Baby Chapman: Telling Family and Friends

After I spilled our baby news to Zac and we had time to celebrate and take it all in, we got to work on finding a doctor. We wanted to make sure that I was indeed pregnant and that everything was okay with our little jellybean before filling our family in on our exciting news. A week or so later we found ourselves in a doctor's office answering a ton of questions and I geared myself up for the not so fun physical examinations I knew were ahead of me. The doctor confirmed that we had a little one on the way and estimated our due date as May 14. A few days after this appointment we went to an imaging facility to get the first peek at our little bean.

It was great to see that there really was something in there since I wasn't feeling pregnant in the slightest (this changed VERY soon...but more on that later). The sonogram technician estimated that I was about 6 weeks pregnant and that little baby's due date was actually May 20.

Now that we had confirmation that our family was expanding we started to discuss when and how we were going to let family know. We decided not to tell friends and coworkers until I hit the second trimester and everything was going great. Keeping the secret from our parents and immediate families for six weeks however was not something that we wanted to do.

We were inspired by this photo from our wedding:

We thought that it would be cute to put a little spin on this picture using the shoes that I had purchased to tell Zac about baby. This is what we came up with:

We put the pictures together in double frames, wrapped them up, and prepared to give them to our parents. Zac's parents were coming for a visit and my dad's birthday was right around the corner. We had the perfect opportunities to give these gifts and share our news. The funny thing about these reveals is that it took a few moments for our parents to understand what the pictures meant. My mom was the only one who got the idea right away. Once everyone understood that there were three pairs of shoes in the bottom picture and that the empty shoes were baby sized the hugs and kisses were countless and the excitement was unmeasurable. Both sets of parents were anxious to share the news with others as much as we were. The time couldn't pass quickly enough. (That changed pretty quickly, too.)

I have been blessed with an amazing group of ladies in my life. I have the sweetest most thoughtful and fun girls to call my sisters. I couldn't ask for better relationships! I knew that my baby was going to have some fantastic aunties and I wanted to find a fun way to tell these girlies the news. I got my craft on...

...and hand painted some tote bags for each of these special girls. I was able to see some of them in person and the others who live out of town were sent little care packages. The phone calls that followed the out of town deliveries and the moments that came after the in person announcements are ones I won't forget.

Pretty soon we had hit the second trimester and made our announcement to friends and coworkers. I posted our shoe photo on instagram (@cristina_chapman) and Facebook and the response was overwhelming. The sweet congratulatory messages were plentiful and Zac and I were happy to finally share our happy news.  

Baby Chapman... How We Found Out

If you saw yesterday's post then you know our big announcement. Zac and I are expecting our first baby in just a few weeks. Tomorrow I will officially be 37 weeks pregnant. We're in the home stretch and we can't wait to meet our baby.

As it's been a while since I've posted regularly, this information is all news to my blogging buddies so I thought that I would catch you all up on all things baby. First things first: how we found out.

Zac and I had been talking baby long before we were married. While planning our wedding, we were also planning our timeline for baby and we decided that we wanted to start trying right after our honeymoon. It was three months after our wedding that the positive results popped up on the tests. (Yes I took four)

We had a stash of pregnancy tests in our bathroom and from time to time I would take one just to see. On Thursday, September 6 after Zac went to work I decided to take one. I had taken one just a few days before and it was negative so I wasn't really expecting anything. After taking the test and leaving it in our bathroom upstairs, I went downstairs to make myself dinner. To be honest, I had forgotten about it for a little bit. When I finally remembered a few minutes later, I ran upstairs to check it and was blown away when I saw a faint pink line. I've read that leaving tests for longer than 5 minutes can result in a false positive so I didn't take it too seriously. Still, a part of me was hopeful. I decided that I would wait to take another one until first thing the next morning.

Friday morning I woke up early to get ready for work and rushed to the bathroom to take the test before doing anything else. Zac was still blissfully sleeping as I sat on the bathroom floor with wide eyes staring at the very clear pink line on the test.

