It's a....

It was so hard for me to wait for my big ultrasound at 20 weeks.  After losing the babies last year, I just was having a hard time keeping my nerves in check.  I'm still only having one OB appointment every 4 weeks and baby's movements still aren't super pronounced or regular, so I just wanted to see the baby and make sure everything was ok.  We had planned on Samuel and I just going to the appointment, but at the last minute that didn't work out, so the 4 of us headed for the doctor's office to have a look at our baby.  Malachi wants a brother so badly (he does say that he'd still love the baby if it was another sister) and Sapphira wants a "girl baby" (she says she will only play with the baby if it's a girl...oy).  We told the technician that we wanted to know the gender that day, but didn't want her to say it out loud because we wanted to surprise the kids later.  After just a bit of scanning we were able to see the parts we wanted to see and the technician went on to measure all the things she needed to.  I'm telling you, this baby was a goober!  It wouldn't stop moving and the technician was having a hard time keeping up with all it's wiggles.  At one point, she even had me lay so far over on my side that I was basically laying on my belly to pin the baby in to get a measurement.  She ended the appointment by saying that "un-officially" the baby looked great and that was one of the hardest babies she's ever worked with!  Sheesh.

After the kids went to nap, I went to Target and had fun buying things for the baby.  I wrapped them up once I got home and then we took the kids out to special supper to celebrate seeing the baby and to tell them what kind of baby was coming.  Sapphira opened her gift first...some white and pink princess jammies and a flowered onesie set.  Sapphira was excited that she opened princess jammies but no light bulbs were going off yet.  Then Malachi opened his gift...a plush pink elephant toy complete with crinkle sounds and tabs to suck on.  They both just sat there. 

"Do you know what these presents mean?  See the clothes are really little and the toy is for a baby." 

Nothing. 

"Momma has a girl baby in her belly!"  Sapphira immediately started yay-ing and Malachi slumped back in his seat and gave me back the toy...not a happy brother. 

"But I wanted a boy baby." 

"I know sweetheart, but God chooses the babies that come into our family.  You know, Jesus must have known that you were an extra special big brother to sisters to give you two!  You can be a super hero big brother!" 

"Humph"

"You can protect her from other kids and make sure she's happy and has what she needs."

You could see his wheels turning.  "Well, I guess I could save her if she started to fall."

After thinking about it for the rest of dinner, he started to become more and more ok with having another little sister.  Several days later, he announced that if the baby wanted Daddy while he was at work, he would hold the baby and make her happy since he is also a boy.  I know that things will be rough when we first bring her home, but it seems as though I might be able to better reason with Malachi and Sapphira this time around since they are older.  It was so good to see her little profile and the beginnings of chub on her arms and legs.  Although we still haven't decided on a name, it's nice not to call her "it" or just "the baby" anymore.  Here's hoping these next few months go quickly!!!