True Friends Lie!

On Saturday I got together with these lovely girls who I have basically known since birth! Since we were wee little tots we all “camped” out for Krystal’s (far left with blue dress) birthday the week of Thanksgiving. When we were younger these “camp outs” would take place in her back yard and mostly ended with us inside asleep because we had all gotten scared (just like a bunch of girls). Our senior year of high school we made a pack (by spitting in the camp fire) that college and life would not stop us from continuing this tradition! And we have kept that promise (and by the way it has been 7 years which is very hard to believe…but considering all the physical changes we discussed on Saturday you would think we had been out of high school for 20 years!). Our Thanksgiving week get together turned into a Christmas get together and then last year we all decided that once a year was not enough so we now rotate houses and get together every 3 months. Which turned out perfect for me because I got the pleasure of announcing our baby news at our get together at the first of the year….more on that later…

Well true friends really do lie to you, but only for your own good. On Saturday they showered me with comments like, “you really do look good” and “you have not gained that much weight”…you know…all the comments a pregnant woman needs to hear when she is expanding by the second! And that is how I know they really are my true friends!

I have to mention that this picture is not complete! Allison was not able to come on Saturday because she had been diagnosed with Fifths Disease (she is a fellow educator and caught this from her students) which I am not exactly sure what that is, but she informed us that it is harmful to pregnant women so she stayed home. Which can I please say what a selfless act that is! Allison, Baby Reese thanks you for taking one for the team and not jeopardizing her health! I promise no big announcements were made during your absence!

Back in January I had known for a week that I was preggo, but I wasn’t ready to tell everyone until I had gotten used to the idea and the chance of having a miscarriage went down. So for the longest week of my life Adam and I kept the biggest news of our life a secret…and it just about killed me! Seriously, I almost went crazy. I decided that I couldn’t keep it a secret any longer and we told our parents one week after we found out. Conveniently, I was going to see these girls the same weekend. So I asked our parents not to tell until I could make the announcement to these ladies I had known since birth (After my mother made 3 or 4 phone calls to spread the word she said “Ok, I want tell anyone else!). We had all been at Allison’s house for a couple of hours when I decided it was the right moment. I tapped my fork on a plate and announced, “I hate to be the me monster, but we’re having a baby” and the noise that came next probably scared little Reese into a frozen stupor! For those of you who might not love Rick and Bubba like I do…a “me monster” is the term for someone who has to talk about their self all the time….and who wants to be that person?? As you can see in the picture LaRae (sitting on the floor with green striped shirt) already has Anna Kate and now Baby Reese can be her playmate!

From left to right: Krystal, me, Kelli, Ollie holding Anna Kate, Brandi, and LaRae in the floor.

From looking at the pictures Ollie wouldn't allow anyone else hold Anna Kate!

Bless her little heart she wanted to take a nap so bad, but you can image that is hard to do when six girls are all talking at one time.

Here is a previous picture with Allison (far left). I hope the Fifths Disease has subsided by July when we gather again!

By July I am going to really need to hear those lies!