Of course we are from Texas and even though we live in Tennessee, we have not and will not forsake our Texas heritage.  Thankfully there are many Texans out here and we still feel right at home in many ways.  In fact we have a bumper sticker that a friend gave us that expresses our sentiments exactly:

Songs like “How I wish Dallas was in Tennessee” and many more express the same types of sentiment about wishing Texas and Tennessee were somehow in the same location.  I thought my side of the family was going to disown us completely when we left the Lone Star State over five years ago, though.  And now that we are expecting a child, it is a little strange to know that she will not be born in Texas.  It is not that I’m not proud to live in Tennessee (and love living here), just that Tennessee is more accepting of outsiders than Texas, and there are certain inalienable rights that belong to a Native Texan that do not belong to anyone else in the world.

So, rewind a few weeks back.  Daniel and I were at a company dinner enjoying a nice meal with several of his clients.  I was finally starting to look pregnant and half the table already knew we were expecting so it had become the topic of conversation.  One of the ladies whom I had not previously met immediately piped in when she found out we were from Texas to tell us she lived in San Antonio and that her son and daughter-in-law had just had a baby in Michigan.  The whole table discussed us crazy Texans and I told her I was sad that our child would not be born in Texas.  She went on to tell me about her Texas Birthing Kit idea and what she had done for her grandbaby and how she was going to send us one.  We got it in the mail yesterday.  I think she has a business idea on her hands.

Native Texan Birth Kit

1. Place the Official Texas Dirt under Mother.

2. Put a yellow rose by the bedside.

3. Just before birth, the entire delivery team will sing the “Eyes of Texas.”

4. Upon birth of the child, everyone in the delivery roon to yell YEEHAW!

5. Have physician fill out the Official Native Texan Birth Certificate: On this date, said baby was born on Certified Texas dirt and is herby officially granted the extreme privilege of being A Native Texan.  This will give him or her all the bragging rights and privileges of a Native Texan.

6. Use Texas Print Cloth as the covering in the nursery so no one will mistake the child as a Tennessee baby. (This is very important as the accent could start early!)

So there you have it.  Our child will be deemed a Native Texan…if I can remember the dirt when we leave for the hospital.  And before my brothers get all upset that we have University of Texas memoriabilia in our household, she made a mistake about that and I need you to find a store that I can exchange this little onesie for the right school.  After all, Texas Tech will be beating Texas this weekend, right?