And the results are in...

We are having a BOY, three boys! I am still in shock but surprisingly very excited. I feel amazingly prepared and can't wait until I can hold him in my arms. I am sure the rest of my pregnancy will feel very long. It always seems finding out the sex of the baby makes it that much more real that we are going to welcome another special little person into our family.

We have decided to name him Gavin Mitchell, Mitchell after Eric's cousin, Todd Mitchell, who passed away in March after battling cancer. The doctor said little Gavin is doing really well, measuring five days ahead in size (go figure, both of our boys were five days early). I really hope he is not an eight pounder like Ethan, but what can I do? The tests for genetic/neurological defects came back negative and all his parts are in place. When the doctor looked at the ultrasound picture that confirmed he was a boy she said "yeah this one is not really debatable, he is definitely a boy." So all I could do was laugh all day. But I am in a really good place and just hoping that since Micah knew it was a boy, his prediciton that we are having a girl next comes to fruition as well (that's for you honey). ;)

On the Home Front...

If any of you were wondering things are going much better here. I haven't posted in a while because I actually have energy and feel well enough to clean my house so I've been playing catch up. My migraines were at an all time worst, and I was getting one almost every day. They have been at bay for over a week now, thanks to Xango Juice (a mangosteen supplement), which Eric's Dad is newly distributing since experiencing it's healing properties for himself. Seriously, you'd have to try it to believe it but I've never been able to fight off migraines before like I have this week so hopefully it will keep up. And the best part is I have no side effects that I experience with medications, which weren't working anyway. So life is good.

My house is getting back to an acceptable state and we are preparing to leave for our first vacation since visiting my parents in D.C. last Christmas. Ironically we are headed back there for a week but we are taking Eric's parents with us this time to enjoy the experience of our nation's capital. So we are really excited for the overdue R&R and to be with family. We fly out on Sunday.

Eric is also taking a week off after we get back to burn some excess PTO. We are planning to use the time to finish the final touch ups in the basement since we passed all of our final inspections today after three long years! Yeah!

Some other exciting news, we are having our ultrasound on the 16th of October, just 4 days after we get back from vaca. Hopefully the baby will cooperate and we'll be able to share the news with all of you.

So lots of exciting things and pics to come. Just wanted to update everyone and let you know where I've disappeared to this time.

Micah's Baby Lincoln

So just a little update on the baby front...the other day Micah and I had our typical conversation, if the baby is going to be a boy or a girl. Just to give you a little background, Micah refuses or is unable to entertain the possibility that the baby might be a girl. He has even named him Lincoln, which I can only assume is due to that being the name of one of his church friends. Our conversation goes something like this...


Mommy: "Micah what should we name our baby?"

Micah: "Lincoln"

Mommy: "But what if the baby is a girl?"

Micah: "But it's not, it's a boy named Lincoln."

Mommy: "But wouldn't it be nice to have a girl since we have Daddy, Micah, Ethan - three boys, but Mommy is the only girl?"

Micah: "Yeah, we need a baby mommy."

Mommy: " So maybe we can have a girl next?"

Micah: "No, after baby Lincoln comes then baby mommy will come. We're going to have three boys and then a girl."

Micah is so adamant about this that he almost has me completely convinced. We are having an ultrasound done in mid-October so the wait is on until then. What do you think? Is three times a charm for a girl or will Micah prevail?

Ice Cream!

This summer we've enjoyed Baskin Robbins $1 scoop Tuesday nights a few times. The boys absolutely love it and it's fun to watch them enjoy one of my favorite treats.

"Cheese...is the ice cream here yet?"

"Oh I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself!"

"Yum, chocolate!"

"This place is packed! Good thing I'm not the one waiting, obviously."

In Daddy's Shoes

For as long as I can remember Micah has wanted to be just like his daddy. Everyone says your son will be "Mama's boy" but not the case with Micah. He will follow Eric to the ends of the Earth just to see what he is doing and try and "help" him. There is nothing he loves more than being with his dad and when he isn't with him he is trying to be like him. On this particular day, like many others, Micah has decided to try and fill Daddy's shoes but this time he included his socks as well, too bad they are leggings on Micah but who doesn't love a black legging with a khaki short?

Excuses

Well migraines are a frequent event in my life and I'm just getting over a terrible cold that has lasted for over a week. Of course both the boys got it and this is all in the midst of us trying to finish our basement. We are just doing the finishing work on the stairs and paint. So we are really excited and anxious to say the least. There will be a great post once that project is complete.

We all went to the doctor yesterday. When I told Micah the doctor was going to check on the baby he said, "but the doctor can't see the baby." So he was pretty blown away when we got to see and hear the baby on the ultrasound, the baby is still too small to hear his heartbeat othewise. Everything is going well except that I've lost 4lbs! My sister-in-law really cracked me up when she replied "lucky!" to the news. I guess all the headaches and work have really caught up with me. I'm sure I'll make up for it in the long run though. :)

Ethan's Prayers

Ever since we taught Ethan to pray he has folded his arms like this...

I'll be really sad when he starts to pray like the rest of us. Ethan really is so sweet. As soon as we mention prayer he folds his arms, bows his head into his hands and gets really serious; we're still working on closing his eyes. I just had to post these pictures before he grows out of it.

Here is Micah's impersonation of Ethan...