How will you tell?

champhe

I'm looking for some cute ideas for how to tell my dad we're pregnant, when the time comes. My stepmom is battling pancreatic cancer and they have had a terrible year. I'm hoping this grandchild can bring them a little joy and I really want to tell them in a special way. 

erinh2005

That's so sweet of you to be so thoughtful! With my first I just texted US photo lol. But we did a cute gender reveal with a cake later on. This time I'm doing the "big sister" shirt with LO. As long as they get the message I think they'll be thrilled! A little worried about my MILs response this time around as she cried out of sadness when we announced our first... But at least I know what to expect this time around lol

tumbleweed-1

@erinh2005, I can't believe your MIL reacted that way. I hope you get happy responses from your family this time. 
@champhe, If you can see/tell them in person, that would be memorable. I've seen lots of examples of photo frames or onesies with the EDD or that say something cute about baby meeting grandparents. We've only told my MIL/step-FIL so far.That was just yesterday over lunch. Even though we didn't have a special "grandparent" gift or any clever way to announce it they were still very excited. Good luck! 

BettyCotton

We have been teaching our daughter where 'baby' is. She points at my belly and says 'baby' when asked! When friends and family come round closer to 12 weeks we will get her to announce it xx

Jbananas4

All of my siblings/immediate family happened to be in town when I was about 13 weeks with my son so when we went to dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant (which I knew we would), I had the staff switch out the fortune cookies with ones I'd replaced that said we were having a baby and listed the lucky numbers as the due date.

Also, I gifted my grandmother with a hollowed out egg because she'd been asking if I was pregnant for the past year (and patting my belly, which drove me CRAZY!!):

luckywife10

When I was little, my dad loved to read to my siblings and me. So when H and I are ready to tell my dad, I am going to wrap up a couple grandpa books and give them to him. The one is called "41 Uses for a Grandpa" and the other is "I love you Grandpa." There are also a couple Little Critter books by Mercer Mayer about grandparents we might give him as well. Even though we've already told my mom, we'll give her the grandma versions of the books we're giving my dad so they both have something to open at the same time.

*Edited for autocorrect 

ShadeofGreen816

We told our parents this weekend. I bought frames that said "The best parents get promoted to Grandparents" and I put a picture of my positive HPT with a little note that said "Baby [Lastname] due Memorial Day 2017!" They were floored and it was so fun/funny!

Shopaholic

@champhe sorry to hear about your stepmom. Pinterest has awesome ideas. Sorry I am not very creative.

@ShadeofGreen816 cute idea

@erinh2005 lol....just curious if you knew why your MIL cried out of sadness? Is she one of those that doesn't want to be a grandma?

mchapp

We are telling my husband's parents by giving them a book that I made using the project life app. It is their 40th wedding anniversary, so we had all of my husband siblings (and their spouses and kids) send us a picture of each individual person and a reason why they love grandma and grandpa. Since my husband is second youngest, our picture will be in the back of the book and next to ours will be a page from our soon to be little! I think they will love it! 

SparkySunDevil

My first, I found out 3 days before Christmas. So we bought some baby booties and wrapped them up. They started screaming and crying. They were so excited. With my second, we put the oldest in a "best big sister" shirt and just waited for them to catch on. With this one, I just called my dad. We had gone over, and they weren't home. So when he called back, I told him why we'd been over. They're overjoyed

ladyrouge-2

I have something special set up for both my mom and my older sister seperately,  but for my friends and my awesome coworkers here in town I'm going to give them each a paper crafted box (I love paper crafting and it's not unusual for me to show them my projects) and inside will be either a home made sugar cookie or a brownie. On the top of the box (it's one piece so the lid flips open)  there will be a poem about baby and my due date. I'm super excited about it,  I finished the template for the box yesterday but I won't even be working on the official ones for a couple weeks yet,  hahha. 
I hope everyone gets great responses to their announcements!  

erinh2005

@Shopaholic @tumbleweed Yeah I couldn't believe it! MH called MIL to tell her the news and she was like talking through tears and said "ok bud I'll talk to you later". Then when he got off the phone he told me and apparently she wasn't ready to be a grandma even though we were married, trying, and had been together for 9+ years! 

