The Big Reveal: Hooker Side

Ok, first of all, let me just say that I am SO MAD at myself for waiting this long to document what happened when we first told our families that we were expecting, because now prego brain has taken over and wiped out all but the most highlighted memories.  :(  But here it goes, as best as I can remember...

The weekend before Christmas, we went to visit Lee's family and have our own early "Christmas" with them.  (It's an "off" year so we all go to the other side of our families for actual Christmas.  If you're married and living far away from relatives, I'm sure you're familiar with this set-up.)  We had a nice time by the tree giving and receiving presents.  There was a little hiccup in the Sibling Secret Santa plan:  Lee got 2 gifts and David (poor guy) got none.  Brian is sure he had Lee, even though both Stacy and David are sure that David had Lee.  So that left no one for David.  :(  It worked out, though, because Lee got new frisbee golf discs, a black tie, and The Avengers on BluRay.  He already had a black tie, and he had just gotten new discs from his parents earlier in the night, so he kept The Avengers and gave the other two gifts to David.

We saved our little gifts until the end of the night.  Remember these?

We had wrapped them in little matching boxes, one for Debbie and one for Dale.   Lee went to get them in our room. (We had planned an elaborate fake argument involving Lee suddenly "noticing" we had forgotten his parents' gifts and me telling him something like, "I told you to get them!  Why didn't you get them out of the suitcase when I said?" just in case people were suspicious about why we were saving gifts to the end.  It turned out it was unnecessary, as no one was really paying attention to Lee as he left the room anyway.)

He came back, made something up about forgetting them because they were so small, and handed one to each.  They started opening them.  It was in this moment that it dawned on me:  Hey, I should be taking pictures!  (I am stupid now, so it is not surprising that this fact escaped me until then.)  While I was looking for my phone on my right, Debbie had opened the gift to my left.  She looked so [insert joyous expression here] and she said, "[insert excited, high-pitched comment here]."

Yes, I missed her reaction.  :(  I think I caught Dale's response, but I have a hard time remembering specifics amongst the simultaneous laughter, smiles, hugs, kisses, and congratulations that ensued quickly after Debbie figured out our clues.  All I know is the new grandparents were happy, my sibs-in law were happy, and we were happy.  :)  Our secret was finally really out!  I would only have to wait 2 more days to tell my family and the rest of the world...

~Hooks