Tickled Pink

And the cake says....

PINK!

IT'S A GIRL!!!

Yes, Casey and I are so excited to announce: We are having a daughter! And I absolutely can't believe it... I thought for SURE it was a boy. Evidently "motherly intuition" doesn't count for much when it comes to guessing the contents of my uterus! Either way, though, we couldn't lose.

We threw a "Haunted Halloween Sex Party," since it was the day before Halloween. It was a funny combination of sentiments: on the one hand, all of our spooky decorations were out, but sitting right in the center was this adorable yellow ducky cake!

I loved the cake. I thought it turned out great, and it was yummy to boot. And, I have to admit, I came pretty close to peeking. When they dropped off the cake, the lady from the bakery also asked if we wanted our ultrasound picture back. Casey was still at work, and by the time I mumbled "yes," I had pretty much decided that I was going to sneak a peak. Thankfully, she had re-sealed the envelope with duct tape. Had that not been the case, I would have looked for sure!!

It was incredibly nerve-wracking to have to wait to cut the cake to find out! It was an enormous test of my patience and restraint to have to wait for all of our guests to arrive before we cut it. When it actually came time to cut the cake, I almost couldn't stand the suspense! It felt like it took Casey forever to slice that first piece!!


All in all, though, I am so glad we chose to do it this way, with our family and friends around! It was so neat and special to have them there to experience that with us.

I am amazed, though, by how much knowing the gender changes the baby from my perspective. Yesterday, it was this abstract little person - even though it was a very, VERY real person whom I loved desperately - and this morning she is a concrete little thing with a whole, amazing life of possibilities ahead of her. Some possibilities have fallen by the wayside, and others have emerged. It's incredible! The baby as a little person has been very real to me from the beginning, but to know that it's a girl - to know that we can eliminate one half of the baby-names book, and one half of the store when we shop - makes it so much more real! I had no idea that I would feel that way, I was truly taken by surprise by how much it almost overwhelmed me to know that we aren't just expecting a baby... we're having a DAUGHTER!!! That was as big a moment as finding out we were pregnant to begin with!

Baby Girl: we are so excited that you are joining our family, and we can't wait to meet you!!