— Top: Small Fry with Prague Castle in the background; Bottom: Our family’s passports —

If you’re anxiously awaiting our full set of pictures from Prague, I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed. We’ll get around to them eventually, but we’ve been a bit preoccupied with something else. That something is the secret we carried all around that beautiful city – it was our first trip as an expanding family. Well, Melissa did all the carrying but I totally made it happen (the trip, sheesh). Yeah… you read that right… the Derecola Clan is growing to three with the addition of Small Fry.

You’ve got questions? We’ve got answers!

Q: Wait, what?
A: Melissa is pregnant. With a baby. We made it.

Q: On purpose?
A: Not only was it on purpose, but it took us nearly a year of being on purpose. Suffice to say, it was a stressful time that weighed on both of us. We are, however, very thankful for our situation given how 2015 started, medically, and the possibilities we may have had to face.

Q: When’s the due date??
A: Melissa is 12 weeks pregnant with a due date of September 13th. I’m convinced the real due date is September 12th based on the data we have, but we were given the 13th. I know there’s a small chance she’ll actually deliver on that day, so it doesn’t really matter. Our guest room will convert to a nursery come August, so visit before then if you want to get it in!

Q: You two were perpetual DINKS, right?
A: Things change. We used to say we weren’t ready for kids and people would say, “you never are.” I get that, but we actually weren’t ready. It wasn’t until we lived in a place we love, and got comfortable with being adults, that we decided it was time.  We talked about it for years, starting around when we moved to Seattle, and eventually got to a place where we were willing to have a go of it. Fun fact: This site was actually created with having a family in mind… hence the name. Judging from this post, we’ve had our minds made up for about two years. Around that time we also decided our trip to Vietnam roughly a year ago would be our last hurrah. Little did we know work would take me to Luxembourg and Prague after that. I guess the blessing in disguise is we got to enjoy Prague as a family of 2.225. There were a lot of food restrictions and naps, but we made a good time of it.

Q: Are you having a boy or girl?
A: Melissa doesn’t want to know (right now); I do. We’ve decided that we’ll each get our wish. Yeah, it’s kinda different for one of us to know and one of us not to. It’ll stay between the doctor and me until Melissa decides she wants to know. It could be in the last month… it could be after giving birth. Regardless of what happens, we’re going to wait to tell everyone until after birth. We do not agree on our predicted gender and will decorate in yellow and gray.

Q: Have you picked names?
A: I’m pretty sure we had a boy’s name decided like 10 years ago, before we knew we were having a kid. We didn’t agree on a girl’s name nearly as easily, but it did come to us in an ah ha! moment and we instantly agreed. We will not be sharing our pertinent choice until after the birth. Until that time, we’re going to use the name Small Fry to reference our unborn child.

Q: What’s the deal with the salmon?
A: Melissa saw a little boy holding one while she was at work and texted me about it. She thought it was adorable and I like when she’s excited about things, so I bought one. A few days later we decided it would be our baby’s first stuffed animal and we’d carry it around to all the cool things we did while he/she was still growing. Years later, our child can look back on the photos and know they were there too. Yes, Small Fry is a play on words. Don’t worry, you’ll be plenty sick of seeing it by the time September rolls around.

Q: Are you excited/nervous/scared?
A: We’ve been together for 18 years and Melissa’s been pregnant for 12ish weeks – it hasn’t really sunk in the days of just the two of us are coming to an end. We’ll be all three, and more, soon enough. Making this announcement to all of you will likely help with that.

Q: Aren’t you worried about being 60 when your child graduates college?
A: No, at least not yet. There are downsides to being retirement age at your kid’s wedding, but we’ve enjoyed a lot of the upsides. We felt strongly about one parent saying home (most of the time) and we wanted to travel a good bit – two things made easier by waiting to have kids. We lived our retirement… now get to grow old raising a youngin. What could go wrong?

Q: How much time are you taking off?
A: Melissa has been working part time since moving to Seattle. We are lucky enough to not need her to work, so the choice is hers. She loves art, her job, and the people she works with, so I think she’ll go back at some point. I get six weeks of paternity leave that I can take in the first year – I’m thinking four weeks post birth and the rest around the holidays. A lot depends on how the pregnancy and birth go.

Q: Is that why you took a year off alcohol?
A: No, it wasn’t. I talked Melissa into taking a year off because I really did want to get healthier. I think the only reason she agreed was because she thought she’d be pregnant anyway. At least she got to have two drinks in 2016 before we knew? She’s a better person than I given I’ve had a “few” beers this year. I’m sure it didn’t hurt being healthier when we were trying though.

Q: Do you have a registry?
A: It won’t be public for awhile, but it can eventually be found via this link.

Q: Wait, what?
A: Exactly.