Remember when we just had five girls? I think that's a question we'll ask ourselves in the coming years, and we might even struggle to recall what it was like. Something tells me this little boy is going to make his mark, and make it difficult to remember life before he arrived! So far, all we know is: Barbies in the bath tub, baby dolls, dance parties, all pink, lots of drama, all girl hair -- no boy 'dos, a drawer full of bathing suits -- no trunks, a pink load of laundry every other day, playing "family," and did I mention drama? Soon enough, we'll become acquainted with the other side of the toy store, the art of dressing a boy, and we'll probably be peed on a few times before we master changing a baby boy. Soon enough, we'll be immersed in the language of trains and trucks, add to our skimpy ball collection, and better know all things Lego.
For now, though, life is just girly...to the 5th degree.
There won't be many more pictures like these! I'm cherishing our last few days with five little girls before we get a pop of blue around here. Today is my due date, and this little guy is taking his time to make an appearance. I'll use the extra time (hours? days?) to wax nostalgic about our girly family.
I've been thinking about my grandmother, "Ma," a lot lately. Our little family resembles hers quite a bit. Ma and Pa also had five girls in five and a half years (including my mom -- the blonde in these pictures), except they didn't have twins, which meant Ma was pregnant even more during those years than I was. Having five girls in five years is a pretty rare and special experience that most people won't understand, and I'm really wishing I could talk to Ma about this feminine phenomenon now!
She died when I was about five months pregnant with Tessa and Annie, and before we found out they were both girls, but I have no doubt that she knows that I'm continuing to walk her path, including having a boy for our sixth baby. While I'm a bit (okay, very)spoiled in comparison with all of our modern luxuries, I think our days with five little girls were probably very similar. I'd love to chat with her about that over a cup of tea!
More than that, I'd love to know how she felt when her first little boy came along. Obviously, she didn't find out about her boy via a fancy ultrasound, so I wonder if she was equally surprised at his delivery. Did his boyness throw her as much as it's throwing me off? It definitely threw her girls for a loop. They love talking about how they dressed up baby Joey as a girl and paraded him around the neighborhood for introductions. Our girls have had more time to get used to the idea of a boy, but I'm sure our little guy will be traumatized in other ways. Hopefully he'll come out as unscathed as my Uncle Joe!
Here's to the end of one era and the beginning of another!
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