Tuesday, January 22, 2008

. . . Since Thanksgiving . . . Part Three

We found out we were having a baby GIRL!!!

Don and I had plans of being surprised by the gender of our baby at the birth, but many of those reasons were trumped by the reasons for finding out the gender early. We had heard from a some good friends that if you don't find out, you are more likely to get the things you NEED at showers rather than cute, frilly outfits. Right now, I have a church shower planned, but the bigger showers with our families will be after the birth anyway - so that reason was completely knocked out.

Another reason we had for waiting and being surprised was that we were planning on moving quite soon after the baby was born, since Don will be graduating in May. If that was the case, then I wouldn't really spend much time in putting decorations up for just a month or two. However, the earliest we would be moving would be August/September with also the possibility of staying for another whole year (depending on which way the Lord directs our family). So, another reason to not find out hit the fan.

Many other factors brought us to the point of choosing to find out. So, we had our ultrasound December 20th and had the nurse put the results in a little red box (the one we are holding in front of the Christmas tree on the last post). We decided that we would open up the results on Christmas morning as a reminder of our precious gift from God. We celebrate God's provision of His Son as a gift that we can receive, and we were able to celebrate the wonderful gift of our child that He has given to us as well. It was very special for us as well as our extended family who were all involved in receiving the news as quickly as we could dial the numbers.

The photos are from our ultrasound. The first one is just the profile picture of our daughter, Katelyn Jane. The second one is the picture that the nurse put into the box for us to open. She said it would be obvious what it was, but I didn't think it would be that clear! She did a great job for us and we were thrilled!


15 comments:

jess said...

Love it, love it, love it! Great idea having it as a present to open!

Anonymous said...

So precious. We're happy for you.
Ben and Abby

Becky Gravley said...

we can't wait to meet little big k!=)
we love her already! (and her sweet mom and dad).
love,
tbsk grav

Katie Barker said...

Hi Katrina,
I'm so happy for you and Don. Congrats! I have to agree with Jess, what a super amazing little gift! I don't know how you could wait! I would have opened that one first :)

Tim, Kristen , Megan, Emily, and Anna said...

I am so excited for you and Don. IT looks like you are close to being caught up on the blogs as well. Good job!!! IT was so good to see you yesterday...you looked great!! Keep us updated with all the baby planning!!

Abby said...

Congratulations! And what a cute name!!!!

S said...

Yah for finding out! We are so excited for you guys. I must admit I was a bit confused when I saw on the Colonial prayer list Hines' baby 'girl'. I was shocked since I thought you were going to be surprised too. Like I say, you're either surprised at 20 wks or 40 :). We love knowing what the gender especially the last half of pregnancy so we can refer to the baby as a person, not an 'it'. I'm sure you've already realized that. I love the name Katelyn Jane too! We can't wait to meet her!

The Horaks said...

Congratulations! I love the name you picked out for her! Your story of how you 'found out' was very sweet! :)

~Jenn

Anonymous said...

Love her profile picture! You can already tell she's a cutie :)

Karis said...

I loved finding out the gender so I am very excited that you decided to go this route. I like the name too. Katelyn was one of the names we talked about when we were deciding on Kayla's name.

Nate, Kris, Adrianna and Natalie said...

So cute! I think you'll just love knowing that you're having a girl, b/c when you meet her finally, it's like you already have a bond with her. We loved knowing. We can't wait to see pictures of her in a few months!!!! By the way, I LOVE her name - that was our second choice for Adrianna. :-)

juliechall said...

That's very exciting!!! I can't wait to see her :)

LMLogan said...

so exciting! congrats you guys!! oh and we're one of the those couples who wait as well!! but that is exciting and I love the christmas gift idea! any belly pics coming our way?? :)

Nate and Emily said...

how exciting and fun!:) you always have such fun ideas!

cranny + b said...

how did I miss this?! So excited about baby!! How are you feeling these days? Did you hear about Cal's ear infection;(? I wrote on my post that if ear infections were contagious, I would be contacting my "child's" friends to place the blame;) Since Cali hasn't seen Diva in a while--obviously it wouldn't have been her fault;) Do you need us to keep Diva anytime soon--I'm sure Cal would love it;)