Studerbaby#3 gender reveal

Of all the discoveries during Screen Free Week, the best, biggest, and most wonderful was our third Studerbaby's gender reveal.  We had our appointment on Tuesday morning and Brandon and I were all jittery nerves in the waiting room.  We got into the ultrasound room and watched with unreasonably proud hearts as our baby kicked and the technician declared, the baby weighs 11oz; that's perfect.  Finally she asked, "If I can tell, do you want to know the gender?" and we both hesitated for a moment until B said, "Yes."

For all 19 weeks of the pregnancy, I have felt it was a resounding boy.  I have been combing through boy's names and imagining the three kids all together playing and it was always with Grey, Gem and a baby brother.  Brandon was not so sure and wobbled between the two.  And then, we found out...

and I was overjoyed.  A wave of excitement and gratitude washed over me and all I could think was, "a baby sis for Gemmi."  Having sisters was possibly the most grateful childhood memory I have and I am so happy that Gem will get to have a sister to confide, laugh, and learn with as the two of them grow up together.  Now when I imagine my three kids together; it is with my two daughters (ah!  my two daughters!!) holding hands and serenely following around our wild, running boy.

After B got home from work, we got the kids together and told them we had something exciting to tell them.  When Brandon paused after saying, "Our new baby is a....." Grey got a big smile on his face and chanted, "Please say a boy!  Please say a boy!"  B and I gave each other a quick, worried glance before he said, "A Girl!"  Grey's face look defeated enough that my heart broke a little for him and then he said, "Well, Okay."  He laid down on B's shoulder and I told him it was alright if he wanted to cry a little.  He declared, "No, I don't have to." and has now since been telling everyone "Now we'll have two crazy little girls!"  He has also seemed to realize it will still just be him and Daddy doing 'boy' things together with no other intruders and that seems to give him a nice consolation.*

Since he's been practicing writing his letters, we had him write down the word "Girl" on cut-out paper hearts to tell our immediate family and then we went to their houses and Dad's work to hand deliver Grey's note to them that night.  Despite the fact that the grandparents all know we are having another baby and would be thrilled if we were having either gender - they're reactions were all amazing and hilarious.  Of the six family members we told; 4 of them thought it was a boy (Chum, Gigi, Pappy, and Uch).  Only my mum and Mimi thought it was a girl (but not even they were sure).

Kayla found out just a day ago, as she has now returned from Italy from her honeymoon (a post on her amazing wedding forthcoming).  We got to chat via facetime yesterday and per usual Aunt Kitty style, she had happy tears about it.  hahhha.

It was so nice to find out during Screen Free week when we were intentionally avoiding over-sharing.  I am no stranger to sharing everything in our life (hello, blog readers!!) and so this was a moment that we got a chance to enjoy and keep this secret for a whole week before telling everyone.  It was somehow a little more magical by not letting the whole world now right at that moment (even though it was tempting) - it was just ours to enjoy for a little while.

So now we are busy manically searching girls names and sorting through Gemmi & Sophia's hand-me-down clothes to prepare for this new baby girl.  Gah, a baby girl.  We all just cannot wait to meet this baby.

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*a few weeks ago, Greyson and I watched that video of the little boy finding out he would be having another sister together.  Afterwards, we talked about how it wasn't very nice the way the boy was acting and talking about his own sisters and girls.

Grey decided that he definitely would NOT do that if we found out we were having a sister and that he would just say, "That's alright that we having a sis."  We talked about too the good things about having a sister instead of a brother (like being the only boy with Daddy and that he already has a sister and how much fun it is to play with her).

I think talking about the possibility of it being a girl (and not exactly what he may have hoped for) was really good for his age.  Grey was visibly disappointed at first, but we had already talked about it feeling a little sad if we were wrong or having a girl instead of a boy, so he already had practiced the words he would say which would also start the process of feeling better about it.

We also regularly do a lot of talking about speaking nicely to and about our family and friends and how lucky we are to have people that love us.  So although he was disappointed after the immediate announcement, his rebound time was amazing and I am so proud of him.  He is such an amazing big brother; our girls are so very lucky to have him.