Reactions.

One of the hardest part of pregnancy so far has been keeping the good news just between us. Do you know how hard it is not to tell other people, especially another pregnant person that you're pregnant? One of the best parts of pregnancy so far ties in nicely with the hardest: sharing the news!

We decided early on that we wanted to wait until the end of the first trimester, tell family in person, and make something special to give in honor of our new sweet blessing before we revealed our secret. Shortly after our positive pregnancy test, Justin put his fabulous woodworking skills to use and began making child-sized rocking chairs - one for my parents, one for his. 

 Justin arrived in North Augusta late Thursday night of Easter weekend. I had scheduled an ultrasound with an independent ultrasound clinic in Augusta on Friday for Justin to see Little wiggle and jump for himself and so we could get an updated picture to include in our surprise.  After Justin's heart melted and he was grinning from ear to ear, we walked out of the ultrasound with some great photos and the urge to tell someone immediately. He looked at me on the drive to his dad's and said, "Can we tell him tonight?!" Of course I smiled and said, "absolutely!" Mr. Tony would be the first family member to know.

We arrived at his parents' house right at dinner time. As excited as we were, amazingly we were able to keep our secret through supper.  Afterwards, Justin snuck the special rocking chair in (while Mr. Tony was still cleaning the kitchen) and placed it in the living room. Then, we waited. When Mr. Tony walked in the room, he noticed it right away. It was a replica of a child's rocking chair that Justin's granddad has. As Mr. Tony inspected it for a good 5 minutes with no suspicions of why we would choose to give it to him then, we were anxiously waiting for him to look on the bottom.   Finally he turned the chair over and found the ultrasound. "What's this on the bottom of the chair," Mr. Tony asked. "Well, that's your new grand baby, dad!" Still really confused, he looked at it harder. Honestly not knowing the answer, he asked, "Who is C. Tyson?" There was a pause. Justin laughed, "Well, that's Casie!" Mr. Tony's eye widened and that grandpa grin ran across his face! "Are you serious? Well, congratulations!" Hugs for everyone! :)

Brii and Travis were honored to know that same weekend because they came to visit Mr. Tony - and we were in a telling mood! :) We told them on an Easter egg. Unlike my other sister-in-law who knew I was pregnant almost before I did, Brii had no clue and her expression and reaction will stay with me a long time! 

Finally, it's time for my parents to get in on the action. My parents found out the day before Mother's day. When my dad got in from work we all sat down at the table to open presents. I had a few birthday presents left to open, and Justin and I brought Mom a Mother's Day present and Dad a Father's Day present since we won't be with him then. Before the opening could begin, Justin ran out to the car to get the other part of their gift. The rocking chair. He came in and placed it on the table. Mom immediately looked at me with a sneaky grin, "Is there going to be something to put in this chair?" I replied, "I don't know, daddy needs to open his present." Still trying to wrap his head around it all, daddy said, "Ohhhhh, I think I'm going to let Sharon open her gift first..." Mom quickly searched through the tissue paper and found a cute little onesie that read, "Grandma's favorite helper!" Daddy wiped his eyes and said in a very happy yet shocked tone, "Oh Lord, this was more than what I was expecting." Mom's tears followed shortly afterwards and continued off and on throughout the weekend.

There were other classic reactions:
Grandma Stone took about a year to understand who was having her next great-grandchild...and when she finally got it she began counting on her fingers! (We couldn't tell if it was to see if we had been married long enough to already be 3 months pregnant or just curious to see how long we will be married when Little arrives. Either way, it was hilarious! :) )

And another favorite:
Hillary: "WHOA! Well, Casie, you do always have major news when you call people, first moving to Mississippi, now you're having a BABY? CASIE'S HAVING A BABY?????".

It has been a fun ride so far! Please keep us in your prayers as we enter this time of drastic change! :)