Manda Jo's Journey: Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice!

On December 7, 2015 we found out that we were going to have a baby girl!

From the time I found out I was pregnant I had a very strong feeling that I was having a girl. To the point where I couldn't even picture the baby being a boy at all. It kind of freaked me out because I did not want to get to the point where I would be disappointed if we weren't having a girl. I would love to have a son but for some reason I just knew deep down inside that this baby was a girl.

A few years back when I worked at Central Plains Center I remember I was having a really hard day. My cousin had recently had her son and I was so happy/sad/jealous/excited for her. Having a baby and being a stay at home wife and mother has always always always been my dream. From the time a was a little girl. My mom said that when I was in Kindergarten we had a project where we had to cut out pictures of what we want to be when we grow up out of magazines. I cut out pictures of women holding babies because I wanted to be a mom. I sat at my desk at work that day feeling so sad because I just wanted what Kayla had so badly. I remember praying and hearing the Lord tell me that he was keeping my dream of a child safe for me until the time was right. And then I was flooded with images of the color pink. It was that moment I felt like the Lord told me I would have a daughter someday. And He was keeping her safe with Him until she could be released to me at the proper time.

What a Wonderful Father we have. :-)

So Micheal and I decided that we would find out what we were having privately and then have a gender reveal party with close friends and family the following weekend to share the news. At the sonogram I was so excited/nervous. My main priority was that the baby was healthy and had everything it needed to grow into a healthy baby. The sonographer shared that everything looked perfect! I then asked if she was able to tell what we were having. I was afraid the baby would be I a position that would keep her from seeing! She told us that she was able to tell and already knew! Micheal and I had been staring at the same screen as her but we had no clue! LOL! Those sonograms are hard to decode! Ha Ha! We told her we did not want her to tell us what we were having and to instead write it down and put it in an envelope for us so we could open it that night at dinner.

We left the appointment with some adorable pics of our baby's little face and a sealed envelope! We were so excited. After we left we went to Discount Tire to have Micheal's tires worked on. I just remember sitting there staring at the sonogram pictures and texting them to everyone I could think of. It was the sweetest little face. I could not wrap my head around the fact that I had a little person with arms and legs and eyes and a nose growing inside of me. It was so surreal. After we left we ran a few more errands and then decided we couldn't wait any longer and decided to go eat. We ended up at On the Border. Micheal was passing it and I said "I like that place...lets go there!" I was just ready to open that envelope.

We sat down and ordered and just kind of looked at each other like when do we do it. LOL. It felt like such a huge moment. I really wanted to know but I was also sad that the anticipation and wonder would soon be over! It was exciting knowing that we were about to find out if we were going to have a son or a daughter. I had also really began second guessing my "I know it's a girl feeling." LOL. I had told EVERYBODY that I knew we were having a girl and suddenly I was like OMG what if I am wrong! LOL!

We took a couple of pictures and decided to go for it. We opened the envelope and laid the sonogram picture on the table. There was a little post it on the corner that said "It's a Girl". I was over the moon!!! We had a daughter! What an amazing gift! :-) It was a wonderful moment.

We then sent a text to our family that we knew just to rub it in! Ha Ha! They would have to wait until Saturday to find out. They were not too happy with us. ;-)

When Saturday finally rolled around we did our Gender Reveal. It was so fun. Micheal and I had filled black balloons with Red Confetti and every one would pop them at the same time to reveal. Since it was Christmas time we did red for girl and green for boy. Everyone wore the color clothing of their guess. It was a great time. :-) Everyone was very excited to know that Baby Simpson would be a girl. She would be the first great granddaughter on my Mom's side of the family. The first grandbaby for my parents and the only local grandbaby on both mine and Micheal's side of the family. This poor little girl didn't stand a chance! ;-)

April could not come fast enough!