Nicole’s fifth birthday wasn’t the only reason to celebrate the number 5! We’re well on our way to being a family of FIVE.

I feel like I’ve been holding on to this secret forever. When we were pregnant with Alexis, I was comfortable spilling the beans early. One of Nicole’s teachers asked me when we were going to have another and I blurted out “November” only a few days after the positive pregnancy test. We knew if something went wrong we would keep trying for a second. Nicole was too young to pay attention to just how long I was pregnant, so whether mommy was pregnant for 9 months, or 15 months, Nicole would be getting a little brother or sister eventually.

This time around things were much less certain. Given our ages, and the desired age gaps between the kids, it didn’t make sense to keep trying indefinitely. Telling the girls early meant we might need to untell them should something go wrong. I wasn’t comfortable with that, and I couldn’t risk telling other people for fear the information might reach their ears.

I’m kind of surprised no one guessed. I feel like I was showing at 8 weeks, and I’ve had all the typical first trimester pregnancy symptoms of fatigue and morning sickness. Maybe everyone around us was just being polite.

We told the girls two a week ago, so they’d know before my parents visited. I took a video of us breaking the news. After I told them there is a baby in Mommy’s tummy Nicole asks excitedly “for real?” and Alexis jumps up and rushes to me saying “let me see!” She’s actually asking to see herself on the phone I’m holding (she loves watching herself on videos) but it totally looks like she’s asking to see the baby in my tummy. Adorable, if not a little misleading.

We’ve tentatively taken to calling this baby Z3. I wanted another zi–y name to match Ziggy and Zippy, but the only thing I could think of was Zitty. Future child would have despised that nickname. So Z3 it is!