Little Bean's First Gifts!

Once we found out we were pregnant, we were amazed at our friends and families generosity!

My mom got me an amazing side pillow to sleep with and I'm excited for it to arrive in our sea shipment and start using it!

My friend Leah gave me this sweet baby stuff, including our little ones first toy kitten and Texas culture!

Cindy got me "What to Expect When You Are Expecting" and the Thurmans got Jason "What to Expect When Your Wife is Expanding"

My sweet friend Maryam somehow found time between taking care of her newborn baby girl Ella to go shopping and buy me a few of the favorite things she's loved so far - 

And if you remember my sister-in-law Steph surprised me the Mayo clinic guide to a healthy pregnancy when she first guessed that we were pregnant before our Big Reveal (read here).

My mother-in-law Lisa sent a present home with Jason. A scrapbooking book for moms.

 Thank you everyone for the amazing gifts! I apologize that I don't have thank you notes yet to write you personal ones yet.

The next big thing to tackle was maternity clothes. Since everything is so expensive in Norway, we decided I should do some maternity clothes shopping before we moved to try and get most of the things I would need. Fortunately, this is where moms come in and are the best!!

My mom had already purchased and brought with her some cute dresses, pants, jeans, and tops to get my collection started! Add to that a few Zulily purchases (a dangerous website shopping website!) I had already made and our shopping trip to Motherhood Maternity, Katy Mills, and the Galleria while my mom was in town and I am now completely (hopefully) set with everything I'll need!  

Know what's super awkward when maternity clothes shopping? Having to use that fake belly because you aren't really showing yet... cute outfit, awkward fake belly... 

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The Big Reveal

I revealed to Jason that we were expecting by surprising him with a little onesie I personalized for him (read about here). We decided it would be a cute idea to do that for the rest of our family as well!

I've mentioned before that we have four set of family in four different states. We had to lean on technology to share the surprise with our loved ones. Thank goodness for Skype dates!

Mom and Jeff - Oklahoma City, OK
Here's the onesies for my mom and Jeff along with the pictures we took during our Skype date.

And then my mom decided she liked Jeff's driller since she's also in the oil industry and that Jeff should have the gambler since he always seems to win at the casino. :-)

Dad and Mary - Tinley Park, IL
My dad and Mary got their computer setup with the webcam we mailed them and brought Babi (my grandma) over for the Skype date and to celebrate her birthday (which was Halloween). We thought we had picked a decent camera, but the quality on our end was a little fuzzy. They saw things perfectly though and let's be honest, they really just care about seeing the little one. ;-)

Here are my dad and Mary's -

And of course my grandma's! Baby Stingerie will be 1/4 Czech, enough to make the claim still.

Greg and Lisa - Colorado Springs, CO
Here are the onesies for Greg and Lisa and pictures from our Skype date with them and Lily (whose onesie is down below with the siblings).

Jacob and Stephanie - League City, TX

We were able to tell Jacob and Stephanie in person since they live in League City, an hour and a half drive from us. We only had a short window of time with them before they had to go to a birthday party and we insisted on coming down that weekend. 

Sydney (who has opened all gifts the past two years) did the honors of opening the onesies. "For baby Jaiden!" she exclaimed when she realized what they were. Steph just shook her head and said "I don't think they are for baby Jaiden". It was adorable!

I was pretty sure Stephanie, who is a very intuitive person, suspected something was up since they similarly insisted on seeing us one weekday to announce their first pregnancy... and I was right! They had guessed and even gotten me a baby book. :-)

And here are the sibling onesies! The two on the bottom were for Jacob and Steph.

We sent Justin, my brother, his package with strict instructions to open it only after he called us Sunday night. I think he likes his Little Gangsta Elmo. ;-)

Lily's was sent to her with her parents package. She is a ballet dancer, but since we don't know if the baby is a boy or a girl yet, we had to find a more generic dancing one that we could use.

I hope everyone loved and appreciated their onesies! Now, if you could all please return them to us so we can use them on baby Stingerie that would be great. Thanks. ;-)

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We're Expecting!

That's right blogging peeps! Arriving June 2013, just a couple months shy of our "perpetually rolling five years until kids" deadline of August 2013. ;-)

While we were on our site visit in Norway last month I started to suspect that I might be pregnant, but kept trying to tell myself that I wasn't. That it was just the time difference and my body really thought it was only Monday so I wasn't late yet by that logic.

I didn't say anything to Jason either. I didn't want that to interfere with our site visit or the plans we had made while we were there. I kept mum during the trip, but did force Jason to watch "What to Expect When You Are Expecting" on the plane ride home. I told him it was hilarious and he needed to watch it. The alternative was studying for the PE exam so I think he chose what he considered the lesser of the two evils. ;-)

On our way home from the airport Sunday, I asked Jason if we could stop at the store to get some groceries and a card for my friend who just had her baby. I used it as an excuse to get a card for Jason in case we were pregnant. Sneaky, sneaky.

When we got home, I snuck into the bathroom and took a pregnancy test. PREGNANT it flashed in black letters! I kept my composure and quickly went to work on my plan to reveal to Jason that he was going to be a father.

When we first talked about trying earlier this summer, I found a website that lets you make your own onesies. I thought it would be a cute idea to make a onesie for Jason as my way of revealing to him we were pregnant. I ordered one and hid it away until such a time as I could give it to him. (This was also part of why I waited until we were back in the US to tell Jason I suspected anything...)

I got the onesie, the pregnancy test (in a ziploc baggie - no one wants to touch a pee stick), and the card. I wrapped them up in a bag and set it on the counter in hopes he would see it. Unfortunately when we went to the sink, he saw the opposite side of the bag that didn't show his name. I shyly turned it around and when he noticed it asked quite puzzled, "What is this?"

He began with the card and as he read the cover I could see confusion on his face. Then he opened it and read what I had written to him and the acknowledgement came. He had the most precious smile on his face. A smile I know I will get to see again soon when we meet our little one. He quietly asked "Really?" And through my happy tears shook my head yes while he embraced me with a big hug.

He continued opening his gift and saw the pregnancy test and the onesie I'd make him. I think he's a fan. ;-)

Here's to little baby Stingerie - arriving June 2013. :-D

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