What Having Twins Has Taught Me (Part Two)

If you didn't read the first part, you may well get very confused here at "Part Two". To avoid that, click HERE.

After tenderly waking John up from a dead sleep at exactly 12:00 midnight on his 50th birthday, I handed him the gift bag and said, "This is from me and someone else who wanted you to have it."

John rubbed his eyes, adjusted himself on the air mattress into present-opening position and started digging through the bag. First he pulled out the bib. He seemed confused, but didn't say a word, just looked at it and put it on the air mattress. I felt as if I was going to jump up out of the bed with excitment and told him that there was more. He continued to rummage through the bag until he honed in on the ziploc bag. He brought it out, stared at it and the positive or negative "key" I had attached, and....... began to cry. I knew they were tears of joy because he had always wanted a baby, but thought that he would never have one. He hugged me as tight as he could and buried his head in my neck for a long time. When he let me go, his eyes were red and he couldn't speak for a time. He finally did respond verbally and I don't remember exactly what he said, but his actions said it all. He was the happiest dad-to-be in all the world. The following are some pictures of the on-going result of the above happy occasion...

Now, if you'll remember from last Saturday, the reason I brought up this story was because figuring out a way to tell John I was pregnant with his second child would never top the way I told him the first time. I wanted it to be something special, but what? We went to my mom's house the evening I found out and I was just bursting to tell, but I hadn't come up with a clever way, so I would have to wait.

That night John needed to go to Sam's and he asked who would like to go with him. Four of the kids and I said we would like to go. I felt so happy, just beaming because of the knowledge of the new life inside me. It is always an amazing feeling to be the only one to know for a time. For me, it's like some kind of amazing bonding experience. Even so, I couldn't wait to tell him, but I still hadn't come up with a plan.

Now....there's something you have to know about John. He is THE NICEST guy in the world. He would do anything, and I mean ANYTHING for ANYONE. It is his life's goal to serve everyone in his path, especially his family members and he sets an amazing example for the kids in this area. Now....not to disparage him in any way by adding this next part, but it is important to the story, so it must be written. John's not a big complimentor. It's just not his "love language". His language is to serve and he's nearly perfect at it and to tell you the truth, I would rather have someone who gives than someone who says. So when John said the following, it caught me off guard. Three of the kids were in the back seat of his crewcab and John, the 3-year-old and I were in the front, me by the door. As we were stopped at a red light, John suddenly looked over at me and asked, "Why are you so beautiful?" Without a thought I answered with a huge smile on my face...."Because I'm pregnant."

"WHAT?!?" he shouted as the light changed to green. I just kept smiling and nodding and he kept saying, "WHAT?!?" He had a huge smile from ear to ear and tried to lean over Claire to kiss me while he was trying to steer the truck into the Sam's parking lot. He parked, got out and ran to my side of the car to give me a huge hug, unclipped his cell phone from his belt and called his dad to tell him the news. It was awesome!

The next two months were a challenge for our family. We had decided that we needed to move to Mexico to raise our family and our goal was to get packed up, out of Texas and into Mexico before school started for the kids. However, aside from the best-laid plans to move, the morning sickness and the fatigue came fast and hard. It always did, but this time it seemed especially difficult. I chalked it up to being in my late thirties and thought that I was just getting too old to deal with this the way I had when I was younger. I remember packing up box after box after box and hauling them to the front room where they would eventually be put into the moving truck. At one point I was so fatigued that I picked up a box, starting going into the living room with it, saw my bed, and sat down on it with the box on my lap. I thought I would just sit for a minute or two, but I sat for at least fifteen minutes just like that...with the box on my lap the entire time. I was just to tired to even move the box onto the floor.

We finally got moved into a small, but lovely, temporary home in Mexico five days before school was to start. Through the unpacking, I continued to suffer intense morning sickness and extreme fatigue. I did my best to care for Johnny, then only fifteen months old, but I was having a difficult time of it. John mentioned that I seemed much more fatigued this time than when I was pregnant with Johnny and that perhaps I could be having twins. This was my response: "John, I am not having twins. Every single pregnancy I think I'm going to have twins and then I just end up disappointing myself. There's only one baby in there and I'm just too darn old to be dealing with all of this." He knew better than to argue. Did I mention he's about the smartest man on the planet? He is.

Okay, again with the aching wrists and for some reason I feel a little nauseated right now, so I am going to cut off right here and meet you back for the continuation next Saturday. I want you to know that I was surprised and flattered by the encouragement I received to continue this story. You guys are the best! And in case you're wondering, I'm pretty sure I'm not pregnant, and yes, I would be shocked and a little concerned if I happened to be so. Just so you know.

See you next time and don't forget about Homemaker Mondays! I'll have Mr. Linky up at 6:00 for those of you who are competition freaks like me and like to be first at everything. I'll be in bed asleep, but I can't wait to wake up and read all of your know-how! See you then!

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