We Love Lucy!

This is a little late in posting but.....it's official!  After weeks of simply knowing that we are destined to only have precious, red-haired boys - we got a very big surprise.  According to the 20 week ultrasound, we will be welcoming a sweet baby girl into our little family!  Given that the last three generations of Brimers have been all boys (or as Andy's dad joked "We haven't had a girl in the family since the Civil War") Andy & I were both pretty convinced that Jack would be welcoming a little brother into the mix.  But low and behold, we have found the elusive X chromosome!  

Meet Lucy Brimer! (middle name is still in the works)  Andy and I have always loved the name Lucy for a girl - I mean, who wouldn't want to go play over at Jack and Lucy's?  They sounds like a fun couple of kids right?  And plus, if she has red-hair too, it really will be like an episode of I Love Lucy everyday! (but without the Cuban band members and the whiny wail of "Oh Ricky!")
I wish I had video of Andy's face in the ultrasound room when the tech said it was a girl.  It was hilarious.  A perfect mixture of shock, panic, excitement, joy, and bewilderment.  I see how much of a pushover he is with Jack and now that he will have a daughter - oh lord.  I think one of his first comments was - "the high school years are gonna be rough."  He has no idea :)

Here she is sucking her thumb.  So cute.  and very photogenic.  I remember Jack NEVER let us see his face in any of the ultrasounds - which sounds very unlike the carrot-topped ham that runs around our house right now.

Little footprint :)  Everything checked out wonderfully at the ultrasound.  Her weight, height, organs, all were in great shape.  At the end of the scan though, the tech saw that Lucy only has a 2 vessel umbilical cord.  Most babies have a 3 vessel cord.  I was told that the risks with this are mostly in the developmental stages - some children don't develop both kidneys or have heart defects b/c of the 2 vessel cord.  However, since Lucy has all of her organs and they all checked out perfect, we don't really have anything to worry about (the tech even told me right after the words "2 vessel cord" came out of her mouth that her daughter had one and is in the gifted program and is a real "pistol."  This made me breathe a little easier.)  Dr. Myers confirmed all of this for us in the exam and said that the only risk we run at the moment is a low birth weight - so that means from here on out I get an ultrasound with every monthly check-up.  Translation - I get to see Lucy on the big screen ab out 4 more times!  Not a bad trade off :)

Andy and I went to Target and bought Lucy a gift right after the appointment.  We did the same thing for Jack after we learned he would be a boy.  He got a set of monster onesies :)  Lucy gets cute, pink flower gowns and a lovely elephant outfit to solidify her loyalty to two entities - the Republican Party and Alabama football.

Mom sent me this picture not 4 hours after telling her about Lucy.  Kohls, Target, and Old Navy - your stocks are about to skyrocket.

That evening I got a text from Melissa telling me to look on my front porch.  She brought Lucy her own gift of an adorable pink outfit with matching hat.  And of course - a balloon for Jack! (The same balloon he's posing with in the first picture.) Please note that she does this all while working 16 hour days as a principal at Powell HS - which is 40 minutes away.  I hope Lucy finds a friend like Melissa when she grows up :)

The next day at school Chelsea left a cute little onesie and matching duck blanket on my desk - how awesome are my friends & family?!

Thanks to Mom, Lizzi, Melissa, Chelsea, and my American Express card, Lucy will be entering the world a well-dressed little girl.  (And there no telling how much bigger this stock pile will get once Mimi gets shopping - this will be her first experience shopping in the little girls section!:) Lucy doesn't even know how good she's got it :)  Just 4 more months - we can't wait to meet you Lucy!!!