We're having a. . .

BOY!

Only a few days after finding out that I was pregnant with our second baby, Shawn was praying and felt like God told him that we were having a boy and what to name him.  He quickly shared the news with me and I knew in my heart that he was right.  We're keeping his name to ourselves until we meet our son for the first time, but we are happy to reveal that a recent sonogram I had confirmed what we already knew was true; we're having a son!

Nicole was with us at the sonogram appointment and although she wasn't as mesmerized by the black and white imagines of her brother moving around as I thought she would be, she completely understands that a baby is growing in mommy's tummy and she will have a baby brother very soon.  Ever since that appointment we've been referring to the baby as "baby brother" and Nicole happens to be especially excited that baby brother will ride in our new van with us when we go places once he "comes out".   She cannot wait to have someone to keep her company in the backseat :). 

The main question we keep being is if we're excited to have a boy?  The short answer is YES! The long answer is that we truly weren't hoping for a specific gender one way or the other so we were going to be excited either way. 

Nicole admiring herself in her monkey towel after her bath. 

The other question we keep getting is if we feel ready to have a son.  There are numerous layers of that question for me.  From a practical standpoint, since we didn't find out what gender Nicole was until she was born, all of our baby gear is neutral and ready to be shared with baby brother.  Since we have the gear we need, I feel very prepared to bring our little guy home.  The other practical part that I feel prepared for is labor.  Even though pregnancy is difficult to navigate, I have zero reservations about giving birth.  I know that every pregnancy is different and I'm sure every labor is different, but I learned a lot during my labor with Nicole and I am carrying those lessons and that confidence into the delivery room this time around.  Texas is known for delivering babies primarily through C-Section, which I am not opposed to in the face of an emergency,  but given the choice I want to deliver naturally.   The good news is that our baby is growing as expected and I am not showing any signs of a high risk delivery.   As of right now I have the green light to deliver as I wish, which I am very thankful for.   

We are doing our best to ready our house for the addition of another baby and all of the stuff that will inevitably come with him.  Over Thanksgiving weekend Shawn built some custom closet organizers which I am excited to reveal to you soon.  After he did that, I was able to fit almost 2 entire closets worth of stuff into our guest room closet, freeing up almost an entire closet for the baby.

I didn't want to miss an opportunity to pop in and share our good news with you. I hope all is well!
Love,
Erica