Better Late Than Never
One of my 2009 goals was to be a better gift giver, and this past Christmas was quite a success, I thought, particularly because Bart and I really planned ahead and weren’t frantically buying gifts at the last second. We had time to think about what to get various family members and I was really pleased with some of the things we chose.
But, without question, the gift we were most excited about (and which came as the biggest surprise to our families) was this one, which we gave to Crawford:
I like how people are going to puzzle over this. Like, "Wait..is she…? Is this…?"
Am so glad I can stop pretending ignorance. Yay baby!
OH!
(really?!)
That's so clever of you!
(I mean–)um, CONGRATULATIONS!
xo
AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! And what a fantastic way to share the news!
Congratulations! (Gosh, I'm crying!) Surprise, huh? Giggles
Holy crap! Congratulations! I am bowled over!
Wait… really? CONGRATULATIONS!
WAHOO!!!!! Congratulations!!!! that is so exciting!!! I hope you are feeling ok and all is going well- btw I LOVE how you broke the news! wooooweee! congrats again! It's so much fun!!!
wahooo! congrats! very clever.
CONGRATULATIONS! Such a cute way to share the news.
Yay!! Congratulations!!
SO EXCITING! I'm all smiles. You will both be fantastic parents.
I totally didn't get this until I read the comments. Hurrah! Congratulations! So excited for you guys.
I hope you are feeling o.k. The first trimester can be a doozy.
Oh Janssen – I am just thrilled! Huge congrats to you and Bart – and I just adore the announcement method ~ fantastic!
Have you been very sick?
Heehee! What a good gift!
Very creative and cute, how long did it take Crawford to piece it together? We're sure happy for you!
Wait wait wait, now I am curious. Is this a stolen date due card or is it specially crafted by you with family members birthdates on it or something? Clever either way!
CONGRATULATIONS!
Congratulations! What a cute "announcement."
Wait a minute! You're having a baby and giving it to your brother???
Just kidding.
Congrats!
Congratulations! That is so exciting and such a super cute way to break the news. That's one of my favorite things; thinking up a creative way to tell everyone! 🙂
I hope the pregnancy is treating you well!
!!!!!
My reaction was just was Kayle wrote.
Hooray Hooray Hooray!!
Also am so glad this is in the open!
Yayyy!!!!! I'm so happy for you and Bart!!!!! Congrats!
Awesome. congratulations!
I had to read the post twice and then wondered, is she saying what I think she's saying? CONGRATS!!!!!
Congrats!
Woo!
SOOOOOO EXICTING!!!!!!!!!
I love when I have no idea and then am really surprised. I was totally surprised. This is so fun!!!!! Congratulations Janssen and Bart!
How close are you and Merrick?
Post more details!!!!! Are you hoping for one or the other gender? Any names? How are you feeling.
What a creative way of telling. I was like, "what is that?" HAHAHA!!! Was everyone shocked? Who all was there? Like I said, MORE DETAILS! 🙂
I'm so happy for you Janssen. You are going to be the best mom!!! I'll nominate you for Young Mother of the Year;)I can hardly wait to get parenting ideas/advice from your blog, wait, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. I'm just so EXCITED!!!
Yea! Did you plan this with Merrick. That will be fun with both of you having kids the same age. Congrats! It is so great being a mom.
wait, what? Wow, that took me a minute or two to figure out! That's so clever, I'm going to remember that when and if I ever become pregnant. Congratulations!!!
Yay! Exciting news! Congrats!
Congrats!! So exciting! I know you said awhile ago you were never going to let this blog become a "mommy blog" with endless pics of kids and what not… but you know we all love hearing about your life too much to let you get away without giving details!
Congratulations!!!
Congrats on your little library book!
Being able to check out a library book until July 15 is awesome. I need to use your library.
what a cute thing for a future mom/librarian to do… Hope you are feeling well…
Congratulations! That is so exciting and what a fun way to announce the news.
Congratulations!
Congratulations! What a fantastic and oh-so-completely-perfect way to share the news. I hope you are feeling and doing well. What happy news!
Lol, it's a good thing I read the comments or I would have never known what was up.
Congratulations!!
YES!!!! Congratulations!! I'm so stinking excited for you!!