I decided not to wake Zac. I knew that if I told him right then I would just want to spend the whole rest of the day with him celebrating our amazing news. Unfortunately, that wasn't a possibility as I needed to hurry up and get ready for work. So I rushed out the door without waking him and opted to get another box of tests on my way home....just to be sure. By the time I got home from work that evening, Zac had already gone to work so I was able to take the tests on my own. I got the Clearblue digital ones this time. There was something about seeing the word 'pregnant' that madeit more official...more real.

Now that it had started to settle in, I brainstormed ways to tell Zac about our baby news. That evening I went to dinner with a friend at a restaurant right next to the mall. After our meal and catch up session I headed into Mainland and purchased a pair of baby Toms in gray. Zac and I always have Sundays off together so I thought this would be the perfect time to tell him. I planned on making him a big breakfast and spilling the beans first thing in the morning.

Waiting until Sunday meant that I had to keep this secret for a few days. This was an unbelievably difficult task that had me dodging my poor husband as I was SURE that I would let it slip. Zac worked on Saturday afternoon so I only had to keep the secret for the evening. It was still difficult and I ended up telling him that I was super tired at around 8:00pm and I went to bed.

On Sunday morning I banished Zac to our bedroom and ran downstairs to start breakfast.

On Friday night, after I got home from the mall I had set to work drawing up a fun menu for our Sunday breakfast. I used one of the chalkboard menus that Zad had built for our wedding and wrote out the following: Chateau de Chapman Specials Mommy & Daddy to be Breakfast Baby Chapman arriving May 2013.

I set up the shoes that I purchased just a few days before and the second positive test I had taken in a pastry dish with a dome. I set this in the center of the table next to a vase of flowers.

Once breakfast was all made I put on some music and called Zac down to eat. I am not a cook and making a meal is a rare thing for me so Zac was quite excited that I had prepared something this morning. His already smiling face was priceless once he spotted the pastry dish and the tiny shoes on the table. (He didn't even notice the giant chalkboard until halfway through the meal!) We shared an emotional moment and a tight hug before sitting down to eat and discuss our excitement.

Next came telling our family and friends....

Changes

Hello blogger buddies! It's been far too long since I've written a blog post and I've really come to miss my regular posts. Recently I've looked at this blog and I have been quite grateful to have a record of all the wonderful things and events leading up to our wedding day. I'm disappointed that I haven't been able to keep up and that I haven't filled all of you in on how all of the details we worked so hard on came together on our big day.

As our one year anniversary quickly approaches (May 4th is just one week away!) Zac and I have reflected on our first year of marriage. It's amazing the things that can happen in just one year and we are unbelievably grateful for all of the wonderful things that we've experienced.

Just a few days after we said 'I do', Zac and I boarded a plane and spent 10 fantastic days in Maui. Our honeymoon was the best vacation we could have asked for. We were excited to be married and to have the opportunity to spend so much uninterrupted time together. The stress of the wedding was all over and we could finally relax.

Though we did venture out to restaurants and experienced some mini adventures like ziplining, we spent the majority of our days just laying out on the beach with a stack of books and bottles of booze. We had no worries, no responsibilities, and no itinerary. It was perfect.

We kept in touch with family and friends and even sent out a Happy Mother's Day message to all of the wonderful mamas in our lives.

After we returned home, our summer was filled with many more wedding celebrations....

On September 1st by sweet husband turned 31.... and just over a week later we celebrated the biggest life changing news ever....

We're having a baby!!!!

Yesterday was my last day of work and I am officially on maternity leave. With a due date of May 20th, it won't be long now until we are a family of three.

As you can probably guess, things have been a little crazy in our house over the last nine months! It's all super exciting and I think it's time to finally share all of our news in detail over the next few weeks. I'm hoping to be able to keep up with my blog again. It served as a great record of our wedding planning and I would love to have a similar record of our little bean!

More news to come :)

Giveaway!!!

Hi bloggers! As mentioned in my last blog post I am a giddy girl excitedly starting a new venture as a wedding/event consultant. I recently created a Facebook page to spread the word. In it's first few weeks 109 people have already clicked that cute little 'Like' button and I couldn't be more flattered or excited.

