Snails and Whales and Puppy Dog Tails

Or something like that.  Is that really what boys are made of?  I guess we'll see!

The days and hours and minutes up until last Tuesday evening (6:30 appt. time) were spent in great anticipation and, yes, angst, on the part of a few whose life would be totally altered by hearing either "Boy" or "Girl."  I had my suspicions from the beginning.  A very different pregnancy this time around.

Adam returned home from work with minutes to spare before take-off, so we scrambled for shoes and coats and headed out the door.  I have never seen an OBGYN office as packed as it was that evening and immediately reevaluated my appointment time choice - especially given that feeding the girls dinner had slipped my mind and bedtime was fast approaching.  After waiting a half hour with antsy children, I asked for a projected "start time" and was told about 45 more minutes.  Luckily, Mcdonalds was directly across the street and I assured Adam everyone in the entire office would be happier if he and the girls went and got something to eat (at Macdonalds) - I would call him when my turn came

2o minutes later, things had picked up and I was taken directly to the sonogram room.  I called Adam, whose stunned voice (mixed with panic, mixed with disappointment) informed me he had just ordered food at Bill Grey's - a sit-down hamburger joint FOUR MILES (and many stop lights) AWAY.  Seriously?  So, the doctor attended to at least one other patient in the time it took for him to get back, leaving us to then wait some more.

To say Adam was anxious would be a severe understatement.  Any little fidget the girls made while we continued to wait post-hamburger run sent him nearly into a tailspin and I finally asked "Che c'è?" (Italian for "what is bothering you?")  His answer:  "I just really don't know if I could handle another female in our house."  Just then in came Dr. Bagnarello to either compound his angst or ease it once and for all.

While all organs were checked out to look sound, baby Ashley wasn't cooperative at first as far as revealing his/her gender.  After some jiggling and wiggling, it was determined (at 99.9% assurance - Adam had to be put completely at ease) that we are getting a BROTHER!  Adam wiped the sweat from his brow and has been floating in the clouds ever since - dreaming of  tee-ball and man caves.  Ellie sulked and informed Dr. B that she was "not excited for a brother" but is coming around. I think for Abby the fact it will be a boy was outweighed by her realization that there will be another subject for her to command.  And, though I suspected it all along, the reality of having a BOY has been sinking in ever since.  What do you do with a boy???

Adam picked out the hunting onesie.

It has been returned.

Ellie and I had a little bit o' fun the morning after our news.  Hey, a boy needs clothes!

QFTD

Ellie: "Mom, what are you reading about?"  Me: "Why children misbehave. Do you misbehave?"  Ellie: "Yes. And the baby misbehaves. She'll be bad sometimes."

Ellie, after asking about Nana's dad, Pop: "But why did he die?"  Me: "he got sick and old."  Ellie: "Oh. But, Nana isn't sick or old.  Just her skin is a little bit old."

Adam was checking on the status of his school loans via an automated voice prompt. Voice: "If you would like to pay off the balance of your loan today, the amount to pay is XXXXXXXX." Adam: "Owwwwwwwch!"  Voice: "I'm sorry. I did not understand your response."

Adam: "Ellie, you need to come and put your plate in the sink."  Ellie: "Well, I have one cwonsequence."  Adam: "Eleanore."  Ellie:  "And you're gonna get five cwonsequences, Dad."

Abby: "Daddy, did you meet Mommy in college?  And you were her friend and then you really really really liked her and now you're married?"

Abby's family prayer: "...bless that I can be a good person and a great character, and that I can give experience to my family and be responsible in all the things I do..."

Adam, yelping as he slipped down a couple of stairs: "OOOOhhhhhh!!!". Ellie, matter-of-factly: "You need to turn the light on to see where you're going, Daddy."

I sat down to watch a movie with the girls.  Ellie: "You can't watch the scary parts, Mom.  Just we can.  You have to cover your eyes."

Abby:  "Did you know that Huntin' Season (Wilson Farms, a convenience store renamed by the girls) has the goodest goodest yummiest yummiest famous famous hot chocolate?  Dad told me."

Adam worked through the night on a project coming due at work.  When Ellie found out the next morning that he hadn't come home, her concerned response was:  "But Daddy didn't eat dinner!"

Ellie, while bounding through the house: "Hopping and skipping takes a lot of allergy!"

Abby, upon walking in the door from school:  "Mom, I'm going to have a dance party today and play my cd player and this is the surface area where the kids will dance.  But Ellie's not invited because the kids are big and might hurt her."

Nana asked Ellie over the phone what movie she was watching.  Ellie: "Lizzard the Boz." Abby: "Not Lizzard - Wizard the Boz."  Later Abby asked: "Mom, did you know some people don't have a brain?"  Me: "Really? What kind of people don't have brains?"  Abby: "Well, you don't have a brain." 

Ellie: "Mom, I think I'm really a boy."  Me, ever-so-slightly concerned: "Why do you think you're a boy?"  Ellie: "Because I have curly hair.  And I hate curly hair."  

Abby:  "My fever's comin' back to life!  It's getting warm again."

Adam texted the night his work project was supposed to be done (which followed a 42-hour work DAY) to say there were problems and he'd let me know when he could leave.  Being as the girls and I were sitting down to what was supposed to have been a celebratory "Daddy's done!" dinner, Abby offered to say the blessing on the food.  She added onto the end of her prayer: "And bless that Mommy can get her control back..."

Abby: "Mom, can we go to Japan this summer?  Or maybe next week?"