A baby girl

Oh, how it makes me smile just typing those words. We are thrilled we will be parents of a baby girl.  Joe has said from day one of this pregnancy that he knew she would be a girl and desired a girl. We think it's so great Owen will be a big brother to a little girl. Someone to watch over, and to protect the rest of his life. He will be a wonderful big brother and I cannot wait to see that relationship develop.  I never really had a guess of what this baby was. I thought at one point I was carrying her similar to Owen and that made me think boy. I always visioned myself as a mom with two boys...I guess God had a better/sweeter vision for me =) Now, that I know I'm going to have a daughter...wow a daughter. I am so excited! I can't wait to see what she will be like, and the live the adventure of being a mom to a boy and a girl.

We decided to find out her gender a little differently than going to our 20 week ultrasound and having the ultrasound tech tell us her gender. My sweet friend Shannon gave me the idea to have the doctor send her the results and she would do something fun for us. Since we were having that ultrasound the first week of December Shannon suggested that she buy something very gender specific, wrap it and give it to us on Christmas Eve, so we could open the results on Christmas morning together as a family. Joe and I loved this idea. So that's just what we did. Let me tell you, it was the sweetest, best idea ever! I loved finding out this way. I can't even put into words how awesome it was. It was joyous. One of the gifts Shannon gave to us was a Christmas ornament with the word JOY on it. It is beautiful and our daughter will have it forever.  It will be such a fun reminder of her each year when we decorate our tree. The other gift she gave was a white onesie with a lower case pink B on it. So cute! I am so appreciative of Shannon and her heart for wanting to do this for us, and making our Christmas so special!

We also have named our sweet girl. We have decided on Selah. We have liked this name for long while now, but have fallen more and more in love with it as my pregnancy has progressed. Here are a few of my favorite meanings of her name: "to weigh or determine the value" "to pause and reflect" "let those with eyes see and with ears hear" "Amen". I love the richness in each of these meanings.


One more thought on having a girl. A friend of mine and I were talking about Selah and the joys of a daughter and she reminded me of this. Boys leave. That makes me so sad to think about, but know one day that will happen with Owen. They leave and cleave. That's how God intended it to be. One of my biggest prayers for Owen is that he does just that. That he love the Lord with all his heart and leads his future wife and children in Him. With a daughter she will always be there. Maybe not physically (like in my case with my mom at this point in my life) but emotionally we will always be connected. I'm very close to my mom and I talk to her about every other day, she is my best friend. I call her about recipes, about raising my child, about successes in marriage, about what I found on sale, about a bad day... We have a special bond. A bond that I pray I will forever have with my Selah. I can't say it enough we are so very excited to meet our baby girl in April!