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Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Baby Squish : Going Public, Part 2

I was excited to share the news with my mother-in-law - she's quite excitable (in a good way) and I knew she'd be over the moon. Historically, we've had a ton of fun with announcements and Chris's side of the family (with Caleb, we had it written on a cake; with Carys, on wine bottle disguised as a Christmas present), so I wanted this one to be a fun too - but more importantly, I wanted to surprise her, since I know she's been watching for signs for the last year and was expecting it at any moment.

I ran through several ideas with my sister-in-law (who had found out accidentally when I published a blog post instead of saving it as a draft - ironically the EXACT same way my sister found out with Carys!) and decided to do it during a game night at my mother-in-law's house.

One of the games we occasionally play is Clue, and while brainstorming I thought about how fun it'd be to have the announcement  in the Clue envelope that contains the answers, and as soon as that thought crossed my mind I knew I had it. Since Margi was the only one who didn't know (since my SIL spilled the beans to her boyfriend), we could throw the game to ensure that she was the one to guess the "whodunit" first and open the solution envelope.

I designed a two-sided card to match the existing Clue cards that read "Baby 2 12.17.13," and cut it to size to match the actual cards.


For reference, here are the original cards (I couldn't get an exact match on the font or embelleshment, but I got as close as I could...and I'm embarrassed to say how long I spent looking for the closest font and swirl):



Once we arrived, I slipped it in the envelope with the other solution cards. We then played the game as normal (well, as normal as it gets for this family, since we've developed our own set of rules to speed up the game - for instance, we don't use dice).  I "accidentally" showed Margi the wrong card at one point to give her an extra edge, but I didn't have to: I was so nervous and excited during the game I could NOT concentrate, so I honestly did not have to throw the game. I had no idea what was going on.

When it came time for her to guess, she pulled out the envelope and read through the answers:

"Pistol."

"Mrs. Peacock."

"Baby 2. What? I wonder where that card came from." [sets aside]

"Ballroom. Yes! I win!" [celebrates]

She then started putting the cards away and pulled out the 'Baby 2' card again. "Did this come from another game? What is this?"

Us, acting clueless: "What does it say?"

Her: "Baby 2...and something...12.17.13? What is this from?" [all of the sudden she gets it and SCREAMS] "Oh my god oh my god oh my god YOU GUYS!" [more high-pitched screaming]  She actually had been holding Carys and completely terrified her to the point where she (Carys) started sobbing and ran to me, which was made worse by the fact that we all were laughing at her.

So mission accomplished - it was fun and she was surprised.  If we ever get pregnant again after this, announcement number four is going to have to involve a skywriter or some crazy shit to top these.

And no, I have NO pictures from this night. I totally failed.

2 comments:

  1. DUDE. That's like, the best announcement ever! You could not have caught her more by surprise!

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