Daddy’s Little Girl

In planning what my next post would be, the idea going into last weekend was this would be solely about the gender reveal and the resulting gender of our baby. Then, during the reveal something I didn’t anticipate happened. I witnessed a moment of pure joy and elation that I will remember for the rest of my life. To get to this moment, let’s discuss the reveal and events leading up to it.

On September 1st, Jessica and I went to do a 4D ultrasound in hopes of learning the gender of our baby. Jessica wanted to be surprised, so as we sat in the office, she laid there eyes closed while the sonographer and I looked at our precious little girl. That’s right, we are having an amazing baby girl. Evelyn Belle Graham will be here in February.

I had no idea how amazingly happy it would make me to see those three little words as they were typed over the ultrasound as it was projected on the screen I was watching, “It’s a girl”. I immediately shed a few tears. Jessica stayed strong and dedicated to her decision to wanting to be surprised during the reveal. She jokingly asked once if I wanted her to hold the envelope that held the revealing ultrasound picture. Outside of that, she didn’t ask once or try to find out by any other means.

The rest of the family on the other hand, is a much different story. Over the course of the next 36 hours, everyone knew. Except for Jessica. This brings us to Saturday morning. We are in Birmingham Alabama for our annual Labor Day weekend family gathering. I have spent the time since the ultrasound until this point stressing, wanting to make everything perfect for Jessica. She and I get ready and head out of the hotel to the park area across the street.

There is my family, extended family, and photographer all waiting for us. Everyone with white shirts, ready to get this show on the road. We passed out cups of the revealing color powder. Everyone gathered around us. It’s time. This reveal and moment was for her, and she closed her eyes as we got ready to throw the contents of our cups into the air.

Jessica and I have been asked about a billion times, “which do you want, a boy or girl?” My response has always been, “I’ll be happy with either, but honestly, what future dad doesn’t want to have a little boy?” Jessica has been fine with either, but loved the thought of a little boy as well. Secretly, I think she thought I preferred a boy and therefore wanted us to have a boy. In addition to that, our niece Abbey has a family friend’s little girl who looks up to Abbey and is attached to her hip. Jessica wanted our nephew Aaron to have the same thing. She always has everyone else’s wants and needs at the forefront of her thoughts, rather than her own.

I knew Jessica would be happy with either a boy or girl, but wasn’t sure how she would react to the news. I was a ball of nerves leading up to the moment of the reveal. As I said, I wanted everything to be perfect.

Standing there side-by-side, the photographer counted us down. We threw the powder in the air, and Jessica opened her eyes. The result? A shower of pink and the moment I mentioned back at the beginning.

I told her later in the day and I stand by it. If you were to open a dictionary and look up joy; the moment I witnessed as Jessica opened her eyes to see the cloud of pink surrounding us, would be the picture accompanying the definition.

With pink powder raining down over us, tears filled her eyes and a smile across her face. The moment of realization for this momma knowing she is carrying a little girl. It was priceless and absolutely worth any stress and work done to make sure this went off without a hitch. “We’re having a baby girl,” she exclaimed. I wrapped my arms around her and said, “your going to be the mommy of a little lady.”

Once everyone’s emotions settled, we took family pictures, and then Jessica and I were able to take some additional “reveal” pictures.

We are excited at the thought of welcoming Evelyn into this world early, next year. Now, that we know we are welcoming a girl, we can begin our registries, painting, and decorating. Mommy is feeling the urge to start nesting, and I have to admit the urge to clean and fix up the house is hitting me as well. Evelyn Belle, you have no possible way to know how much you are loved already, but I hope someday you and I can sit down and look back over these posts, go through all the pictures, and your mother and I can tell you about the long journey we have been on the bring you into this world. I love you my little lady and can’t wait to hold you in my arms.