It's a GIRL!

Sam and I got the biggest surprise of our lives this week when we found out Cate is on her way to join our little family! Wow, we were both SO SURE it was a boy! It has actually been fun to be so surprised--I just love surprises--and if it had been a boy I wouldn't have been surprised at all!

Within about 5 minutes of leaving the dr's office we had decided that what I had thought was a great gender-neutral nursery idea (vintage carnival using primary colors) would simply not do for our little princess. In fact, a few weeks ago after seeing a very girly rug in the children's section I said to Sam, "You know, if it's a girl I might regret not doing pink and purple." He said, "Well, if it's a girl we can just change it. We haven't done that much." But, we both agreed, it's a boy. That conversation is one of maybe three we've had in the last five months about the possibility of having a girl. We were both just so sure it was a boy!

We are sure excited about filling our Cate's room with sugar and spice and everything nice: our carnival is about to turn in to a soda shop! The pinking and purpling of Cate's room has begun in earnest! Next step: change the red and blue on the dresser we already painted for her to pink and purple and get her bookshelf painted pink (with some sparkles if we can find the right supplies!). We're keeping the lime green and yellow from round 1. Sam is about to have two sparkle loving, sprinkle loving ladies around (at least until she's old enough to announce herself as a bug-loving tomboy!).

We are so excited. Here are some pictures of Miss Cate! She is perfect. Her little four-chambered heart is about the size of the tip of your thumb, starting with the nail. She has two kidneys, a bladder, a spine, a good looking brain, and a stomach that was full! That full stomach means she's swallowing away, just as she should. Her diet is pretty bland right now, just amniotic fluid, but she seems happy enough--she was spinning and rolling all around! She even stretched out her legs and arms for us. She is about 10 inches long and weighs about 9 oz. She's in the 78 percentile for growth and our due date was adjusted to December 22, giving her a few additional days to bless us with a tax credit (kidding, just kidding).

Here she is, looking like a human for the first time:
Miss Catherine Lee Major!