It’s a Girl!

We went for our big ultrasound today and found out that we are expecting a little girl!  We are so excited. We would have been excited either way (boy or girl) but it’s such a relief to have all the anatomical measurements completed and to hear that baby is right on track for growth / size.

Here a picture of our baby girl.  Her nose is a little funky looking but you can see her hand up to her chin.

  

And here’s proof that she’s actually a girl. (That’s her bum on the right side with her two legs stretched out to the left)

Sorry if that was too much detail for you.

Carter was so excited that were were going to learn the gender of the baby today that I made a promise to him.  Since Nana was picking him up from school today, she was going to help him call me so that I could tell him over the phone instead of having to wait several more hours for me to get home from work.

Nana called as planned and handed the phone to Carter.  Here’s how the conversation went:

Me: Hi, Carter! Do you want to know what the baby’s going to be?

Carter:  Yes.

Me: It’s a girl.  You are going to have a baby sister!

Carter: I wanted a boy.

*click*

He hung up on me!  The poor guy wanted a brother so badly. Fortunately he got over it pretty quickly, came to terms with the fact that we don’t get to choose, and is excited about being a big brother even if it is to a baby sister.

Of course my own brain is just flooded with thoughts:  ooh, maybe she’ll color with me (since Carter won’t)…what am I going to do with her hair? I can’t even do my own hair! would it be wrong to give her a buzz cut like Carter?…girls’ clothes are SOOOO much cuter than boys clothes…and on and on…

Tae Kwon Do

We signed Carter up for tae kwon do at the end of last year.  We thought he needed some sort of physical activity for the winter months and we had heard that martial arts were great for helping develop focus and discipline in young children.

I’m not sure if we are seeing any improvement in focus or discipline, but Carter loves classes and looks so darn cute in his uniform.

2010 Gale Family List

10. I’m too busy to write a real holiday letter, so I’m cheating by making a list. I once vowed to never write a holiday letter. This doesn’t count does it? I don’t like breaking promises. [You are probably asking yourself, “Why can’t she just send a picture card like everyone else?”]

9. I have been terrible at keeping up with friends and family this year. I used to email, I used to keep a blog, and I used to be on Facebook. These things require time and maintenance. I don’t have the energy for either these days. BUT! I will try to be better in 2011.

8. We bought a house and moved into it. We gutted the master bath, we painted the inside, we painted the outside, we installed all new interior lighting, and we got new landscaping.

7. Carter is 5 and started Kindergarten this year. He also played soccer in the spring and summer. He’s trying tae kwon do this winter.

6. Ben and I both still work for Ford, nothing new here. We are happy to have jobs. We’ve been working on the new 2012 Focus for the past 3 ½ years and it will finally come out this spring.

5. Though our travel is not nearly as exotic since we are no longer in Europe, we did make it to LA, DC, NYC, Portland, Chicago, and Cincinnati.

4. I participated in the Michigan Breast Cancer 3-Day. I walked (almost) 60 miles in 3 days and raised close to $3,000.

3. We want you to come visit us. We have lots of room and promise to feed you. And, yes, we mean you!

2. We adopted a sweet kitty in the spring. Her name is Shelby.

1. Our family is growing by one in 2011! Gale baby #2 is due to arrive the middle of June. We should know January 19 if the baby is a boy or girl. Carter is super excited, but really wants a brother.

In Over My Head

So much has been going on here at the Gale household but I’ve had no time/energy to blog.  You are all probably wondering about the Breast Cancer 3-Day and Carter’s birthday…not to mention all the other stuff going on.

I can barely keep up. Where has the summer gone?  Carter starts Kindergarten in a week. 

A WEEK! 

Can you believe it?  I certainly can’t.

I am just barely scraping by these days. 

Here’s a picture of our lawn to prove that point:

Yes, we are those neighbors.

How awful is that? 

I’m struggling to be a good mom/wife/employee/friend/daughter/sister. I’m not sure I’m succeeding but I do know I’m exhausted from trying. Clearly, as evidenced above, I’ve given up trying to be a good neighbor/home owner. 

And blogging, well that’s down there on my list right after lawn maintenance. 

Wrong Number Text Pages

Do you ever get text pages on your phone that were intended for someone else?

I just now got a text that said, “Hi Pastor Mark. This is So-and-so. Just wanted to see if you have time to meet today.”*

I wanted so badly to call this guy and find out why he so desperately wants to meet with his Pastor on a Saturday morning.  Then again, I have enough going on in my own life that I don’t need someone else’s burdens.  I sent him a reply page telling him he reached the wrong person. I didn’t want him thinking his Pastor snubbed him in a time of need.

Ben has received “booty call” text pages.  He doesn’t respond to them and I wonder if the girl thinks the intended recipient is not interested in her.

I used to receive wrong number voicemails on my work phone all the time.  It was some poor kid looking for his mama to pick him up.  It was such a sad voice. He never left a call back number so I never knew how to call him back and say he has the wrong number. Gosh, I hope his mother eventually picked him up.

I also once got a voicemail on my phone from someone trying to go through the 12 step process and was in the apologizing step.  He left a long message and was asking for the girl to call him back so he could apologize properly.  He left a number but I never called to tell him he had the wrong number. I always wondered if he moved on to the next step properly without getting to apologize to the girl.

What about you? have you ever received a text page in error?  Do you write back?  Any interesting wrong number voicemails?

*names changed to protect the innocent