Christina Tartaglio/TikTok
A Philadelphia woman surprised her husband with more than a fun activity on date night.
Christina Kelleyand her husband, Ryan, met in 2016. Meeting online, the two talked for a while before getting together in person and discovering they had “this crazy chemistry.”
The couple tied the knot in October 2022 and decided to take a year for themselves before trying to start their family. Nine months after that, Christina discovered their dream was coming true.
“I had this super vivid dream that I was pregnant. That Monday, I took a pregnancy test and found out. I didn’t say anything yet because I wanted to kind of confirm it. The next day, I took another, more official test, which confirmed it,” she tells PEOPLE.
The excited mom-to-be kept quiet, telling only her twochildhood best friendsbefore deciding to take an idea she and her husband had already discussed and adapting it to share this special moment.
“We’d already been talking about doing each other’sportraitsbecause it was a big trend earlier in the year for couples. They were really funny and we were always sending them to each other. So when I was thinking of how to surprise him, that came to mind,” Christina shares.
“I texted him that day like, ‘I’m going to go to the store after work to pick up the paint supplies and canvases. We should do this tonight.’ He was like, ‘All right, sounds good.’ So I set it up for that night.”
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“I had to kind of make up colors to match colors of what he was wearing and stuff, so he thought I was actually painting him,” she laughed. “I had to make up details as I went along because he was being a perfectionist about mine.”
The couple finished up a couple of hours after getting started. Ryan admits that when they first revealed the paintings to one another, he was a bit confused.
“I thought she was punking me and just didn’t paint me, so I went from annoyed — because I just spent all this time painting her to surprise her and I was excited. I didn’t process what her canvas said at first, so I thought it was just like a ‘Gotcha.’ "
He continues, “Then I realized what it said and I was very surprised. Then it turned to excitement and happiness.”
Christina and Ryan kept the video of the special moment to themselves for two months.
“Weannounced it to our close family and friendsfirst, and we didn’t want to announce too early,” she explains.
Ryan adds, “It was hard to keep a secret, though. It’s one of those things that you want to share with everybody as soon as you find out.”
When it was time to tell the grandparents-to-be, the couple decided to “continue the surprise factor.”
“We got each of them scratch-offs to tell them. Everyone was super excited. There were lots of tears. It was a really good time,” the parents-to-be share.
After those closest to them were filled in, the two announced their special news to friends and family online. Shortly after, they shared their videoon TikTok.
“I don’t think either of us expected that amount of reaction to the video. It’s all been really positive and exciting. Seeing all the different reactions has been amazing. I’m glad that we did post it and have gotten to have that moment,” Christina says.
The mom-to-be says she’s doing “great” as her pregnancy progresses.
“The first trimester, I was a sleepy gal — very fatigued and nauseous. From the second trimester on, it’s been smooth sailing. I’m starting to get my energy back and getting back to working out. I’m enjoying what I can before I get too big and the physical stuff starts getting hard,” she says.
The couple will welcome their little boy at the end of this year — or the beginning of next, depending on what fate has in store.
source: people.com