It's a GIRL...and we couldn't be happier!

It is not an "it" anymore. She's a she. A sister. PINK. And as Faith and I like to sing in our bathrobes, "GIRLS RULE."

At our 20 week ultrasound for baby #2, we had the tech write the sex of the baby down on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope. We then took that envelope to our local Hy-Vee and ordered a half-dozen cupcakes to be filled with pink or blue icing depending on what was written on the piece of paper.

Thankfully, they were able to turn our treats around in less than 24 hours, so we didn't have to wait too much longer than the ultrasound. We let Faith do the honors of biting into the cupcake, which ended up being the worst video ever since it took about five Faith-sized bites to get to the middle. But once she finally got there, there were lots of squeals, hugs and one little girl who desperately needed a glass of milk.

We kind of had a hint it might be a she since the doctor reviewing our tech's measurements/pictures called her a she, then quickly said, "he or she." Since they were using the he/she pronouns interchangeably before they even knew the sex, we weren't sure it was an official slip up and didn't want to ask. Between that and the fact we didn't see any "third arms" in the ultrasound pictures, we both thought pink filling was in our future. And we were/are really happy about that.

I didn't have a preference going in. The thought of having a boy was exciting because it would be different and new, but having a girl meant SISTERS and the opportunity to reuse most of Faith's adorable onesies that I've been storing for 2.5 years. Rob says he didn't care either way either. I know he'd have been happy to see blue filling since he's the last male Lindquist in his family, and there's that whole father/son bonding thing, but he was genuinely happy for another baby girl too. I know because I asked him.

I feel the need to talk about this because of some of the reactions that we got upon sharing the sex of our second child. It seemed like everyone assumed we wanted a boy since we already have a girl. They also assumed that since we aren't having a boy, we're automatically want to have more kids. Pardon me while I take a moment to say WTF?

This is our family we're talking about here. We are just happy to be bringing another life into this world. A healthy baby. We were so excited to find out more about HER, and are now excited to meet and get to know HER, our second daughter and baby girl, in a few months. For someone to automatically dismiss that and act like we didn't get what we were supposedly hoping for and to basically say, "oh, so I guess you'll want to try for another one," makes me angry. This sounds defensive and probably because it is. I love this unborn daughter of mine already. I feel her kicking everyday. She already has a special place in my heart at the young age of 22.5 weeks. I know she'll have the same effect on everyone else once she's born and not just an idea in their minds. She's a person, folks, as evidenced by her expanding real estate in my belly.

My dad actually said it best. I told him about some of the reactions we got and how they upset me. As the father of three girls, I knew he could sympathize. He proceeded to tell me that upon the birth of his third daughter, the doctor basically asked him point blank if the fact she was a girl meant another baby was in the future. He said he found the question odd, because he NEVER wished any of us girls was a boy. He emphasized the word never just like I did above and I could tell in his voice he meant it. Sure, we're all girls, but we are all very different people. In a good way. I love them so very much!

I cannot wait to see the similarities, but moreso the differences, between Faith and her little sister. I'm also excited for them to share the sibling bond, something I've always wanted to be able to give my children. So yes, it's a GIRL. A girl we are very happy about.

Last but not least, I want to end this post by sharing that Rob was able to feel Baby Girl kick for the first time Thursday night. I was lying on my right side and mentioned she was quite active. He asked if I thought he could feel it, and I said, yes, they were powerful enough now that he could probably feel it from the outside. He put his hand on the bottom of my belly and sure enough, she stopped kicking. I flipped onto my other side and then back again and told him to try one more time. Rob likes to stare at me as this is happening to see if what he feels is indeed a kick or some sort of indigestion. I like to look down as it's pretty awkward to be stared at. But once I feel a kick, I'll look at him. After about 15 seconds, I turned and looked at him and his eyes got wide. We both knew he felt the baby kick and the look on his face was priceless. The experience was just as amazing for both of us as it was when he felt Faith kick on Easter Saturday in 2010. We love our second baby girl, and we don't even know her name yet...