Syphilis? Nah, just a bad rash left over from Thanksgiving.

I think families are like syphilis: they should be endured, until you get a good shot of penicillin. In my case, the penicillin is when they all leave and I get to talk Marcelo down off the edge. Tina, my sister in law said that she loves our family, but that it took her MANY years to come to terms with our craziness. She was 19 when she married my brother, who had 5 younger siblings. At the time they were married, Jacob was only 4! She said that when she would come over to our house, she would go into shock because of the noise level and just general disarray to us.

That being said, I think there is good hope for Marcelo. He actually really likes my family. He just doesn’t like them in our house touching our computer and spilling orange juice on our couch (Thank you Jack!). I think that will all change in just a few months when he realizes that children projectile vomit sometimes. And when he comes to realize that things are just things, but the feelings of his children can never be replaced.

But here are some photos from our general family craziness.

Now, you will notice that there are 3 dogs in this photo. Just 3 of the 5 that I previously mentioned were all running around hiding under tables and scaring Marcelo with their ability to poop or pee without warning. Please notice how cute those little Vizsla puppies are. I can't believe Raya was once that small!! Anyway, my mom isn't in the picture because she is TAKING the picture. Well, we took care of that.

Notice that my mom is holding up a piece of paper that says, "Baby clothes for Alicia." My sister gave me a big box of them not knowing that I'm pregnant. No one in this picture except my brother and sister in law on the far right knows that I am. But the real thing my mom should've done was flip the paper around and show Jack's treasure map that he was drawing on the back. It was a great map.

I would also like to draw attention to my mom's posture. It's what we call "Crack the Walnut." You are to sit up so straight and pull your shoulders back so far that you should be able to "crack a walnut" between your shoulder blades. She and her sister, my aunt Linda, are FAMOUS for this pose. It's in all our family reunion shots. I don't use it. Lets just say that I don't need to have my shoulders look any wider than necessary.

Finally, I would like to clear up some feelings I have about my family. We have good times together. We really do. We frequently make each other cry with laughter, and this time was no exception. My brother Jeff is especially fun, and when you hang out with him, fun things just seem to happen. My mom is also lots of fun because she provides plenty of hilarious phrases that we use to mock her for years ahead. Some of my favorites:

"Like the F-word?"

"Word Down"

"It feels like we're stuck"

"That doesn't smell good to me. Smell that. Does that smell good to you?"

and the ever popular. . .

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!!!"

I understand that friends that are reading this blog will not understand these family jokes. And currently no members of my family are reading this blog. However, I'm sure they will eventually and I want them to know that I do love them, despite the syphilis joke at the beginning.

I would also like to explain to them and to you why they don't know yet that I'm pregnant and why they probably won't know for a little while yet. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid. You guys were NOT the most supportive when you found out that I was going to marry Marcelo. (except for Tina. She asked me if I had prayed about it. And that was enough for her) And when we have this baby, I'm going to be quitting my job, selling my house and soon moving to another state 16 hours away. Is it scary? HELL YES!! Do I want to be scared? No! Do I want to hear my families fears and make myself more paranoid? Absolutely not.

Do I want to answer questions about what we are going to do for money, or for food or what is going to happen to Marcelo's schooling? No. I just want someone to be excited for me. I've waited so long to get pregnant, and I feel like I've sacrificed so much so that we could have this baby at the "right time." But I'm coming to realize that there will be no "right" time and we cannot put off forever what we need to do. If I could convince Marcelo to have a baby, then I don't see why my family should have a problem with it.

And that's why I don't want to tell them. I don't want there to be calls behind my back in hushed tones talking about how things will be so hard for me, saying "What will she do?." I would really like there to be calls of congratulations and happiness. I don't remember anyone ever calling Sarah and saying, "Wow, you are having a baby? Don't you live 100% on student loans? Don't you think your husband should be graduated and actually MAKING some money before you have 1 or 2 kids?" And why don't we say those things? Because family should be where you can spill your heart, not where you have to guard your wishes.

OK, I'm sorry I got a little emotional there at the end. I just want everyone to know why no one in my family knows. It's not because I'm a heartless bee-yotch. (I do other more horrible things because of my bee-yotchness) It's because my family has burned me before, and I'm scared of being burned on something so precious to me.

So this was a long blog. The end result: I love my family but they won't know about it until i'm 8 months pregnant. Here's how I see the scenerio going in my head. My mom comes into town for my sister's graduation and I waddle up to her and say, "Oh, I forgot to tell you. I'll be giving birth in 4 weeks." And then the phone calls start. I think it will go over well, don't you?

P.S. At the risk of overshare I don't think I'm wearing a bra in the above photos. I don't think I took a shower that day, so I didn't get around to putting on a bra ALL DAY. It was a good day