Wyatt Christopher Schoessow is on his way!

We found out on September 9th that our 3rd little baby is, in fact, a boy! When we've told people the news in person or on the phone, the number one response was "Bet Chris is relieved." I don't know that relieved is the best word but certainly he is excited! I'm excited, I've always wanted at least one of each (boy and girl) and with both of my girls tending to be Daddy's girls I want my shot at a Momma's boy:-) The number two question is "Are you going to stop having kids now." My response to this is always the same. First of all, we didn't have a third kid to try for a boy so it's not like "Mission Accomplished"; God willing I always wanted at least 3 and possibly 4 kids(no, I'm not crazy). I'm a middle child and have always wanted a middle child (or 2) of my own. It could be that the baby factory shuts down after this little guy but I won't rule out number 4 until we've had three for a while.

The best response (beyond Chris and I finding out at the ultrasound) was Addie's. She's been so insistent about having another sister that I made Chris promise we wouldn't tell her until we were both home and had the video camera out. That evening we asked her again what the baby was and she said a girl. Chris asked her, "What if the doctor told us it is a little boy?" to which she cautiously responded, "Well, it could maybe be a girl." Then the moment of truth - Chris told her that the doctor said there was a baby brother in Mommy's tummy and much to our surprise Addie broke out a huge smile and clapped! (I've checked the video again to verify that I didn't just imagine this) We asked if she was going to teach her little brother all the things that she knows and Nora started shaking her head adamently as Addie answered yes. I hadn't realized that Nora was even paying attention - poor middle child already neglected:-)

So with that hurdle overcome Daddy jumped right into the name and asked Addie what we should name the baby. We'd been preparing Addie for the possibliity of this baby being a boy by asking her, "If it's a boy, what should we name it?" Every time, without hesitation, the answer "Tinkerbell" was given. Sure enough, this evening was no exception, she answered her Daddy "Tinkerbell" while throwing her arms in the air. Chris then told the girls his name - a name we'd discussed over 4 years ago when we didn't know what Addie was and again briefly over 2 years ago when pregnant with Nora, but certainly hadn't discussed recently. It took me by surprise because we hadn't even discussed boy or girl names at this point in this pregnancy and it wasn't like this was the only name that I liked - but as Chris reminded me by providing the other names he preferred, it was the only name we both liked! Addie easily repeated "Wyatt" and Nora tried her best but her first attempt sounded a lot more like Sprite. She's gotten much better at this though. In light of the facts that (1) this was a name I'd originally found over 4 years ago (before Cheryl Crow named her adopted son Wyatt), (2) I'd come up with and pushed the names we ultimately used for the girls, and (3) I still didn't like the other names on Chris' list and still really like this one, it's pretty official that his name's going to be Wyatt Christopher Schoessow.

The next day as I dropped Addie off at school she called out to me as I was walking away, "Mommy, keep baby Wyatt nice and safe in your tummy!" It was so sweet. Nora seems to have the same confusion that Addie did when she was Nora's age and I was pregnant with Nora - occasionally when we talk about the baby in Mommy's tummy she looks down at her own bloated tummy, pats it and says "baby" which makes me laugh every time.

The ultrasound showed that he's a healthy little guy who is growing right on track - we can't ask for anything more other than that God continues to bless us with a safe pregnancy and a healthy little boy in January!