It's a Boy! And some tender moments!

For those of you who are laughing right now: I know. You saw it coming. We truly believed we were going to wait to find out the gender of our lil' babe until the birth. Yes, we had tricked ourselves into thinking this ridiculous thing. About a week ago, Jonathan and I were talking, and I asked him, "remind me: why are we waiting to find out the gender again?" He said, "I have no idea." So, I took that as a green light, and called Fetal Foto. On Thursday last week, we met there, and were THRILLED to find out that it's a BOY!!!
We would have been excited either way, but it's SO nice to know who's in there! We hope that it's a healthy boy! Everything seems great for now. We're very thankful that I'm feeling much better, and that he is growing and developing well. Here's some of the VAGUE shots.

That shows the 3 little circles, representing the jewels.



This pic, if you can see it, made me laugh really hard. Since it just shows skeletal-type images: he looks like a Halloween skeleton man! He's looking right at the camera here. Psycho!!!


Another "I'm a boy!" shot.



Profile view: so sweet! I watched him stretch, move, suck his thumb, open and close his jaw, flip over, and wiggle. He even had his legs in indian style for a while. I can't believe, at such a young stage of development (14 weeks), he is soooooo real and human! I forgot how fast they change and progress. It's so reassuring to see him moving in there!


On to the TENDER MOMENTS:
Jeffrey R. Holland's talk about the Book of Mormon...if you didn't see it: Click here

Here's a link of Seth Adam Smith's edited version with music and beautiful images along with Holland's talk: Click Here

This powerful, bold, and true testimony of the Book of Mormon changed me. I cannot deny the impressions and witnesses that came to me when I heard his talk. I realized many things. One of which: I love the Book of Mormon.

I have been eating up the Book ever since this talk in a very different way. I have been loving every minute. Last night, Brigham came to lie next to me while I was reading in Ether. He said, "what are you reading about?" I told him that I was reading about the Brother of Jared. He said, "oh, I know him. He built ships that could go under water, and he had lights in them that were stones." I said, would you like me to read some of it to you? He nodded, and snuggled up to me. "Wait, I also know who helped him get to the land," Briggs said. "Who?" I said. "Jesus Christ".

Then, I read Ether 3. As I came to verses 13, 14, and beyond, I became a blubbering mess, and could only stop to cry. Briggs held onto me. I told him that I knew this was true and that I believed in Christ. After I had read out loud the conversation between the Brother of Jared and Jesus Christ, when he learns that his faith is what brought about this miracle of seeing the Lord's finger, then asks the Lord to show himself to him... Ether 3:14 Jesus Christ says "Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters."

The faith of the Brother of Jared overwhelms me. Jesus Christ told him that no one had such great faith as him. What a humbling experience for the Brother of Jared. Moroni explained that the Brother of Jared "had faith no longer, for he knew, nothing doubting".

I learned so many personal things from this particular study. Having Brigham with me brought the Spirit so much stronger. I hope to have some of that same faith. I appreciate Elder Holland's testimony, now that I've been able to see things differently, and learn new things for myself.

Thanks for letting me share something so personal.

Here's another sweet experience: this morning, before Jonny boy left for work, we knelt for prayer. Chanel wanted to say it. This doesn't happen often, b/c she usually will freak out after volunteer TO say it, by yelling that she does NOT want to say it! We let her say it, and it went something like this:
"Dear Heavenly Father, thank thee for this day. Thank thee for grandmas and grandpas, and Charlie, and Brigham. Thank thee for Daddy go to work. Thank thee for our play. Thank thee for Jesus gets betters. Thank thee that Jesus has no owies. Thank thee for President Monson. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."
There were a few repeats, like Charlie, and president Monson, which make it so much cuter! But, I was a boob again! I was so proud of her. This was a prayer that she was thinking about as she gave it. She's not even 3 yet. What a doll baby.

As an aside: one reason I share these experiences is because they so RARELY occur!!!!! I'm not trying to say, "here's exactly what our home is like 100% of the time! Eat your heart out!" ha ha ha ha ha ha. Tender moments is ALL we get sometimes. I just had to put them into words, trying to express how awesome they were to me.