So, if I had been blogging more regularly instead of trying to catch up months and months worth of posts you probably would have noticed a lack of posts and pictures. I haven't been feeling very well for quite a few months. About a week after we got home from our
little trip to the beach I noticed I was really tired all of the time and had to go to the bathroom like I was drinking gallons of water! There was nothing unusual about the timing of anything and I had no reason to even suspect anything but when a certain date rolled by I got suspicious and took a test. I was actually quite nervous this time and shaking when I went to look at the stick. Deep down inside I knew what it would be but it was a surprise, too! I never get those symptoms BEFORE I know. And the results were...POSITIVE! Wow! I knew Tory would be surprised as much as if not more than me so I had to think of a good way to tell him.
He happened to be working on a new Family Home Evening chart for our family. We've never really had one and I knew what I wanted. He was sitting at the computer typing it up and here's how the conversation went:
Me: We should add another job to the chart.
Tory: OK, I guess we could add another one.
Me: No, we really need to. We need to have 8 jobs.
Tory: Uh...OK. Well, you think of one and tell me what you want.
Me: Tory, look at me. (He looks.) We HAVE to have 8 jobs.
Tory: (Gets a "smile" on his face that is very forced and more of a combo of a smile and a confused/worried look. Then he adds a gulp to it.) Really? No...really? Really? Are you serious? (All the while this "fake" smile is on his face. So funny!)
Me: Yes!
Tory: Wow! This is great!
And so it went. We have always known we weren't finished and that our family wasn't complete so we were both totally fine with having another baby. We just were both TOTALLY surprised for the first time EVER!
And then began the sickness. It was pretty bad. Second only to Claire I'd say. I finally threw up for the last time on Christmas Eve. I never got that sick with the boys. I felt pretty confident that it was a girl because of that and also because of a personal experience I had in the hospital when I was trying to figure out what name to put on the birth certificate papers for Claire. (Tory let me have the ultimate decision in the end but we had talked about it a lot.) I really wanted to use the name Brooke for a middle name but Claire Brooke just didn't sound right. So I was debating whether or not to name her Claire Elise Brooke with two middle names or just Claire Elise. I had a distinct impression and feeling and words in my mind that told me I would get to use the name Brooke later. So Claire Elise was named. I was pretty surprised when Beckham's ultrasound came around saying he was a boy...because the thought was so strong. But we knew we weren't complete then so I just thought, "Maybe if Beckham would have been a girl we would have stopped there and never had Beckham." So here we are with baby number 6 and I'm thinking this has got to be the girl we've thought was coming! We had a girl name picked out and I had even picked up a few bows. That's how confident we were.
And then we went in on February 7 to have our first ultrasound! We brought Claire with us because she was sooo excited to find out if it was going to be a sister for her. She had told me that she would cry if she found out it was a boy. She also said she would cry if it was a girl but it would be happy tears. She had been hoping and hoping and only referred to the baby as a girl. I would always say, "Well, it could be a boy, too!" And she'd say, "But it could be a girl!" Even her prayers included praying for a sister. One that I wrote down said, "Heavenly Father, please send us a girl baby......because I'm the only one...." Every girl should have a sister!
So the first thing the ultrasound tech said was, "I'm sure you recognize this!" I was shocked! The baby had BOY parts?! Yes, indeed. Another boy for our family! And it wasn't Claire that we needed to worry about crying. It was me. I don't know why. I wasn't sad that it WAS a boy. I was sad that it WASN'T a girl. Does that make sense? It's a bit confusing. It almost felt like a loss to me. It's hard to describe. I would never trade a baby boy, I just thought for SURE it was a girl. It was the strangest emotion like I had lost a child that I thought was coming to me. I felt like I needed to mourn a loss. I am getting older and I don't know if we will have any more children at this point. This is the first time I have felt THAT emotion as well. Before I could always think, "Maybe next time." It took me awhile to wrap my brain around it. But never did I wish I wasn't having a baby because he was a boy. I have to admit...I really do love boys! :) I felt sad for Claire. But at the same time I was so thankful for Claire and for who she is. And I'm so thankful I took every advantage of having a girl when I did. From dressing her in homemade hair bows and headbands and bracelets every day of her life to painting her room pink to making her Easter dresses and painting her nails. I feel like I couldn't have experienced having a "girl" more than I did.
So here we go! Another boy! Now it was time to tell the boys. We wanted to do something fun and creative. Tory decided to do a pizza and have them make it with the gender spelled out. We brought it home, cooked it up and then it was time! Tory's friend, James, was staying with us that night for a business trip so he was able to catch it on video for us.
Can you tell what it spells?
Everyone was happy and Claire never did cry. Maybe she just doesn't believe us until she sees him...I don't know. Maybe it's just because all she knows is boys and brothers. And she really does like all of them. They're not so bad.
It's a boy!
Video Clip:
