Our Little Peanut ...

... is healthy, active, and developing right on track. It's also a ...

BOY!!

We were so relieved to learn Monday that our sweet little one has a healthy heart, brain, organs, spine, etc. He has beautiful long fingers, likes to hold his arms and hands up by his face like a boxer ready to take a jab, and he was not shy at all about showing off his masculinity! He did not, however, let us see much of his cute little face, so we had to schedule another Ultrasound to make sure all is well there. He's our "low rider" and likes to hang out way down low in his Mommy's tummy. Instead of being curled up in a comfortable little ball, he prefers the "hammock" position and likes to swing the day away all stretched out.

The picture above shows a book we bought to announce Eliot to our families, a sweet book written from a grandpa's perspective (Billy Crystal's), telling about all the things he looks forward to doing with his grandchild-to-be. We love it and are happy to have it out to look at and enjoy again. The little baby doll is one my mom bought for me for Christmas along with a gift card for baby needs. She just "happened" to pick up a girl one for my sister who's expecting and a boy one for me. Though we didn't know the genders of either baby at the time, my mom's "predictions" were dead on -- Lil's pretty good that way. Lil also can't help herself from buying more baby necessities like onesies and cute jammies, despite the fact that these babies will be grandbabies #14 and 15 for her and both mommies are pretty well stocked (but can you ever have too many tiny white onesies and adorable, soft jammies?!). We're thankful for Lil's and everyone else's excitement. We can't wait to start preparing for this little guy.

As for names, we're pretty settled on Zachary Bryce, though a final decision and spellings are still up for negotiation -- such is life when one of the parents is a lawyer, I guess -- always room for debate. We chose Zachary because we like it and because of the song "A Baby Just Like You" by John Denver. I was listening to the song a few Christmases back and the name Zachary clicked in my head as one I really liked, especially because of the tender message of the song. It stuck ever since, and with a little convincing, Grant agreed on it (initially, he had some name association issues to get over).

From "A Baby Just Like You" by John Denver:

Oh little angel, shining light
You've set my soul to dreaming
You've given back my joy in life
You' ve filled me with new meaning

A Savior King was born that day
A baby just like you
And as the Magi came with gifts
I've come with my gift too

That peace on earth fills up your time
That brotherhood surrounds you
That you may know the warmth of love
And wrap it all around you

It's just a wish, a dream I'm told
From days when I was young
Merry Christmas little Zachary
Merry Christmas ev'ryone.

"Bryce" we've chosen in honor of my dad:

My father was named for his great-great grandfather, Ebenezer Bryce, who built the Pine Valley Chapel near St. George, Utah, pictured below. The amazing story behind this chapel is that my Great-great-great grandfather didn't know how to build buildings -- he was a ship builder, so this chapel is actually built as a modified upside-down ship. You can go up into the attic and see the "ship's frame" at the top of the building. Cool, huh!

A beautiful painting of the chapel by LDS artist Al Rounds, a gift from my dad to all his girls, hangs in our living room as a reminder of our pioneer ancestry.

My great-great-great grandpa was also the pioneer for whom beautiful Bryce Canyon was named. We think little Zachary Bryce will have quite the heritage to live up to. We hope he'll be creative, strong and resilient like his pioneer grandfather, and smart, kind, and generous like his "Ampy" McEuen.

It's fun to start getting a better sense of this little one and his personality. He seems a bit spunky (the "second" children in the McEuen side of the family tend to be ...). We can't wait to get better pictures of him at our next appointment (hopefully!). None of them were quite post-worthy this time, which was disappointing since we got such beautiful profile shots of Eliot at 20 weeks. Hopefully we'll have something to share at the end of February. We really are just happy to know that he's healthy and progressing as he should. That's really all we can ask for. We're so pleased to welcome another boy into our family. Bring on all the rough and tumble active play -- it's worth it! We love the power of those future priesthood holders, missionaries, and fathers in our home!

As for Eliot, he's a little disappointed he doesn't get to "be like Mike," his cousin who will have a baby sister. Eliot wanted so badly to be just like his twin cousin that after we whispered in his ear that he was having a little brother and told him to tell the news to his eagerly awaiting grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, he pulled a fast one and told them it was a sister. :) The idea of a brother is growing on him now, and he practices holding the baby doll gently and teaching it new things. I found him showing the doll how to operate a toy camera today (he covered one of the baby's eyes and instructed it, "just close this eye here, then look with the other eye, and then ... click!"). So sweet. Can't wait to see our Eliot and Zach together!