BEST Christmas Present EVER! Part 6....

The very best Christmas gift I ever received came a week before Christmas 2003.

I found out I was pregnant with Darling.

Handsome and I decided in Nov. of 2003 that we had been together for a little over 7 years, been married for a little over 1 year....it was finally time to try to have a baby.

We both figured I'd get pregnant sometime after the first of the year, so we should start practing (wink) at "optimal days" but, nope, we got pregnant right away.

Not that I could get the results immediately (took me about 4 pregnancy tests to get a positive/conclusive reading over the course of 3 excruciating days).

I'll never forget getting the positive reading (FINALLY) and after sitting there for a minute, with my whole body shaking, went in to wake up Handsome and tell him the good news.

I just told him, "Good morning, Daddy" and I'll never forget the way his face just lit up.

We panicked of course because it happened WAY sooner than we thought it would, and "Ohmigod! We're going to be parents!!" but we both had wanted to be parents for SO long, that it was truly the greatest Christmas present EVER!

Morning sickness is no fun during the holidays and it was so hard to keep it from everyone (especially his brother that lived with us), but we told everyone Christmas morning after all the gifts were opened.

I remember sitting in church Christmas Eve and how the whole story of the Nativity hit me in a completely different way than it ever had.

I remember thinking, "Merry Christmas, baby" and thanking God for giving us such a wonderful Christmas gift....