It all started with what I’ve started calling, the “Change your life Chicken” recipe from Contessa that is a Valentine’s time tradition in our life and marriage. On Feb 18th, Drew and I were cooking together. We put together a pretty great meal for a pretty ordinary family Saturday night. With the table almost set and the the food finishing (roasted, mashed butternut squash, salad and the Parmesan encrusted chicken), Drew said “This is such a nice dinner. It feels like we should be celebrating something.” Eli and Andi were both underfoot in the kitchen and Eli piped up immediately saying, “Are we celebrating? What are we celebrating?!” Drew caught my eye and whispered, “What if we just told them?” I nodded. Eli’s keen eye caught the exchange and he persisted, “What? What are we celebrating? When will you tell us?” Drew lit the three candles we’ve had on the table since Vday (red, pink, and white) and Andi took her seat to speed up the process. Hot food set, anxious children wiggling in their chairs, and parents without a distinct plan-we set about sharing the surprise celebration news. Drew said, “Well…” and I jumped in..
L- “How many candles are lit here?”
E and A- “Three”
L- “Yes. And how many kids do we have in our family?”
E and A- “Four”
L-“Not people. Just kids”
E and A- “Two”
L-“Welllll (drawing it out for obvious dramatic effect), pretty soon we are going to have this many kids in our family- 3 kids like there are 3 candles!”
(their faces spread into slow smiles and their eyes literally lit up, their words were few, and after a few quick moments, both their eyes and heads dropped simultaneously to my stomach)
D-“Mommy is pregnant! Do you know what that means?”
A-“That you have to have a baby in your tummy Mommy!!!”
L-“Yes, and do you know what that means for you and Andi, Eli?”
E-“That we’re going to have a brother!”
A-“Or a sister!”
D-“Yes. We don’t get to choose but we will love the baby whether it is a girl or a boy. You will both get to be a big brother and a big sister”
A-“Mommy, are we going to keep it?”
L-“Yes Andi. Of course”
A-“I’m going to play with her all the time. We are getting to have a baby Eli!”
L and D-“It takes a long time to grow a baby in Mommy’s tummy. The baby will not come out until after Andi’s birthday, after Castaway, after Eli’s birthday, and even after you start kindergarten Eli”
E-“Oh wow. That’s a long time.”
D-“Are you guys excited?”
E and A-“Oh yea”
We went on to talk names- Cutie, Sarah, Boo-yah, and various of their friends’ names came quickly to mind. We kind of like Baby Boo-ya for the pregnancy name of this baby. Thanks for that Eli.
The looks on their faces- joy, complete surprise, shock, excitement and childlike wonder brought tears to my eyes immediately. It was precious- where was our video camera?!
Drew and I had known for about 3 weeks that we were expecting a third child. This time was so different from Eli and Andi who’s conceptions were absolute surprises. To have planned and tried for this baby was a new experience and our joy was great. We had meant to keep it quiet and not share with Eli and Andi until we were out of the miscarriage danger zone or until we were more ready to share with others. However, the mood and moment of that night in February was too good to pass up.
How sweet it was to share this precious news with the ones that will bear the journey and the life with this new life inside me. I was humbled to share with the ones who have first taught me to be a mom , the two who have let me make mistakes and learn from them so that I’ll be a mom who’s grown a little bit for this new little one.
Turns out “Change your life Chicken” was the perfect menu item for such a night. Elijah and Andi’s life will be changed by the news we shared with them at the table, in the candle light, that night. Our family will change as we grow and we cannot contain the expectation and excitement that we feel for this third gift.