Amybee5

@erinh2005
not the reaction you would hope for! I'd say for some moms it's a reality that their kids are grown up?

I told my MIL that I'd bring the wine to Thanksgiving dinner next weekend. I'm making wine labels that say "Only the best parents get promoted to Nan & Pop" and I'll be buying myself the MADD non-alcoholic wine. 

MamaMiller

@erinh2005 my mom had the same reaction with my first. She now denies it.....she warmed up really quick to having a grandbaby.

CANTW82BMOM

You ladies are super creative. I was too excited to wait and have already told my closest friends and sisters. I just blurted it out in conversations. For the rest of my friends I just plan to send them a picture of DS reading his new book "God gave us two". I probably won't wait until the end of my first trimester. I'll tell people next week after my dating US. 

SKZW

Etsy has the egg announcements (as in a previous post), paper/invitation style items, and lots of cute t-shirts (for men, women, and kids), so I bet you can find a lot of cute ideas on that site! Personalization is the key to a nice announcement, something that represents you.

A cursory glance at Pinterest shows a ton of cute photo announcement ideas to check out: one with a pup, laying with his feet out, close-up on the feet, next to a pair of baby booties (cute!). Some Halloween-themed ideas (like a gender reveal with a little baby blue gourd!) ... and probably my favorite nerdiest one (from Harry Potter), a pic of the pee stick with "I solemnly swear we were up to no good," LOL! I can spend way too much time there, so I'll leave it up to the rest of you!

tumbleweed-1

@SKZW I've already begun brainstorming my baby's HP theme first birthday. I think I'll have all of my kids' first birthdays be that (when they are too young to tell me HP isn't cool anymore). I just worry that the pop culture I love and grew up with will become dated and when I talk about it my children will look at me the way I look at my mom when she talks about Zanadu 

SKZW

@tumbleweed LOL @ the looks you'll get!
I was just daydreaming about giving the books to the young'uns. Do I let them discover them on the bookshelves on their own? Do I gift the first one, nice and special? Do I give the whole set and let them binge-read-through them all at once, or should they be spaced out? And if so, by a few months, or by a year each? Shouldn't they get to know and love them one at a time to be able to pick a favorite? And grow up alongside all the characters? And when do we introduce the movies? It has to be books first, obviously. OMG Is it possible I'm totally overthinking this!?

Squirtgun

@tumbleweed @SKZW I may have already read all of the Harry Potter books to my 2.5 yr old as I used to read her chapter books to get her to sleep. (Currently reading Lord of the Rings to 1yr old...)
And, I listen to Harry Potter books on tape all the time while cooking dinner. She may already be able to request it. "Dumbledore please?"  (yes, I know she probably won't remember them, but it will be somewhere in her vague pleasant memories of babyhood, and will make her like them when she's old enough to actually read them and remember them. Right? )  

SKZW

*TANGENT*
I always forget about books on tape. Do you own the HP books or borrow them? Do you use actual CDs and a stereo? Do you stream through a device? I'm curious as to what setup works best for you.

Squirtgun

SKZW said:

*TANGENT*
I always forget about books on tape. Do you own the HP books or borrow them? Do you use actual CDs and a stereo? Do you stream through a device? I'm curious as to what setup works best for you.

I actually own them, some on CD, some actually on tape! I've bought them slowly through the years at used books stores.  I will say, though, that we can borrow audiobooks through the library for free through a website called overdrive.com.  I'm not sure of how their prices are outside of our library, but they have a great selection! (Including Harry Potter, but because it's through the library only one or two people can borrow a book at a time, and they're usually checked out.) 

Shopaholic

You ladies have inspired me. Going to take a picture of my 4 children with 5 pumpkins with a cute( *gag* )saying on the bottom. 

Pretty sure I will end up with 100 pictures for 1 okay shot. Oh well I love pictures.

