De Ja Vu - Darci Style

For Christmas I got everyone tickets to a Blazers game and put it in a little card with a “darci poem” .....

Well, last night we went to the game with the family and had a great time! They beat Sacramento Kings (with Jimmer!) and …my favorite part…they scored over 100 points so we got free CHALUPAS!

After the game we were all planning on heading out to redeem our free chalupa coupons and Jenny and Charlie suggested we all go grab some apps and drinks instead, their treat! Hard to say no to that, well, except, you know why by now!

I did honestly have a bit of an upset stomach…maybe it was the bbq pork nachos from the game…haha…so I tried, cleverly, to be all, “oh, my stomach hurts, I don’t think I’ll have a drink…” Yeah. Right. I knew that wouldn’t pass. Brandon’s mom told me all the ways a good double shot of Tuaca or bourbon is the best for an upset stomach and that would make it a lot better… I’ll be honest I tuned out a bit as I was trying to think of ways to get out of this pickle). Then I get a text from Brandon from the front seat “good luck with that!” ---let me remind you, he was the one that suggested happy hour!! He’s supposed to be on my team! :)

Well we pull into Billigan’s, walk inside, and a miracle from God, they just had last call and weren’t serving anymore! Pheew!! Got out of that one!! …..almost. Right across the street is an Applebee’s – they have happy hour for two more hours…dah!

We go inside Applebee’s, sit down at the bar, and I’m thinking, I’ll grab the bartender, tell her my predicament, and ask for a cranberry-vodka and really just get a cranberry juice. I head towards the bathroom, tell the gal my story, and I think I’m in the clear…no one saw me, we’re good to go!

I come back, thinking I’m so stealthy, the waitress asks us all for our IDs and I grab my purse, look through my wallet, look in the pockets, look in the other other pockets, check my coat….. No ID…. Another miracle sign from above?? Is it possible?? Well, I can tell you, this isn’t the first time I’ve forgotten my ID when we’ve gone out at a family for drinks and happy hour (Nick’s Tavern, La Center, Taco Tuesday 2010), so this now jokingly becomes “strike number 2” for me as we exit the bar and head into the restaurant while everyone can’t believe I “did it again!” – and really, it was an accident!! I couldn’t believe my convenient luck! …let me tell you, this whole, hide it from the parents thing….harder than it seems!!

Oh, I should also mention, in the restaurant, after a whole table of Long Islands and my “Sierra Mist” – Brandon’s sister looks at my drink and says, “oh my gosh! Does this mean you’re pregnant?!?!” – to which I quickly (and cleverly, I might add) replied, “Remember? I forgot my ID!!” -----another aversion, I’m getting good at these! She did look pretty ecstatic though, I almost caved, but just a few more weeks and well, we’ll see if I can keep up the stealth work until then!

Calling the Doc

So Brandon and I both decided we probably needed to call the Dr and make that “First Appointment!” but of course having it be Christmas weekend, the offices were closed, and so I thought, I’ll call first thing Monday morning! ….closed. Duh, so were most offices, including my own!... ok, Tuesday it is!– I called on my way into work, and my heart is racing, and I’m really nervous, I mean, this is the first person I’m telling outside of Brandon! It was a pretty crazy feeling to be honest.

The receptionist was amazing - calm, friendly, and knew just the right things to say, she asked if we’d taken an at-home test, I told her “yeah, a few :)” and she laughed and said that was usually the case. We made our first appointment, January 31st – 8:30am. Sounds like a lot of paperwork, blood work, and testing…I asked if Brandon should come and she told me, he’d probably like the 2nd appointment more, and not to really worry about this one, unless he wanted to.

Our 2nd appointment is scheduled for February 15th, and they say we should be able to hear the heartbeat!!! How fitting beings that it will be right around Valentine’s Day! It will also be my Grandma’s birthday and I’ll actually be flying down to visit her (and hopefully both my sisters!) in Vegas that following weekend, so I’m pretty sure that will a perfect time to break the news…

I’ve got the gears turning on fun, special, surprising ways to share it with B’s family and my dad, but I’ll save those ideas for later.

Christmas Eve!

