Sharing our baby news was one of the most enjoyable parts of
my first trimester. We found out three weeks before Christmas, so I was able to
put my creative thinking cap on and brainstorm fun and crafty ways to share our
news. Additionally, the holiday season gave us opportunities to tell folks in
person, instead of via cell phone, email or social media. Let’s be honest,
there is a good and bad way to tell people you are expecting. I did not want to
tap a fork on a water glass and say, “Can we have everyone’s attention please?”
That doesn’t include people in the process, and I like to think outside of the
box. Below are my favorite stories of how we shared our news:
·
Family: My husband comes from a big,sweet and
involved family. After knowing these people for 10 years, I was so excited to
share our news but needed a little help on the how. Pinterest was great for ideas and found something brilliant: Share your news photographically. For
example:
- You two in front of a sign that says “bump ahead”
- Holding hands/kissing with the ultrasound pic (if you have one done internally)
- A pic of you two, Photoshopping in a plus sign and “equals three”
- (My favorite) A photo of your feet with a pair of gender-neutral baby shoes in between
The next step for us was to blow the
pic up and turn it into a puzzle. I actually went
to Walgreens on Christmas Eve, found an 8x10 toy story puzzle and glued the a
piece of the picture on top. Then I wrapped each piece for members of Travis’s
family. To throw everyone off, I told his step dad Dean what was going an hour
before dinner so he could help me “lead the game,” giving Travis a puzzle piece
to not raise suspicion. I truly wish we have video of this, because watching
everyone scramble together to try and put the pieces together was the funniest
thing! Half of the family members didn’t have their glasses on, so only my
savvy sister-in-law Kerri and her husband Chris knew what was going on before
the puzzle was together and someone said after a moment of silence, “Oh… Congratulations!”
·
Expecting friends: When you are with child, it’s
nice to have others around you who are experiencing the same things. Especially
if you have questions. I have been VERY lucky to have a group of friends that
are all experiencing the same things. One of my closest friends, Audra, is due
in May and expecting a beautiful baby girl. Since she and her husband had just
found out it was a girl, I wanted to get their baby something and share my news
at the same time. I took a quick trip to Babies R’ Us and decided to try my
hand at the mock cupcakes made of onesies and baby socks. I wrapped them up in
a girly cupcake box, and in the card congratulating them on having a girl, I
wrote “P.S.: She will have a playmate three months later.” I remember her
reading the card and doing a double take at me, then looking up and saying “Really!?!?”
· Big groups: During the New Year holiday we were
able to tell our friends in Denver our
big news as a couple. Not wanting to make a spectacle, our sweet friend Mary
helped make the announcement for us at her party. Although it should have been
obvious, since I am a huge fan of champagne and was noticeably empty handed.
· Colleagues: If you have ever worked with me, you
know I enjoy baking and sharing the results with my colleagues. To share my
news with co-workers, including four other moms-to-be in the office, I simply sent an email:
- Subject: Baby Cinnamon Rolls…..
- Message: ….Because if you haven't heard…..There's another bun in the oven
· Social Media: Having a news go viral was the
last step in this process. I simply posted our news, added the photos my friend
Abby took of us with the baby shoes and launched the newest version my blog.
This way people could choose how much detail they wanted.
One last bit of news: We find out the gender of baby Kight
tonight. My sweet friend Ashley has offered to throw us a gender-reveal party
after our ultrasound.
Check in tomorrow for last piece of our puzzle… if it’s a
boy or a girl.
Thanks for coming on this journey with us, we look forward
to sharing more news with you tomorrow!
Treenah, Travis & Baby K!
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