Surprises.

I love having 3 daughters. I have said it many times, I never knew an odd number could feel so complete.
It has been the greatest gift of my life to love these three and to watch them grow...

And then one day in early December Pip made a picture of our family...

"1...2...3...4...5...6...? Who is the extra person, Pip. Is it Nana?"

"Itsa Baby Brudder!"

I thanked her for the beautiful picture (it was her first attempt at multiple people, and her first time ever to draw our family). We laughed and brushed it off. So silly! A baby? Where'd she get that idea? Maybe Daniel Tiger, he just had a baby...sister...Margaret, so cute!
Hmmm...Where'd she get the idea of a baby brother? We ticked through all her favorite TV shows.  Ciallou while generally forbidden in our home, is highly appealing to Pip and Ciallou does have a baby... sister.
Super Why...Sister.
Baby Bear from Sesame Street...Sister.
 Nobody she watches on TV has baby brother. We don't know any one who has baby brothers- every one we know recently has had girls.  Oh well, it's so funny we are NOT having a baby. We love having our three. And really, there is NO way it could happen any time soon. We have been 100% perfectly sticking to our plan and really, there is no way!

And we giggled over it for days. "Haha, so cute! Cute Cute Cute!'

Looking back I am wondering if we felt some...well, foreboding is the wrong word, but we sure laughed about this an awful lot.
 When Ryan and I went out for our Birthdays I was complaining of feeling bloated and weird. When Friendly and Pip went to take a picture of us before we left for our date, Hubby Joy popped his hand on my tummy to freak me out.

haha

Honestly, even with the joking, it really wasn't even on my radar. In the past when I've wondered if I could be I've obsessed about it until I got hold of a pregnancy test and got a definitive answer.  This time I was completely oblivious. Seriously, wasn't even a consideration in my mind. I was extra tired and feeling sick, it was stress! November and December are a crazy months and I'd had a particularly high dose of "extra" that season. The days went by and the Holiday passed.
My clothing was fitting differently- too many cookies...I'm a week late...no I'm not!

Yes I am!

And there we have it. Apparently 3 is a wonderful number, but 4 is even better! Some time in late summer, around the time of the Fair, we'll be adding a new person to our family!

Starting the Second Trimester!

We don't know if it will be a baby brudder or a baby sister- we don't plan to find out before the birth. Now that the shock has worn off we're all so excited either way and we cannot believe we'll soon be stretching to a family of 6! So many changes in the air and so many new things to look forward to! What I am most excited about is a new squishy love to know and hold and watch grow...Whoever is coming is in for a lot of Joy with lots of loving from three big sisters! Sisters who are over the moon excited to welcome another sibling, they are so full of ideas and plans- it's been almost as fun to watch them as the knowledge of new baby coming!

It's funny, we think we know what we want, and what is best for us, until we're surprised with a gift. We are so looking forward to have this person become part of our world.

Overwhelmed with gratitude and impatiently waiting for all the new things coming our way!