Yes, We're Having a Baby...

When we went home for Christmas a couple of months ago, we were immediately seized upon by family with questions and updates about our family planning.  This was not unexpected.  We were open to talking about it as we had been in the past, but this time around Celeste and I repeatedly deflected questions as best we could.  What my family didn't know was that we were were trying to keep our surprise a surprise.  In essence, this meant lying through our teeth over and over again.  We were spitting bald-faced lies left and right to the people we care most about.  They showed genuine concern.  We responded with strategic dishonesty.

Then came Christmas morning.  Many a present were unwrapped, many hugs given, and smiles were exchanged like currency in a large living room at my parent's house that now struggles to hold our swollen extended family.  It was the last Christmas morning we would spend together as an entire Olsen Clan.  And just in time.  For Celeste and I, it was our first Christmas in Utah since 2009.

The morning eventually lulled and the initial Christmas-fueled adrenaline started to wear off.  At this moment, Celeste and I delivered a neatly wrapped Christmas card to my mother, who was sitting next to my dad.  She removed the wrapping paper, opened the card, and began to weep.  She showed it to my dad.  He studied it for a moment, then lifted his eyebrows to the ceiling and opened his mouth in awe.

It was our baby.

Mama and Baby Olsen

Somewhere in the indistinctive lines and shapes of a black-and-white ultrasound photograph, our little Baby Olsen, no bigger than a pea, was there, smiling back at grandma and grandpa.  Their reaction to a seemingly insignificant Christmas card stirred curiosity throughout the room, and while some of my siblings moved toward my parents to figure out what was going on, others knew it without having to look.

We were expecting.  Baby Olsen was finally on its way.

The room erupted in cheers, sobs, and gleeful congratulations.  Celeste and I couldn't contain our emotions, and cried along with everyone else.  A similar reaction took place later that afternoon when we presented a similar card to Celeste's mom at their family home.  She had a somewhat stranger - but no less happy - reaction (she opened the card, yelled "No!" in disbelief then began to cry and tried to open another present.)

The Olsen Clan's final Christmas together.  In the center, Celeste and I are holding up the card with the ultrasound we gave to our mothers.  On another note, this is the only recorded time in history that my brother Wade has out-smiled his wife Amber for a photograph.

While sparing you the unpleasant details, I will tell you that Celeste and I have been struggling to get pregnant for about three years now.  We underwent several tests and medical procedures for this miracle to take place, not to mention severe mental and emotional turmoil that tested our capacity for pain.  But now you will find no two expectant parents happier or more grateful than us. Countless prayers have been answered, and countless wounds have been healed.  All our pain and frustration were melted by a plastic stick with a dash of urine on it, a computer screen with a microscopic heartbeat, and a family whose love and support knows no bounds.

Baby Olsen, now the size of an apple, is due August 9th, 2014.

Baby Olsen, clearly a genius.  Like an orange on a toothpick.