As if finding out that Tracy is pregnant and wants to place this baby with us wasn’t surprise enough for me, I can hardly describe the joy my heart felt when I realized I was learning this news just twelve days before Christmas.

During our years of trying to conceive, I spent countless hours daydreaming of how I would announce to my husband, family and friends that I was pregnant.

However, along with my lifelong dream of experiencing pregnancy, my dream of making a pregnancy announcement at Christmas died a long time ago.

I hadn’t done any pregnancy announcing daydreaming in years.

Then, in a matter of a few moments in time, this dream was revived in my heart and I immediately started planning The Grandest Christmas Surprise of All …

A couple weeks before Christmas (and before I received the call from our lawyer about this new baby), I told my mom I had a surprise for her on Christmas Day.

And I did.

The surprise was professional pictures taken by Angele Leinbach Photography of my family of three. The pictures turned out gorgeous and I gave one picture to everyone on Christmas Morning.

Here is my mom opening her family picture of us:

(None of these pics are great quality because they were taken from my video camera.)

Although they LOVED the family picture, it wasn’t the complete surprise!

There was a second mysterious little gift to be opened. Since they had just opened a family portrait of the three of us, I was hoping they would be thinking they were opening a picture of just Little Bug next.

And, they actually were opening a picture of Little Bug. Just not the picture they were expecting to see!

Here are my parent’s reactions as they opened the second gift:

My aunt, grandmother and uncle’s reaction:

This is what they were looking at:

Mama’s not pregnant, but someone else is! 

Knowing everyone would need an explanation, I had prepared something for Dave to read to the family.

It was similar to what I posted here on January 1st.

Everyone was completely caught off guard! I will remember that Christmas Morning for as long as I live.

I am completely humbled that God would choose to do this for me. I know He didn’t have to do it this way. I could have just as easily gotten the call from my lawyer after Christmas. But He choose to give me an opportunity to make a Christmas “pregnancy” announcement.

God is so good and His mercies are new every morning.

- Elaine