October 20, 2014

20 Weeks and Surprise!!!!

Twenty Weeks Status:
Estimated Baby Size: Banana

So much has happened in the past few weeks that it will be a wonder if I can cram it all into this post sufficiently.

I will just gloss over some of the non-baby related things because as I mentioned earlier, this is indeed the moment of the big news, gender reveal!

Over the last few weeks, we have settled into a good homeschooling routine, and ESL teaching has been a highly rewarding venture. I really look forward to going to see my Spanish-speaking ladies on Thursdays, and my fellow teacher Marci is always a joy to spend time with.

On the 8th my dad finally received his long-awaited hip surgery, and he has made great strides of recovery since then, go dad!

Before that, we celebrated both Leopold's second birthday, and Sebastian's fifth.  I always really enjoy putting together their parties, even though it is a lot of work. It's just so much fun to see their faces light up and try my best to make their day really special.


Leopold's party was all about "Mighty Machines" or construction vehicles, and I found a cool recipe on Pinterest for a construction or caution tape pattern using yellow cake and dark chocolate cake layers cut into diagonal concentric circles...it was fun to learn the process, and I think it turned out really cute!

Sebastian's party was Super Mario themed. He and his brothers are all quite taken with the fantastical world of the Super Mario Brothers--they love playing it on the Wii. I'll post a few pictures below of the party celebrations. I can't believe I've been a mom for five years, or that Leopold will be TWO! It's a good thing there's another baby on the way or I might've just cried their whole birthdays long!

LEOPOLD's Party:




SEBASTIAN's Party:


Well, leading up to the big gender reveal I became less convinced of the reliability of the Ramzi method for predicting gender when the Ultrasound tech is not in on the discussion and interpreting accurately where everything is.  This means that for all three previous Ramzi methods that had proved correct, it was a good possibility they were all coincidence!

OK, so last week I told my mom, who was still dreaming pink despite my assurance that Wombat was a little dude, that her hopes could be realized again.
  

And what do you know? SURPRISE! There is a bona fide Wombette growing snugly in my belly :) To say I was over the moon, is just not adequate. I was over Jupiter or Pluto! And quite honestly, I was in shock to hear the news, or rather, see the news! I knew she was a girl the second I saw the ultrasound, after seeing three successive boys, I could tell that "something was missing," haha!

Andy, of course, had to make that joke aloud to me and the ultrasound tech.  

I was so excited to call everyone and tell them the astonishing news..."A Schwartz child was going to be born that did not have a Y chromosome!"...that I was in a daze walking to get the car from the hospital valet service. Yes... valet service. No, not because we were too posh to park; the visitor parking is always jam-packed and the parking attendents give out free vouchers for their very inconvenient and slow valet service when it's over capacity.  Anyone who has visited VCU / MCV can surely commiserate.  The valet line usually wraps around the block when the parking lot is full...

Anyways, her name will be Winifred Jane. :) It was easily agreed upon by both Andy and I, and we love it.  Andy's great-grandmother's name on his mom's side was Winifred, and she was apparently a pretty awesome lady. Also, we love the name because it invokes memories of one of our and the boys' favorite films: Mary Poppins. If you recall, the mother in the flick is named Winifred, and the daughter is Jane.  It imparts her with an air of vintage whimsy, and I am already teeming with ideas for her nursery...

Anyways, I'll post the ultrasound pictures, only slightly doctored, and the announcement picture we posted to Facebook below... It's not the best announcement photo, but my phone was dying and everyone was asking the results, so we ran into Kid to Kid and got a little pink dressed and snapped a quick belly shot with my phone so I could update everyone before it died. Then we celebrated with some well-enjoyed lunch at Sushi King. By far our favorite Japanese restaurant in the area...highly recommend it!

See ya soon!