How did you tell your family?

We decided to tell our family pretty early at just 4 weeks since we happened to be seeing them in person that weekend. We drove in to Chicago the evening of February 18^th and, as they so often do, his parents had a deep dish pizza waiting for us. For this to make sense I need to give a little background. In the 5 ½ years Robbie and I have been together, I have heard many, many times that Robbie’s mom wanted a nice, matching bedroom set early on in their marriage but they couldn’t afford it because they had kids. Over the years this has (I am told) been brought up time and again to Robbie and his siblings. Robbie’s dad has told her to go buy one if she wants it but still, to this day, no bedroom set. Robbie’s theory is that if the bedroom set was purchased, his mom would have nothing else to hold over their head...and it has become an inside family joke. We would have nice things but instead we had kids, etc. etc.

So on the evening of February 18^th, we sit down at the counter to eat some pizza and catch up. We had just found out on Monday that Robbie had received his residency in Westlake, OH, not St. Joseph, MI. We chatted for a few minutes about the drive and then Robbie’s dad asks, “So how do you feel about going to Cleveland?” Robbie looks at me and says, “Well, there’s good news and there’s bad news. The good news is I got a residency. The bad news is it looks like we won’t be getting a bedroom set.” Without a moment’s hesitation Rob’s mom jumps up and down, screaming. Rob’s dad looks surprised and Ross looks completely lost. After a minute it clicks with Rob’s dad as well and he just says, “No way!”. His parents are dancing around the kitchen and Ross is completely bewildered. “What’s going on?” he asks. Finally someone explains we are having a baby and finally the whole family is in on the secret. His family could not have been more excited and can’t wait for their second grandbaby!

On Sunday, February 20^th on our way back to Iowa we stopped at my parents for dinner. It was their anniversary that week so we brought a card for them. When my mom opened it, it read: Happy Anniversary! Love, Jill, Robbie, and baby Tanzer (coming October 2011). My mom looked stunned. She was didn’t say a word and handed the card to my dad. My dad read the card, looked up at us and said, “Is this a joke?” “No dad, it’s not. We’re having a baby.” I said. My parents gave us hesitant hugs. The shock was just a bit much for them at the moment. The next day mom called me chatting up a storm telling me every pregnancy story she had thought of over the last 24 hours. Since then my parents have gotten more excited each day to meet their first grandbaby. They are anxiously planning a trip out to meet baby Annabelle as soon as she gets here!