It's A...

Our ultrasound appointment this morning revealed a healthy, beautiful baby BOY!  (Ultrasound photos will be coming soon.)  Our littlest one made it VERY clear that he is definitely a boy right away and, by the way he was moving around giving the ultrasound nurse trouble getting the measurements needed and how often and strong his little kicks are already, I'd say we have another little monkey on our hands!

I was surprised how attentive the kids were (well, for the first five minutes).  Valerie grinned when she saw the baby on the screen and Almanzo kept saying "baby's in the water?  baby simmin?"  And I don't think there are words for how breathless I felt "seeing" our sweet littlest boy.  It always amazes me how intricately formed a baby is even at only 20 weeks.  What a great God we serve! 

Once she finally got the measurements needed, she calculated the due date as October 8th, but my OB said October 13th and my calculations say October 11th, so it's very possible this little one could share a birthday with his big brother (October 10th).  It definitely makes it easier to have another little boy, because all the boy clothes I have already will be for the right seasons.  I can hardly believe I have TWO sons!

Valerie had been really hoping for a girl, but she handled the news very well.  "You not have a baby girl, mommy?"  "No...aunt Kelly is having a girl and mommy is having a boy.  So, when we see aunt Kelly you can see a girl baby AND a boy baby!"  She seemed pretty satisfied with that answer and I made sure to remind her how blessed I am to have HER as my baby girl. 

After the appointment, the van wouldn't start (again) after jumping it this morning AND last night.  Thankfully, we only live a few blocks from the hospital, so Ted walked home, got the car and jumper cables and, with the help of a kind gentleman parked nearby, we were able to get the van up and running again.  Ted assured me it would be fine as long as I drove around for a while to make sure the battery was fully charged.

Once that was taken care of, I called my friend, Katherine, who offered her time and talent to do a maternity photo shoot at Lakeside Park.  We collaborated to come up with several fun ideas after lots of research and I am super excited to see all the beautiful results.  The two photos in this post were taken by her, but there are many, many more to come.  Our kids (my two and her baby girl) had fun playing in the grass and dirt.  We laughed so hard when her daughter, who has just recently mastered crawling, decided to grab a huge fistful of dirt and start eating it.  She was grinning from ear to ear!  And, of course, my son found numerous sticks that could be wielded as swords and spent the rest of the time chasing his sister around. 

PS - In case anyone is wondering on a name choice, we haven't found one we like yet, but, when we do, it will be kept a surprise until this littlest one makes his appearance.