Okay, I just (like 5 minutes ago) found out that I'm pregnant with baby #6. We've been trying for a few months, so this is a very wonderful discovery! The funny thing is that an hour before I took the test I asked my husband to think about not trying for anymore and just being happy with 5. He said he would be happy either way and that it was totally up to me. Well, surprise!
So my question is this... How do I tell him? I'm looking for something really, really creative. This is our final child so I want every moment of this pregnancy to be over-the-top. With number 5 I told him at a Thanksgiving Prayer and Pancakes breakfast. They gave the opportunity for people to go up in front of the church and say what they were grateful for. I said, "I'm very grateful for my wonderful husband and FIVE children!". It was great, you could see people all over the church counting how many children I had and then watch their faces when they figured it out. My hubby asked me if I was talking about him as one of my children. That was hilarious! He was surprised and thrilled.
I want to top that this time, but I don't want to wait too long. I can't keep a secret longer than a day or two. :-)
Thank you so much for the witty ideas everyone. I wanted to make T shirts for everyone, but couldn't find the stuff at a reasonable price, so I bought a "family" of butterflies for the back of our van. It was like those stick figure families you see, but butterflies. It had a mom, dad & 6 children. Then I bought 8 pumpkins for our table centerpiece that looked like a family with Mom, Dad & 6 kids. My husband is usually very observant so I wanted to be subtle. He looked at both decorations, but didn't catch a clue. It was during later conversation when I said I bought a journal that he guessed it. Seems like the only reason I have for journaling is being pregnant. ;-)
We both had a fun time telling the other kids. We had "baby" back ribs for supper, with "baby" asperagus, and 8 "baby" cakes for dessert. I can't even count the number of times we said "baby during supper. It was so funny! Finally my oldest said, "Okay, we get it, you want another baby. We'll go to bed, have fun!" Then we busted up laughing so hard! Within a few seconds they got it. Priceless!!
What about sending a card with a tiny little diaper or onsie in it to his office, and saying "Happy Whatever day (day of the week) Daddy-06!"
Maybe you could make a dinner and set the table for 8. Then when he asks why there is an extra plate you tell him. :) I think that would be a fun way.
How about a picture with a half dozen eggs, 5 hatched out chicks and the 6th egg starting to crack (beak/legs sticking out from shell)? On a T shirt or poster?
Congrats on your babies.. i hope they are all now and will remain happy and healthy. I have 6 kids as well. My oldest is 22 and my youngest is 2. The way I told my husband was i had each of the children write one word on the paper to form a sentence.... then as we sat down to dinner each of them randomly raised a page till the sentence was completed my be. The sentence was ( I think)... Dad, another baby is cooking ..... on my paper I wrote "In My Belly" (Austin Powers reference).. he laughed and we all got to be part of it. We ended up having a boy which is his second son, and made him very happy.... Today they are inseperable...and its adorable to watch. :)
Enjoy the pregnancy!! I have been thinking about num 7... lol :)
YAY! I'm so excited for you! Now I'm having baby fever all over again haha! Alright so here's my idea.. you know those really cute & tiny plastic babies micheal's or the 99 cent stores have for baby showers? Get enough so you can hide them everywhere your man is at (like above the t.v., in his work bag, in the bathroom, or in his car). just anywhere out of reach so the little ones can't get them and choke. best of wishes for the many months to come! :D
I really like what "mama wolf" said, you should leave hints around the house to where he is defintely gona see them. Then if he still hasnt cought on to it yet(add amandas idea) set the table with an xtra setting or even something to do with the baby or a small plate......I think the shirts on the kids is cute too. You said you told him at a thanksgiving pray with your 5th, maybe get him a new bible and write him a note saying something about God blessing you both with 6 kids. of course say more then that like how much you love him and how God blessed you with him and so on.. you get my drift?(: i think that would be sweet and even a lil romanic...good luck and congrat!
Make him 6 layer cake or something and deliver it to his work. In his slice of cake, hide a little plastic baby or pacifier or something. When he takes a bite of it, and sees what it is, everyone yells "surprise!"
