It's a...

GIRL!

We started out one of the BEST days of my life this past Saturday with all the grandparents meeting at our house (and one uncle). We took a few family shots before heading to St. Vincent's for the sonogram! Look closely...you can see the baby bump!

Us with Ms. Brenda - Ben's Mom
Us with the Parrish clan - Paul, Robbie, and Will
You've met my mom.

At the hospital, we decided to vote.

This group decided it was a girl.

This group decided it was a boy...and for good reason. The Parrish boy gene runs strong. There hasn't been a Parrish girl in 19 years!

Then all God's children went into the sonogram room with us. Yep, that's right. All of us. We might have freaked the tech out a bit. But that's ok, we tend to do that a lot.

We spent a looooooooooong time in that room. Baby P decided to keep its back to us, and sat Indian style (sorry if that's not PC). I rolled all over that table, trying to get the baby to move. I even got up and danced around a bit. It is quite the stubborn child.

Finally, the tech smiled and said, "Are you ready to find out what it is? It's a GIRL!"

I don't remember anything that happened at that very moment. I don't remember what anyone said or did. All I know is that I could see the three little dots on the screen that meant girl through my tears.

There was my beautiful baby girl. I had been staring at her beautiful little toes, arms, and face for almost an hour, not knowing who she was. And now I knew. She was somebody. She was my baby girl.

Ben was standing on the right of this picture. When she told us, he bent down and wrapped his big arms around me. We were getting what we KNEW it was.

Our very own Brooke Allen Parrish.

After the sonogram, we all went to Burger King for lunch. (HA!) Paul and Robbie left Brooke Allen's first gift in the front seat of our car. It's a lovey that says "Thank Heaven for Little Girls."Yes, thank Heaven for this sweet little girl.

I missed Week 19, because I figured I'd do one big post today.

How far along? 19 weeks. She's a mango!

Baby Bump? Most definitely.

Maternity Clothes? Yes! And I got some new ones for my birthday!

Weight Gain: 15 pounds, confirmed on Saturday.

Movement? All the time - except during her sonogram. Of course.

Cravings: I had two cravings this past week that I couldn't satisfy, and one that I could. I really wanted Conestoga fries, or Captain D's. Neither of those happened. But Sunday, I wanted salty Chinese buffet. That did happen. And it was delicious.

Symptoms: Everything has kind of gone by the wayside. It's kind of nice. Now I see why women say they love being pregnant.

Sleep: Still off and on. I guess I'm going to be like that forever, now.

Gender: I was right! It's a GIRL! Brooke Allen!

Belly Button in or out? In.

What I miss: My strength. Brooke Allen is sucking the life out of me. It's hard for me to do normal stuff sometimes. But that's ok. If I don't have strength, it means Brooke Allen is growing!

Best moment this week: Finding out who Baby P is. It is the greatest thing that I can call her by her name now! I love her so much already!

Week 18

It's that time of the week again!

How far along? 18 weeks. It's a sweet potato!.

Baby Bump? Oh yeh. People who don't know are asking if I'm preggers.

Maternity Clothes? Yep. Gotta find maternity jeans in between now and lunch time tomorrow to wear to the Bama game tomorrow night!

Total weight gain: 10 pounds, as far as I know.

Movement? YES!!!!!!!!! I definitely felt it this week. It started last Saturday (while I was driving, of all things) and I felt this big flip in my lower abdomen. Ben was with me, and was in mid sentence, when I yelled, "THE BABY JUST MOVED!" Since then, I have been feeling it very often. It's too little for Ben to feel on the outside, though. It's kicking right now as I type. :) I've determined it's a gymnast or a soccer player.

Cravings: Fried pickles. And I don't think it's the "pregnancy/pickle" craving correllation. I just really like fried pickles.

Symptoms: Insomnia has kicked in. I didn't go to sleep until after midnight last night. I haven't seen midnight in MONTHS. And I wasn't tired at all!

Sleep: See above.

Gender: Still feeling like it's a girl. We'll find out if we're right on October 29th! And if it is a girl, we've changed her name!

Belly Button in or out? In.

What I miss: Being limitless. I used to be able to roll over on my belly, horse around with Charlotte and Ben, pretend I was a ballerina in the living room when nobody is home...I can't do those things any more.

Best moment this week: Feeling Baby P move, by far. The best was feeling it flip during church on Sunday morning. It really likes the bass line of "In Christ Alone." Of course, that just made me sing louder because I was thinking about that little blessing in my belly and thanking God for it!

Changing the Name

So, if this baby is a girl, we've changed her name.