When I saw this in Google Reader, I almost just went on to reading the next blog post because I thought the picture was just about some inside joke only your family would get! Then, something clicked in my head and I thought I'd check the comments. Congrats!!!! I hope you have a nice, easy pregnancy!
Woot! Congrats to you both! 🙂
Congratulations! Such a clever and appropriate way to make the announcement. Adorable!
Oh goodness…I hate to admit how long that took me to get. I did (although not obviously) graduate from college. That is SO exciting!! I hope you're feeling good! Oh I'm just so excited!!
OMG. CONGRATULATIONS! WOO HOO! I am so happy and excited and thrilled. WOO HOO AGAIN!
I cannot WAIT to see what you guys name this kid, you and your brothers and sisters have the best names.
Okay I admit, it took me a second. How very clever, lady!
But really, congratulations. Very, very exciting!!
Congratulations! That took me way longer than it ought to have to decipher 🙂
I am SO thrilled for you! Congratulations!
Congrats Janssen! I have the same question someone else had – are those random dates or other family members' birthdates? You are going to be such a great mom!
Yeah! I hope you are soon over that happy-go-pukey stage.
Wow, I didn't get enough sleep last night. It took me a few minutes of staring which then led to my jaw hanging open for a few minutes. Congrats!
Wow! Was it planned? How exciting!
I may be delurking, at least I don't think I've ever commented before:) Congratulations! You made it sound like maybe it was a surprise to you guys? That's how it happened for us but I'm so glad because otherwise I'm afraid I would have just kept putting it off until I was well into my 30's. There's no such thing as perfect timing & I'm certain you will find that motherhood is AMAZING! Also, what a cute and clever way of sharing the news!
You are going to have so much fun being a mom…and you will be great at it! Welcome to the club girl!
(I was going to make a comment about how you have your own little book worm but that seems kinda gross and I do not want your baby to look like that so I put it in parentheses instead 🙂
congratulations Janssen! You will love having your kids close in age to Merrick's! Cousins are the best!
That is the best way I've ever seen to let people know!!! Congratulations to you! How exciting!
OH YAY!!! How exciting!
When is your sister due? That's gotta be one of the best parts. Tho, I don't think your brother is QUITE old enough to have a child of his own yet. Maybe a puppy for him?
Ohhhhhh Janssen! I am SOOOOOOO beyond thrilled for you. I'm even welling up here at my desk at work!! Congratulations to both you & Bart!!
woot woot. Glad you finally shared the news with the world!
ohhhh!!!! this is so exciting, so many congratulations to you!
(it took me a few reads to figure this out, I will admit!) 🙂
Congratulations!!! I'm so excited for you but sad I don't live near you anymore to see you as a cute mom.
So is the title referring to the announcement or a certain time of the month???? 😉
Just awesome news, Janssen! So happy for you and Bart.
Yay!! Congrats to you!! That will be one cute baby!
Cutest announcement ever!
ahhhh!!!!!!!!!!! i'm SOOOOOOOOOO excited for you. you guys will make beautiful, adorable babies! congrats. hope you're feeling good. being pregnant is so fun (most of the time. ha.). and that is, without question, my favorite baby announcement i've ever seen. you're too creative and hilarious, you little librarian, you. 🙂
Wow, congratulations!!!
So clever! Congratulations!
OHhhhhhhhhh!!!!
That's all I can say!
Aww, congratulations!
Wow! Congrats to both of you! I also didn't figure it out until I read the comments. So excited for you guys! And I just had to yell down the stairs to Dario, so he could know RIGHT now.
My gosh, there are 71 comments here – guess I'll just have to add my congrats to the hoards!!!!
ohmygoodness YAY!!!! Congratulations!!! I was totally like, wait…is that what i think it is?! I can't stop smiling. I am so so happy for you guys! And I couldn't be more excited because it looks like i'm going to BE THERE for the remainder of your pregnancy and meet you guys and your precious bundle!!! (i was going to email you but i'll just tell you now, hehehe. we found out last night.) I can't wait!!! Yay you guys!!!
Sincerest Congratulations to you and your husband! And what a fantastic way to tell!
Congrats!! What a cute announcement card!
it took me a minute… but OH MY GOSH! congratulations!!! that has to be one of the cutest things i've ever seen!
Congratulations!
