It's a......BOY!!

Yay! I can finally post about this great news!! We are having a BOY! We are going to name him Grayson Lee Branch. I really love this name! My mom had only mentioned the name Grayson the weekend before we found out what we are having and I liked it but wasn't sure what Drew would think--so unpredictable with him and names! I asked him about it and he said he liked it a lot. Then, throughout the day he kept mentioning how he really liked the name Grayson. By the end of the evening, I asked him "so, do you just want to go ahead and say that will be our boy name then?!" And he agreed.

On Sunday night I could barely sleep! I was TOO excited and so many thoughts kept running through my head. I kept imagining how it would be when we got to tell our family Monday night. Finally, Monday arrived and I was so thankful I had taken the day off of school. I first spent the day doing some things around the house and taking it easy. Then I decided to call my mom and see when they were going to be coming into town. Low and behold, they were already here! Dad went to go play golf with his friend Barry...after a HAIL storm here! So, I picked up my mom and we went to Southlake to shop. BABY SHOP!! We picked out a couple of girl things and a couple of boy things after we had lunch together. It was so fun combing all the baby stores (and there were a lot!) in the Southlake Town Center. It definitely hit home, though, that there are a LOT more cute things out there for girls than boys! The two things for each gender that I got were going to go in a gift sack, one for each of our parents to open that evening to find out if we are having a boy or girl.

The appointment was amazing and it was SOOOO fun to see our sweet baby moving around on the screen. We saw his brain, skull, spinal cord, stomach, the 4 chambers of the heart, legs, arms, hands, feet, and yep...a little something else in between those cute legs of HIS! I had such a feeling that it was a boy this whole time!! Drew and I were holding hands the whole time and it was such a special time realizing that we are going to have a SON. What a blessing! I always wanted a boy first to be the older protective brother, and just...because! But, you can't really say that ahead of time because then if you end up having a girl you feel bad about it. Haha! After the sonogram, Dr. Snead printed off LOTS of pictures and gave us our DVD of the sonogram. Such precious momentos!! Dr. Snead asked us if we had a name picked out yet and without skipping a beat Drew said, "Yes! Grayson Lee Branch!" Guess it's official! Then, as he did the first time, he asked us if he could pray with us. Again, I LOVE having such a God-fearing doctor!

Drew and I scooted out of the appointment and decided to ride together to dinner. Our big Baby Branch Gender Reveal party was at Joe T. Garcias! Mmmmm! On the way there, I stuffed all of these cute boxes that looked like baby blocks, with It's a Boy blue mints, It's a Boy confetti, and a little boy onesie, hat, or socks. I placed the baby boy items in each of the parents' gift sacks as well. I couldn't wait for everyone to open these at the same time later!! We ended up getting to the restaurant about an hour early, but it ended up perfectly. They let us sit at our tables and get them set up with the boxes as decorations. Then, Drew and I enjoyed the peacefulness and joy of eating chips and salsa in a beautiful location outside at the restaurant just letting it sink in that we are really having a little boy! Our cup definitely runneth over!

Our family arrived and in mass! We had two large round tables and ended up having to add another small round table as well. We are so blessed to be surrounded by such support and love. As soon as everyone was there and seated, we had them open up all of the boxes and gift sacks at the same time. Everyone cheered "BOY!" when they realized and it was so fun to watch all of their reactions. I got a couple of gifts right away from those that came uber-prepared! Lara had crocheted the most amazing beanie for Grayson and my mom gave us a super cute little boy outfit from the Christian bookstore in College Station. The rest of the evening was spent chatting with family and showing off our sonogram pictures to everyone. When Drew and I got home, we played the DVD for my parents before we all went to bed.

That night I lay my head down to rest knowing that I am carrying a boy. A sweet baby boy. Grayson Lee Branch, you have already stolen my heart. Thank you, God, for allowing us this blessing!