It's a .........

I had my ultrasound appointment this past Thursday to determine the sex of our baby. I was very excited to have an earlier appointment as our original appointment was scheduled for June 23rd! We arrived at the Radiology department located at Kaiser in Folsom shortly before 2:30pm. I felt pretty calm given the news that would be shared with us very shortly. We were welcomed in by the ultrasound technician; she was warm and friendly. I shimmied myself onto the table and exposed my belly, waiting for the warm goo (lubricant) to be slathered over my exposed bump. Like a ketchup bottle almost out of salty goodness, the goo splattered on either side of my navel. I will never figure out why the doctor's office is always nearly out of goo when I am examined.

The technician started with her schpeal, "this is baby's first physical exam, etc." ... right off the bat, she asked if we wanted to know the sex. Hardly able to contain ourselves, we answered "yes!" in unison! The wand waived sweepingly over my belly and finally rested; we looked up to the screen in anticipation, not quite sure what we were looking for. After what seemed like minutes passing (probably closer to about 10 seconds), she announced that we are having a girl!! I simply couldn't believe the words that came out of her mouth. I wanted to ask her, "are you sure?!?" ... She took the pointy arrow on the screen and showed us the absence of an apple stem ... Tears welled up in my eyes as I was sure we couldn't POSSIBLY be this lucky!! I am still in denial .... 

When toying with names for Mason, Tim and I decided on our "girl" name (had Mason been a girl). We have decided to name our little girl, Makenna May Brown (spelling of middle name is yet to be determined, pending my grandma Rita checking her birth certificate!). Words can't possibly explain my excitement. Tim's response was, "I will need to know how to wipe her nether regions properly" ... yeah, that's my man.

My mom and I are already a tidder in how we are going to decorate. We have decided to keep the nursery the same for Makenna with the exception of the wall paint and a few accessories. We will paint the wall shades of purple (instead of the current shades of blue) and will probably accessorize the "dreaming" theme with fairies and butterflies and take the little bizarre stuffed monsters out of the room. For Mason's room, we are pretty much settled on a jungle theme. Mom and I envision a giraffe-print rug, and hints of the Serengeti .... who knows what our decorative imaginations will produce!

Besides our exciting news, everything else is prodding along normally. I plan to post at the end of June with pictures of this past month. Mason is doing fine and has no clue that a little sister is going to rock his world in about 5 months!

We hope you are all doing great!

Love,

Jenn, Tim, Mason and baby Makenna!

April / May 2009

A lot has happened since my last post. Our family has encountered miracle and tragedy..... 

Sadly, my Grandpa Jim passed on May 8th. He lived until he was 93 years old and passed one day before he and my grandmother's 67th wedding anniversary. We were blessed to have many good years with him. Mason and I went to see him in the hospital the day before he passed. I will forever remember him waving at Mason with his pinkie finger saying, "hey little guy!" We celebrated his life on May 22nd at the Masonic Center in Chico. He will be dearly missed.

On the miracle side, Tim's grandmother has made a great recovery from her stroke. She is back at home and has somewhat regained her independence. Although she won't be able to drive, she is happy to be in her own home and sleeping in her own bed.

May has been a busy month for us. Emily and the kids came out to California to visit while Jon is in Bahrain ... we enjoyed the company and had a blast watching the kids play together. Mason was slow to "warm-up" in playing with Rudy ... but they were pals by the end of the trip.

Mason is doing well. We have had our trials with him the past weeks as he has been teething (again) ... he cut two new teeth and both came through at the same time. His little obstinate personality has emerged and we have officially been welcomed to the "terrible two's." We have had to discipline him for throwing toys at the dog (and everything else) and hitting ... you know, the typical two-year-old stuff.  Even though we are met with our "challenges,"  we are reminded how BLESSED we are to have a healthy boy when we hear about the struggles of others. I thank God every day for His watching over our little family. 

I am starting to have a little more energy these days (thank goodness). I am now able to keep up with Mason, work, house and husband. I am very fortunate in that Tim has helped me with many of my first-trimester struggles. He has gotten up with Mason, helped me with the chores and has catered to my Cinnamon Toast Crunch cravings in late night trips to WinCo. 

I recently had a prenatal appointment where I inquired with the doctor about already feeling some of the same ailments from my last pregnancy (i.e. inguinal hernia and periodic sciatic nerve pain). Unfortunately, the Doctor informed me the hernia will probably return sooner and be worse than it was before ....joy! On the up-side, she (and my friend Kelly who is a physical therapist) have been able to suggest back strengthening exercises which should help with the periodic sciatica. We will be very excited to find out the sex of the baby on June 18th! 

Anyhow, I have included pictures for the past two months. I hope this finds you all doing well!

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AbMnDJi3ZN2Tjw

Love,

Jenn, Tim and Mason