The big headline this week is that we are expecting a girl! Stephen and I are thrilled and surprised. Of course, we were hoping for a girl, but it was still a bit of a shock to discover that baby actually IS a girl. God is gracious to grant us the desire of our hearts–an undeserved gift.

Thursday morning was our ultrasound, and Stephen was able to come with me. It was so sweet to find out that the wiggly little munchkin in my tummy is a baby girl. She will be the first granddaughter on the Manka side, and a close second on the Moody side. Stephen’s sister and brother-in-law are expecting a girl in May–so Stephen and I will finally be an uncle and aunt, the boys will have their first cousin, and our daughter will have a girl cousin just her age.

This past Sunday I started feeling baby kicks for the first time. They are very gentle nudges, but Stephen even felt them a little.

We wanted to tell the boys about their sister together, so we had to wait until after Stephen came home from work and after our dinner guests left for the night. Here’s a little video of us telling the boys. You might remember these baby girl shoes from my pregnancy announcement to Stephen. I can’t believe our baby can actually wear these shoes! 

Silas understands quite a bit about the baby and keeps asking when the baby will be the size of a pumpkin. He is fascinated with how the baby eats through “that rope” (umbilical cord). Cooper, on the other hand, thinks he and everyone else in our family has a baby in his belly.I guess we’ll have to think of a better name for the baby than “Stoody.” Silas decided he wanted to call the baby “Stoody” since Daddy tells him bedtime stories about “Milas Clark Stoody”–a play on Silas Clark Moody. According to Silas, “Stoody” could be either a girl name or a boy name.

Welcome, baby sister!