We Have An Announcement

WE ARE HAVING A BABY!!!

Phew. I feel so much better to get that off my chest. We have been keeping it a secret for seven weeks and it has been EXTREMELY difficult for me.

 I knew with this second pregnancy I wanted to be able to keep the secret a bit longer than we did with Creighton. Just a few days after finding out I was expecting Creighton, I started getting very sick. One of my sister's in law confronted me about being pregnant and I couldn't deny it. I was so sad she had already figured it out and I didn't want anyone else to as well, so we broke down and told everyone without much planning. I had wanted to announce Creighton in a big way, but didn't get the opportunity. So with this pregnancy I wanted to be able to keep it just between Cason and I for a while and think of a clever way to tell our families.

Several months ago we learned that Cason's dad, Elder Robert E. Chambers, area seventy and religion professor at BYU-I, would be giving a devotional at BYU-Idaho on June 26th and we were invited to attend a luncheon beforehand and sit on the stage during the devotional. I had an idea to arrange for the one reading his biography just prior to the devotional to announce the arrival of our new addition! I talked to Cason about it and he was so excited about the idea. I put him in charge of making the arrangements.

We learned that BYU-Idaho President, Kim Clark, would be reading Robert's biography and we contacted his secretary with the details. She LOVED the idea and spoke with President Clark. He too was thrilled with the idea and was totally on board. But I had totally overestimated my abilties to keep this secret. By the end of May I was dying to tell somebody. Everytime anyone said, "So... what's new?" I wanted to scream, "I'M HAVING A BABY!!"

Well, my mom and Dennis were going to watch Creighton for us the day of the devotional since we could not take Creighton with us. I made Creighton a special "big brother" t-shirt so he could announce his news to his Grandma and Grandpa. When we arrived in the morning to drop off Creighton I sent him into the house and of course my mom didn't miss a beat. As soon as she saw him she said, "You're not a big brother! ARE YOU?" They were so excited and kept telling us over and over how thrilled they were. Inbetween my mom saying, "You're just now telling me!?" Grandma Wilde is already making plans for baby blankets...

To Rexburg we traveled next and I kept telling Cason, "I feel sick about this. I am so nervous. My stomach is in knots." We arrived to have a special luncheon prior to the devotional. All of Cason's siblings and spouses were there and his grandparents as well. We also had lunch with President Clark and a President Hobbs and President Broadhead. The lunch was great, super fancy, and filled with good conversation. The conversation would often switch to grandchildren, with the other men in the room telling Robert and Robin how lucky they were to have their children and grandchildren so close. I kept looking at President Clark wondering if he was going to give me a wink or something. But he did not. HE IS A GOOD SECRET KEEPER.

Well, we took our places on stage directly behind Robert and Robin and waited... My heart was pounding out of my chest I was so nervous. I didn't know at all how the announcement would turn out. It was BETTER than I ever could have imagined.

President Clark was conducting the devotional and was reading off of a monitor. I started getting upset that Robert and Robin would read ahead and know of the surprise before he even said it. Well, as he introduced Elder Robert E. Chambers as having 5 children with 4 grandchildren and a 5th on the way... Robert looked fidgety in his chair and Robin was looking at him really confused... Then he announced the 5th grandchild was to Cason and Katie Jo and due January 2013...

Oh, it was priceless. The entire audience started laughing. Probably mostly to Robert and Robin's reaction because it was PURE surprise! We learned later that Robert HAD read ahead and was going to correct President Clark about the error. That was why he looked like he would hop out of his chair. Robert was also grateful for the musical number just after his biography and prior to his talk so he had time to regroup his thoughts. It was rather mean of us to spring such a surprise on him at such a nerve-wracking time! We can't wait to watch the devotional on DVD- or even on TV! and get to see the whole family's reactions on stage. Priceless.

After the devotional so many wanted to congratulate us and know how we arranged the whole thing. We thank everybody for their well-wishes and those who were involved. Seems as though there were many good secret keepers, like the event coordinator and her assistant who made sure everything ran smoothly and was announced properly. They even let us know that they planned our seating directly behind Cason's parents on purpose.

It was definitely a great announcement. But just a heads up for the future... We will NOT be going to such great lengths to announce any other children, NOR will we be keeping it a secret for seven weeks. It's almost more than I can bear.

We are so excited to welcome this new little one into our home! This pregnancy has been so much better then Creighton's. I have only thrown up a handful of times and haven't experienced the exhaustion I did with Creighton. Unfortunately with him I was living on the couch with a bowl almost all day. I still experienced digust with the smell of my fridge and was completely grossed out by the bathroom. Cason did clean the fridge for me (as I stayed far away) but unfortunately the bathroom was not cleaned for several weeks, thinking about it made me sick. In fact the pregnancy seemed pretty easy and was so different from the first, that when I visited with my Dr. for the first time last week I expressed that I was feeling worried something wasn't right... She replied, "It must mean you are having a girl!" We had a quick ultrasound and found that so far all is well. Now that I am 12.5 weeks and heading out of the first trimeser I am feeling really great and only experiencing a few symptoms that don't interfere with my daily routine.

How wonderful it was to be able to see my little baby. Baby was very active and not shy at all, waving lots and showing off swimming skills. It almost brought me to tears. I already feel so much love for this new addition growing inside of me. Cason was so sad he could not be there.

We figured Creighton would know best if baby was a boy or a girl since he was with them most recently (in heaven). So while showing him the ultrasound pictures we said, "Creighton- is this a baby sister or a baby brother?" "Baby sister!!" he replied. In fact several times a day we ask him if he wants a brother or a sister because the reply is so adorable. And he always says sister. But Cason and I, like most other expectant parents say, would be thrilled with either.

We are so happy to finally be able to share this news. We can't wait to add another to the Chambers family!