It's a Boy Thing

I don't know if many of you have noticed my little poll to the left where you can vote on the sex of the next baby. I see there have been a few votes so far, and keep them coming! It is fun to see what people think. So far, most have said girl, which I find interesting, since Ryan and I also are leaning towards there being a good chance this one is another girl (of course we realize there is a 50% chance to be exact, but you know what I mean =) We obviously are just hoping for a happy healthy baby, either way I know we will be blessed. I have already been blessed so much!! I truly feel SO fortunate to have gotten to have at least one of each- I know nobody wishes to change the gender of their children once they are here (even if they have all boys or all girls)- but I think those of us who have gotten to experience both, would agree when I say that I truly wish EVERYONE could get to know what it's like to have a son AND a daughter. Obviously, if you don't, the great thing is that you can have people in your lives that are "like" sons or daughters to you, or grandsons and granddaughters- and that is a wonderful thing. Not to mention- the thought of a houseful of boys or a houseful of girls sounds fun too- a band of brothers or a slew of sisters- they are all special- don't misunderstand me! I just know that my experience has allowed me to fully grasp how special both little boys and little girls are...

We don't always know why God does the things He does, but I do think I know why God gave me Bennett (at least one of the I'm sure many reasons at least). It has been almost two years now, since I laid on the table with the ultrasound tech rubbing her wand over my little mystery baby bump. I had toyed with the idea of not finding out what we were having, but I knew deep down there was no way that would happen- EVEN THOUGH, I knew what we were having anyways... another girl of course. We had our sweet little Hannah Grace, who I also guessed would be a girl, and now of course I would be having another girl (I do LOVE little girls after all!). I saw myself as a girl mom and wouldn't be surprised in the least to have a quiver full of little pig tailed cutie pies running around my house. What would I do with a little boy, anyways? Little boys can be awkward- and well quite frankly, I'm not a boy, so there is a lot of stuff I just don't get!!! I saw myself as a doll mom, not a GI Joe mom! So when the tech asked, do you want to know what it is, and after replying yes, I think I just tuned out. Until I heard the word "boy". What? Okay wait, are you sure, did you say boy, are you being serious?!? Trust me we saw the evidence, she was being serious. After leaving, I was excited but still in shock and knew I was going to have to totally change my frame of mind! I was excited, but scared! I had been around so many little girls and not so many little boys, this was just foreign to me! In fact, I'll let you in on a little secret. After giving birth to Bennett, when it came time to change his 1st diaper- I honestly had to ask my mother-in-law, who has two boys of her own, to show me how to do it- I mean what was I supposed to do with all that "stuff"?!? It's funny, but in all seriousness, I can't imagine my life now without my sweet baby boy.

I am not at all a feminist- sorry for those you who are. I do think men and women have equal value, but I think it is SO obvious how differently God created us, and I LOVE those differences and embrace them. It gets me when people act like the only difference between men and women are genitalia and that that means nothing. ARE YOU KIDDING? After having a little boy and a little girl, I can testify as I think most would, they are wired differently right from the start!

So, to my point, I just wanted to make it up to Bennett for thinking that I would be perfectly okay to not experience having a son, by letting him know how much I love and appreciate every little bit of "boyness" about him!!!

I love his energy- it makes me tired- but I love it =)

I love that he is adventurous and brave- seeing everything around him as an obstacle to conquer- even if it does make me frightened at times, or call for trips to the ER.

I love that he is carefree and can throw caution to the wind and is not afraid to try new things.

I love that he can get upset, and walk away to work it out himself.

I love to watch him "vroom" a toy car across our kitchen floor.

I love his curiosity and thirst to learn new things.

I love his messiness and when he smells like a stinky little boy.

I love when he turns everything into a game- why not make things fun while we are at it?

I can't wait to watch him throw ball with his daddy out in the front yard.

I love his determination- he will try try again until he succeeds, never growing tired of trying.

I love looking at him and imagining him someday being a husband to a lucky wife, as his daddy is to his mom.

I love imagining him being a daddy and using things that he learned from the example of his own father.

I love that I can just look at him and smile and get an ear to ear grin back.

I love that he is imaginative- and you know, this big for me- I am very big on using things the way they are intended to be used (which is still sometimes the case)- but he has taught me to let go and let it be okay to use things for a much more "creative" purpose than what is intended for (as long as it doesn't involve being destructive)

And most of all, I love when you are "mommy's boy" =) It's because of you Bennett, that I realize that the mother/son bond is a special thing- in the same way that the father/daughter bond is and you definitely have a special little place in my heart that will always be melted for you- no matter how stubborn or mischievous you may be, or how frustrated and tired you can make me!

I love my sweet son and my amazing daughter so much and love all the things that make them "all girl" and "all boy". I have been fortunate enough to get to learn to appreciate both of them and their differences, more than I ever knew I could.

**Disclaimer: This is not to downplay my love for Hannah Grace- she is wonderful and obviously love them both equally. Don't worry- she gets to be the star of the show more often than not, so I thought I would pay a little homage to my B.

Who needs baby dishes, mom? Just give me the whole Corning ware and we'll be good!!

The boy is definitely not scared of making a mess (as opposed to his neat freak sister!)

A real "man's man" Football with the shirt off (we will just ignore the whole wearing the stacking ring as a bracelet thing =) Oh- this just in- Ryan saw this and says it is a LiveStrong band. Haha.
Don't worry, he'll be over it about in about 20 seconds. Low drama maintenance here (for the most part)