Guess What?

No, Jacque hasn't had her baby yet. But whenever he does come, we can greet him with the news that his little cousin Wilcox ought to be an excellent playmate for him. That's because we are having a little boy.

Yes, Friday morning we went in for our big ultrasound appointment. (I use midwives instead of traditional OB's, so instead of routine ultrasounds throughout the pregnancy we typically just have one.) Meg came with Dave and me and sat on her daddy's lap as the technician slathered gel on my belly and started probing around with her wand. On the screen above our heads we saw our baby's head, brain, face, spine, hands, arms, feet and legs, and then... "Do you want to know what the sex is?" the lady asked us. We told her yes, and, after a few more seconds of probing, she halted, nodded to the screen and looked at me with a slight smile on her lips. Never one to discern quickly exactly what I am seeing in those black-and-white, 2-D images, I looked back at her blankly. Using her arrow, she pointed at a specific spot on the screen. My eyes widened, and I heard my husband say, "It looks like a boy!" "Mm-hmm," she said, "And he's not shy."

Needless to say, we are thrilled and amazed. It's a little bit difficult for both of us to imagine having a boy after our beloved and very girly Meg, but we anticipate raising a little man with great joy. And it's so fun that he will be only about five months younger than Jacque and Asher's little guy and six months behind Jack Marcantonio! He'll also be very close in age to Porter and Tobias Gruner, the newborn twin sons of our friends Brian and Seanna, who live just down the street. You can't beat built-in buddies!

Later on in the day of the ultrasound, Dave took his family out for an ice cream celebration. We stopped by Jimmy Cone, the local soft-serve Mecca, the headed over to a small, nearby park. Here are some shots of our family time on that special rejoicing day.



Dandelion fields:


Meg loves dandelions:


No, I mean she really loves dandelions:


Daddy plays on the jungle gym:


But Meg is happiest just running:


Oh, and sharing Daddy's ice cream:




Big sister: