The results are in!

The polls closed this morning and the final count was:

Girl - 45 votes
Boy - 27 votes

72 people voted and guess what...

The majority of them were absolutely right.

Dan noted the evidence before the ultrasound tech spoke the words. We're having a baby GIRL!

This morning when we were getting ready to leave the house, I told Jackson that we were going to the hospital to see the baby and find out if baby was a boy or girl and he responded with a matter-of-fact "It's a sister." Once his hunch was confirmed during the ultrasound, his response to our excitement in telling him that he's going to have a sister was a simple "Yea" (as if he's already known for months and we're finally catching on.)

Needless to say, Jill has already gone shopping - with a LOT of constraint! Two adorable baby girl dresses are awaiting our baby girl's arrival already...and the hunt for all things pink is soon to ensue.

Dan told Jackson right away that he now has 2 things in life to worry about: his little sister and golf.

We didn't waste any time in teaching Jackson what to tell all the other little boys. Play the video to hear his new mantra.


Up until today, Jackson has insisted that our baby's name is Baby. Boy or girl, it's been Baby. Anyone who offered any other suggestion met with a stern protest from Jackson. "It's name is Baby!" Today as we were leaving the ultrasound appointment and walking to the car he said, "Momma, I wanna name the baby sister Friend." I thought that was the cutest thing ever. And then a few hours later he told a huge group of our friends that we should name the baby Ostrich. Sorry, Jackson, but I think Mommy and Daddy will be in charge of the name.

We're super excited about welcoming a baby girl into our household and it looks like she'll definitely be adding a lot more excitement to the family. This baby girl is a dancer! She has squirmed, wiggled, danced, jumped, waved, and kicked during every ultrasound. And we've had more than the usual amount of ultrasounds due to the fact that her wiggles have forced the doctor to do ultrasounds during routine office visits just to track her down for a heart rate read. We thought Jackson moved a lot in my belly, but this little girl has him beat! And if Jackson's pre-birth movement was any indication of the active toddler we now have before us then we're really in for it with this baby girl.

God is good and we're so very blessed! Bring on the pink!

Fun at The Fair

I'm not sure if we go to the Puyallup Fair each year for the rides and exhibits or if we just go for the piping hot, butter & jam-filled Fischer scones that are sold by the dozens throughout the premises. I'm thinking that Dan's mostly motivated by the latter. Either way, today we made our annual trek to the busy mecca of all things deep-fried. The scents of cotton candy, kettle corn, and sawdust filled the air as we pressed through crowded masses en route to prize-winning piggies and other livestock, hand-crafted goods, the world's largest pumpkin, and of course made a few stops at the rides since Jackson is old enough now to enjoy a few spins in a miniature helicopter or race car.

Here's a photo journal of our visit:

 

 

 

The first ride of the night was the giant slide. Unfortunately the auto-focus picked up a passer-by at the last second and I spent the bulk of Dan and Jackson's descent trying to regain focus. Oh well, at least Jackson's first fair ride is somewhat documented (even it if does give one a headache to watch it).

Next stop was the animal barns. {Note to the ladies: stay away from animal barns while pregnant. I know I'm allergic to dogs when (and only when) I'm pregnant, but it seems that all other animals also make my eyes burn and tear up while my hormones are raging.}

 

Jackson got a little irritated with the livestock when we visited the prize-winning horses, cows, and pigs, etc. This mostly out-of-focus video below is a small sample of Jackson trying fruitlessly to get the cows to "Moo" like all of his animal books say they do. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Here's some video of our speed racer:

 

 

 

 

 

 And don't worry...nobody was injured. Jackson loves to meet and greet the folks who keep us safe and he had a blast exploring the inside of this ambulance pictured below.

 

We're already looking forward to a visit to the Fair next year...with two kids in tow!

the making of a ringbearer

It doesn't seem possible to think that Jackson is old enough already, but at age 2 he has his first wedding gig coming up. Our dear friend Bethany Greene has asked Jackson to be ringbearer as she weds David Melton in beautiful Colorado next week. The theme of the wedding is burlap and lace and the style is vintage so I've been on the hunt for wardrobe pieces to create the "vintage paperboy" look that Bethany was inspired by. 

The colors of the wedding - gray, yellow, and ivory - seem to be more aplenty in Spring than in the present or upcoming season. I scored big with the perfect gray newsboy cap at Babies 'R Us and ideal gray trousers at a local children's thrift store for just $4. Truth be told, this outfit has brought on quite the arduous hunt and most of the search has been for naught. With that being the case and time quickly running out, I got busy searching online for Do-It-Yourself tutorials on things like how to make a child's bow-tie and suspenders.

I decided the first project would be to make the suspenders. I'd found some for sale online but when I found this tutorial on a blog, I just had to try making them! The days-gone-by style seemed too perfect given the vintage feel of the wedding. Unsure of my ability to tackle the sewing machine single-handed, I did all of the sewing for this project by hand. (Note to self: sewing through leather is a little hard on the fingertips.) I was pretty stoked with the results, although please don't look too closely, perfectionists.

The next step was the yellow bow-tie. I found the perfect yellow pin-striped fabric at Jo-Ann's and found the tutorial for making the bow-tie here. Now the first lesson in making a bow-tie is this: never, never, NEVER start making it very late at night when you're pregnant, sick, and exhausted. One wrong measurement led to a second trip to the fabric store for replacement fabrics (less than $2...phew!) and a fresh start on a day when I'd had more sleep. But all in all, it turned out great. I'm not a seamstress or even a button-sewer so I recruited the help of my accomplished friend Glory. Under her tutelage, I got through the step-by-step process and got this finished product:

As I mentioned before, ivory shirts were nowhere to be found. My choices were either white or blue at every store and thrift store I visited. That being the case, I decided to try my hand at dying a white shirt and hoped for the best. I found a couple of different "recipes" from various sources and did a test run on an old white sheet that I ripped up. The winner of the ivory contest turned out to be coffee! Yum! A simple blend of coffee and vinegar did the trick and the perfect, ivory Nordstrom's dress shirt was born out of a thrift store find.

 

 

Finally, all that was left was to have Jackson model the entire ensemble and make sure he wouldn't go bananas with a bow-tie tucked under his neck and suspenders resting on his shoulders. He was an instant pro at looking like an Amish boy. He played as usual and took the new duds in stride. And boy did I think he looked adorable!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can't wait for the wedding next week!

let the voting begin!

Ok, it's time to cast your vote. Are you on Team Pink or Team Blue?

There's only about a week left before we go in for our "gender reveal ultrasound" to see if we're expecting baby BOY or baby GIRL Blankenship.

Dan is sure it's another boy. Jill is absolutely unsure but is definitely coveting baby girl clothes in all of the stores. Jackson changes his mind each time you ask him if he's having a baby brother or baby sister.

Cast your vote now and we'll see who's got it right. Only one color balloon will remain!