"It's a girl, Mom!"

The youngest child in our family has always been the one to predict the gender of the expected baby. Twenty month old Zac was absolutely determined that the baby Mommy was carrying was a boy. An ultrasound confirmed his prediction. Toddler Nathan was just as successful in predicting what an ultrasound confirmed; baby number three would be his little sister. With baby number four, the ultrasound could not verify the gender. Baby was asleep and wouldn't budge no matter how much it was poked and prodded. We have always gone into the later half of pregnancy and labor knowing the gender of the baby. There are usually too many surprises along the way for that detail to be one of them. But not this time. Would we be a family with three boys an a girl, or two of each? Bethany predicted another girl.

Here was the Mommy-daughter conversation at bedtime a few months before the birth. Bethany was patting my swollen belly saying "Baby come soon?!" I asked her if it's going to be a boy or a girl. She emphatically replied, "Girl!" "What if it's another boy and you have a little brother?" "It's a girl, Mom." Though she's only 2 years old, she calls me 'Mom' instead of 'Mommy' when she is really serious. "You realize if it's a girl, you'll have a roommate for life?" "It's a girl, Mom."

Alan and I picked out two names and settled in to wait. At 2:42 a.m. on Sunday, 10 July, the wait was over when Dr. Hagge announced "It's a beautiful...girl!" Amanda Lynn had arrived! God's secret for our family was an even split of two boys and two girls. After a shaky introduction to her little sister in the hospital, Mommy and Amanda were greeted by Bethany at home with "Mommy's home with MY baby sister!" And the sister love affair began. The boys are thrilled with Amanda, and Bethany thinks we brought home her best friend. As for Mom and Dad, we're exhausted and our hands are full, but so are our hearts. Never did we imagine that God would pour out His Blessings on our family so abundantly.