Boy or Girl?

Matt and I had our ultrasound this morning.  I was perhaps the most anxious about this ultrasound for a couple reasons. First, I was starting to doubt my initial feelings about this baby being a boy.  I knew for certain that my first two babies were boys.  No doubt in my mind whatsoever.  But this baby was throwing me off.  I just didn't know.  I've always imagined myself with three boys and never knew if a girl was in our future.  Perhaps that's because Matt and I both come from families heavy laden with boys, each with 4 boys and 1 girl.  That's not to say that I never wanted a girl.  I think I was just preparing myself for an all boy household.  I love to ask Rylan his thoughts about the baby.  Early on he told me that it was a boy and that we should name him Nixon (his friend's little brother's name).  He stuck with that for awhile.  Then, just one day before the ultrasound, I asked Rylan "Is the baby a boy or a girl?"  He dropped his head and with disappointment in his voice said, "It's a girl Mom.  But I wanted a boy.  Boys are so much fun."  I believed him! I was so excited!  It was as if I was hearing the doctor tell me herself that it was a girl.  Just to confirm his answer, I asked him again the next morning, "Is the baby a boy or a girl."  He gave me the same answer.  The second reason why I was so anxious for the ultrasound was because I just wanted to know if this baby was healthy.  A healthy ultrasound at 20 weeks is usually a good sign that everything will go well for the remaining weeks until birth.

We arrived at the ultrasound room and took our places.  Me on the table and Matt sitting next to me on the bench.  The technician came in and said, "okay if you could just pull your shirt up and your (pause and awkward look at my pants) coolots down a bit so I can see your full belly."  "Coolots?" I thought to myself and immediately said out loud.  "Those are from the 90's!" I said.  To which the technician immediately confirmed with a nod and followed with, "Yeah that was an awful decade."  That was the start of our strange 20 minute sit in with our technician.  He was an odd dude to say the least.  Anyways, he looked at the baby for a long time and couldn't get a good shot of the sex parts because the baby's legs were closed. For about 15 minutes he rambled on about more strange things.  Matt started to get a bit bored with him and pulled out his phone to check emails until he could determine the sex of the baby.  Randomly, the technician said quietly, "It's a girl."  My response was an immediate squeal, "Ahhhhhhh!"  Matt's eyes shifted up, dropped his phone to his side, sat forward with a surprised look on his face and said, "What?! What did you say?"  The technician repeated himself and Matt and I were both so shocked and beyond words elated!  We are having a girl!  We can't wait to welcome our little princess into this world!  

Our Little Van Gough

Okay maybe not a child prodigy, but definitely some talent there.  Rylan is just like his momma when it comes to his interests.  He loves to draw, color, do puzzles, and watch movies.  He can sit uninterrupted for a long time and focus on whatever task is at hand, giving me a nice little break too.  Rylan is also a perfectionist.  As a perfectionist myself, I haven't yet decided if it's a blessing or a curse to be this way.  Let's just say that if Rylan makes any mistake while coloring (using the wrong color, going outside the lines too much, etc) then he throws a fit and wants to start from scratch.  I can definitely relate Rylan.  Check out some of his impressive artwork.  Not bad for a 3 year old.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day has become one of my favorite holidays.  It has so much more meaning to me since I've become a mother. I can truly appreciate the divine role and responsibility that mother's have in God's plan.  After I had my first child I looked at my mother differently.  The sacrifices that were made on her part to raise five children is tremendous and I will always be grateful to her.  Motherhood is by far the most difficult "occupation" a person could have (I don't care what doctors, lawyers, etc. might say).  It's an unglamorous, humbling, always on the clock, little praise, makes you crazy sometimes kind of job...and it's THE BEST!  I'm grateful to be a stay at home mom to two wonderful, rambunctious little boys who fill my life with nonstop fun, laughter, and purpose.

A Perfect Spring

We could not have asked for better Spring weather.  Scattered thunderstorms and consistently record low temperatures pushed back our Stage 3 drought restrictions another month.  Texas has been in drought for several years in a row, making summer a long, brutally hot season that lasts about 5 months. So for now I'm just soaking up all this cool Cali-like (as in California) weather.  Let's just hope that this mild Spring is the indication of a mild Summer.

This mild Spring weather is great for many reasons, but my top favorite are 1) that I get to be outside more and enjoy the beauty of nature in a mild climate and 2) everything is green.  It makes me happy to look out my windows and see lush green and colorful plants.  I've never seen my plants look so good.  My dad came to visit a few weeks ago and was nice enough to build us a trellis fence that runs along our rock retaining wall.  I've been wanting to do it for at least a year but was intimidated by the project.  So when I mentioned these plans to my dad, he was out in the yard with a can of spray paint and a shovel digging post holes in no time.  I can't wait to see it when the vines fill it in.

Rylan and Taylor enjoying the first sprinkler time of the season