*Announcing Our Secret*

On Tues, Sept 1, Nick & I went to our first ultra-sound. I scheduled it to be right after work for me, so Nick had to have someone cover a class or two for him at the gym he coaches at. His office manager is also our neighbor & very good friend, so Lexa was curious as to why Nick had to leave to go to the doctor. Needless to say, Nick was too excited when he returned to work to not share our secret with his co-workers....he was on "cloud 9" after finding out it was twins! Within 24 hours of finding out we were expecting twins, we were traveling to Indiana for my Uncle Bill's wake. We went to my parent's house first to rest & get cleaned-up for his viewing. Nick & I had been unsure if we were going to announce our news, but once we found out it was twins, we knew we wanted to, it was just a matter of when. It was really hard being at my Mom & Dad's house & seeing them & my younger sister, Trista, and yet not being able to tell them about the twins. On our way to the funeral home, we decided we would announce our big news that night since most of our family would be present. Towards the ending of the night, I asked my family members to go outside to take a family photo. My family is big in taking pictures, but for some reason, they were all being quite difficult. We took some family photos at Gramps' funeral, so I guess that didn't see the need for more. After we finally got most of them outside we gathered together for a big group shot. Tera & Trista kept asking "why is Nick taking the picture & not in it?" My response was, "don't worry about it, lets just take the picture & get it over with." For the first picture, Nick said "everyone smile- Tracee's pregnant!" My brother's response was "ha, that is funny." Finally, my family believed him & were very happy to hear our news. We then took a 2nd picture and Nick said "everyone smile- because it is TWINS!" This time, everyone was shocked into silence except my sister, Tera, who started jumping up & down screaming. We got to spend the rest of the evening & next day visiting with family about our newly announced secret! Since we had only known it was twins for 24 hours, Nick & I were also still in shock! When we traveled down to Evansville to meet Nick's family for dinner, we were also happy to announce our news to them. Nick asked his parents if they would be happy about getting new grandchildren. It was so sweet when his Mom, Kitty, said "oh is Marley having puppies?" Ha ha! I think it was my BIL, Ryan, that finally caught onto what Nick was asking and said, "Oh she's pregnant!" Nick's sister, Les (Ryan's wife) and Nick's sister, Shannon, were super happy to hear our news as they have been waiting patiently for us to have kids. Although it has been a rough year losing my Gramps & Uncle Bill, we are very happy to bring into our family 2 new members. The twins make it "Papaw's 6 pack" for both of our dads.

"Smile Tracee's pregnant!" (Notice everyone smiles, but no one believes Nick.)

Now they realize we're telling the truth & we tell them the due date is March 26

Nick announces "and it is TWINS!" (only Tera & my Dad realize what he just said)

Nick- proud dad-to-be X's 2

Braylee saying "Aunt Twacee is having 2 babies!"

**You may click on the pictures to make them larger & easier to view**

Secrets are hard to keep!

One good thing about living out of state from all of our family is that we were able to keep our pregnancy a secret for several weeks. Not that it was easy, but since we didn't see them on a daily basis, it was definitely easier. Of course Nick had to spill the beans to Corby & Katie (good friends of ours from college that also live in SC) just a week after we found out that we were expecting. Corby thought Nick was joking & wouldn't believe it until he asked me. Here are a few pics:

6 weeks and 8 weeks Belly shots

Cake we took to Pigeon Forge & announce our "Special Deliveries" to Broc & Sara:

Voice of U/S tech- "So do twins run in either of your families?"

As many of you already know, my family lost our Gramps in May and our Uncle Bill in August. Nick & I were actually visiting my cousin Broc & his wife Sara, in Pigeon Forge over the weekend when I got the call that our uncle had passed away. We were celebrating with Broc & Sara because they had already announced that they were expecting their first baby in March as well....just 5 days after us! Nick & I took a cake with us decorated with our 2 delivery dates. It took them both a few minutes to get what it meant ;-) They were the first family members that we told. That Tuesday (Sept. 1st) was our first scheduled ultra-sound. Nick almost didn't go with me, since he knew we were leaving really early Wed. morning to travel to Indiana for my uncle's wake & would be missing work. Thank goodness he was able to come, because this is what we got to see:

*Surprise* You're going to be a DADDY!

This is how our story began.......

My birthday is July 27th and I was taking a graduate class at Clemson, so when my doctor scheduled me to come in for an appointment, I said "yes, I'll get out of class early & get to enjoy my b-day a little." Before I saw my doctor, her nurse came in & told me that my urine test came out positive. This was a shock to me, so I asked if she was sure & she of course said, yes we can do a blood test too if you really think I'm joking. For those of you who may not know, Nick & I have never "planned" on having kids. When I was a very young girl, there were complications with my left ovary, of which now is non-functional. So, to find out we were pregnant was an exciting moment, but also a big shock! I talked to so many people later that day via text or phone call since they were all calling to wish me a happy birthday. It was so hard not to say anything. When Nick got home, I was still on the phone with my Mom & it was late so I hesitated about telling him. He had brought my long awaited b-day gift with him, which was a salt-water fish tank. Nick was so excited to show me it & of course all I could think of is that I hope he still has the receipt because he is probably going to want to return it now that we're pregnant. So I waited.....and waited....until Wednesday, July 29th. He got home early & I was able to prepare a surprise for him. As he was getting out of the shower this is what Marley & Gage had to say: #1 Big Brother and #1 Big Sister.