Some Answers

First of all, thanks for all the words of encouragement and enthusiasm! I think you set a new comment record for my blog.

I've received a ton of emails and calls with questions so let's get started.

*No, this is not a joke.

*No, this wasn't a surprise.

*I've always wanted four kids.

*I'm due late March...somewhere around the 27th.

*When the baby is born Bailiegh will be 7 and 4 months, Mckenna will be 5 in a half and Brooke will turn 3 just a few weeks prior to the due date.

*I'm not wanting another because Brooke is getting big and I'm missing the baby stage...in fact, I don't really miss it at all and the thought of the first year is a little hard digest to right now. However, I can see them older and that makes one more pregnancy and the baby stage worth it...apparently I'm only seeing the good years in my mind and not the stage when we'll have teenagers.

*I'm feeling fine...occasionally like I ate too much Mexican, but otherwise, fine. Perhaps a little tired, cranky and ornery...but admittedly I think I was that way prior to the pregnancy.

*The girls will be excited but that this point they don't know...we figure they have enough on their plate and we're trying to wait until we move and get settled.

*We're not having one more to "try for a boy".

*We're not going to find out the sex of the baby...this is Brad's fault.

*We're not planning on having any more children after this. I said I wouldn't have kids after turning 35 or after 2010...this one will come a month before my 35th birthday and will be our fourth between 2001-2009! This makes the planner in me very happy!

Those were the questions I received most. To elaborate a little...Brad has said since we were dating that he saw us having four girls. I laughed and said whatever. Eleven years later and three girls later I started to wonder. I confess that after the birth of Brooke I struggled briefly with the fact that it was girl number three. I thought long and hard about a fourth...the last thing I wanted to do was try for a boy and feel disappointed at the miracle and gift of another baby girl. I look at our three amazing girls and sometimes feel like one is missing since I've been hearing for 10 years about how we'll have four girls. I don't know if its out of sheer curiosity or competitiveness or simply the fact that I like even numbers versus odd...but I'm ready to add one more girl to our gang so we can divide up equally when it comes time to ride roller coasters!

I'm not denying the fact that if we were in control of selecting the gender of this baby we would probably opt for boy in order to experience what it would be like to have a son...but that would mean 7 years of saved hand-me-downs going to waste and 3 sisters very resentful of their baby brother always getting his own room! If God surprises us with a boy we'll cross that bridge willingly, but at the same time a fourth girl justifies our upcoming bunk bed purchase and rounds out our group nicely!

We'll all have to wait until we meet this baby to learn if it is a boy or a girl...I would gladly learn of the sex at the ultrasound but my very traditional husband likes to wait until the birth. We've only found out the sex with Mckenna and Brad complained throughout the remainder of the pregnancy...not knowing isn't as bad as living with his constant soap box about how God didn't intend for us to know the sex prior to delivery blah, blah, blah, on and on and on! I confess it is a little more climatic and exciting...but it absolutely kills the part of me that wants to get organized. I'll have enough things to do in this new house in the next year that will probably fulfill any needs to decorate or nest without worrying about the nursery until the baby arrives.