The day after the cruise ended was Christmas Eve.  First thing in the morning I took an early-results pregnancy test and was so bummed when it was again negative.  The little woven newborn shoes I had bought just in case I was able to wrap them for mine and Dallin's parents as a Christmas surprise were now unnecessary, so I stuffed them deeper into my suitcase and tried hard to not think about it as the holiday festivities began.  But gosh, my little baby niece was so cute.  And on Christmas night my cousin Paige came over with her husband Nguyen to announce they were pregnant. They had started trying only this last month.  Don't be jealous, I chided myself. She, like my sister-in-law Danielle, informed me that those early pregnancy tests had given her false negatives.  

December 26 we met up with some friends for Indian food and bowling.  After returning home I threw up everything I had eaten.  We asked our friends if they felt sick at all, since they had the same dish as I did, but they did not. So food poisoning was ruled out. Perhaps I was turning into my mother, who is easily sickened by spices. 

Dallin and I returned home to Utah the evening of the 27th.  The 28th was the day my period was due, and I decided to just take another test.  It would probably be negative, and my period would probably start in a few hours like it had every other time I had taken a pregnancy test the day my period was due.  I waited a few minutes as the instructions directed, and then picked it up.

Two pink lines.  They were faint, but oh my gosh, they were there! My face broke out in a smile, and I couldn't stop smiling as I stared at the test.  What?! How was this real?!  Dallin was on the phone for an interview, so I waited patiently by myself in the bathroom until he was off the phone.  

"Dallin?" I said, hiding the test behind my back. I held it up.  He stared in shock and said, "Wait...is that...? Katherine, what did you eat?!" He embraced me.  

That afternoon Rachel asked if I wanted to run errands with her.  Dallin didn't want us to tell anybody yet, so I was sneaky as I bought another pregnancy test to confirm what I had seen this morning. It was agony not telling anyone, especially Rachel.  Four days was a long time to keep my mouth shut, and it would have been longer had my friend Chantel not guessed it.  Then I had to tell Rachel, and she hugged me.  In the days following we video called all of our immediate family members and revealed with the baby shoes.

Parents: 

My parents plus Eric:

My cat Atticus kept getting in front of the camera, so they were giggling about that.  When I finally shoed him away, I said, "Soooo I got a present for you for Christmas.  A late one." I held the shoes up. 

"What is it?" my mom asked. 

"Atticus is in the way," I replied.  "Atticus, move!" He moved his head away from the camera, and my parents got a clear view of the shoes.

"Are those for babies?" Dad asked.

"Yes," I answered.

"Are you expecting?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered.

Mom "wooed" in excitement, and Dad started chuckling. "No way. No way! That's amazing.

Eric took the phone. "THERE'S NO WAY!"

"That's awesome!" Dad said. "When did you find out?"

"Uhh, like five days ago." 

"No way! That's awesome. That's incredible," Dad said, grinning from ear to ear as Eric shouted "Congrats!" and mom couldn't stop smiling. 

Dallin's mom (Jordie) plus sister Hannah:

Jordie was driving when I called her. I held up the shoes and waited a second until she asked, "What are we looking at?" Both hers and Hannah's jaws dropped simultaneously as she began to shout, "Oh my gosh!"

"OK, don't crash, please pull over!" I said, laughing.

"Ohh Katie, I'm gonna start crying!" Jordie said, her hand coming to her face. "I'm so excited! Hang on, wait wait wait wait wait! I have to pull over!" She put on her glasses to see the shoes better. "Ok, show me again!"

"Congratulations!" Hannah said.

"I'm so excited!" Jordie said again. "Thomas, are you nervous? Are you excited?"

"Sure," Dallin said, smiling sheepishly. 

"Don't worry," Jordie said. "Just wait till he gets there, wait till he sees everything. Oh my gosh, Katie, I just wanna hug you! Congratulations honey!"

"Thanks!" I giggled. "I'm so happy."

Siblings:

Olivia with her new fiancé Tanner:

Olivia's jaw dropped when she saw the baby shoes. She gasped and her voice shot up a couple octaves as she asked, "Are you having a baby?!"

"Yes!" I squealed. 

"Awwww!"

"Yay!" she said, jumping up and down. "Are you so happy?!"

Danielle:

Jordie had called her earlier that day asking if she knew if my period had started or not. Given this, the second I video-chatted her she asked, "Are you pregnant?" I held up the shoes and she stuck out her tongue and laughed, "Heh-heh-heh. I knew it! Aww, you guys are gonna be a mommy and a daddy! Oh my goodness, congratulations!" She was rocking her baby Ellie.

Cooper and Kaeli:

I told Cooper to be in the room with Kaeli, who was in the shower. I held up the shoes, and he gasped and said in a deep voice, "NO WAYYYY! OK I totally guessed it when you said you needed Kaeli in the room. WHOOO! Kaeli, she's holding up little baby booties!"

From the shower, Kaeli shouted, "I KNEW IT!"