We're having a...

Yep! We're having a boy! Our long-awaited anatomy scan ultrasound happened on Monday. Within seconds of putting the wand on my belly, the technician told us we were having a boy. He made sure there was NO uncertainty! In that moment, I had flash forwards of the life our little man will have... and it just warmed my heart.

Our technician looked carefully over his little body. I can't get over his long legs and arms.... and TOES! He has little toes! He looks like a person! He's 11 oz. and he was measuring exactly the right size for how far along I am. Thank goodness!

It's surreal to me to know what we're having. I felt all along it was a boy... but this being my first pregnancy, I had nothing to compare it to at all. I even had a dream last week where I held my baby boy in my arms and I could see his face. But that's just crazy pregnancy dreams right? I would be excited either way, but now that we know... it's full steam ahead. We have had a name picked out for seriously two years.... and we've talked about it since before we got married. I'm happy to announce our little boy's name to y'all.

Wilder, of course, is my maiden name and I'm proud of the family it represents. It's a little bit cowboy rough and tumble, a little bit British, which kind of goes along with our last name. I had never thought of using is as a first name until I came across a cutting horse rider named Wilder Jones while reading cutting press releases for work at APHA (probably around 2009 if you can believe it). Once I saw the name... I was convinced. :-) Luckily, Zach agreed. I'm starting to see it crop up in baby name blogs and books like the Baby Name Wizard, but we didn't pick the name based on any trends... however, maybe it'll make the name a little more "acceptable" to people who might think it's weird. We don't really care though... this little one is gonna be wild! Dean is my father-in-law's first name, and I can't think of a better man to honor with our first boy's name than the man that raised Zach into the person he is today. If our boy doesn't want to be called Wilder as an adult, he can always go by Will or Dean... but he'll always be our Wilder.

I've had nursery ideas marinating in my head for a while--probably since before we got pregnant, so as soon as I got the word, I started putting them together. I have some blue and brown wood furniture from when I was a teen and I have always loved it. We're going to swap out a few pieces from one of our guestrooms to add the dresser and armoire that are blue and brown--and later we can get the bed and desk. I think we're going to purchase a convertible crib that can go from a crib all the way to a full size bed. A brilliant invention! We already have a kangaroo skin from Australia and a set of antlers, as well as that set of suitcases (do you recognize them from our announcement photos?). We have several world map prints that we are planning to frame for our house anyway, so I might take one of them and put it in Wilder's room. I really want that verse print... and there are a few other wall prints I'd like to pick out, but there's only so much room, so I'm not sure about that. I love that fake zebra skin rug, but Zach's not crazy about it so I might do a different kind of rug. Maybe fake cow skin. :-) Still need to decide about bedding, curtains and a glider chair, -- and maybe some more decor but these are the ideas I have so far! We want to keep using the room as a guest room for a while (it's the one with purple and grey bedding) so I probably won't convert it to a nursery till late September.

I was 20 weeks on Wednesday. I can't believe we're halfway there! I haven't gained much weight... the nurse keeps telling me I will eventually and the midwife isn't concerned. I've been trying to eat well and stay active, so we'll see how all of that goes. I've felt the baby move a little bit... maybe 3 times, but not regularly.

Two weeks ago we went to Red River, New Mexico with my BIL's group of teenagers. While Grant and the kids went camping, we hiked and walked and shopped around the town. I didn't know what we were having, but I did pick up a onesie because I couldn't resist. :-)