We've always thought we would name a daughter Maggie Grace. We love that name.

Can't you just see a little red haired, freckled face, energetic Maggie running around?

Not Margaret, not Margot, not Magnolia (as someone suggested to me...ick).

Just Maggie.

I'm just a Katie. I'm not a Katherine or a Kathleen.

Just Katie.

Perfect fit, right?

Well, we've always tossed around the name Brooke. We liked the name Brooke, but couldn't come up with anything to go with it.

Then, Saturday night, I was laying on the couch and it popped into my head.

"What do you think about Brooke Allen?"

Ben's eyes got a bit brighter and he said, "I like it a lot, but I don't know if I like it better than Maggie." I agreed with him at the moment, but I just couldn't get the name out of my head.

You see, my Dad's name was Allen.

We knew we didn't want to use it for a boy's first name, but had planned to use it as a boy's middle name later (Beau Allen, to be exact).

But it flows so nicely with Brooke. And it's different, without being youneek (unique, but spelled differently, much like the awful baby name fad as of late). We would call her Brooke Allen, too, not just Brooke.

Sunday morning, I told Ben I just couldn't stop thinking about Brooke Allen. He agreed with me that he was liking it more and more. We ran it by the moms, and it even passed the Facebook test.

So, there it is. If this baby is a girl, she will be Brooke Allen.

Of course, if it's a boy, we've gone through all this for nothing. He's still a Jake.

Week 17

It's Friday!

And it's Baby P Update time!

How far along? 17 weeks. We've moved up to the size of an onion.

Baby Bump? Still there. Hasn't grown much lately.

Maternity Clothes? Yep. Wearing my stretchy pants.

Total weight gain: 10 pounds, as far as I know.

Cravings: Nothing this week. But everything tastes AMAZING.

Symptoms: Everything wears me out!

Sleep: Still off and on.

Gender: Still feeling like it's a girl. We'll find out if we're right on October 29th!

Belly Button in or out? In.

What I miss: Doing easy things like lifting a box, and people not yelling at me, "DON'T DO THAT! YOU'RE PREGNANT!" I KNOW that, and if I can't lift a 10 pound box, how do these women who have multiple children tote around toddlers when they're pregnant.

I'm pregnant, not dying.

Best moment this week: It's over?

Dear Baby

Dear Baby,

We've known about you for over 12 weeks now. I won't ever forget how excited I was to see the word "pregnant" on the test, or the look on your Daddy's face when I screamed from the bathroom door, "WE'RE PREGNANT!"

I've begged your Daddy for you for about a year. He told me, "After a while," and "when we're both ready." The truth is, nobody is ever ready. It's just when the timing was right for both of us.

We'll find out if you're a boy or a girl on the 29th of this month. If you're a boy, you'll be Jakob Paul, and we'll call you Jake. If you're a girl, you'll be Maggie Grace. I can't WAIT to find out so I can begin preparing for you to come home. You'll need clothes and toys. We have to decorate a nursery and hang your name on the wall. Will your bedding be blue or pink?

Your grandparents are so excited about you. They're all going to be there on the 29th to see your little face. We've seen you once before, but you were just a peanut. Now we'll see your nose, your eyes, your fingers, your toes.

I can't wait to kiss those toes.

Your heartbeat is what amazes me every time. It's strong and fast. Your Daddy says that you must be like me - feisty. But hearing that little heartbeat helps reassure me that you're OK in there. You're living and growing and getting stronger, so that when you do come home, you'll be healthy and happy.

I can't wait to find out who you are - who you look like, what your personality is like, and who you grow up to be.

Will you look more like Daddy or like me?

We know you'll have blue eyes because both Daddy and I do. But I hope you get Dad's eyes - his are the most beautiful blue color you've ever seen. But will you have my red hair or Dad's brown hair? Everyone says red, and I secretly pray that you do. You'll be tall, with really ugly toes. Sorry - both Dad and I are cursed with ugly toes. And I hope the Bankston skinny genes creep up in you. Otherwise, you may end up with the Benson butt.

Will you act more like Daddy or like me?

Your dad is laid back and easy going. I'm energetic and a little high strung. Maybe you'll be a combination of both. I feel sorry for Daddy if you're more like me - he will have to handle two of us.

Who will you grow up to be?

You could be anybody. You could be a teacher, a business owner, or a janitor. You could be President. You could be a missionary. You could aspire to be like your Dad and join the police force, or another civil service. I just hope you're happy and and you are the best you can be.

