Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Why God Made Little Boys

My mom gave birth to 3 girls total by the time she was 23 years old. Growing up, things were very much centered around girly things. My step-dad was clearly outnumbered, and his only hope of anything remotely masculine in our home was one sister playing softball for a few years. I will never forget circa 1985 at the ripe age of 5, having my two older sisters doing me up in full face make-up, complete with bright yellow and green eyeshadow, to then parade around the mall. The fact that no one took a picture of this is inexcusable now, but I remember it clear as day.

There was always an entire closet full of beauty products that were ripe for the picking and playing. My mom sold avon for a few years, so it was like a virtual smorgasboard of "Let's try this on Emily!" I can't even count the number of times we got brushes stuck in our hair trying crazy hairstyles, or how many times we fought over who borrowed some girly item from one another and didn't return it. Seriously, it was ALL GIRL in our house....complete with hair flips and attitudes.

We had this vintage Hallmark plaque that floated from room to room for years, and I had completely forgotten about it until today. I don't know where it even came from, or where it went, but I had it memorized I'd read it so many times. It looked like this...



It's amazing how things that were seemingly so insignificant as a child can pop into your mind 30 years later and affect you on a deep emotional level. Little things like this plaque remind me of how special we were to my mom. She wasn't a perfect mom and made many mistakes, but she cherished each of us for our own individual strengths and had a unique and slightly different bond with each of us. More than anything, she just LOVED that we were all girls!

At our OB apt. yesterday, I wasn't expecting to see the baby via another u/s, since they listened for the heartbeat by itself at the start....which was great at 157 bpm. However, when the doc said, "Let's take a look!" I was stoked. No idea how many of these u/s insurance will cover or how they're coding them to make them "medically necessary", but so far no bills in the mail. I know most (normal/low risk) people only have a couple u/s tops their whole pregnancy, and this made #6 for us at only 14w4d. Either way, we will not turn down the offer. Measuring at 14w6d...


We were given a guesstimate on gender at right around 12 weeks, and yet again, it became very apparent that our OB's first guess was spot on. Please meet Preston Alexander...

Best pic we could get. Our model was wiggling and kicking like karate kid.

I couldn't help but wonder if they made a plaque for Why God Made Little Boys, and it turns out they did...



"Why God Made Little Boys"

God made the world out of His dreams
Of magic mountains, oceans and streams,
Prairies and plans and wooded land,
Then paused and thought "I need someone to stand
On top of mountains, to conquer the seas,
Explore the plains and climb the trees.
Someone to start out small and to grow,
Sturdy, strong as a tree…" And so,
He created boys, full of spirit and fun,
To explore and conquer, to romp and run.
With dirty faces and banged up chins,
With courageous hearts and boyish grins.
When He had completed the task He'd begun
He surely said "A job well done".
Author: Unknown


The more we find out about our little one, the more I am falling head over heels in love with him. One thing that makes it extra special is that he is due one week before my hubby's birthday. I can't help but imagine shared bday parties for the two men in my life and how fun that might be. And while my former self might have felt slightly unequipped to do "boy stuff", now that we know we're having one, any lack of confidence has been replaced with a ridiculous amount of excitement to do all things boy. So there you have it. Looks like God wants me to be one of those crazy sports moms yelling from the sidelines! A boy is going to be so good for this family. No doubt this child will teach me more than I could ever teach him. :)

41 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your BOY!! That's so exciting.

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  2. Yayy! How amazing! I can't believe you already know... it seems like EVERYONE knows before 20 weeks now.

    I have to admit that pre- all this mess, I was afraid to have little boys. There's just a lot to be said for raising and educating someone "like" you. Now of course, I'd be "tap dancing on tables" (quote from Suzanne) to have a boy, but I still get the fear of the unknown type deal. I think you're so right... he'll teach you far more than you'll teach him. : )

    His name is ADORABLE and very manly at the same time! So happy for you, my friend!

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  3. Oh Emily, a boy!!!! I'm so excited!!! I have two boys. My oldest, almost 10, has such a wonderful sense of humor and has and old soul. My youngest, my IUI baby born last October, already has the best little personality and laughs all the time. I know way more than I need to know about Legos, the Avengers, and Wii video games. I wouldn't change it for the world. Preston is a lucky little guy. :-) P.S. I have just as much fun shopping for boy clothes. Stripey socks!! Witty onesies!

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  4. Oh Emily!! I am overwhelmed with joy for you seriously cried. I don't know if it's the hormones or what. How sweet is that and I love his name. God has blessed you friend! XO

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  5. Congrats on a little boy!! I love the name. I love this post. So happy for you!

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  6. I totally get the all girl thing, I have 3 sisters and no brothers! Congrats to you big time on your sweet baby boy :)

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  7. This seems to be the year of boys! Congrats!

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  8. Congratulations!! Love the name!!! Everyone seem to be having boys around here!! How exciting!

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  9. Congratulations, little boys are the sweetest!

