TEAM LINDSAY: OUR LITTLE LUCKY CHARM

Dental work over the years to maintain those big smiles: $5000

Digital camera to record the moment: $250

Pregnancy test: $10

Knowing there are really THREE people in this photo: PRICELESS

However, waiting 2 weeks to tell our family and friends was extremely difficult! We found out on July 16th, but wanted to wait until we had our first doctor appointment and ultrasound on July 30th before we shared our good news.

Here is Baby Lindsay at 8 weeks 3 days!

Our little lucky charm is due on March 8, 2009

It was absolutely incredible to see the heart beating (174 bpm) and hear how strong it was already! We cried and laughed through the whole thing, and I think Jay was glad when I finally stopped squeezing his hand like a vice grip (I had been anxiously awaiting that little flicker!) Then came the REALLY fun part - FINALLY telling our parents! The next day we sent overnight packages with a framed ultrasound photo (engraved with "Love Grows Here") and a card that said "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in the baby carriage!" Next, we sent cards to our brothers, then to some of my other family members and a few close friends shortly after. It wasn't long before we started receiving daily phone calls as people started receiving the news! (Sorry that you had to wait Waddell family, but we just couldn't resist telling you all in the same place at the same time at our annual get-together in September!) And if anyone ever doubted Jean's ability to keep a secret, I can tell you that she is a star! Can you imagine having to wait 2 whole months before telling ANYONE in your family that you're going to be a grandma?

So, what kind of reactions did we get?

Jay's mom started out by fussing at the delivery man that her kids would spend so much money on overnight postage just to send her a book (that's what she thought it was at first)! When she got inside and opened the package, she was still confused (we'd addressed the card to "Grandma") and wondered why we had sent Grandmother's birthday gift to her house when we were planning to attend the annual party ourselves. Then, she noticed the wrapping paper... little baby feet stamped in various colors with the words "pitter patter" interspersed. She finally understood and started jumping up and down, barely able to get the paper off. She smiled and laughed at the card, then sat down with the ultrasound and cried. THEN, she called us!

My parents were out to dinner with my grandparents when their package arrived, so they all got to open it together. My mom knew what the card and wrapping paper meant as soon as she saw it! My grandpa said that he had already suspected I was pregnant when I was home 2 weeks before, so he wasn't even surprised! I ended up having to call them (when I couldn't wait any longer) to hear their reactions. They were all just so happy and thankful and overwhelmed!

It took another 3 days for our brothers to find out! The cards had probably arrived on Saturday, but Jamie rarely checks his mail (we finally had to call and ask him to), and David & Taryn had left their mail in the car over the weekend! It was worth the wait though - we must have been on the phone for 2 hours or more talking and making plans for the next 7 months. For anyone who doesn't know by now, I think it's plenty safe for me to say that Taryn & David are also expecting a baby, due on April 2nd! They had found out on July 20th and told most of their families and friends by the following weekend, still a week before we were willing to spill the beans (and let me tell you, it was really hard not to with that news going around)! Needless to say, my mom is in heaven!

That same night, our best friends Robyn & Stephen and John & Betsy found out the news. Betsy called us right away with congratulations! Robyn and Stephen's reaction was pretty funny and unique... They sent me a text message asking me to check my email, and this is what I found waiting in my Inbox:

Robyn told me that as soon as I had pulled out of their driveway after my visit with them 2 weeks earlier, Stephen told her that he thought I was pregnant! She didn't think so though...

Later that week, we talked to my cousin Jamie, my aunt Margie, and our friends Ryan & Amber, and Jenny. Then I told my high school friends Nicole, Michelle, and Jenn. I found out that when my uncle Daryl had returned to Idaho, he told my aunt Margie right away that I was pregnant (remember, I saw a LOT of folks on my trip to California and Oregon, so I had to hold my news in the whole week, and it was HARD)! So, it seems that although I was able to fool all the ladies I visited, 3 of the men figured it out - even though they couldn't convince their wives that it was true! Too funny... and we women think that men aren't intuitive!!

At the end of August and after our 12 week appointment and ultrasound, we spread the news at work (I had already told my boss at the 11 week mark while we were in the field). Sorry some of our other friends had to wait to find out until this point, but we didn't want to risk the news leaking at work before we were ready! Anwyay, we made cupcakes with yellow frosting and green sprinkles for the occasion (we tried to make them in the shape of 4-leaf clovers, in honor of the March due date, but that didn't work out so well), and placed them in holders with little baby feet on them. It was really fun telling everyone why we had baked cupcakes in August (not prime baking season around our office)!

Our 12 week ultrasound was just as a magical as the first. I had been feeling anxious (again) and couldn't wait for the comfort of hearing that strong heartbeat. This time around, it was 167bpm (heart rates start to slow after they peak around weeks 9-10). We watched our little lucky charm do a flip and wave it's hands (both at the same time - one hand waving at mommy and the other waving at daddy, or so we like to think)! Baby Lindsay measured right on schedule, at 12 weeks 3 days. In addition to the regular sonogram, we had a 4D sonogram done (due to potential cysts spotted on the umbilical cord and placenta at the first ultrasound), and we could see how cute Baby Lindsay already is (can you believe how well-defined the baby is by 12 weeks? Amazing!):

In the middle of September, we FINALLY told the rest of Jay's family! We showed up at his grandmother's 93rd birthday weekend wearing our "share the news" shirts. Mine was a tank top that simply said "Due in March" and had a little clover on it. I made Jay a custom shirt with the Lindsay Clan crest and the words "2009 Addition Due in March", and we bought Jean a shirt that said "Grandma to Bee" with a little bumble bee on it. It was so much fun! Here are the 3 of us with our shirts and smiles: