The whole family trooped into the doctor’s office today, with video tape in hand. I still have the same video tape with both Jachin’s and Zoe’s ultrasounds on it, so we added baby Gale #3′s to it (or BG3, as I like to call it, since we don’t have a name yet).  With some jiggling and bugging the little guy, we finally got a shot of the “goods”. It’s a boy for sure. Zoe started crying. Then she actually left the room. No, I’m not kidding. Jon had to go after her. Jachin never took his eyes off of the screen the whole time. “Wow, there are his ribs!” he said. “And look at his legs!” At one point the little guy did an impressive yoga move with his legs extended back over the top of his head. As the ultrasound tech measured his head, Jachin remarked about how small the baby’s brain appeared to be. The tech assured him that it was normal; the little guy will have no problems with video game aptitude. Jon came back into the room carrying Zoe, who refused to talk the rest of the time, except to occasionally whimper: “But I really wanted it to be a girl…”

But she’ll get over it… eventually. Hopefully.

And now we can start buying blue. And thinking of boy names. I have a few in mind. Jon named Jachin, and Jachin named Zoe, so Zoe and I are the only ones who actually get a vote on the baby’s name… since we’re the ones who haven’t gotten to name a baby yet. (Zoe cried more when I talked about this, because — as she pointed out, sobbing — she’d only thought of girl names.)

(She hasn’t yet talked about actually leaving for Hawaii. We’re hoping it doesn’t come to that. Because we’d really miss her. And airfare is so expensive right now…)

One of my rad friends from high school, Shay, wrote a book about our hometown. I told her how mad-jealous I am of her… since having my own ISBN is a life-long dream of mine. But she’s done it.

So assuming you’ve always wanted to know more about Smithsburg, Maryland, and assuming you want to support a fledgling writer (because what heartless jerk wouldn’t?), you can now go to Barnes and Noble and pre-order your own copy.

Go here now!

(Yay for Shay!)

This morning I went in to the doctor for my usual monthly check-up. These monthly visits are short and sweet: the doctor listens for a heartbeat and then asks if I have any questions or concerns. Assuming I have no questions or concerns, these visits can be as short as 45 seconds. Of course that’s after a mind-numbing 30-45 minute wait in the waiting room beforehand. So if I don’t have any legitimate questions or concerns, I make some up… just to help me feel like I’ve gotten my co-pay’s worth.

The kids love going with me to these visits. They love fighting over  playing with the infant toys in the waiting room. I told them that for Christmas this year they are getting letter blocks, plastic keys, and one of those wooden rollercoaster thingys, since they seem to love these items so much they will actually fight babies for them. My kids also love to hear the heartbeat once we’re in the patient room. They think it’s awesome, actual proof that mommy is growing a baby and not just getting fat.

So today the doctor walked in and said, “Hey guys! Ready to hear a heartbeat?” And they were all, “Yay!” And then he said, “So we don’t know what this one is yet, right?” And I said, “Not yet, the ultrasound is next week.” So then he turned to my kids and asked the magical question: “What do you guys think it is?” Here is the actual transcript of the conversation that followed:

Jachin: “It’s a boy.”

Zoe: “Nuh-uh, it’s a girl.”

Jachin: “No, it’s definitely a boy.”

Zoe: “If it’s a boy, I am moving to Hawaii. That’s where Miss Jesse, my kindergarten teacher, just moved.”

Jachin (not to be outdone by his sister): “Well if it’s a girl, I am moving to Canada.”

Doctor (to me): “Wow, Canada, huh?  You’d think he would have picked Hawaii, too.”

Me (to doctor): “He had to out-do his sister by actually moving to another country.”

Doctor: “So what do you think?”

Me: “I think next Tuesday will be a sad day, because one of them is definitely moving out.”

Doctor: “Well, that’s okay. You’re already used to having just two anyway.”

(Then I made up a few questions and concerns before leaving the room.)

But as far as next week goes, we are working on the situation both ways. We are calling Miss Jesse to see if she has a spare room for Zoe on the BYU Hawaii campus, and we’re getting an expedited passport for Jachin and teaching him lingo from the movie “Strange Brew”. Either way, when Tuesday comes, we’ll be ready.