* BOY or GIRL? *

First, let me start by saying that today is DEVIN'S 27th BIRTHDAY! Poor guy had a big test first thing this morning, so he pulled an all-nighter last night, took his test at 7:45 am, stayed on campus until 2:15pm, then met me at the doctor for our big ultra sound appointment. (I'll get to that later in the post.) So because I had to work all day today, and Devin had school, we decided to celebrate his birthday this past Saturday.

I let him open 1 present on Saturday...his very own Bocce ball set. We played a few games at the park that afternoon. He beat me 3 times in a row. I didn't win once.

Devin has been wanting to experience a Chicago Hot Dog since we moved here. So we finally went and got one. He got a dog and a brat and made the "mmmm" sound with every bite. Good lunch choice!

We then made our way to a private lake (we don't have Illinois fishing licenses) and fished for a few hours. Devin LOVES fishing, and we haven't gone since we've lived here. It was fun to see his face light up every time he got a bite, and started reeling it in. He was in his element; genuine pure joy!

These next pictures are from tonight's birthday celebration in our apartment. He was excited to eat the chicken alfredo dinner he has been wanting for a while.

I really had high hopes for his cake this year, but it didn't turn out the way I envisioned it. Oh well, it still tasted good!

Present Time:

Shirt and sunflower seeds from Rob and Sarah.

Cute birthday card and cash from Jen and Dave.

Mom and Dad Tranter sent a Birthday and Easter package in one. It included our favorite candy, Devin's favorite cashews and beef jerky, our first baby book, and some spending money for Devin.

Devin only gets new clothes when I buy them for him, so I take full advantage of Christmas and birthdays. I got him bocce ball, a few shirts, a casual blazer (that he will be taking back because it's way out of his realm), a set of frisbee golf discs to play with the med students this summer, and a snow suit for the baby for next winter. Dad can take the babe sledding! (completely an excuse for me to buy something for the baby!

The BIGGEST present was the new TV we got last week! Devin found a great deal, and we could not be happier with our movie watching this past week. We had a double feature on Sunday...pulled out the bed on the couch and settled in for the day. It was bliss!

Finally, I'm posting some belly shots. Excuse my rough-looking-ness. (It's the end of a long day.) I'm wearing the tightest under shirt I own, for the best portrayal. This is me at 21 weeks.

And the BIGGEST moment of our day today was our doctor's visit and ultra sound.
Me on the table.

I'm really sad these didn't turn out well. We didn't get any shots digitally, so I tried scanning them (which looked horrible, and worse than these), and then I took pictures of the photos, and these were the best 3 that came out.

They are all profile shots. We got a few where you can really see the arms, but they didn't turn out good when I took pictures of them.

Our appointment went so well. The baby is right on track, and developing normally. It was such a relief to get good news that all is well. And it was also incredibly wonderful to find out that we are having a baby GIRL! No mistaking...it's definitely a girl. We got a close up shot of the "area". Of course I cried, and Devin was so sweet whispering in my ear, "Can you believe it? That's our baby girl!" I know that he was thinking it was a boy, but he was so excited when she told us it was a girl. He is going to be the BEST dad, and I know this little girl will have a permanent soft spot in his heart. As for me, I have had a feeling from day 1 that it's a girl, and it was wonderful to finally have it confirmed. We feel over joyed and blessed to have had such a good visit, with nothing to report but a HEALTHY, BABY GIRL!