Snips & Snails and Puppy Dog Tails...

There are a lot of expectations with having a baby. In fact, there are a lot more than I ever could have ever imagined before getting pregnant. What with all of the choices of natural birth vs. medicated birth, breastfeeding vs. formula, cloth diapers vs. disposable, it's quite easy to get lost in the transition of woman to mother. Maybe even losing a part of yourself (most of all, your sanity) in the process.

So, let me be the first to admit, I was 100% sure that this baby was a girl. Every mother would love to have a mini-me that she could dress in cute outfits and do cute hair styles and with 4 sisters, how could it be any different? At least, thats what I thought.

So imagine my shock when, at 14 weeks, the ultrasound technician said boy. Then at 16 weeks, still a boy and even at 20 weeks, still a boy! What happened to mother intuition? What happened to the Chinese lunar calendar? I was so confused and I admit, a little disappointed at the way my 50/50 turned out. Mainly because I had no idea what to do with a mini-Tyler. I mean, I still have trouble with figuring out the regular Tyler and with my faulty mother intuition, I was a deer in the headlights.

I just knew girl ways. I understood girl ways. Freak, I am a girl!

Before I found out this baby's gender, it was so easy to get caught up in the expectations of this:




and this


and this



But then I think about my boy. My little boy and whether he'll have my nose or his dad's eyes or if he is going to be loud and rambunctious or quiet and shy. That's when realize that, boy or girl, I am going to have a baby and that baby will be mine. That's when I realize that there are many couples out there that can't have children of their own. That's when I realize that I wouldn't mind a little mini-Tyler running around after all, even if he does have the same obsession with pizza as his dad.




Then I get caught up in the expectations of this:




and this


and this


and despite all of my previous expectations about babies and what I thought I knew, every time he kicks, every time I see him on the ultrasound machine, every time he stretches, I get even more excited



for this.