Last summer, I silently prayed “God, if it’s not your will now, I’m okay with that.  I desire whatever your will is for me today.”  This time, I did not let myself get my hopes up like I had done in previous months.  I braced myself for the negative result I knew all too well and made a decision that I would not to end up in bed with the covers over my head crying in just a few short minutes.  This time would be different because I had given it to God.  In fact, I felt peace like I had never quite felt it before.  I took a deep breath…and peed on a stick.

TWO pink lines?  Some of my initial thoughts were: “I am seeing things…  Count ’em – one.  two.  ONE.  TWO.  Can’t be right…  Must be right!  What?  Seriously?!!  Oh my gosh, there is a baby growing inside me.  How should I tell my husband?  …I know how! – make him a special, baby-themed dinner, like on Full House, like I always planned to do! Whoops, almost forgot – Thank you, Lord Jesus!  Sorry it took me so long to realize this was You moving in my life and not just some random coincidence!”

So I immediately ventured out into the yard where my hubby, Roy, was doing one of his favorite tasks – yard work.  I played it off like a normal day and mentioned that I was headed off to the store to pick up the things for dinner.  (We had previously planned to have tacos and guacamole, which I later learned that Roy was especially excited about.)  It seemed like he would be out there for a while, so I figured I had plenty of time to weave an intricate tapestry of surprise-dinner-goodness.  Of course I decided to change up the entire dinner menu as part of the surprise and I planned out the following menu: Baby Back Ribs, Baby Corn, and Baby Carrots.  I even decided to pick up some Baby’s Breath to garnish the table!  (For all of you non-Full House junkies, this is the way Aunt Becky shared her preggo news with Uncle Jesse.  I had always hoped that I would have enough composure and finesse to do the same if ever given the opportunity!)

So I set out for Kroger (for the corn, carrots, and flowers), then to Walgreens (to buy not one buy TWO more pregnancy tests – perhaps I thought they would be more effective if purchased at a pharmacy?? – can’t quite recall my logic for needing to get them there…), and lastly to Corky’s BBQ (to pick up some of the best ribs in town of course.  This is Memphis – we don’t play.  Actually Rendezvous is my personal favorite, but I knew driving downtown would be a bit extreme.)

Well, I wish I could tell you that my special dinner went off without a hitch, but my plan kinda back-fired…  I guess I was gone for a few too many hours, which felt like minutes to me because I was floating on air!  A concerned Roy called me on my way home from Corky’s and asked “Where have you been?  Are you okay?!”  I was like “[Insert a bunch of fluff]” and when I got home he was extremely annoyed that I had been gone for so long while he had been waiting at home hungry and, what’s even worse, that I had not even picked up the things for tacos and guac.  I tried to explain that it was a surprise dinner and to “just trust me” but he kept trying to figure out what on earth could be worth my deviating from the Mexican food plan he had been dreaming of as he did hours of strenuous yard work.  He started guessing foods and then he smelled the ribs….and was like “You drove all the way to Corky’s???”  ….And then there were some tears on my part, mostly due to my pregnant-emotional state and my realization that I could not successfully implement my Full House-inspired dinner…and there was a very confused Roy who wanted an explanation for my seemingly bizarre shenanigans.

So when I realized my surprise dinner was not going to come to fruition, I broke down and told him of the surprise dinner items and that I was PREGNANT!  He was like “You’re joking.  …Seriously?  That’s great!!!  …Ooooooh, I’m sorry about the dinner, honey.”  I smiled through my tears and we both knew right then that this would be a story we would always laugh about for years to come.

So what came of the surprise dinner items?  We ate the ribs with cold, crispy carrots for dinner that night, but I later took back the baby corn (because who wants to eat canned baby corn for no reason if it’s not in stir fry?) and the baby’s breath (because the smell was giving me a headache due to my new pregnant state!)

Morals of the story:

  • Do not mess with a man who is hungry for Mexican cuisine.
  • We were pregnant at last and that’s all that mattered!
  • Attempting to live out Full House episodes in real life is encouraged, even though it didn’t work out for us in this instance.
  • We’ve got a great “I’m pregnant” story to tell and laugh about forever.
  • God answers prayers – May all glory go to Him alone!