It's a . . .

Yep, we found out what the baby is.  Jainie has been diligently praying that she will have a baby sister and every prayer begs that it will be a girl.  Jared and I decided we had better find out so we could talk to her about how prayers are answered and how sometimes we don't get the answer we want.  Meantime, Jake started praying for a boy. 

 So, it was time to let everyone know what the baby was/is.  :)  Anyway, we decided to wait to let everyone know on Thanksgiving.  Except we told the kids a couple days before so they could help us decide and plan on how to tell everyone else.  I have to say I was very proud of the kids for being able to keep it a secret - Josie, Jake and Jainie were particularly excited.  Josie had her friends guess and they all insist they knew all along.  Jake has one of his bff's (as he calls them now), Emma, in his class so he really wanted to tell her.  Jainie told all her friends at school that she knew what it was but she couldn't tell anyone so they would just have to wait.  (I don't think they were too disappointed.)  

So, we got together late one night, after everyone had returned from their individual events and had a scavenger hunt.  

 This shows just how excited everyone was - Josh was so enthusiastic - I thought it was adorable!

So, here is the first clue - each child got to be the leader and find one of the clues.  

Along with the clues came a baby item that we would need.  Jaxon really liked his hand sanitizer - a necessity with five other school-attending children.

It's a . . . GIRL!!! 

 Yep, the final clue led them to these pink frosted cupcakes with baby items on top.  I think they all wondered if Jared and I were serious - you can tell by the look on Jake's face.  Jake was not too happy, he thought it was a boy for sure.   (I don't think he really cared that much, he just wanted it to be the opposite of what Jainie wanted.  But, Jainie knew from the start that it was going to be a little sister.)  Jake refused to eat a cupcake altogether - no pink cupcakes for him.  I do think he tried one out the next day.  :)

So, then we had a couple days to decide how to tell everyone else.  I had some great ideas, but as with most of my ideas, reality sets in and I end up going simple.  Which works.  

So, we went to the Thalman side for Thanksgiving dinner and the kids helped me make these deviled eggs.  We covered this tray and if you look closely, you will see there are letters hidden under the eggs.  (Josie cut out the letters with her little cricut).   So, we just had to wait til everyone ate the eggs to find the surprise.  Jake and Jainie told everyone that they would find out that day but they couldn't tell them how.  Needless to say, the eggs disappeared and no one noticed the letters!  REALLY!  The kids were going crazy until finally I told Jared he should show everyone and make it more obvious.  Well, some thought it was a boy because of the color of the tray - in my defense, it is the only tray I had.  :)  

 Oh, and the eggs were pretty yummy.  :)

So, there you go - what it looked like underneath with Vanna and Pat Sajak showing us what it says.

Then, we went to the Oldroyd's later that night and we made a homemade banana cream pie - which I love.  And, we put beautiful pale pink whipping cream on top.  It's hard to tell it's pink in the picture.  Anyway, Josie brought it in amidst games at the kitchen table and voila! everyone knows!  It's a girl! 

We are so so so so so so so so so so so so so x10 excited!  We will have 3 and 3 - exactly equal.  The boys weren't excited about that since when we vote, they usually win, but the girls are ecstatic.  Jared and I were honestly fine either way, we would be grateful for whichever we were blessed with but a little girl is just so special and I love my girls.  So, bring on the pink - we are getting more and more ready and can't wait for our sweet little baby girl, who may be slightly spoiled, not just by her parents, or her sisters, but her brothers as well.  :)