Snakes and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

What a GREAT day we had yesterday here in Mauneyland! Although we did not come home with a sonogram picture of the entire little one, we did get the money shot that told us that we are officially expecting a BABY BOY!!!

Even though it is so very cool, the ultrasound appointment is quite stressful to say the least. The technician was super nice, but as she took measurements of everything, we just both sat there in anticipation that she would tell us that everything looked good and healthy... that was the most important thing. She started at the head and took several measurements, we saw the brain, the upper and lower spine, all four cavities of the heart (as well as the heart beating... very cool!), arm bones, leg bones, the kidneys and bladder, two little hands, to adorable little feet, and of course, Baby Mauney's business. Funny enough, that was the hardest thing for her to get a good shot of! He was sitting like a little pretzel and since his legs were tucked under him, she could not get a good view of the goods. Finally, he uncrossed his legs and all we saw was a little hand reach down and cover it up! The little stinker was trying to keep it a secret! He's a little troublemaker already! When she finally got a good picture and showed us what we were looking for I said, "I knew it was a boy!" and she let us know that a mother's intuition is right about 70% of the time... I think that's pretty neat. Maybe the Moreland's will have their girl afterall!

After we were done with the fun stuff, we had a regular doctor's appointment, too. Like always, the nurse directed me to the scale and as always, Josh's eyes lit up with delight. You see, since we started going to the doctor together, this has always been his favorite part. He finds much joy in calling my maternity jeans "fat pants" and saying "c'mon biggin" whenever we're going somewhere. For those of you who think that's mean, it's really not... you just don't know my husband's sense of humor! I just wish I didn't laugh at these things. So anyway, I get myself up on the trusty ol' scale and ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY SIX POUNDS???!?!?! Shock, horror, disgust, confusion, and over a million thoughts ran through my head at that moment... "what have I been eating? How did I gain so much in one month? Where is all of that weight? I look about the same, don't I?" And then I heard laughter behind me... come to find out, my loving husband had his foot on the scale the whole time. Now I know why my son is already such a little stinker!

After a successful appointment, the two of us headed out to Wal-Mart to buy our baby boy a couple of presents and came home with a blue blanket, some bibs, a stuffed elephant (no worries, the Vol stuff will come rolling in eventually, too!), and the tiniest, most adorable pair of cowboy boots ever... they are IDENTICAL to the ones that Josh wears pretty much everyday. We called friends and family, posted some pictures and announced it on Facebook, and went to Kelly's (our favorite local Irish-Mexican Pub... seriously!) for a celebratory dinner. Oh what a great day that we'll remember forever!

So now the question remains... does he have a name? So Josh and I are proud and excited to announce that sometime in March you will all be meeting....

Jacob Stephen Mauney

(or Little Baby Jake as we've already started to call him)

He'll have the same initials as Daddy, as well as the same middle name, which is Grandpa's name, too! Oh how we cannot wait to meet him! Until then... we have some work to do!