HOLY CRAP! oh my gosh! i'm so so thrilled for you guys! you two are going to be amazing parents! and how awesome that you + your sister will have babies so close in age together! congratulations + hugs your way!
congrats, lady 🙂 time to stock up on picturebooks!
Congrats! That's exciting!!
That is an AWESOME idea! And also my hubby's birthday! CONGRATULATIONS!
Congratulations! How exciting! some random thoughts…
Claire was born June 27th – it's a nice time of year to have a baby in the northeast.
-I don't check my google reader for day and this is what i miss – figures!
Cool, Cool, Cool
This is going to be the cutest baby EVER…
that is the perfect way to break the news! so does that mean i was one of the first ones to know after you asked about OBs and used my bathroom 30 times in one night? i had a hunch…
i'm SO EXCITED for you guys!
they've said it all but I wanted to throw my two cents in there. ahem:
– cute and totally clever announcement and LOVE that you gave it to your brother
– you guys are going to have the cutest kid of all time… and brainy too. of course i meant brainy.
– congrats. this is fantastic.
jj
What a clever idea! Congratulations Janssen, so exciting!
Love it!
Woah Woah Woah Woah
YAY!!!! 🙂
Best announcement ever! So perfect.
AAH!!! 🙂
What a wonderful event to look forward to! Congrats Janssen and Bart! You guys are going to be such amazing parents. Now make sure to post some prego pics as you get farther along for all of us who don't get to see you here in TX….
Congratulations!
Um, so EIGHTY-NINE people have already commented on this post. Janssen, you should feel very loved and supported! I can't think of a more appropriate way for a librarian to announce a baby to their family!
Am I seriously the 91st comment? well crap. Sorry no internet 🙂 But dont worry, tara called me as soon as you posted this so I would know 🙂 CONGRATS! Its about stinkin time 😉 Your lucky little parents…two in three months! What a fun thing to share with a sister especially when it is both of your firsts!!
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
BIG CONGRATS! Hope you are feeling OK!!!
ps, as a sorta-connected sidenote: when I imagined myself as a librarian, one of the things I looked forward to was stamping due dates. Except my library doesn't stamp due dates. Sadness!!!!
Janssen should reveal how and where she procured this due date slip. . . 🙂 It's a fun part of this whole story.
We're so excited for you both!!
Yeo i agree with all 95 oathe people who have said it all . . . about how cute your kid will be and how intelligent and all the rest of the stuff. and of course the very cute way that you announced you being pregnant. l thank you for sharing so now we can all wait for the event with baited breath.
Blessings go to you both.. get plenty of sleep now because . . .
Holy crap, congrats!!!
OMG!!!!! Congratulations! What a great way to share the fantastic news!
Congrats! So exciting! Both you and Merrick!
I love this!! Congratulations!
Congrats! Your announcement is super cute (and I love the story behind it too). I hope you're feeling well.
Huge Congratulations to ya, Janssen! And how cute that you and Merrick are around the same time! Love the coordination, there girls!
Congrats to you and Bart. That is great news! What a fun way to share with family.
Wow, congratulations! That is so so awesome!
excellent news!
Yay! Congratulations! I'm so thrilled for you! Can't wait to read all about your experience!
EEEEE. So excited!
Congratulations! You're due a couple weeks after me. And to be pregnant with a sister is so fun! I bet your parents are so excited for two grand babies!
Oh, HOORAY! I'm super behind on blog reading so I'm sorry I missed this! So, so happy for you!!
1. HURRAY!
2. Cutest way to announce a pregnancy pretty much EVER.
Wow – I'm the 110th comment! Well, um, this may seem a bit redundant but, you know, congratulations.
So cool. We love you guys.
Classic Janssen! Using books to announce her pregnancy! Congratulations!
Janseen, you always leave me smiling. I read your announcement in Marlee's email from Bart actually, but I loved seeing it out here (since he didn't mention your clever announcement anyway!) Best of wishes to you and Bart.
Yup…just not got it cause Mark was talking about it. I am sooo happy for you guys! Cannot wait to hear what you are having:)
A ha! Found it! Congrats, even deplorably belated congrats.
xox
So I am wayyyy behind in blog checking. (Having a teething 3 month old will do that to you.) So a belated congrats to you but a very happy belated congrats! What a cute way of sharing the news with your family.