Date: December 24th
Time: 6ish (I don’t know why the time is important, but I want to have it!)
Where: Grandma and Grandpa (soon to be great grandparent)’s house.

Well, so far it’s been a whirlwind of a day, Brandon’s decided the car is his least favorite spot at the moment, because every time we get in it to go somewhere, the mind starts racing, I keep telling him, now you know how I feel! I’ve been like this for 3 days! We pack up the gifts, and the infamous jello shots and head over. Now, we think we’ve been pretty good at covering our bases. There are peach jello “shots” for me – and then there are a few red one’s with toothpicks for anyone else who isn’t drinking. The difference is they aren’t hiding it, but like I said, I think we’ve got this covered!

We make sure that he or I are the ones’ in charge of dispensing them out as needed so I can get the right ones without making it too obvious – and to be honest, usually I’m the one being sneaky, and good at hiding things, but it’s way more fun to have a partner in crime, we make a good team! Anywho, as I mentioned earlier, I’m an old lady (bowling, broche, back…) so I was able to kind of nurse it a little and be like, “oh no, better not mix alcohol and pain meds (aspirin)” - Brandon’s mom told me that caffeine would be helpful to speed up the process so I made sure to bring a soda with me to Christmas Eve. As I was pouring my soda, his dad was next to me and asked why I was drinking soda. I explained that I was instructed to get some caffeine, and ended it with “so I am.” … there was a long pause and with big eyes he says, “…..you’re what???....” – and then I realize what I think he thinks, and tell him, “so I am….drinking caffeine.” Which is true. Issue averted.

Later in the night as we're all getting ready to sit down to eat, Brandon comes into the dining room boasting that he has an announcement... (what?! This isn't part of the plan!!).... he says, "I have an announcement.... Grandma just threw something away!" - which, if you know her, is a BIG deal! But I'm pretty sure it made my heart stop for a second, and at this point I think his Dad is thoroughly confused...Merry Christmas! (You're present will be here in approx. 8 months!)

Friends and Fortunes

For a few years now, we’ve had some friends who’ve had the tradition of going to Peking Garden on Christmas Eve as a little get together with friends for lunch. The news to Brandon is still super fresh, and obviously we both have a million thoughts, questions, and ideas racing through our minds – so naturally, everything around us is babies, babies, babies… weird how that happens.

Two of our friends have a one year old, and we were all commenting on how time has flown and one of them mentions, “yeah next year he won’t be the only kid here!” – I feel a nudge under the table, I think both Brandon’s and my heart skip a quick beat…and then I realize we have another friend due in February. Duh. They’re talking about them! Well as is tradition, we get our fortune cookies at the end and all read them aloud. Everyone’s is pretty good, or funny – mine? Spot. On. “An unexpected event will soon make your life more exciting.” Brandon gets a nudge from our pregnant friend, “you know what that means…..” – yep….if you only knew!!

Jello Shots!

Date: December 24th.
Time: AM... Not sure and it probably doesnt really matter.
Where: The kitchen.

As part if our own little family tradition, Brandon has been in charge if making jello shots for all the big holidays (who wants sugar cookies anyway?)

Anyway, jello shots... He had probably made close to 60-70 and I mentioned we should probably make a few N/A ones for anyone who wasn't drinking. He made 6. .....so, I told him he probably needs to make a few more, I mean 6 is nothing. We debated for a minute or so on how many was enough and he looks up and sarcastically asks, "why, are you pregnant?".............pause........"are you?".........I start smiling......"are you really??".....(let me pause, so for anyone who doesnt know me, I'm a bit if a prankster....and a good one, I can see why he didn't believe me at first, or second, or third!)...so then I tell him Merry Christmas and what a Vick way to break the news...via jello shot!

See, I'd figured out I was pregs a few days before when I took the test and then was like...what?! And then rationally thought, well, the line is pretty faded...I better try again tomorrow. And then the next day....still maybe a little faded, but darker than the previous. Well then Christmas Eve morning after test 3 it was pretty certain, and excited, but for me it is SO hard to keep secrets, but I also like big surprises, so I'd been trying to find a clever way to tell B for Christmas and figured I could keep my secret until then.....but....my plan was spoiled by the jello shots, and really, I don't think it could have been more perfect!