A picture post and how Chad revealed the gender!

So, I've been doing quite a lot of talking but with no corresponding pictures.  Today is the day I redeem myself. . .

First, I suppose I should go back and explain how I found out the gender and why I caved.  Chad and I were both dealing with a lot of stress right at the end of the Fall semester.  It was nuts.  He found out the gender the Monday of the last actual week of class.  Finals were the following week and we both had massive amounts of work to do.  The Friday after he found out, I was feeling stressed and the fact that he knew the gender and that I wanted to revel in it, too, increased the stress.  I, for some reason, decided that maybe we should contemplate having a gender reveal at Christmas and I really liked that idea.  All I knew is that once I found out there would be no more chance that I could just wait until the birth and be surprised.  Realizing the gravity of the decision, I became more stressed because I wanted to know so badly but knew that I wouldn't be able to give back my knowledge.  So by that evening we decided that for the sanity of all of us, I needed to know that night.  I am so glad I found out and I have no regrets.  We just aren't meant to keep those kind of monumental things from each other.  Chad was awesome and completely made it a wonderful and memorable time.  I insisted that it be a special moment and reveal and he outdid himself!  (We had both been terrified he would just blurt it out if we continued to wait and that was certainly not the way either of us wanted me to find out).  So, he went into the bedroom and spend a good thirty minutes in there and emerged with a beautifully wrapped small box.  We got the kids in the room and set up the camera on the tripod.  We started the video and we asked both boys what they thought the gender would be.  Jude answered that he thought it would be a boy and that he was hoping it would be (much to my surprise because until that night, the entire pregnancy he'd been on Team Pink).  Lennon said he thought it would be a girl.  Then I began to unwrap the box.

 The small box under the wrapping.  It was all taped up and I had to decide for sure if I really wanted to know the secret it held.  Finally, when I was sure I wanted to know I opened it and found

I was immediately shocked because I had really been expecting it to say girl but began explaining to the boys that they were having a brother and congratulating Jude on being right.  Sometime during all this Chad took the box from me and I barely noticed.  I guess I figured he was setting it aside for posterity and didn't want me to dump out the confetti.  Well, while I wasn't paying attention he dumped the confetti in his hand and then handed the box back to me and told me to take another look.  This is what I found. . .

And at this point the tears started streaming down my face!  I could not believe it!  Needless to say we are both overjoyed to know that we are having a little girl and I'm so thankful for Chad making the surprise so wonderful and sneaky.  He's the greatest!

Now for some more picture fun from the last few weeks!

Lennon rocking the swing!  He's pretty proud he can make it go  by himself!

Jude showing his "mashed potatoes" aka golf balls.

Teamwork.  Jude is pushing the tonka truck up to Lennon for a dramatic release!

They switched positions and Lennon is giving the go signal.

This kid gets bigger and bigger every day.

Jude and Lennon chilling with Jude's new V-Reader he got for Christmas from Nana and Pawpaw.

Little man decided to add a pair of overall shorts to his outfit for the day.  

The complete outfit.  He picked his rain boots to wear down to the bus stop to pick up Jude.  I love his style!