We spent the first week of July with Seth’s family having a reunion with the whole gang. It had been years since we had all been together so it was fun to catch up!  We have added kids and continents. We packed the week with lots of fun at the beach, family farm and in between.

The thing our little family needed to do differently throughout the week was to find some balance with some times just as a family, removing the boys from the crowd and helping them to have some quiet! Even an extrovert like me was in need of some down time in a clan of 16 around the clock! You live and you learn.

Here are some picture highlights from the fun trip!

Jackson’s birthday happens to roll around each year in the midst of a move, summer break and in this year’s case..morning sickness/just being big pregnant. I wasn’t up for a big bash. We normally do extended family and a bunch of friends. This year I let Jackson invite 5 friends for a simple pizza and cupcake “pirate party”. I really tried to resist the mom guilt that went along with down-sizing but after our big Texas trip this year I just was not up for a big shindig. We filled some water balloons, did a mini scavenger hunt, put on pirate tattoos, ate pizza and called it a party! The absolute best thing that happened was that my friend Annie’s flight got cancelled (good for us not for her so an hour before the party we landed ourselves Annie and 4 teenage girls to help with the party. They made it so much more of a party than I could of and Jackson felt so special!!

on the day of his real birthday we had cake as a family and he got to pick dinner!  I can’t get over how big he is! We love him so much. Happy Birthday, Jackson!!

At my last OB appointment they asked me if I wanted to do a genetic screening blood test. While I would never even consider terminating a pregnancy I am absolutely on board with knowing what we can to know how to prepare. I asked if the test would also give us information on the sex of the baby….yep and with 99.4% accuracy! I left my appointment and talked to Seth. He had known I might have testing done but never asked about it so I decided as long as he didn’t ask I wouldn’t mention it and then would be able to surprise him once I got the call. The midwife mentioned it would be done in a week…so I called at the one week mark. And the two week mark. By week 3 I was going a bit crazy wanting to find out but also a bit terrified to get a call when I was by myself.

Last Monday my phone rang while I was seeing a speech patient. I silenced the call and called them back as soon as I left the appointment. It went to the nurses voice mail so I eagerly awaited her call back. When she called back she told me that the baby looks healthy with no blaring neural tube stuff going on. The baby looks great! Whew. And then she asked if we wanted to know the gender. I said “OF COURSE!!!”. She told me it’s a girl. I asked her to repeat it because certainly she was mistaken. We make boys…everyone we know for months have been telling us it had to be a boy, yada, yada. But she said again with a slight laugh at me that “it is in fact a GIRL, a female!”  (We have had lots of questions on whether or not we wanted a boy or girl. Anyone that knows we well knows that I have always longed for a daughter. I had totally prepared myself that this baby could very well be a boy and that that would also mean that we would likely not ever have a daughter. I had no doubt that we would be over the moon with another boy but I also see something so special in families with little girls. It’s just different. So in many ways this little girl is an answer to lots of prayers! I thought the answer would be that God would give me peace without having a daughter so it feels like an amazing treat that he decided to bless us with what we so much desired.)

Now I had this big secret. I couldn’t wait for Seth to be home to tell him!!!!

When I got home from work I dug out the couple of little girl things I had from friends during my other two pregnancies. I decided it would be fun to hang them inside Seth’s closet so when he got home and went to hang up his suit he would see the girl clothes.  Needless to say he was thrilled with the news but also in disbelief like me.  In such disbelief that he called the doctors office himself the next day to confirm!

The next day we decided to tell the boys.  We filled a big metal bucket with balloons and when they pulled off the quilt a bunch of pink balloons popped out. They are delighted with the news and can’t wait to meet their little sister!

On Friday we are all going together for the 20 week sonogram! Jackson is so excited to get out of school to go “meet” the baby. Can’t wait for our little date with her.  We are nearly half way to meeting her which is hard to believe. With two big ones and tons of activities going on I am afraid she will be here before we have time to blink!

As Jackson left for school on the morning of his Kindergarten Patriotic Show he said “Mom, please don’t yell Encore! After our show we really don’t have any more songs to sing.” He is such a character! His class began preparing for their show when school started and they finally got to show us their stuff this week. I am coming to grips with the fact that being in the 97th percentile for height means Jackson will forever be in the back row but he made up for the distance from the camera with his volume and enthusiasm. Here are some pictures…if I remember I will have Seth come back and add some video!

he told me when he came around the corner he had some stage fright

Jackson had a speaking part and I think it’s the first time I’ve seen him be nervous! He did a great job!