ShadeofGreen816

I have a problem and it's buying things to tell people. My best friend is also my H's cousin by marriage (that's how MH and I met) and we are both only children so we have always had a running joke going that we are practically sisters and our kiddos will be each other's "cousins." She had a LO in August so I bought her a onesie that says "Cousins are the best friends" and I'm going to give it to her next week and I'm hoping she'll be a little confused and I'll have to tell her I'm KU! 

SKZW

@ShadeofGreen816 I love this idea because it reflects your personal connection with her.
@Shopaholic Cute idea! A new little pumpkin to welcome. 

blissfulberry

You all are way more creative than me! We're telling my in-laws this weekend. We don't really plan anything extravagant or cutesy on a normal basis, so I think they'd suspect something immediately. However, they know we've been trying to conceive for awhile now and that DH and I had both undergone some degree of testing as recently as a couple of months ago. My husband wants to tell MIL that we finally received some definite results back and then give her the ultrasound.

Then we're going up to OH to see my family next weekend. It will be right after my dad and stepmom's anniversary (which isn't a particularly big deal to either of them). We're hoping to have "congrats on the grandbaby" or something similar written on a cake to celebrate their anniversary. That's the only way I could think to get my grandparents and siblings over at the same time. Plus, I think my dad will be over the moon since this will be his first grandchild.

CamiSelene

No plans yet on how to tell the world but I do for my dad and grandma. My mom knows but my dad and grandma don't. Next weekend is my mom's birthday and I am going to her house for that weekend. My grandma is also flying from the other side of the country for my mom's birthday. I plan on giving my mom a birthday card in front of both of them that says "Happy birthday, Grandma" 

tumbleweed-1

I told my childhood best friend this week (who's an only child) over the phone. She lives 4 hours away and we won't be in the same town anytime soon to do it in person. 
She knows we are moving when our lease is up. I mentioned how apartment hunting was going and that we needed to look at 2 bedroom ones now. She said, "oh, for more space?" And I replied, "no. Because you are going to be an aunt". It took her a bit to get it! It's nice having someone else know. 

MamaMiller

DD #2 LOVES baby dolls. I saw the cutest picture on Pinterest of the full Christmas set-up with a kiddo holding a sign saying "dear Santa, for Christmas I want a REAL baby". I will have DD#2 hold this with DD#1 holding one with the due date. This will be our Christmas card. A little late since we will be in second tri

CherylE418

Oh man there are so many cute ideas you have all brought up! And I have to say, I am absolutely loving all the HP talk on the board. I'm pretty sure a HP nursery is in my baby's future

So we told the in-laws last weekend. It was a week after FIL's birthday so we said we had one more present for him, but it was kind of for both of them. We had put a print of the first US in a cute frame that said "BABY" on the side, and I used some scrapbook stickers to say "due May 1" on the bottom. They flipped out and the reaction was priceless! Then we face timed with my BIL who is stationed across the country for the coast guard and getting married in June. Hubby said "hey I have a question about the wedding. Can we have a plus one?" It took him a second to get it, but that reaction was perfect too!

Will be going to visit my mom and grandma in a couple weeks, and not sure exactly how I will tell them. We are going for an "early birthday" visit for me, or so they think lol. 

Then for a Facebook announcement...man I have too many ideas. Saw a super cute HP announcement with the dad to be pointing a wand at mom to be's tummy that was captioned "Accio Baby!" Also thinking of doing something rainbow themed since this is our rainbow baby, and I wrote a blog that I shared about the miscarriage. Orrrr I love to bake, so maybe something about put a bun in the oven. Geez i don't know! 

erinh2005

Yay! Just booked a last minute trip home for DD and I so now I get to tell my sister and parents in person!! I got the matching shirts on etsy that say "I have big news" and "I'm gonna be a big sister". So we're just gonna wear them on the plane to get everyone's reaction when we arrive. Even better than the FaceTime reveal I had originally planned 

geoffandjen728

SKZW said:

*TANGENT*
I always forget about books on tape. Do you own the HP books or borrow them? Do you use actual CDs and a stereo? Do you stream through a device? I'm curious as to what setup works best for you.

I get them from my library online via the app they use overdrive. Best. Thing. Ever. With two little ones keeping me busy! 
Eta: just saw @Squirtgun answered with similar info. Yay libraries!