Surprise!

In my May 10 Project 365 blog post, I left the spot for May 4th empty and wrote: I think I have the perfect picture for this day, but I can't get to it right now. Will post another day.

Here is that picture:

It's true. I'm now almost 22 weeks and not sure why it has taken me so long to write this post. Mostly just being busy. (I started writing this weeks ago.) Maybe also because pregnancy always feels a little surreal to me? Maybe I have seen too often that things can go wrong, and I've been holding my breath? I actually had an early miscarriage in March; if you've ever had a miscarriage, you know that it's very emotional. I have a really bad habit of guarding my heart in important situations. Every month, I would say that I'm going to announce it after my doctor appointment...then a week would go by, and I'd think, "Maybe I'll just wait until we hear the heartbeat one more time."

Regardless, I'm pregnant, and if you've seen me anytime in the past...well, let's be honest, 18 weeks - you've known it was true. My dear practically blind grandfather guessed I was expecting when I was about 9 weeks along.

This picture was taken at 15 weeks. I'm getting bigger (ahem...everywhere) by the day.

at 19 weeks

The kids were soooo excited when Ryan and I told them the news, when I was 11 weeks along. There was a lot of squealing going on. They all wanted to offer their services in helping with the baby. They had been asking for another sibling for quite some time. We just had to wait until Daddy was on board, too. (Which is funny because now HE wants 5 kids!)

And here's a little surprise to some, even for my family...

It's a boy!!!

I wanted to make the "boy" news special for the kids. On the way home from the ultrasound, I stopped by the party store to pick up baby blue plates, napkins, and balloons. I also told everyone they had to wear a blue shirt at supper, although they didn't know why. Ryan took the kids in the other room while I decorated the table. I said, "Surprise! Guess what?" Tornado was the first one to say, "It's a boy!"

They were laughing and glowing at the ultrasound pictures. (I mean, a picture of a baby "weiner" - how fun is that!) I love that all along they didn't care whether it was going to be a boy or a girl. There was a little bit of discussion about wanting a girl to even things up, but mostly it was unanimous that we all just wanted another addition to our family, no matter what.

I'm really happy that our boy will get to be friends with the 3 youngest cousins (all boys!) in our family (2 on my side, 1 on Ryan's). Get excited: R, P, and K; a new friend is on the way!

happy smiles

Sissy was jumping up and down, squealing.

We enjoyed our meal together while we talked about names, etc. They have suggested some really sweet ideas with such sincerity.

After supper, we drove to Old Navy and let the kids each pick out an outfit for the baby. Sissy went with sweet owls, Dash chose Superman, and Tornado picked Star Wars. I think they made great choices.