And the story goes a little something like this…

With every pregnancy there is a story of how it all began. Troy and I have felt for a long time that 2 kids was probably not what we saw as our family. So even before Cohen was born we figured we’d likely have a third child. However neither of us really thought we’d be ready so soon this time around. Sevea and Cohen are just under 3 years apart. We really liked the age difference. So it surprised us both when Cohen was only a few months that we felt ready for a third child. Now we didn’t act on those feelings since we had a trip planned to Jamaica with our friends that we did not want to miss…or deal with me being pregnant on the trip either. We waited just before the trip and enjoyed our time in Jamaica together. After coming home I eventually pulled out the tests and was excited to see a faint line. The next day a little darker of a line. A couple days later I knew for sure when I saw that clear sign of “Pregnant” on the screen.

This sign made it official that I should share in the news with Troy. As I’ve mentioned Troy is really into his hobby of brewing beer. He also really likes his hobby of drinking craft beer. Many liquor stores around here offer the option of a pick 6 deal on craft beer where you can select any six beers to make your pack. I snuck away saying I needed to go get something from the grocery store. Really just my excuse to get to the liquor store. I came home with something from the grocery store (maybe milk and chocolate, haha) and then later told him I decided to pick him up a 6 pack. Since every beer is different he looked at each bottle. He finally looked at the best bottle of the group (which happened to be a favorite of his when he visited my brother Andy in Vermont, Magic Hat’s #9). I knew he would enjoy this one and it was the one he ended up deciding to drink. Finally he flipped the bottle to the side that shared the news.

I think this beer might have tasted extra special that night.

I really love telling our friends and family in special ways but this now being my 4th time trying to come up with creative ideas made it difficult at times. It really helped when an idea just fell in my lap. Take for instance telling Carissa. When we were in Jamaica the final movie in the Twilight series came out in the theatres. Carissa and I had planned to go when we got back sometime so I used this opportunity to tell her the news. She sort of had an idea since I passed up on a beer and then got caffeine free pop at the theatre. But after making her sit through the entire movie and not saying anything she thought maybe she was wrong. But just as we were walking out I gave her the ticket for the movie. Or maybe not for the movie itself but something surely to remember.

As for telling everyone else the news, I dropped the ball and did not take pictures of each announcement. We told our families both at Christmas time. Troy’s parents give us an ornament every year. So to tell them the news we gave them a special ornament. I LOVED it and almost kept it for myself. It was an ornament that you can customize. So there were 4 animals (I can’t remember for sure but maybe monkey’s or frogs) with all of our names above them but on the belly of my animal was written “Baby”. Troy’s mom didn’t take long before giving us the eye of “really…is this what I think it means”.

For my family I figured giving each of them a gift would just signal I’m pregnant. So instead we decided to make Makenzie the victim. All the kids are put into a gift exchange and this year one of mine had her. It ended up being perfect because she’s older and would know something didn’t make sense when she opened the gift. She opened the gift last and much to her surprise and everyone else’s the gift just didn’t seem meant for her.

We told our group of friends by giving them a gift I had been meaning to give for a while. Our dog Lily is known for being a food hound. It doesn’t matter what it is, she’ll try to eat it. This means nothing is safe. Not even the purses of my friend’s. She has on more than one occasion gotten into a purse and eaten some gum, snacks, or chap stick. I gave the girls a purse replacement stash and a card. The card front was a picture of Lily looking a little sad and the inside talked about how she was sorry for eating their things. She wanted to be a better dog because she worried that we’d give her away with another baby coming. Two birds with one stone on this one.
And one last idea if anyone is still reading :) I made a smore’s dessert for a gathering I had with some of my high school girl friends. It was this one and turned out great! I attached a little note to the plate and let the girls find out the news when they reached for a sweet treat. The note read something like: S’More fun to be had with the Appeldorn’s having baby #3 in July. I loved this one because I got to share in the fun by eating the treats!!
Can’t forget the announcement we sent to all our friends and family for Valentine’s. I think it is the best Valentine I’ve ever sent out :)

The story is not quite over but now the secret is out. More of the story to come!