Thursday, April 14, 2011

"Mommy has a baby in her belly...."

When I was pregnant with Chloe I actually found out in the Target bathroom. Classy, I know ;) That was the first pregnancy test I had ever taken. I don't know what I was expecting, really. I do remember that moment like it was yesterday though. I got a positive immediately and did a little happy dance in the stall. I dashed to the back of the store to get some grandma/grandpa bibs, checked out, got in my car and called Justin. He was at work that day, so I asked if I could come have lunch with him. Over Arby's roast beef sandwiches I told him he was going to be a daddy. I will never EVER forget the look on his face. It went from "oh crap" to "awesome" in a matter of .2 seconds. :)

This time was much much different. I definitely knew what to expect this time - a negative test. But when I got that positive it was something totally different. A miracle. I took a moment to just "be" and stare at that positive test. I truly could not believe my eyes.

As I said before, I told my mom and sisters first, but then I told Chloe. At first I had thought I wouldn't tell her so early because "what if something happens"? But then I realized that "something can happen" any moment of your life and I'm the kind of person who likes to cherish every happy second for what it is. So, I told her she was going to be a big sister and *this time* I will never forget her face. Pure excitement. The thought of that moment makes me tear up every time.

I was thinking of a million ways to tell Justin. Put a bun in the oven. Have Chloe wear a big sister shirt. Tell him I couldn't enjoy a glass of wine with dinner. But finally I decided that the best way to tell him was to let Chloe do the honors. And she did.

Chloe and I had been talking about the baby all afternoon and she was so excited to tell her daddy. Justin came home from work and we were in my bathroom getting ready to go to dinner. As Justin was walking upstairs and before he got to our room I told Chloe, "okay! you can tell daddy our secret". He walked into the bathroom and she immediately declared, "Mommy has a baby in her belly and I'm gonna be a big sister!!"

Justin looked at me like, "what is she saying? is this right? huh?" I just smiled huge and nodded my head. He got a huge smile on his face as well and he immediately hugged me and rubbed my belly. It was such a sweet moment.

Fast forward to this week. Justin got home from work on Monday and said, "I got to hold Eli today and he smiled at me!" (Eli is our good friends Chad and Cassie's baby). Later when we were watching TV he told me "holding Eli today made me really ready to have a baby". Now, let me just say that Justin is not an emotional/touchy-feely kind of guy so for him to say that really meant a lot.

I am so excited to see Justin as a daddy of two little ones. He truly is the best daddy in the world. He loves Chloe with reckless abandon. I am so honored to share this life with him.

6 comments:

MissMolly said...

Awwww! Yah, that's so cute!

The Yates Family said...

Tear jerker! We are so happy for you guys :) CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Dan and Katie said...

What a sweet story Ashleigh! I'm so happy for you guys. Our God is so good!

Novogoratz said...

Awwww! You made me cry!!!! Such a sweet story!

I remember when I told Paul I was pregnant with Abby. I did the 30 minute drive from our house over to his work and took him out to lunch. I parked in the Mom to Be parking at his office and he didn't even notice! It took him a minute to find out why I was crying! lol We didn't talk much about it during lunch so that he could have time to adjust - but when he got home, he was super excited!

ERICA said...

Ash- I just cried reading this. The part where Justin came home and just how he asked you if it's real and Chloe telling him. Ah. I love it. I'm just sitting in our home feeling so content and happy with Ry and kittens, and I just literally cried HAPPY tears because I'm so unbelievably happy God gave you this baby girl. Ah. Loved this recap of how Justin came to know :)

ERICA said...

And the bun in the oven idea cracked me up. I feel like it was definitely not precious enough for this HUGE announcement of yours and I don't think it would be what I want to do when I tell Ry for our first baby (I actually already know what I'm doing for that one lol, remind me to tell you sometime) but I'm filing it away for like the fourth one or something ;)