Wife Treats Husband to Portrait Date Night. When They Swap Paintings, She Reveals She's Pregnant (Exclusive)

• Christina and Ryan Kelley first met in 2016 and were married in October 2022
• After nine months of trying, Christina learned the couple is expecting their first baby and found a creative way to reveal the news to her husband
• The couple was amazed when their date night pregnancy reveal went viral, telling PEOPLE it adds to this special moment in their journey
  

A Philadelphia woman surprised her husband with more than a fun activity on date night.

Christina Kelley and 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 two childhood best friends before 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's portraits because 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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The couple sat there painting and laughing for about three hours, with Ryan totally unaware that he wouldn't walk away from the experience with a portrait. Instead, Christina painted the canvas to read, "Baby Kelley, Est. 2025."

"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 didn't realize this until I watched the video back myself afterward, but you can tell by my facial expression that I went through it," he says with a laugh.

"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.

"We announced it to our close family and friends first, 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 video on 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.

"I'm due Dec. 30. We did an intimate gender reveal cake cutting, just the two of us," Christina says. "It's a boy, which is what we both wanted for our first. Our baby will either be the last of Gen Alpha or one of the first babies of Gen Beta. It's really exciting."