Since this whole blog thing is new to me, I'm not really sure how to begin. I guess that's the good thing about blogging is that it doesn't really matter. I'm hoping this blog will be able to keep our friends and family updated with the going-ons of our lives and for those who live farther away, get to keep up with our baby girl, who is due to arrive in September, as she grows. So, here we go!
Well just a brief synopsis of how we got to where we are now. I met Jason through church at gospel meetings and the Area Wide meeting every summer. We became friends and would see each other at meetings but for the first few years, that was all. When I began to attend Oklahoma State University, we started spending more time with each other because his sister Andrea was at OSU finishing up her degree and invited me home with her on long weekends when I wouldn't be able to make the 14 drive home. Over the next couple of years we became good friends and eventually started dating (after I turned him down once), and were engaged October 2003. We were married in June of 2004 and have had a lot of fun spending time with each other and our families, traveling some, and just enjoying each other. I finished my degree at OSU and then began the Physician Assistant program at OUHSC, completing it in December of 2007. I began to work for the orthopedic department at OUHSC where I spend half of my week in the clinic and the other half in surgery. I mainly work with one of our trauma surgeons who also specializes in amputations as well as our hand surgeon. I've really enjoyed my job and the people I work with over the last 2 1/2 years. Jason worked for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS - a branch of the USDA) as a soil technician, developing ponds and other land conservation practices for land owners. About 2 years ago, he decided to go into business for himself and become an independent rep for a promotional products business out of Lubbock. He has really enjoyed being his own boss and making his own schedule and has continued to increase his business and customers.
So now we're to the point of we both are working, out of school, and we start getting some outside influences for grandkids, niece/nephew, etc. It took us a while to decide if we wanted to take that leap into parenthood just yet but with Jason being almost 7 years older than me and I'm certainly not getting any younger, we decided to ditch the birth control and put our faith in God to see what he had planned for us. Since you never know how long it will take - and we've had a lot of friends and family who have dealt with infertility and miscarriages - if it took us a while to have a baby, we thought it would be better to start trying than delay another year. Thankfully, we were blessed to become pregnant after being off birth control for 4 months.
We found out we were expecting on Martin Luther King Jr. day (1/18/10). It was sort of anti-climactic finding out because I had been taking some medication and just took the test to determine if I needed a refill or not. So, I couldn't really surprise Jason by telling him in any special way because he knew I had to test. Since we had the day off we spent the day at the mall, went out to eat, and bought a baby name book. Our first doctors appointment was at the end of January and we got an ultrasound and heard the heartbeat for the first time. Our due date was established as September 10th.
Telling our family was sort of a challenge. With my parents being 14 hours away, we knew we wouldn't be able to tell them in person but they also are hard to catch together so we would just have to wing it when telling them when we knew they were together. We had planned to tell family and friends after Jason's cousin's wedding in February because most of his family would be together. The week before the wedding, we were talking with my parents and they were actually together. We called them back after we decided to tell them now and just have them keep quiet for a week. When I called back, my mom answered and I asked "Is Grandpa there?" "Who?" she replied and again I asked if Grandpa was there. She said, "well your father's here..." and my response was "well then Grandpa's there!" She was really excited and told my dad and we talked to them for a little longer - telling them they couldn't tell ANYONE for a week before we could tell Jason's parents and family. I was kind of worried because apparently our good friends Pam Prater and Teresa Nienhueser were also at the house and they found out too. SO, they also had specific instructions not to tell ANYONE either.
I'll give them props because they kept their mouth's closed for the week - Pam didn't even tell her husband - and we got to tell Jason's parents without them finding out. After Jason's cousin's wedding, we went to eat with his parents, grandparents, and sister and brother-in-law in the big town of Crosbyton, TX at the local Dairy Queen (the only restaurant open). We disguised our "gift" to Jason's parents as a forgotton Christmas gift. Inside was a picture frame that has written on it "Grandchildren" and in one slot was a picture of our nephew Connor and in the other slot was one of our ultrasounds. Brenda opened up and said "well that's cute" and started passing it around totally missing the point of the surprise. So now Grandma and Grandpa had it and they got the message and were excited and Andrea was on the other side of the table barely containing herself because she understood our surprise but Larry and Brenda were still clueless. So Jason took the frame and handed it back to his mom and told her to read it again. So she did and asked "isn't this Connor's ultrasound?" Andrea and I both said "Nooo!" Then the light came on and we finally got the response we were expecting when she opened the present. That evening we called our other family and friends and gave my parents the go-ahead to tell people there.
So, our journey has begun. Upcoming posts will include when we found out what we were having, other surprises up till now, getting the baby's room ready, and our baby showers. Hopefully I won't bore you too much with everything and you'll enjoy this journey as much as we have so far. So, until next time - thanks for reading!
