Surprises...

Surprise ([ser-prahyz):  to strike or occur to with a sudden feeling of wonder or astonishment, as through unexpectedness. something that surprises someone; a completely unexpected occurrence, appearance, or statement.  to astonish; amaze.

Ever since I was little, I have not been good at surprises.  I ruined many a Christmas for myself by sneaking into my mom's room, and looking at her super-secret stash of presents to prepare myself for Christmas morning.   Shameful, I know :)

But, in spite of my need for always knowing what's coming, this week has proven to be one for lots of surprises. 

A few days ago, we were surprised to find a gift on our front door...the tag simply read, "On the first day of Christmas...."  It was a set of some beautiful, yummy smelling Christmas candles.  It's especially interesting, because this is the first year we haven't done the 12 days of Christmas for someone else in a long time (not that the little things we have done could even COMPARE with what our secret santas have been bringing). 

The second night brought egg nog (heaven in a carton), chocolate milk (Bryan's favorite treat of choice), winder dairy 1% milk (heaven in a jug), and oreo cookies. 

The third night brought LOTS of bananas and oranges. 

The fourth night brought a movie basket with popcorn, candy and the DVD "Bedtime Stories" which we don't have but totally wanted! 

And last night brought this beautiful green bowl and big wooden spoon (I've never seen such a nice wooden spoon) and 3 different brownie mixes. 

As fun as all the gifts have been, Bryan said it best when he said "It's just so wonderful to think that someone is thinking about you that much to go to that much expense and effort."  He insists on being the one to go get the present each night, it's pretty cute :)  These people may never know how deeply this gift has affected our family, and may never know how perfectly timed it has been for reinstilling some faith in humanity :).

So in the spirit of surprises, allow me to share one of our biggest surprises EVER with all of you...

Stop laughing.  I know.  Oh do I know.  All of our preventative measures have been for naught.  This has most definitely been the biggest surprise of my life.  But, as I have now had a few weeks to really digest the situation (aka cry a LOT), and after some personal council from my Heavenly Father, I know this baby has been waiting to join our family and I'm truly excited to meet him/her around August 1, 2011.  The kids are really wanting a girl (which I've already told them we've used up all of our good luck in that department), but only so we can be just like the Brady Bunch.  I told them that would only work if we got an Alice.  I could really use me an Alice :)