House full of Daddies

My Dad came to visit! For those of you who know my dad, you'll know what a big deal this was. He had even mentioned that this may have been the first two days off in a row he had taken in the last five years! From what I understand, Cathy basically bought him the airplane tickets, handed them to him, and said, "Go. They're not refundable." :) The tickets turned out to be an Anniversary/ Father's Day present. Although the visit was short, I'm so thankful I got to see him. Having my family see me in the glow of my first pregnancy was very important to me. While there are many others I would love to see, Dad was at the top of my list.

So, here's how it went down...

Jason had said that I needed to ask off for this past weekend. When we went to have our last ultrasound, I remember walking out to the Jeep afterward and saying, "This has been the best day of my life." Jason looked at me with the same funny smile that I saw a lot of in the next few days, and said, "Next weekend is going rival this one." I thought he was off his rocker. There was almost no way anything was as good as seeing Monkey moving on that screen looking so much like a baby since the last time we'd had a peek. But Jason was right.

This past Saturday, I was still scheduled to work. Jason woke up early and did the dishes and vacuumed and generally cleaned house. Jason's very good about helping with that sort of thing, but he was smiling this big silly smile while doing it. Obviously, something was going on. He told me I was getting "the big surprise", so I started asking questions, Are we going somewhere? Can I take it to work with me? Do I have to unwrap it? He would always answer with something cryptic. We can go somewhere if you want. Yes, you can take it to work and hug it and love it. I hope it's wrapped... All I really got out of him was that our friend Danielle was going to bring it to us. So, we went out to eat lunch at my favorite restaurant, Sweet Basil Bistro, and waited for "Danielle" to bring me the "surprise". I wish you all could have seen Jason during this meal. That big, goofy smile was a permanent fixture. I'm still not entirely sure how he managed to eat his sandwich.

Finally, Jason stepped outside and came back with a bag. He handed it to me and asked me to guess what was inside. I told him it felt like a onesie. He said I could open it. Inside, was a little blue and white onesie that had, "Grandpa's sidekick" printed on it. I just stared. I was thinking at this point about how I had considered Dad coming to visit when Jason first told me that seeing Monkey on the ultrasound would rival this weekend. I had thought about it a few times since, but didn't want to get my hopes up and be disappointed. So, there I sat, staring, unable to look away in case Dad wasn't really there. Then I heard his voice, "What? You don't like it?"

Yes. I cried. That seemed to be everyone's first question. Needless to say, I got out of work that day. (Thank you SO much Lee!) Dad came in on Saturday and left Monday morning, so the time was short, but very sweet. And, yes, it did indeed rival seeing Monkey on that ultrasound.