Something new

You might notice I've added something new to the top left-hand side of our blog.  It is a pregnancy ticker - it will act as a countdown to when our baby is due. 
That's right!  We are having a new little one and we're very excited to share our news with you.  We are due in May of 2011.  That means I'm not very far along at this point, but I don't do well with secrets.  This way it is all out in the open and I don't have to worry about slipping up and saying something I shouldn't. 
Ajay has already informed us he would like a baby sister and that he wants to name her Isabella.  Alex knows that there is a baby in my tummy, but for all he's aware of, I could have eaten a baby!!

This is how we told my parents (and how they told anyone who came to the house this weekend):

I thought it would be fun, since this is the 12th grandchild on my side of the family, to give Mom and Dad a dozen cookies, each with the name of a grandchild.  I was super busy on Friday, so my sister asked if she could do up the cookie bouquet for me.  I gladly accepted her offer and she went to town doing it up right!  She bought a cute hand-print cookie-cutter, a little flower pot and the raffia.  She made up the sugar cookies at her place then came over Friday night to babysit for us (while Biju and I went on a date!).  She brought the cookies and got them iced while she was watching the boys.  The cookies wanted to fall off of their stick, so we had to transport them to my parents like this: 

About a half hour away from my folks' place, I started putting the bouquet together.  Jenna had fallen off on Friday night and Brandon fell off while we were driving, but the rest stayed on for the presentation.  Mom looked at the bouquet, oohed and aw-ed and immediately counted the cookies.  "But there are more cookies here."  I just sort of gave her a puzzled look.  Then I asked "Well, who is there?"  When she started naming them, a couple more cookies fell off, so we took them inside to lay them out.  She went through and named all of the children.  When she got to the big question mark, she looked at me and asked if there would be another brown haired, brown eyed little one running around.  I grinned and said there would be and she started giggling and shouting "Yes! Yes! Yes!" 

I think my sister did a fabulous job on the cookies and they tasted delicious!  (I took a bite of one of Alex's fingers.)  Thank you, Shelly, for helping me share such exciting news!  

Oh, and we're going to try to keep the gender a surprise.  It will be hard not to look at our big ultrasound but we want to experience hearing "It's a ___!" at the birth.  That just means we need to decide upon TWO names to take to the hospital so we're prepared for either one!