boy, oh boy!

Babe, you are a boy (of course you already knew that)! A very bouncy, baby boy. Here I was all afraid that you might not cooperate and we might not get to find out just what you are, but you had absolutely no qualms about flashing your junk all over the place. Such a Derhake. Almost immediately our ultrasound tech was able to say those three words to us......It's a boy!

Your Dad and I just looked at each other and started laughing and crying and smiling so h

ard, I'm sure we both looked a bit touched. And right away it just all made sense, you are a boy, of course you're a boy. I can totally see us with a boy. You will fit right into our little family so perfectly. In fact, I am pretty sure your Dad is mentally picking out cleats and soccer balls for you already.

We will have a wonderful time together Gizmo.

You looked very handsome in all your pictures and all your little fingers and toes are accounted for. We got to see you kicking and punching at my cervix like it is some sort of trap door you are trying to bust out of (stop doing that by the way, it hurts). The tech was nice enough to print out the stats for all your various body parts and limbs, and I was ecstatic to see that your head is in the 49th percentile. Try to keep in that range baby, think lots of "normal size head" thoughts. Our beloved Doctor, Doctor V., explained that you are 11 0z, or about the size of a bag of chocolate chips.....how great is she???!! Although, if you are only about a pound, that really doesn't explain why I have gained 9 lbs. Sigh.

It is so weird and amazing to know that you are a boy. That in just a short time we will have a son. Makes me even more excited to meet you, and I didn't even think that was possible.

And just because it seems only fair since I have posted so many pictures of you, here is one of me.....carrying you. In this picture you are 21 weeks old.

boy, girl, twins, or triplets...boy, girl, twins, or triplets...

Ok Gizzie, so we definitely know you are not twins or triplets, but that chant keeps going through my head. It is from this old song we use to sing while we played jump rope (what??! people play jump rope). Anyways, the people twirling the rope would chant "boy, girl, twins, or triplets" over and over again until the person jumping messed up, and whatever was being chanted when the jumper messed up was what they would supposedly have some day.

Totally scientific.

So all day I have been walking around with that lovely little ditty in my head. Can you tell I am excited to know just what you are?

I want you to know, that whatever you are, that is exactly what we wanted all along. Boy, girl, makes no difference to us, we are just thrilled to call you ours.

I do sort of hope you aren't some of each though. I would hate for you to be known as the Hermaphrodite Cheerleader from Chicago, or for people to write in your yearbook that they are so sorry about your "teeny weenie"....btw that is from a really funny episode of Friends that we will watch together some day.

it's alive!

Hey there Kicky McKickerson, I feel you. I officially felt you for the first time last night actually. I thought I had felt you a few times before, but man oh man it is really hard to tell what with everything that is going on down there these days. There was no mistaking it the other night though.

I was lying in bed (on my left side, of course) and I felt a flutter. My initial thought was to curse the cheesy noodles I had for dinner, but then I felt it again and again. I finally realized that was no cheesy noodle aftermath baby, that was you. So cool. People tell you how cool it is to feel those tiny flutters and jabs, but I wasn’t really impressed until I felt it myself. And now, I am a “feel you move” junkie. I can’t get enough of it. I find myself talking to you, eating sugary things, even resorting to sharp pokes in my belly all to get you to respond and move around. Who does that? It’s like some sort of warfare.

I am thinking that the most sure fire way to get movement out of you is to reenact the events of the other night when you were so active. See what happened was Bax was in bed with us, under the covers, releasing his tiny deadly Baxter farts. They were so awful and relentless. I wonder if that was what made you deliver a small jab. Sort of like a "hey, cut it the hell out, out there" sort of jab. Putting up with that smell is a high price to pay Giz, but I am willing to endure it if it means feeling you again.

a little bit of this, a little bit of that

Oh geez baby, look how lazy I have been at updating this already. Is your shiney new-ness wearing off a bit already? Impossible I say!

In my defense we have been busy. Let’s see, we went to L.A. to surprise your Uncle Joe for his 40^th birthday.....check out the video below. Btw babe, can you believe you have an Uncle that is 40?!! Ew :o) We spent lots of time in L.A. with your cousins Nate and Zach and their eight, yes eight bunnies (insert birds and bees talk here). Nate and Zach have predicted that you, baby, are a boy with curly dark hair and eyes and that your name is Tyler. I wanted to tell them that I was next to positive that your name is not Tyler, but I decided not to burst their 6 and 3 year old bubbles.

We also got to see my buddy, Chandra while we were in L.A., and just like a good buddy she is cooking up a playmate for you! Perfect timing, but a tad geographically undesirable. Her bebe is due in November, so you guys will be almost exactly 2 months apart. We must start plotting ways to Jedi Mind Trick her hubby into moving to Chicago. As previously mentioned, I am sort of busy these days babe, so I delegate that task to you. So whip out your monocle and hairless cat and get to hatching some plans.

Your Dad and I also painted our master bathroom, you know, for you. I am just sure your soul would have been assaulted by the old color in there. It was this yellow-ish/beige-ish color that, along with the tan-ish tile, resulted in a bathroom we not so lovingly referred to as “Desert Storm.” It was certain to be unflattering to your newborn complexion, especially if, God forbid, you are suffering from any sort of jaundice. Now it is a lovely calming grey and I know you are sighing baby sighs of relief in utero right now.

Also your Grammie came to visit and I think we hit up every baby store in the city. We were all exhuastified baby, but we had so much fun. She is soooo excited to meet you (naturally) and bought you all kinds of cute prezzies.

So see, that’s a whole lot. Don’t be mad. Just remember all those presents you scored. Presents make everything better.