I'm a storyteller so it goes without saying that I really can't keep a secret. And this was a pretty fabulous secret, as far as secrets go.
But I'm not much of an actress.
This is why I surprised even myself on Christmas.
But let me go back a few weeks. My husband and I are having a baby and I made an appointment for our ultrasound for Dec. 21st but we told our families that I couldn't get in for an ultrasound until after Christmas, on Dec. 29. Sneaky, right?
We can't find out if we're having a boy or girl before Christmas, I groaned as I spread my little white lie to various family members since Thanksgiving.
I told a couple of friends that we were going to surprise our families with the news of a new granddaughter or grandson at Christmas and no one - yep, not one person - thought I could hold off on telling our families for even four to five days.
Let me tell you, it was hard. Sheer torture. I kept myself busy preparing for the holidays and tried like mad to stop myself from using a certain pronoun that would have given it all away.
We told our daughters and even our 2-year-old kept our secret. But then, she thinks when I go to the doctor, I also stop in to visit "the baby in Mommy's tummy."
On Christmas Eve, my mother-in-law opened a photo frame with photos of our daughters, and an empty spot that read: "Insert photo of your granddaughter here." The next day, my mom did the same thing.
They were all pretty surprised — happy, too. My mom had been at our house when we left for our ultrasound appointment or, "shopping," which is what she thought. She couldn't believe I didn't spill the beans either.
Mission accomplished. And unlike Santa, I didn't need reindeer or elves to do it - just a friendly ultrasound technician who gave us a CD of our baby girl's greatest photos so far.
I'm a little disappointed the holidays are over, like I am every year. I think our Christmas tree has more needles on the floor than on its branches but I always hate to take it down.
But really, each day makes us that much closer to meeting our little girl in 2011, so bring on the new year.
