It's a....

And just in case that DIY maternity glamour shot wasn't crystal clear enough...

Even Steven. It seems too good to be true. 2 girls. And now 2 boys. Perfection. What isn't perfection is my face in that collage picture:) Oh well. It is the real deal.

And because I can't end without all the nitty gritty details. Here's how the whole gender reveal(s) went down.

First I tossed and turned ALL night last night because a) I was SO excited for the ultrasound and b) I was slightly worried about Charlotte's wheezing and use of accessory muscles to breath. I even woke up before my alarm! That never happens. Slowly the rest of the family crawled out of their beds as well. We ate, dressed and (miraculously!) were out the door promptly at 8 am. (We are not morning people and that is an entire hour before we have to be out the door normally to bring Isaiah to school.) 

We made it to the clinic on time and all five of us filed into the small, dark ultrasound room. Our tech was kind and patient and thankfully the kids were really well behaved! They were all so excited and enthralled by the black & white images of the baby on the screens. Isaiah was even able to discern what he was looking at during the ultrasound. 

When this angle came up on the screen he immediately announced to Charlotte, "Look! The baby is sucking it's thumb!"

Their enthusiasm was sweet and infectious. I couldn't stop smiling. And then because we had told the tech we wanted to know the gender but not tell the kids quite yet, she quickly typed GENDER = MALE on the screen and moved on. At that moment I had not even realized she had been examining that area of the baby (because I was distracted talking to Isaiah) and so I hadn't had a chance to try to see for myself. I was caught off guard. It was such a fun surprise! I loved it. And I know Joe was happy too because he grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze. (And that folks is the entire extent of his display of emotion over having another son. He's happy. But he isn't going to blab on and on and on about it like some people. ) 

Shortly after this quiet and secretive reveal Joe and the kids left - to bring Isaiah to school. It was great timing because the little people were growing restless and the ultrasound was becoming less exciting. Placenta, amniotic fluid and cervix measurements aren't nearly as cute as a kicking baby:)

I finished up at my doctor's office just in time to join Joe and the girl's at the pediatrician's office. We had Charlotte's breathing checked. One Albuterol refill later and she is on the road to recovery. 

Enough irrelevant details. Let's skip ahead to the kids' reveal. I wanted to do something fun (especially if it was a girl - to help lessen the disappointment) and EASY. Easy was my main requirement. No way was I baking a cake or creating filled cupcakes! Sorry. Just not my thing. 

Silly string to the rescue!

I bought a couple of blue cans from the dollar store. Took off the blue lids. (Tortured my children by telling them about the silly string but then making them wait while Joe took my glamour shots. See above:) Mostly I was killing time so the video camera battery could get charged. Regardless they were anxious to start!) Finally I lined up the kids in the backyard and let them have at it. Initially they were SO excited to find out if it was a baby brother or a baby sister. But after the first squirt and realization that it is in fact a BABY BROTHER all they cared about was spraying everyone and everything! Well except Hannah. She was scared of that crazy stuff. She promptly took it all off of herself and sought shelter in daddy's arms. They quickly retreated inside thus avoiding being in most of the action shots. Again see above:)

It was a fabulous day. The kids are thrilled. I am thrilled. Joe is thrilled (as far as I can tell). I am so glad we found out now. It just makes me anticipate the birth so much more. I can hardly wait to meet this little guy. My second son. Our boy. Aaah! I can hardly believe it. 

Oh you want to see more ultrasound pictures of our adorable baby boy? Ok. If you insist. 

And because I have an abnormality in my placenta...a "lake"...there will be even more ultrasound pictures next month. Yippee! (I mean not yippee about the abnormality. Yippee about more sneak peaks at baby boy. The NP reassured me that my placental lake is simply an incidental finding and should not adversely affect baby. SO YIPPEE! More pictures.)