I can't believe it!

We have some good news to share with everyone, we’re having a baby! Okay, not right this minute, but sometime around August 5th :)

The timing worked out so that we could tell our family and friends at Christmas. I wanted to think of a cute way to tell Elle because I knew she’d be so excited. The Etsy shop, Ten Finger Workshop, makes adorable little wood people who have been on my Etsy favorites forever and it was the perfect excuse to have a custom set made. I sent Lily a picture of the three of us and a couple ideas of ways she could paint the family so that they look like us (she painted me in my Etsy shirt, Daddy with a stack of pancakes (he cooks a mean Sunday breakfast!), Elle with her curls and a bow) and I asked her to add a baby wearing something green. I vividly remember opening the picture Lily sent me of the little family she made for us. I hadn’t really thought about what “we” would look like as a family of 4 instead of 3, it was a fun way to picture our growing family!

Christmas morning we waited for some of my Doug’s family to arrive so that Elle could open the present and we could share the news with them at the same time. By the time we got around to opening that gift, Elle had opened nearly all of her other gifts and was consequently in a present induced frenzy running all over the house playing with everything and singing Jingle Bells at the top of her lungs. We sat down to open her little family and it went something like this:

Elle: “Oh, look it’s Mommy, Daddy, and Elle”
Me as I pulled the little baby out of the box: “Yes, and who is this?”
Elle: “It’s me when I was a baby”
Me a little teary eyed: “No, it’s your baby brother or sister. Mommy has a baby in her belly”
Elle: “Oh”
And then she got up out of my lap and ran into her room to play with a new toy.


So I guess that’ll teach me about having expectations for a 3 year old reaction. I waited until she had calmed down later that morning and was sitting quietly by herself. This time the conversation went like this:

Me: “Elle, are you excited that Mommy has a baby in her belly?”
Elle: “You DO?!”
Me: “Yes”
Elle: “Right Now?!”
Me: “Yes”
Elle as she threw her arms around me for a big hug: “I’m going to be a big sister??? I can’t believe it Mommy!”