Surprise!

What started as a secret that only Nate, Dre and I knew, turned into everyone knowing except Grandma and Grandpa.  Shortly after Christmas, Jules let me know that Brian had some extra comp days at work, so they wanted to use them by making a surprise visit.  They let Nate and Dre in on the secret when they were visiting them over the holiday.  However, Brian blew the surprise by mentioning it to Kristin while Skypeing one evening.  And well, once she knew, so did everyone else.  Luckily, the secret was kept from Connor.  Otherwise, Grandma and Grandpa would have known too.  We had to come up with a reason for the whole family to be at their house since we all wanted to be there when Brian, Jules and the kids showed up.  We told Grandma and Grandpa that we needed to celebrate February birthdays a bit early due to Nate's school schedule, and the only time before March he would be able to do it was on January 22nd.  There was some resistance and questioning on their end, but they relented and the entire family showed up at their house under the pretense of a birthday celebration.  After eating dinner, we were stalling as best we could before doing cake and presents in order to allow the Bartletts time to show up.  Finally, they arrived.

To say the least, Grandma and Grandpa were surprised and their reactions were fun.  However, it turns out the best reaction was Connor's.  I didn't get it on film, but I think his eyes almost popped out of his head when he realized the Bartletts had just walked through the front door. 

After a blur of hugs, lots of laughing, and everyone talking at the same time, the Bartlette sat down to have a bite to eat.  Grandpa was kind enough to entertain Riley by reading the same book to him several times.  Once the Bartletts were done eating, we settled down to open presents.  About this time, Jules remembered to feed Jasmine since it had been SEVEN hours since she last ate.  While she was taking care of business, Kristin suggested playing a game.  Nate suggested "two truths and a lie," where you say three things about yourself and the others have to guess which of the three is a lie.  Kristin offered to go first.  Then she offered to help Connor take a turn.  Following Connor, Kristin suggested Nate take a turn.  Cue the second surprise of the evening: "Belle is my favorite princess, Dre is pregnant, and [insert another truth here]."  I don't even remember making note of his third statement since I immediately assumed he was lying about Dre.  I was wrong, as was everyone else.  His first statement was the lie.  ("Dre is my favorite princess, not Belle.")  As the light bulb turned on over each of our heads as we realized Dre really is pregnant, there was more hooting and hollering.  Baby #3 is due September 3.  Jasmine and I will have another Virgo amongst us.  Yay!

After presents, I brought out the cake.  Unbeknownst to Grandpa, the cake was for him AND Kameron.  It was the first time we've been able to celebrate their birthdays together.  According to Riley, it was "yummy."  Not only did he ask for "more please," but I think he literally licked his plate clean.  Lucky for us, the Bartletts were here for a full week, so there was plenty more time for family bonding.