It's a .....

On September 26th, we found out if our family was going to add another little boy or a little girl to our brood.

I wanted to find out the sex together as a family.

And I wanted Henry and Margaret Gray to be able to find out at the same time.

I had several ideas of how to reveal the gender, but nothing seemed to work out.

After I picked up Henry from school, we drug MG and Simon out of bed from their naps, piled in the car, and decided we would figure it out on the way.

I did bring an card and envelope, along with a pink and blue marker, for the sono tech to write down the gender.

Figured maybe Henry and MG could just open the envelope at the same time and be able to tell the rest of us ???

Waiting...

Turned out the sono tech wasn't too keen on the idea of writing down the gender in it's appropriate color, and told me she would just put a picture in the envelope. Alrighty. 

We all looked away while she checked out the baby's goods.

At some point Tom came up with the idea to incorporate Steel City Pops into the reveal. 

We have loved going to this local popsicle place since we have lived in Homewood and I'm glad Tom came up with the idea.

After the appointment, we went out to eat at a nearby Greek Restaurant.

I'm really not the best communicator.

And when I walked into Steel City Pops and saw that there was only a high school boy working, I knew we were in trouble.

I wanted one popsicle to tell us the gender in one bag.

But I also wanted a couple of other popsicles (kids' choices) in another bag.

Poor high school boy, I confused the mess out of him.

He was confused about the sono pic.

He was confused about which flavor I wanted for boy/ girl.

He was confused that I was going to walk out of the shop while he looked at the picture and packed up the special pop.

And at one point, he was confused that I was the one who was pregnant.

Somehow, I cleared up the situation, and he was excited to be a part of the reveal.

Ha.

Went to our local park to find out.

I couldn't have asked for a more perfect reveal!!

Depicts our sweet crazy family perfectly.

The video makes me laugh everytime.

And poor Henry... the kid is a bit frazzled these days after a long day at school... any little thing sets him off.

And Margaret Gray was obviously confused that her popsicle was in the other bag... the girl loves lemon lime.

And Simon just wanted to eat the silly thing.

And I had tears from laughing so hard.

I'm sure people were very concerned about our sobbing family.

 IT'S A GIRL!!

Always a bummer when the camera focuses on the lady walking her dog instead of your family...

Everyone regrouped after enjoying their treat... but only for a while.

Many tears were shed when we left the park without playing on the playground... but it was a school night!

Yay for another Baby Girl!!!

I know she will bring much delight to our family.

We are getting closer on finalizing her precious name.

Road Trip- Beach!

Waaaay back in September, Tom came home one day and asked, "Hey. Want to go to the beach?"

Sounded like a good thing to me!

He booked a condo and we were only 4 hours away from sandy fun.

We didn't do much but eat, play in the waves and sand, and swim at the pool.

It was the perfect family vacation.

Henry LOVED playing the in waves.

Simon was content running back and forth.

Margaret Gray is in this picture, you just can't see her. The waves went over her head.

She went back to get on her life jacket.

Better

Resting and shivering... it was a little cool that 1st morning.

Snacks

Pretty sure my camera was propped up on sand bucket

After naps, we headed back down to the beach

(didn't realize how spoiled we had become staying at houses on the beach... kids were troopers walking back and forth with all the gear, though)

The next morning, Tom and Henry ran to the donut shop.

And more beach fun that day.

Simon loved chasing the birds.

It was a different story when the birds realized Simon had snacks.

Pool fun that afternoon.

Went out for dinner.

Swam the next morning while Tom packed up the car....

It was a short and sweet stay at the beach. 

Good family times.

Love that we can take advantage of our location in Alabama this year.

Margaret Gray's 1st Day of Dance

Our sweet Margaret Gray started her dance class early September. 

She was super excited to go sign up and pick out her leotards, tights, slippers, and dance skirt.

Watching her get ready for her 1st class was priceless.

My favorite. :)

All ready!

I promise she was excited.

I told her to blink...

... and this is what I got. Ha.

The night before, she dropped a pretty good sized rock on her big toe...  its still bruised.

Surprised me that it bothered her, since she is usually my "trooper"... but she did not want to participate.

Although it broke my heart, she thought it made perfect sense that she sat out to to "rest her bloody toe".

At one point, she did join the group...

... but decided to stay in one spot.

The GREAT thing is that the next week, and every week since, she bee-boops in and hangs onto every word/move her teacher makes. 

Its warms my heart to see her shine.