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  10. Little boys are the best! You'll be his first kiss, his first love, and will get to teach him how to be the perfect gentleman for his future wife. Enjoy every moment. . .and always remember, no matter how old or grown up he may be... you'll always be "home base". You'll always be the one he runs to when he's sad, hurt, confused, excited, anxious, and so on and so on. You're going to love being the mommy to a precious little boy!

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  11. Yay~!!!!!!!!!! soooo amazing!!!! I am thrilled for you guys!!!!

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  12. I have the chills! It's a boy! Thank you Lord! Love that you will have a double celebration in the year of the double portion!! God is so faithful xoxo

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  13. Yay!! Our boys will share a middle name :) Congrats!!

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  14. Emily
    First congrats on your precious baby boy. So exciting.
    It is totally crazy that you posted this plaque today. Just yesterday I was going through one of many boxes my mom sent up like a year ago...that I have slowly been going through, and I found my "Why God created little girls" plaque. I probably hadn't seen it in 20 years and totally forgot about it but im so happy she sent it tome!

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  15. You know, I was thinking this morning of emailing you to see if you knew what you were having yet. So ironic! I'm so excited for you, xo!

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  16. Thank heaven for little boys!!!! Yay, I am so, so happy for you.

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  17. Congratulations! Little boys are fun. I grew up with nothing but boys n I hated it but once I got older I was able to see how lucky I was. Enjoy!

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  18. Its a boy!!! YAY!!!! Congrats Momma!

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  19. Well, I'm totally biased, but there is nothing like the love a little boy has for his mommy. Congratulations Emily!

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  20. Oh my gosh, yay!!!!!! I am SO excited for you guys!!!!! I don't know why I was convinced it was a girl, but what an awesome surprise :) You're going to be such a great mom and he will be so lucky to have you cheering on the sidelines!

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  21. I love Preston and I'm so excited about your boy!! That is awesome!! CONGRATS Emily!!! I'm so excited for you and so happy everything is going well. Yay!! Now we need to hear about nursery themes, colors, etc, lol! I know in due time and there must be pics, of course!

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  22. Congratulations! I am so Happy I found your blog!
    www.mommy-dreaming.blogspot.com

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  23. Congrats! And that poem is the cutest!

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  24. Congrats on your baby boy, mama! They are so much fun...8 months in and I'm so excited to be buying boy clothes and looking forward to sports and all those boy things!

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  25. Congrats! This is the year of the boy for sure! I love the name, and he looks so cute already!!!

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  26. A Boy! Perfect. This is wonderful, Emily. So thrilled for you!!!

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  27. Congrats Emily! Sucha beautiful name and so exciting to hear! Boys are such calm, happy little things. Even with my love of comics and sports I wondered how in the world I would raise a boy since I only know about girls. Now I can't imagine raising anything else! They are wonderful, happy, chill little guys who love to snuggle with their mamas :)

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  28. awe! WHOOO HOOO!!! Congratulations!! This is so exciting!! xoxox

    waitingforbabybird.com

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  29. Congrats!!! Our boy was born a day before his dad's birthday. So special. Good luck to you. SOOO happy for you as I've been following your story for a while.

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  30. Yay! Congratulations! I am so happy for you, and I love his name!

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  31. How awesome!!!! Praying for Preston, and praying for you!

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  32. I'm so happy for you! You are going to be a wonderful mother to Preston.

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  33. I just love that name!! Congrats!!

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  34. Oh my gosh I had the same Why God Made Little Girls in my room growing up! How cute that they have one for boys!!

    I love the name, congratulations Mama :)

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  35. Yay!!!!! So exciting!!!! I read this post ages ago, but for some reason I cannot comment on my phone anymore :( You are going to be the best mama. Preston will be one lucky little man. I adore the name Preston by the way, so cute!!!!

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  36. Hi Emily! Haven't been to your blog for about 4 months, and just wanted to say how HAPPY I AM FOR YOU!!! Congratulations on your pregnancy! I remember reading your posts during your TTC journey and really liking the way you write and relating to a lot of things you were saying, since i was in the same boat! Now i am again in exact same boat with you this time, as I am also 17 weeks pregnant, I guess a week or two ahead of you. As I was just reading about you learning the news for the first time and the first, second, third etc. ultrasounds and all the worrying in between it was like you took the words out of my mouth... Had just gone through the same milestones, through agonizing waiting for the first HCG results, anxiously waiting to see that heartbeat and then constantly worrying every time I'd go to the bathroom during the first trimester, in disbelief that it actually happened, praying over and over that everything goes well... Oh how I understand you!!! We find out the gender in 2.5 weeks, can't wait! With us what helped us was acupuncture, I fully believe that... My accupuncturist told me when I first came to see him: "You will get pregnant in 4 cycles, we need to fix your Qi energy, and thats how long it will take for you." And exactly in 4 cycles in happened... Go figure, must be something to it! Anyway, congratulations once again and wishing you a happy and healthy 6.5 months ;). xoxo

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  37. Congratulations on your little boy! I teach Pre-K and although I love sweet girls, the boys are always my favorite. No drama! I can't wait to "meet" him on here.

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  38. Love the plaque and that you're having a little boy. I believe God gives you what you need and it looks like its more testosterone in your life. LOL.

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