Parent's Reactions

Against our original intent, we decided to tell our entire immediate family and a couple of friends as soon as we got the test results. The variety of reactions had to be what was most surprising to us. Andy's Dad and Step-mom were elated of course and so happy for us. But my MIL and SFIL's reactions were kind of hilarious. I let Andy call them because I knew he would want to spread the news himself. Mostly I knew this because I only told him to call his dad and by the time I got to Salt Lake (I was on my way to SEA/TAC) he had told almost all of our immediate family. Hahaha. (and he likes to play it off like he isn't that excited yet). His mom said 'But I am too young to be a grandmother....I am going to have to start doing those exercise tapes'. His step-dad launched into an hour conversation that resembled some sort of safety checklist. Apparently my car is not safe enough for a baby, despite the fact that it is a 2005 and in perfectly good condition (shhhh don't tell him I am thinking of schlepping my kid to day care via public transit, he might faint). And he is worried about our dogs eating the baby if we have a home birth....although it is a little known fact that Pit Bulls are identical to sharks as soon as there is blood in the water they go nuts, I highly doubt I am going to be in the mood to snuggle my two 80lb baby boys and let my warrior princess lick the sweat off of me while I am trying to push a kid out my who-ha. They will most likely be out in the backyard or sectioned off downstairs. He is always hilarious.
I was pretty nervous to tell my dad. I had this strange guilty feeling. Like I was 14-years-old and about to go tell him I have to drop out of school because I got knocked up. I definitely wanted to tell him in person and because he is so easy to get a hold of, this meant he was about the last person to find out in our family. I asked him to meet Butter, Andy and I for dinner. BTW, butter figured it out on his own due to the nature of my e-mail apparently. I just sent him a message that Dad was coming up for dinner and could he come too. He responded 'yeah, what's going on? are your pregnant or annoucing something of similar magnitude?'. I know that I could have played it off and said something 'what you're crazy!'. But like I said, my brain hasn't been working, so instead I cussed him out for guessing.
Now the thing about my dad is he doesn't come off as too sentimental. Friends growing up would always ask 'why is your dad always so mad?'. He isn't always mad, he just has a constant stern look on his face. I think it is a result of being in deep thought most of the time. He can be a really goofy guy. The man loves Penn and Teller's Bullshit, goes to all the new Pixar movies, and recently spent 30 minutes telling me about all the rides at Lakeside amusement park. So he is definitely somewhat of a softy, just looks like he has a hard shell. I was trying to decide if I just wanted to say 'hey, I'm pregnant' or if I wanted to do something special. This is his first grandkid and although I am not certain, I think he has kind of been looking forward to having grandkids someday. I remember a conversation with my mom and she said 'dad asked me the other day 'do you think Natalie and Andy will have kids someday?', I think he is looking forward to that'. Obviously that stuck in my head. My friend Emily gave me this really cute suggestion. She told me to go get those cabinet safety latches and wrap them. Then give them to him and say 'you're going to need to install these' and see if he gets it. I thought that was adorable, but of course I ran out of time. The day before meeting Dad I had decided to come home, mow the lawn, do the dishes, clean the kitchen, and start the laundry. Then I had to run to the grocery store to get my bus pass for July and by the time I got out of the ridiculous line it was almost 9pm. I decided to go home and just think of something else. I stood in my sewing room for a few minutes, Andy came by and said 'what are you doing?'. 'I am thinking'. Then he gave me the 'you're crazy' look and walked away. I decided to look for a picture of us when we were little. I found the perfect one. It was dad on all fours and Butter and I on his back riding him like a horse. I copied it and pulled out some small cards. On the first I listed: "Hiking, Camping, Biking, Playing Horsie,....." you get the idea. Then I said "these are just a few things that made you a great dad. But....". On the next card I wrote "you're going to have to upgrade". On the next: "because you're not just going to be a great dad any more". On the last: "you're going to be a grand-dad".
Like I said I was nervous as hell to tell him. So when he arrived at our rendezvous point I nervously gave him a side hug and awkwardly shoved the card at him. I knew if I sat there and tried to talk about something else first I would fail. After reading through the cards he looked up and said 'awww, really?'. Then he got TEARY. Can you believe it? I made my dad cry. It was so cute. But I was kind of shocked and quickly blurted out 'well it will still be a while'. It was like I was trying to reassure him or something. So strange. Like I said random shit just falls out of my face. Then he said 'when?'. "Not until March'. He said he was excited and then gave me a big hug, and continued to hug me periodically throughout the evening. It was pretty cute. After we headed home I turned to Andy and said 'So I made him cry, do you think he was happy or do you think his tears were saying 'oh shit her life is over now?''. Hahahaha.