If we could live anywhere in the valley (and money was irrelevant-ha ha), BJ and I would build our Texas house in the Pecan Groves. It is the most beautiful custom home neighborhood, with Pecan trees everywhere, winding cobblestone streets. Just driving through the neighborhood makes me feel nostalgic because it has that feeling of “home.” But, lot prices start at $350,000. So, we’ll just keep dreaming Now that I am starting to feel a little bit better and the weather has been nicer (high of 100 degrees), I grabbed my camera for the first time in months and took the girls out. We went to the nicest park nestled in the Pecan Groves. The girls explored, gathered pecans, played on the playground and climbed the rock wall.

As soon as the morning sickness passed, I started getting “hormone headaches” (Dr. McNeal’s term – she assured me they would go away as I near the end of my second trimester). I had never really gotten migraines before, but now I totally understand and sympathize with those of you who get migraines! It is horrible. Luckily, BJ doesn’t mind cooking because he has done a lot of it around here lately. The other day, he was talking to the girls about what he was going to make for dinner. He asked them if they wanted seafood or steak. Kennady wanted shrimp and salmon, but Addy wanted steak. So, as a tie-breaker, BJ turned to Brighton and asked her, “Shrimp or steak?” to which she replied, “Umm…hot dogs!”

Last Thursday, I had my 18-week ultrasound. Because our ultrasound technician comes to our house, we had the girls all settled onto the couch to watch the movie of the baby inside my tummy. Kennady said, “I really want a boy baby, but I am pretty sure it will be a girl, because we just have girls and girls and girls!” I just laughed and agreed that she was probably right. We probably would have another girl. In fact, I kind of had my heart set on it. I had such a happy childhood growing up in a family with all sisters, so it had become this idealistic vision of the perfect family in my mind. And, much to everyone’s surprise, BJ really wanted another girl too. So, you can imagine the shock we felt when he told us that our baby was a boy…and we could clearly tell! After the technician left and Daddy headed out to work, Kennady went straight to my closet where we keep the baby blankets and brought the stack out to the family room. She opened each blanket to inspect it. If it was pink or too flowery or foofy, she threw it in a pile in a corner. But if it could be considered a boy blanket, she carefully laid it over the stepping stool she had brought out and ironed it with her toy iron. Then, she folded it and stacked it neatly in a pile. For the first few days, I relied on her enthusiasm to keep my spirits up. It has been a week now since we found out and we are starting to settle into the idea a bit more Now, if we could just think of a name….