More bows and dresses...

About a month ago I decided to have a secret ultrasound done to find out the sex of baby Sharktank #3.  My inlaws and godson were coming into town, so I knew it was a perfect time to surprise Mr. Sharktank.  In the over ten years I have known him, I have never been able to pull off a surprise of any sort! I would be lying if I said I was not excited to have an early peek at the baby and find out what we were having.  Women often say you feel the baby move around earlier with each child, but I guess I am an exception to this.  At 16 weeks I had not felt anything! No kicks, no punches, no turns, and no "flutters" as we pregnant people call the early movements of a baby in the womb.  Needless to say, I was very anxious to have a look and make sure all looked good with baby #3.

My dear friend, Sara, met me at our house in the morning and we told Mr. Sharktank that we were going to pick up photo props for her photography business (Sara Beth Photography... you can find her on Facebook).  I had to grip the steering wheel the entire drive to the ultrasound location, since my hands were shaking so bad.  I am the type of mom who gets extremely nervous before every ultrasound.  Knowing there is a life inside of me, knowing how the little one should be growing, and being aware of all the things that can go wrong during a pregnancy puts this pregnant lady on edge.

We went to Ultrasona and I have to say the office was fantastic.  The room was almost spa like with a comfy place to lay, dimmed lights, and a clean environment (but not "sterile" feeling like a doctor's office).  I almost expected to hear sounds of a waterfall or peaceful music lol.  The ultrasound technician took her time with me, explained what she was seeing, and was very careful to not reveal the sex of the baby to me.  I wanted to find out with Mr. Sharktank and the kids, so Sara was the only one to find out at that time.

That evening Mr. Sharktank came home and was greeted surprised by this sign on the garage door:

After explaining to him what was going on, we proceeded to the deck to pop black balloons.  I filled one set of balloons with pieces of blue tissue paper and another with set with pieces of pink tissue paper.  Sara made sure to give us the bunch of balloons with the correct color of tissue paper inside according to what we are having.  The two of us wore blue that night, only to find out (after we popped the balloons), that we should have worn pink.  Mr. Sharktank was shocked, as was I.  Matthew was just excited about the confetti like tissue flying around, and Natalie is still not enthused about having a sibling yet.  I am sure she will grow to love her sister just like she loves Matthew though :)

We also had baby MaryAnne's (that will be her name) anatomy scan this past week.  All her measurements looked good and although we were hoping for some good pictures, all she would really let us see were her feet and stomach.  The little baby just wanted to cover her face with her hands the entire time.  We were lucky to get one good profile shot though.

MaryAnne's profile.  I love cute baby noses!

Momma Sharktank at almost 23 weeks.  This shirt has made it through three babies.  I'm surprised it is still holding up!










In other Sharktank news... Matthew starts t-ball tomorrow.  He has his first practice with his new team. Some of the players were on his soccer team, but we are hoping he enjoys this sport a bit more.  We let him pick out his shoes, get a new bat, and Daddy took him out to practice last week when we had great weather.  He really enjoys watching the Cubs games on television and seems to understand the purpose of the game, so we will see how it goes.  Mr. Sharktank and I are praying that he does not want to quit and will at least give it his best effort and keep playing the entire short season.

Tomorrow starts our weekend of Easter celebrations.  I am so thankful we have family and lots of kiddos to share the festivites with.  I am sure our children will really enjoy hunting for eggs due to the beautiful weather we are suppose to have Saturday and Sunday!