I have two pieces of big news to share (although, you most likely already know both of them because I've told just about everyone I know by now)...
Number 1 Big News:
We're having a boy! Yesterday we had the big ultrasound appointment and we've been floating on a cloud ever since. Honestly, it's no secret that I've been hoping for a girl and I wouldn't be completely honest if I said that I wasn't a wee bit disappointed at the news. BUT, I'm already head over heels for this little one so it doesn't matter what his gender is. It's too late for me. I'm in love! So, now I'm just trying to process the information and really think about what it means to raise a little boy up into a man. I've been surrounded by boys/men all of my life (4 brothers, raised by my father, mostly male friends, etc...) so I know a little bit about what makes a good man and what makes a bad man and what can put a man on the fence teetering in either direction. But that's what scares me. It's so important for me to give this little boy all of the tools that he needs to grow into a self sufficient, responsible, kind, loving, happy man and that seems a lot harder than playing dress up with a little girl (which is why I really wanted a little girl!). For some reason, I just thought that raising a girl would be easier because I am one. That probably isn't true either, and had I found out that the baby was a girl I would probably be busy thinking about how I would teach her to be strong and independent and self sufficient, etc. etc. etc. Knowing the gender just makes it that much more real. As if the little guy's nearly constant kicking wasn't enough to make this a reality! But don't get me wrong. I am so happy! And I think that it's fantastic that we are having ourselves a bouncing baby boy!
Number 2 Big News:
We are moving! Not very far- only a mile away. But, we will be free of so many negative things once we vacate our current digs and settle into the new ones! This has been a long time in the coming, yet we've been hesitant to take the necessary steps because of the cost usually associated with any kind of move as well as breaking the news to our current landlord. As a matter of fact, we had decided not to move about a month ago (after months of deliberation) yet somehow we randomly stumbled across a place that was perfect and the landlord practically begged us to move in, so we said yes!
Our new home (apartment) is a two bedroom which means that baby gets his very own room! That was the selling feature to be honest. Well, that and the enormous private basement that comes with the apartment. I have space for my office down there and we have our own washer and dryer (with a laundry shoot, too!). The place is much larger than our current home so we have room to grow into it. I'm so excited! Last night Bruno and I went over there to look at the nursery and dream about our new family. Sometimes life just feels too good to be true!
That's the update on life here in the Midwest. There is much more going on but I have work to do so I'll have to post about it later on this week. I have been promising a belly picture though, so here you go:
As you can see by the label, the picture was taken at 18 weeks (which was a week ago). I'm going to have Bruno take pictures every few weeks to track my ever-expanding belly's progress.
That's all for now...
Yay! Congrats on the boy-to-be! Lemme tell you, raising a girl isn't as easy as you'd think--you've got to figure out how to make them strong enough to resist a boatload of cultural garbage about women...
And congrats on the new apartment! Woohoo! It sounds like things are going well for you guys, and I'm happy. The belly pic is cool. Keep 'em comin'!
Posted by: OmegaMom | June 06, 2006 at 01:03 PM
Yay for baby boys! We find out at the end of the month (assuming baby cooperates - I give it pep talks every day).
Posted by: Cate | June 07, 2006 at 11:27 AM