It's a ______ !!!

Jeff and Sarah are expecting baby #2 and the day arrived for them to find out if they are having a boy or a girl.

They had the ultrasound without finding out.

An ultrasound picture was inserted in a card and put into a sealed envelope which was then delivered to me.

I became the keeper of the secret and my lips were sealed to anyone (Rebecca, for instance) who might pressure me into sharing the information before the appointed time.

With eager anticipation, I opened the envelope...

and found out...

it's a BOY!!!

Good thing the word "boy" was printed on the ultrasound because I wouldn't have been able to figure it out on my own. Whew!!

I got to work mixing up the correct color for the frosting.

Sarah had instructed me that she wanted me to put either pink or blue frosting in the middle of a cake and none of the colored frosting could show through the white frosting on the outside of the cake.

The way I decided to ensure no color showing through was I put a ring of white frosting around the edge of the cake and had the blue frosting inside that.

The cake was finished before Rebecca arrived. She had instructions from Sarah to make Oreo-type cookies with pink and blue frosting for the party that evening. Brooke was the official taster.

Caroline entertained herself outside with the snow.

The Excell home was the location for the gender reveal party. Sarah had definitely put a lot of work into decorating and everything looked so festive and clever and cute.

Everyone got busy dishing up some food and eating all the good stuff.

Eli ate his meal in his chair and the rest of the time he was eating food from the plates of the other kids.

Sarah and Jeff were anxiously waiting for everyone to finish eating so the cake could be cut and they would have a little better idea of what the future will hold for their family.

Once Jeff's parents and our sons got connected on various cell phones, Jeff got busy cutting the cake for the purpose of the party--to have the gender of the unborn child revealed.

They saw the blue frosting and found out it's a BOY!!!!

Sarah wanted to see the ultrasound for herself, confirming positively what the blue frosting was telling her.

The little food scrounger could hardly wait to dig into the cake. Too bad the piece of cake he was eating was Brooke's. She was very frustrated when she discovered Eli had beat her to it.

All I can say is watch out!

If you think you have your hands full now, just wait for April 17, 2012, and there will be

double the trouble
double the work
double the cuteness
double the fun
double the love
and double the joy.

CONGRATULATIONS, Jeff and Sarah!!!! Eli is going to love having a little brother.