The alarm went off at 5:00am, Jeff's alarm to be specific, but he had set it for me because when we went to bed last night my phone was dead. Too much Marco Polo for me I guess ;)
I got up and squished myself into my running clothes. Jeff got up too and while I was squishing, he was out the door with my car to fill it with Gas at the gas station which is conveniently across the street. He's good to me.
By 5:16 he was back, my car was running and full of gas, and I was out the door and headed to Ferndale for my 5:30 run with my girlfriend.
We ran. It was cold and awesome. I love running. Sharon asked me when I found out the sex of the baby and I told her later today and that we were all convinced it was a girl.
I got home and was sweaty and cold but I felt like I needed to stretch more so I laid down by the fireplace in my living room, "stretching" and woke up 20 minutes later to Braxton sitting by me, and the fire.
I got in the shower and then got out and came down to make breakfast. But Emmett was dressed and frowning face. I asked him what was wrong and he said he didn't want to miss his AR test. Accelerated Reader to clarify. And to further clarify, the test isn't even for 1st graders but he's a studious, overachiever and likes to take the tests anyways. So my heart broke. My boys. So sweet and tender and sensitive. I told him, and actually I called them all in to speak to them all, that I didn't want it to be a bummer day. I wanted it to be a special, exciting, day and if they would rather go to school to take a test then that would be totally okay by me. No hurt feelings. Momma wanted everyone to have a good day.
So, the next thing I know I am not making breakfast but I am, still in my bathrobe, getting out bowls and spoons and milk and cereal and we have 10 minutes to feed the boys and get their lunches made and their bums on the bus. Phew!
Adelle wants to stay home and come with us to the appointment, so I tell her she is my favorite and she knows I am just teasing, and Gage has been waiting to see the baby for weeks. This is when Gage pipes up and says to me very serious, "Mom, No whining if it's a boy!" And I laugh out loud and tell him I will be so happy if it's a boy or a girl and Adelle finishes my line by saying, "as long as it's a healthy baby."
Jeff comes in from grading the driveway, which is potholes galore, and the four of us play Pig Pile, the card game. And Jeff wins and Gage looses and Adelle and I were somewhere in the middle. Then Jeff gets on his hands and knees and plays doggie with the kids while I go upstairs and get dressed and blow dry my hair. I have a new shirt thanks to Amazon and it's super cute and grey, which is my new favorite color.
Adelle comes into my room fully decked out in pink. Pink pants, shirt, earings, ponytail holder, bow, and now she is asking me if she can paint her fingernails pink. I say yes and ask if she would rather I paint her nails. She says yes. Then she asks if she can paint mine pink and I tell her I am sticking with grey because it's neutral and she suggests a blue/pink pattern on my nails which I say no to.
I put on makeup and she watches so I ask her if she wants a little eye shadow too and she does so I wipe some on each of her eyes and she say's she can't see it, which is because there is barely anything there, but I tell her the lighting is bad and she goes into the bathroom where the lighting is better. She's so cute and growing up so greatly. I am not one for little girls wearing makeup but it was a special day and a little eye shadow never hurt anyone.
We leave in time to get to the appointment a couple minutes early. Jeff asks me if I am nervous and I say yes. When we get inside I have paperwork to do so Adelle pulls out Go Fish cards from her purse and she and Gage play a game while I do paperwork and Jeff browses through a magazine. My phone is on silent but I see the light through my bag and people are texting me to see what time my appointment is and reminding me to not forget to tell them!! We get called right back.
Her name is Kay and she's not Mindi (one of my besties from Highschool who has always done my ultra-sounds with my baby's) but Mindi moved and no longer works in town so Kay is great and I tell her Mindi is my friend and she gives us special treatment.
