Telling Our Parents (Post #3)

Keeping our little big secret from everybody was just about the hardest thing to do.  I even talked to my mom the day we found out, and I so badly wanted to say “MOMSTOPTALKINGIHAVESOMETHINGTOTELLYOU!”.  I made it through the entire conversation without letting it slip – my tongue was bleeeeeding though!  We even went to dinner with my aunts and cousins that night and managed not to say anything.  Dinner the next night was with Henry’s aunt and uncle and we escaped, secret still intact.  Whew!

We waited ten loooong days (and took 3 more at-home tests – just to be sure, ha!) before sharing the big news with our parents... on Mother’s Day!  

Ok so my mom didn’t follow directions and she opened her Mother’s Day card three days early, so she was the first to find out.  I was ok with that though because I was DYING to tell her anyway!

We went and bought a ton of Mother’s Day cards – there’s lots of very important women in our lives! – and wrote them all up to get them in the mail with enough time to make it to their destinations.  In that stack of cards were two “about to be very special” cards – one for each of our moms.  I wrote them up the way I do every year – thanking them for being super awesome moms.  But before sealing them up…

We staged this super cute picture with our puppy babies, and a little announcement…

… then printed up this super cute poem I totally stole from Pinterest…

I do not have a face to see, or put inside a frame.

I do not have soft cheeks to kiss, I don't yet have a name.

You can't yet hold my tiny hands, nor whisper in my ear.

It's still too soon to sing a song, or cuddle me so near.

But all will change come December, that's when they say I'm due.

I'm your new grandbaby, and I can't wait to meet you!

All I ask between now and then, is your patience while I grow.

I promise I'll be worth the wait, because of all the love we'll know.

So what I have to give you now, is a wish to you from me - 

I cannot wait to be a part of this wonderful family!

Love, Baby Vallejo

… and glued the poem to the back of the picture.  I taped this little announcement to the very back of their cards, poem up, with a “P.S. Turn the page for a surprise!” written at the bottom of the main part of the card.

I didn’t get to see my mom’s reaction, but I was sitting at my desk at work when I received an “OMG CALL ME RIGHT NOW!  I’M CRYING TEARS OF JOY!  THANK YOU JESUS!” email from my mom.  I called her right away, and she was crying, and we talked, and it was awesome. <3

I called my dad and told him our big news, and his reaction was equally awesome.  He said “What!?  How’d that happen?!”.  All I said was “Uhhhh…”, and then he followed up with a very choked up “Congratulations!”.  Ha!  My dad’s so crazy – asking the logistical questions.  We talked and he sent his love, support, and congrats again. <3

Henry’s parents were in town for Mother’s Day weekend – they drove in from El Paso to help Henry’s sister, Amanda, and her boyfriend, Jesse, move.  So they didn’t find out until Mother’s Day.  We went to Henry’s Aunt Irene and Uncle Jimmy’s house, special card in tow, and our iPad to record their reactions.  Everybody was sitting around the living room, so Henry propped the iPad up on the breakfast bar and I started handing out cards – his mom was the last one to get hers.  She started reading the “regular” part of the card and couldn’t hold back her tears – she was completely unaware of what was packed into that little card…

The first part of the video is her reading her Mother's Day card.

The baby surprise part starts around 2:18.

From where I was sitting, it looked like Aunt Irene was the first one to catch onto the poem.  Her arms flailing in the air and her hitting Uncle Jimmy’s leg were pretty funny to watch.  We all laughed and cried and hugged… and then went out for hamburgers!

Later that evening we received word that Jesse’s older brother and his family were in a terrible rollover accident on their way from San Antonio back to El Paso.  Unfortunately, the two adults – Billy and Erica – did not survive the accident.  It was in that instant that we were reminded of how precious and fragile life is.  We pray for the healing and comfort of Billy and Erica’s families and friends, especially their children; and for their eternal peace.  Henry and I didn’t know Billy, Erica, or any of their children, but Jesse is family to us, and so they were an extension of our family.  Even though the accident and funeral services have since passed, the struggle and hurt these families are experiencing is still very real.  If you’d like to help support the Granados family, they are accepting donations to help cover the medical and funeral expenses.  There is an account setup for donations at GECU in El Paso – Acct. #571078.