You could always put it in the paper, or gift wrap the positive test with an adorable I love daddy bib, or have him start rearranging the bedroom furniture to create a space for the crib and don't tell him until he asks what is going there...hehehe.
You could always ask him to change one of the kids (if you have one in diapers) and have it as a temp tattoo on their belly...LOL.
How about a card that say "See in the Spring!" or "See you in 2011" and sign it #6 or something like that. Obviously I am just guessing on your due date.
Get poster boards for each of your children to decorate and hold up. They can be covered in baby things with words revealing the "secret". Let each one of them present him with these boards and by the time you get to the last one, he should have it all figured out. CONGRATULATIONS & GOD BLESS YOU ALL.
I just want to say that your oldest child's response made me laugh so hard that MY family came in to ask what was so funny! Congrats to you and your family!
Since it is # 6...I wonder if you could find some of those cheesy pictures in magazines of men with their well defined tummy's ( A "six pack" )...and put a few of them onto paper...with statements like "Mr Atlas with his fabulous Six Pack"...or whatever...and then on the last page...put something like THIS is my kind of "six pack" and either draw a picture of your 5 children and add the baby....or take a picture of your 5 children...and put "and baby makes 6".
Silly I know..but it is the best I can come up with at 4:15 in th morning...lol
God bless you and congratulations on your "six pack"
This isn't too over the top - but I drew a picture with my first child and added and extra little body - then we brought it to my husband. It took him a while but it's something we put in child# 2's baby book.
Then when we would tell other people I would ask my son - Where's Mommy's big baby (and he would point to himself) then I would say Where's Mommy's little baby (and he would point to my belly... well, sometimes my breast :)
I don't really have a suggestion for you-I just like to tell my husband very calmy and quietly and wait for a reaction. I just wanted to say "Congratulations!" and wish you the best of luck! BIG FAMILIES ARE AWESOME and people don't give them enough credit! You go girl!
Many prayers and blessings for you!
M.
Maybe get a white t-shirt for your youngest child to wear and then write on it either "Big Brother" or "Big Sister" in pink and blue puffy fabric paint.
When I used to work co-worker had become pregnant too with her 6th, WOW!!! Anyway, she wore a shirt that said Mom6. The 6 was in much smaller print and on top so it looked like a mathematic equation, it took a while for us to figure it out, but it was hilarious and was fun way to announce it.
Love how you told your children. When I was pregnant with our 4th, the first three were 9-12 years old. We found out at Christmas time, so we wrapped a stuffed Mickey Mouse, and wrote it to the older children from MC. We had decided what the middle name would be if it was a boy or a girl. Then inside we said "Please Keep Me Safe until August 2002." THe kids couldn't figure out who MC was, and what the message was. We kept trying to give them hints. How far away was August? My middle child, who thinks outside the box then immediately got it. They were quite surprised and excited about it all.
Your post brought back fun memories.
It seems you want it to be public and you seem to be active in church so I would think that might be where you want to announce it. If your husband is a man that would do a testimonial or be able to get up in front and talk to the congregation that would be great. My idea is to just tell your minister and have him approach your husband to ask him to briefly speak in front of the congregation on the blessings of family and how being a father has changed him or lessons he has learned - that kind of thing. At our church we have a projector to put pictures/songs and things for everyone to see. If yours was the same at the end you could have pictures of the family and kids for him to sort of introduce to the church. If you don't have a projector he could just introduce the real children. Then the pastor could do the ending by showing a out of focus picture of your stomache and asking who that was then bring it into focus. Or if no picture telling him he forgot to introduce one "oops we have to wait a while to meet child number 6!!!". Congratulations!!!!
I've accepted the fact that I'm not creative so I don't have a suggestion :) But I wanted to say congrats on #6 and I loved your story about how you told him about #5 and your husband asking if you were counting him. Very funny!!
My friend had a shirt made with an arrow pointing to her stomach that said future and their last name.... maybe your's should say and baby makes 8
