well, actually...

our little one is once again a mystery.

Might be a boy.

Might be a girl.

Go figure!

At a 30-week scan this week, the sonographer reckoned it was a boy and that the 18-week scan was misread. But then the very next day, neutral became the flavor of the moment. I had my 30-week doctor's appointment and the little one was being modest. He said he couldn't tell either way from the current position.

So, an exercise in patience that we will surely need as parents. And we are now looking forward to a big surprise in May!

embracing the pink

So based on my last post, I suppose the cat is officially out of the bag. We are having a girl. We, well I, haven't been very secretive about it. If people ask, I tell them, but I haven't gone around announcing it or hadn't written about it here yet.

It was a shock to most people. Although neither of us had a preference, I was convinced it was a boy as were most of my family. It has become apparent that the fact that she is a girl is making our baby prep easier...

We couldn't decide on any boy names that weren't already taken by my ginormous family. Since I was a teen ager, I have had a girl name picked out (and resorted to calling dibs in said ginormous family). Every room in our house is white except for the room we plan to use for the baby room. Conveniently it was already painted lilac when we moved in. No need to paint. My niece, Lucia, will be nine months older than our little one and is already passing clothes on to us.

Now I have never been a "pinky" girl--blue and green were always my favorite colors. Not that I don't love clothes and have my fair share of shoes and handbags, but as a kid I liked sports and was envious of my neighbor's Hot Wheels parking garage. Since finding out, though, I have begun to embrace the pink. I have even created some very pink pages (but am having scanning issues so can't post them yet).

Speaking of scrapbooking and genders... The way scrapbooking deals with boy and girl products bugs me. When it comes to girls, it's all about cute, princess, beauty, sweet, angel, perfect. And when it comes to boys, it's all about dirty, stinky, fast, clever, mischievous. I can see how it would be very easy to fall into those gender traps.

One of my many hopes for our little girl is that she is quite happy to jump in a massive puddle while wearing a dress. That she doesn't scream if a spider is crawling on one of her favorite dolls. That she isn't afraid to be aggressive on the soccer field but then is quite happy to come home and do crafts with me. That she likes math and small cute furry animals.

Isn't it possible to be both sweet and mischievous? Cute and clever?

I am not naive. I know there are fundamental differences between boys and girls. I just hope I don't promote what I see to be some of the negative stereotypes and pigeon hole her into pinkdom.

OK, time will tell...

least likely

Along with a baby comes lots of stuff, some necessary and some not. It's a challenge to wade through the lists and the shops and figure out what you need, what you want, and what will work best with your lifestyle. How to make it all fit in your house is another story altogether.

I have resorted to a process of elimination of sorts. These three things are the items I'm least likely to purchase for the baby over the next three months...

future prom queen

future cheerleader

Ergo Baby reversible papoose coat

Now don't get me wrong. I have nothing against cheerleaders and prom queens. I have good friends who were cheerleaders and prom queens, heck I was even a (very bad) cheerleader at 11, but I think we'll just let her carve her own path!

I also don't want to offend anyone who might wear or want a reversible papoose cape. Or mock a very cool fair trade company in Hawaii, Ergo Baby. A mother started it accidently when she couldn't find a perfect baby carrier for her son, so she made one. Then it just grew. Jeremy thinks it's a hippie pack.

The baby carrier...so very cool. And the carrier I have decided on. The papoose cape...so not me. I just can't imagine drawing any more unwanted attention to myself! The thought of swooping in and out of the dairy and the grocery in the cape just cracks me up. To borrow Stefanie's words, "there is just sooo much fabric...is that really necessary?"