To thank all of the sweet people who have decided to like my page I am hosting Sparkles & Charm's first giveaway! The prize is a birthday themed gift hand crafted by yours truly!

A drawing to determine the winner will be held on Saturday, September 1st. Saturday my husband is turning 31. In honor of his birthday I am naming not one but TWO winners!

Want to enter?! Here's what you do:

1. Head on over to Sparkles & Charm's Facebook page. *click here*

2. Find the giveaway photo posted under 'Wall Photos' (pictured below)

3. Follow the instructions

Easy right?!

An extra entry will be given to those who are subscribers of this blog. Just be sure to write an additional comment : "Subcribed".

Good luck everyone!

New Adventure!

As I mentioned in my last post (found here) there are some exciting things going on in our household. The last few months have been busy but fun. Since our wedding I have been pleasantly surprised with compliments on the decor from our big day and have received requests from friends and coworkers to assist in planning and crafting items for other weddings and parties. These requests have left me beyond flattered and utterly excited!

I think I have found my calling!

Sparkles & Cheaterpants the blog will slowly be making its transition into Sparkles & Charm Wedding & Event Planning!

It is definitely in the beginning stages but I'm excited for this new business venture!

Be sure to check me out at the Sparkles & Charm Facebook page!

More details coming soon!

Our Wedding Video

Hello to all of my readers out there...the ones that are still left! I haven't forgotten about you or this wonderful blog of mine that kept me sane throughout the whole wedding planning process. Things have been crazy these first three months of marriage and I have been moving non-stop. Don't worry, its's all been an exciting, good, crazy....nothing bad. There are some fun things happening in the Chapman household which I'll reveal a little later. (No, it's not a baby.)

In the meantime, I am excited to say that in addition to some beautfiul pictures captured by our amazing photographers over at Van's Studio of Photography (featured in a little sneak peek in this post), we have also received the highlights reel of our wedding day from our videographer, Ahwahnee Films!

You might remember from a previous post (here) that we were looking around for a videographer. Then last summer we discovered work from Ahwahnee Films (read in this post) and in November we decided to hire them to film our big day (read about it here).

From the first time Zac and I met Aaron at Starbuck's we became excited about our choice to hire a videographer. Aaron seemed laid back but professional. He was clearly passionate about his work and really wanted to get to know the two of us as a couple before showing up the venue on the our wedding day.

In addition to filming our wedding, Aaron and his filming partner Kevin were also able to capture our rehearsal at our venue, Wolf Lakes Park, and our fiesta themed rehearsal dinner at our home the night before the wedding.

The next day they arrived bright and early and filmed all the fun until Zac and I left the wedding reception late that night. They were with my girls and me as we rode to the venue in a gorgeous Jaguar Limo from Royal Coach Limousine (read in this post), spent the afternoon with Zac and his groomsmen at a local brewhouse and restaurant and of course caught all of the beautiful moments of our ceremony and fun times during our reception.

I have watched this highlights reel more times than I can count and I tear up every time. (Yes, there may have been an ugly cry here and there on days that I was extra emotional.) We couldn't be happier with this 10 minute and 48 second summary of the day that we became husband and wife.

I hope you all enjoy! (Be sure to buffer before watching!)


Cristina+Zac Highlights from Aaron Mendez (Ahwahnee Films) on Vimeo.

We're Married!!!!

That's right!!! Zac and I became Mr. and Mrs. 1 month ago today! The day was amazing. We love everyone that was able to come and join in our celebration. I haven't smiled so much in all of my life. :)

The next day we had a fun post wedding day brunch at our home and a few days later we left on a 10 day honeymoon in Maui.

Now that we are home and are settling back into our normal lives, I look forward to sorting thorugh all of our photos and catching you all up on the fun events that made our wedding so special to us. In the meantime here is alittle sneak peek at some of the pictures our photographer captured.

There are PLENTY more where that came from :)