his step-neices, Erica & Julia, so I'm sure he'll have a blast with his new little neice or nephew.
From there, we began telling all of our friends, who have been FANTASTIC & super excited for us! Baby C has already gotten tons of gifts! He or she is going to be blessed with an amazing family & tons of "aunties" & "uncles"! We can't wait!
Here's a picture of the pumpkin we gave to Mom...
