Monopoly Deal anybody? aka the first Announcement

After our 9 week ultrasound we were both getting very eager to share the good news to our immediate family. It was a special moment for me and hubby before we told them because we realized that this was the last time it would be our little secret which was such a special and memorable time. It’s amazing how such an experience in life further strengthens the bond of husband and wife. I truly feel blessed to be sharing this miracle of life with the most supportive and amazing hubby in the world. After a lot of discussion we decided to go for it!

So, we had brainstormed a few ideas on how we would announce the good news to our parents and our siblings. I knew exactly how I wanted to tell my brother and I had a few ideas on how we’d tell our parents but the hardest part was the execution. I really wanted to tell my brother separately from the parents. Hubby wanted to tell the parents before we told the siblings.  How would we get all of them together? How would we tell the parents the same day as telling my brother but not have them present at the same time? So here was the twisted plan we put together.

We told my parents that we wanted to throw my brother a lil’ ‘congrats on the taking the GRE’s’ party. And that it would be a surprise for my brother, so not to tell him.

I told my parents to tell my brother that they were going to a family friends place for dinner which he would very likely decline to also attend.

I told my brother we wanted to hang out with him…and we’d catch a late dinner & movie on Saturday night.

We told my in-laws that we were throwing my brother a lil’ party for taking an exam.

We told both parents to come relatively early (because we wanted to call my brother right afterwards so he could join for dinner).

I was super excited and wanted everything to go perfectly so Hubby and I had scripted out a few cues to begin the whole song and dance number. The end goal was to have them all sitting in the same area so I could hand both the parents a casual “thing” we had bought for them which I had put in a plastic grocery bag.

The first cue was to let the parents know my brother was “running a bit late”. That was a signal to keep the parents waiting but also to have hubby start rolling the camera! (Yes, we recorded the whole thing, it’s sooo funny to watch).

Second cue after that was to be determined depending on if the parents were all seated or not…and they were not. My MIL was pacing the kitchen. My mom finally sat down near my dad. I waited and waited in hopes that my mother in law would take a seat but she didn’t. So the plan in the case they were not seated was for Hubby to suggest…”let’s play Monopoly deal while we wait”. He did do this. But there were like 3 side conversations going in the midst of it all. The dads were in a heavy discussion. My mom was doing something. And my MIL was trying to help hubby take out some snacks in the kitchen. But after he suggested Monopoly deal we did get them to gravitate to the right area but they wouldn’t stop chatting so nobody ever really heard me say “oh..speaking of Monoply deal”. And that was my cue to grab the picture frames and give them to both parents. Since nobody heard me say “oh speaking of Monopoly deal…” they just were like…what is this you are handing us. The reactions as they opened the bag and examined the picture frame was priceless. We had photoshopped the ultra sound picture to add some of baby’s stats and a title saying, “Our Family is Growing…” Both the moms gazed at the picture reading the details. My mom looks at me and says…congratttssss…and my mother in law a few seconds right before says…”who’s is this?” The pass the frames to the dads. And the dads look at it and stand up in an excited uproar. And at this point everyone is up hugging and saying congrats. It all happened super fast but it was soooo exciting and special. I’m so glad we captured the whole thing on “hidden” camera. I know my mom shed a few tears which made me choke a little. The dads were just ecstatic…I mean really really ecstatic!

Every time I hear “Monopoly Deal” I think of our not so successful scripted announcement

Of course at this point we let them know…there is no party for my brother…lol.

Then we send the parents upstairs to hide as my brother confirms he’s on his way over for “dinner and a movie”. Once he arrives, I admit that hubby and I were acting weird lol. So did pick up on that. And then I handed him this little Lakers glove he had given me some time ago saying…”here! where’s the other one..?” As he opens the glove he sees the ultra sound picture too. He was surprised but he said he knew! He actually had “pre-composed” a text message to me saying that I was preggo and sent it to me after he walked in to prove he had sniffed us out. But it was precious none the less! Then the parents came down and joined in on the fun once again. All the questions and conversations began as we head out to dinner and over dinner.

Kind of looked like these…

It was a memorable night indeed!

A few days later we finally got a hold of hubby’s sister and her husband. We were expecting them to both be home so we could share the good news over video chat but unfortunately, my sister in law was at home and her husband was out with a friend. We were bummed because we wanted to tell them at the same time. So after hanging up with each of them once. We decided to call back and 3-way them without telling the other. They were surprised to have the other on the phone. But we proceeded to tell them…we had some bad news regarding an upcoming family trip they were planning. And we said, “we won’t be able to make it.” And as we were saying, “but the good news is…” My SIL started to catch on as well saying…”you’re pregnant”. Just as hubby announces…”we’re expecting!” They were both excited for us! And it was fun talking through all the details. We got SIL on video chat soon after to share the ultra sound pictures.

It was wonderful being able to share our good news with our family!  We can’t wait to tell our closest friends and relatives. But we’ll be waiting until we hit the end of the first trimester once we get the clear on the test results.