Our secret is out!

Last night we had a surprise party. I made chocolate chip cookies. We had the kids come in (from some fun and frolicking outside) and get into their pjs. Speaking of pjs, if you have kids and don't have the book Pajama Time! by Sandra Boynton, you should get it before your next bedtime! Matt told them that they had a surprise for them.

Well, all it takes to get a 4 or 6 year old heart pitter-pattering is mention of a surprise. Rachel (#2) and Scott(#3) came scurrying in asking what I was making. Was that the surprise? Andrew(#4) was carried in and was his happy usual self. Dawn(#1) had already questioned her dad if it was a surprise like a toy surprise or a surprise like Mom was pregnant or something! Well, that did steal our thunder a bit.

After everyone was be-jamma-ed we sat down for scripture reading. Matt read a special scripture for the occasion. Do you know the one where Nephi is trying to figure out what the tree in his vision meant? The angel shows him a vision of the virgin Mary bringing the Christ child into the world as a innocent baby. And then he knows. The tree bearing the white fruit was the love of God. How wonderful and touching that symbol is. Having had 4 sweet children pass from heaven to earth through my body, I know the sweetness, even wholeness, that is birth, that is love. Matt loved these scriptures before I did, but they hold a place in both of our hearts now.

After finishing the scripture story, Dawn and Rachel were pretty sure what was going on. We announced that next year at Easter time we would be having a new baby join our family! The kids were all excited. Dawn seemed genuinely touched with tears welling up in her eyes. Rachel was excited too. Either Rachel or Scott piped up with, "remember that we got presents when Andrew was born!" Joy, a new baby and a present. How much better can it get!

After swearing our kids to secrecy, we kissed them all soundly and sent them to bed, after they were plastered with gooey chocolate chip cookies that is.

So now Rachel thinks I'm showing all ready. I sadly explained that I would not be showing for several months if all goes well. She replied that I better not eat any sweets for the rest of the week. My only solace came as she quipped as she skipped out the door that daddy better, too. It could be a contest. She has also been the one to continually pat my tummy today and smile at me. Dawn will smile at me knowingly or say she can't believe I'm pregnant. The boys don't seem too affected. And that is fine. I'm sure it will start affecting them sooner than they would like.

So now instead of a two person, very secure secret, we have a more jubilant and significantly less stable 6 person secret. Aren't families warm and comforting?