She tells us how healthy baby is. How strong the heartbeat is at 160 and how perfect the heart shape and kidneys are. She asks us if we want to know the gender and we say yes and almost in the same minute she shows us it's a BOY! And I am shocked to the point of falling off the table. And I look at Jeff and he is shocked, and Gage is shocked, and Adelle is the most shocked and holding back as tight as she can to the tears that only a mom can see soaking up her eyes. And I reach for her hand and we hold hands. And now the tears from her eyes are coming out of mine and they are happy, and disappointed, and empathetic, but all in a really good way. And I tell her how excited I am and how fun it will be to have a little brother again and she is strong and good and happy.
Gage exclaims that the baby's name should be Bird Eagle and I am the only one who understands and I tell everyone in the room that it sounds like a Native American Tribe name. Which is awesome.
Adelle and Gage are great and Kay prints them their own picture of their picking. Adelle chooses a profile picture and takes hers to school and shows it off. Gage chose a picture of the baby's foot, which was relieving to me as I really thought he was going to go for the one that pronounces boy.
Kay tells us we must be really good parents because our kids were so well behaved and I think that's the best compliment you can tell people trying their best to raise their kids.
Gage starts asking about when we get ice cream, which we never said we were doing but sounds like a reasonable idea. We leave the appointment and head to Dairy Queen because it's close and Adelle was heading to school in the same direction. Vanilla Cone for Gage. Mint Oreo mini blizzard for Adelle and a chicken strip basket for them to share. Jeff gets a burger combo and Heath blizzard and I share with all of them because I like a variety. Jeff is explaining to Adelle about how lucky we are that we have her, our little girl, because he is such a manly specimen. I laugh out loud.
We drop the boys off at home and I take Adelle to school. She's happy and excited about her news. I tell her that the more boys on the farm, the less farm chores for her and she likes it. At soccer later her friend comes up to me and says, "I didn't even know you were pregnant! Congratulations! And Adelle is happy that she no longer has to do chores!!" Interpretations are the best.
While I am at the school with Adelle I find Braxton in the cafeteria and tell him the news! He smiles and is happy and surprised and all the friends he is eating with get excited and start having side conversations about it.
I come home to eat a broccoli salad that was left over from last nights dinner and Jeff joins me at the table. Breath. It's been a busy couple of hours. We both text our parents and our siblings to share the news. My sister calls me when she gets the text because I think she thinks I am teasing about the gender. I Marco Polo with my sister in law and she tells me to tell Adelle that Sister in Laws are almost as good as sisters and it makes me really emotional. I have the best sister and sister in laws. I am also texting friends as fast as I can to make sure everyone is informed and they are texting back and being surprised and happy and one of them telling me she was so sorry and asking if I cried.
I get back in the car and go to the school again because it's my day/time to volunteer in Emmett's class. I share the news with him and he gets his cute little smirk on his face. Then he asks, "How is Adelle doing with that news?" which is so sweet and thoughtful and such a typical Emmett concern.
After school is snack and soccer. We don't have time to go home in between so I packed a snack and cleats etc. All the soccer mom's hear the news and get excited. After Adelle's practice is Emmett's, after Emmett's is Braxton's. My girlfriend from school/soccer brings me a cute little gift and I open it to find the littlest, softest, little boy onesie ever and I say, "it's blue!" and she responds, "I had to exchange the pink one today!" And we laugh because I had her convinced it was a girl too!!!
We are home and it's almost 7:00pm and I have no plans for dinner so I get some bacon out of the fridge and cut it into small pieces and scramble it with eggs and make toast. And we are all so hungry we inhale it and Braxton eats all the extra toast that the other kids can't finish.
We have a FHE lesson on good pictures and bad pictures and we all look at the ultrasound pictures and are fascinated and awed by his feet and arms and cute little 10 inch body. We get out a ruler so everyone knows how big he is and it's so nice to be able to call the baby a he.
After bedtime routines Gage reminds everyone to kiss the baby goodnight. Like he does every night. I Marco Polo with another sister-in-law and we are both pregnant and we talk about our babies and our lives and we both cry and relate so well to each other and it makes me thankful.
Then Jeff and I are both so worn out. But I tell him I really want to blog about all of it while it's fresh in my mind and he comes with me to the office and sits with me while I type away. It's a happy day.
