BABY NEWS!!!

Noah, Cohen & Ian all sporting soccer jerseys my brother in law and his family sent us from Uruguay.

Along with the 3 jerseys the boys are wearing, my in laws also sent us a 4Th baby jersey;
maybe they thought we needed a goalie to make our team complete???

As it turns out, over the course of 5 days of voting, 34 of my our dearest friends and family members decided to vote in our baby poll.

Of the 34 people who voted,

10 vindictive people DARED to vote that baby #4 would be a BOY

and 24 of our SWEETEST friends voted hoping baby #4 would be a GIRL.

Well, as it turns out, last Monday, the 23rd, I had my ultrasound. Baby looks healthy- although the ultrasound tech wants me to go back in about a month for another ultrasound so she can get a better look at the heart; what it a relief it is hearing that the baby is healthy for now, especially since we've spent already more than the desired amount of time in the NICU or emergency room with our previous 3 babies.

Spencer and the boys came along on this last doctor visit; turns out they were all just as anxious to find out what we were having as I was. Up until that point when the ultrasound tech confirmed the sex of the baby, I really had NO IDEA what the baby would be... from time to time, depending on my mood, or what the flavor of the day would be (by flavor, I mean craving), sometimes I'd think I was carrying a girl, while other times I was sure it was a boy. I worried myself for weeks thinking maybe I thought the baby was a girl because that's what I wanted it to be- but then again, according to old wise tales, like what foods I had been craving and the number of beats in the heart beat, this baby would DEFINITELY be a GIRL... I had it in the bag... err, in the oven I mean....

or maybe I didn't...

as it turns out, baby #4 is going to be another BOY!!! Who would have thunk?! I thought for sure prior to the doctors visit that if I heard the ultrasound tech tell me the baby was another boy I'd cry... but what would you know, I didn't shed a tear! In fact, I was excited about the news almost immediately!!! I could sense a bit of disbelief and possible disappointment from Spencer at first but it didn't take him long to accept the terms... I think he experienced instant relief once he realized baby #4 wouldn't be quite as expensive as he had thought it would be; we already have more baby boy clothes than we know what to do with! Now there would be no need to break the bank and run out and buy little girl clothes.

Both Spencer and I were a bit disappointed with HOW the tech chose to tell us the gender; usually they get you up on the table, lather your belly with goop, type some personal information into the computer system, make sure the television is "ON" so everyone in the room who has come to hear the news can see first thing for themselves as the tech performs the ultrasound, asks a few questions, then proceeds to find out A. if baby's healthy & B. what the gender is... well, my tech that morning didn't do any of the things I mentioned above in order... she just asked me to get on the table, poured the goop on, and in the middle of our conversation we were having about children she said out of NO WHERE, "oh, it's another boy"... (there wasn't even a HINT of enthusiasm in her voice- possibly because she'd shared with me prior that she had four daughters of her own and had always a wanted a boy of her own; maybe she was jealous I was going to have four of my own)... then she continued on with the previous conversation we were having! It took me a minute or two to realize she was talking about MY BABY, so that's when I caught her in mid sentence about something else she was blabbering about and had to ask "WAIT, did you just say my baby is going to a BOY???"... "Yes" was her reply, "couldn't you see when I scanned over his little boy part?" she looked at both Spencer and I like we were idiots, as though we hadn't seen it plenty of times before; that's when we informed her she hadn't turned the television on yet for our own viewing. "OOPS! My fault".... yes lady, it was your fault you managed to make this exciting moment in our little family's life less than memorable; she was a bit of a killjoy.

Anyhow, so back to the news of baby #4 being a boy... I was excited with the news almost immediately; it's not too often you meet parents of four boys ages 4 and younger (technically, Noah will still be 3 when baby #4 is born- he'll still have another month before he turns 4). I'm excited for the challenges I'll face as a mother to four young boys; Spencer's already excited to teach them about "hard work" and doing house chores like mowing the lawn and earning an extra penny or two mowing neighbors lawns. Perhaps once they're a little a bit older we really can get them to form a famous boy band like the Jonas Brothers, or maybe they'll all be skateboarding legends. I'm already looking forward to spending my afternoons at the ball field, watching t-ball or baseball games, and shuttling the boys around to soccer games and swim meets. Maybe FEBREEZE or OUST can endorse us as a family; we'll sure need lots of it, along with any other yummy smelling scents or candles to mask the smell of stinky feet and B.O.

I've always been one to say "I'd much rather have 4 boys if I could choose, instead of 4 girls"; I guess GOD decided to grant me that wish and see how well I do in raising them.

Have a mentioned that we'll have 4 boys on missions back to back?!

Perhaps I wasn't disappointed after learning this baby I'm carrying is a boy because earlier that morning while showering and getting dressed I had a gut feeling the baby was going to be another boy. It was the first time during the pregnancy I had finally had a "sure" feeling about it. Only a week before my appointment I decided to take all three of my boys and my 4 year old nephew Daniel to Thanksgiving Point to see the dinosaurs and then eat lunch and get some ice cream; I found myself thinking at least 5 or 6 times during that outing how "this is what it would be like next year if baby #4 turns out to be a boy". The outing was a bit exhausting; I've decided I need to glue eyeballs to the back of my head because Ian's a bit of a wanderer, and it would probably be better to skip eating lunch at a restaurant without Spencer or another adult there to help me because my eldest knows how to self induce vomit and he'll do just so if I ask him to take another bite of his chicken nugget before he can have an ice cream. Try cleaning up vomit in a crowded restaurant while 3 other little kids are either crying for ice cream or a bottle. Though it was A LOT OF WORK, I enjoyed the outing with my boys and my nephew and a part of me was ready for another one like it after the day was over... how many more months till AUGUST??? Maybe by September or October after a few family outings, I'll have wizened up.

Sorry no baby pics from the ultrasound. We got a lot of good looks at the baby, that is after the tech turned the television "ON" for the rest of us to see, but the tech was TERRIBLE at trying to capture photos... she needs more practice. She gave us one blurry picture of the baby's leg, another of the stomach and a SCARY looking picture of the baby's face, looking straight on- no angelic profile picture like the example below.

Just a side note to grandparents, this profile pic IS NOT of your future grandson;
it's someone elses baby; I found it on the Internet and thought I'd use it as an example for what a profile pic should look like.

The actual mugshot picture she gave us looked more like something that belonged on a GRATEFUL DEAD t-shirt (minus the roses).

Again, grandparents, your "soon to be" grandson doesn't actually look like the skeleton above,
but if you had seen the mugshot the ultrasound tech took, you'd almost think the two were related.
Trust me, your grandson already looks like a handsome stud!

Disclaimer: I apologize for not posting this news earlier in the week or even responding to some of your inquiries. Really, I didn't need the extra time to "accept" the fact the baby is a boy and not a girl; truth is, I was just too busy to write. Kids have been sick, we've been busy house hunting, and I had a SUPER MESSY house that took me two days to clean.

Due date is still August 20TH