I feel so lucky already to be your Mom. The Lord has richly blessed us by sending you to us. He already knows who you are, and He picked your Dad and me to raise you because we are the best parents for you. I will always feel honored to be chosen to be your Mom.

I hope to teach you all you need to know. I want to encourage you to be your best self. I want to teach you to be respectful, caring, and thoughtful. I want you to be strong and courageous. I want to teach you to seek the Lord and live by His Word. I want to help you find how you are gifted, and use those gifts to pursue your purpose in life.

Most of all, I want to be those things for you. I want to be a role model for you to look up to. I want to show God's love, not just talk about it. I want to be an open door for questions and conversations. I want to always be there for you and I hope you never feel like I'm not.

Because I am.

I have been entrusted with your life. I am going to make mistakes along the path. But I am going to be the best Mommy I can be for you. I will hold you and kiss you every chance I get, even when you're a teenager and are too cool for my kisses. I will encourage you to make your own decisions, but I will discipline you when your decisions are not the best. I will give you what you need, but I will make you earn what you want.

There are going to be days that you hate me. We are going to fight and I am going to ground you. You are going to pout and we're both going to say things we'll regret. But I am doing these things because I love you. You'll realize that later in life.

There are going to be days when we'll be best friends. I hope those are days that will live in your memory and you can pull from them when I'm gone.

I love you already, Baby P. And I will love you forever.

Love, Your Mom

Blessed Assurance

Heaven gained another hero a few months ago.

My Granddaddy.

Hero is not a word that my Granddaddy took lightly. In fact, he hated being called a hero. Granddaddy, known to others as William (Bill) Leon Benson, Sr., dropped out of high school to be drafted into the United States Navy in World War II. He served in the European theatre in several major battles. Two of those were Operation Tiger and D-Day.

You all know what D-Day is, but you've probably never heard of Operation Tiger. That's because it was classified for many years. It was a practice drill for D-Day, and it took place on Slapton Sands off the coast of England. During this drill, they were attacked by German U-Boats. All the deaths of that day are attributed to D-Day, in fear that D-Day would fail if information was released.

Granddaddy survived both.

We knew nothing of his time at war for years. All we knew was that he was a cook in the Navy somewhere in Europe. He never spoke about what he experienced, until the movie Saving Private Ryan came out. That's when he told us, "I was there."

His job with the Navy was the drive the landing craft onto the beach to release the soldiers.

He only had to make one pass onto Omaha Beach.

He said the movie depicted it perfectly. Men lying motionless in the water, clogging the beach to where the landing crafts couldn't even reach the shore. Soldiers having to jump out of the boat in hopes to reach the shore, but being dragged under because of the weight of their packs and the tide. The first line of men never making it off the boat because they were mowed down by German machine gun fire after the doors were let down.

Granddaddy always said, "The water was red. Red with American blood."

Granddaddy saw this with his own eyes. Even until his last days, he would have nightmares about these experiences - hearing the men screaming, seeing them in the water, and he was helpless to save them.

It is because of these men that Granddaddy did not like to be called a hero. He said those who died on those days, and all throughout the war, were the heroes. He was just another man, doing his duty to his country.

We, of course, feel differently.

Granddaddy is a hero because he came back. He lived to tell the stories of these thousands of men whose lives are often forgotten from a war that is often forgotten. He wept every time the National Anthem was played or he saw the flag raised. He believed in that flag and in those words and he had lived it out. He is a hero because he spent many sleepless nights weeping for their pain and praying for their families.

And thanking God that he was fortunate enough to return to build a life for his family in the country he loved so much.

After the war, he married my Grandmother, who he had fussed and fought with through the mail the entire time he was gone. They met before he was drafted at a scrap metal drive at the local high school. He liked to tell people "she was the best piece of scrap I found all day."

Somehow or another, she got mad at him while he was gone, and burned all his letters from war. We will never know why they were fussing, or the sweet things that he said to make up for it in those letters.

They married quickly, and then had babies quickly. My Aunt Pug (Sharon) came just a little over 9 months after their wedding day, and my Uncle Billy, just a little over a year later. It was nine more years until my mom came along.

Grandmother told me last week nobody told her how to prevent things. All three babies were accidental blessings.

Their children blessed them with six grandchildren, five grandchildren-in-laws, seven great-grandchildren, two great-great granchildren, one great-grandchild with him in Heaven, and our sweet little girl on the way.

Granddaddy told my husband before we got married that we didn't have in-laws in this family. We are all family. Once you're in, you're in.

Then he told Ben in a very quiet voice, "And if you hurt my grandbaby, you'll have to answer to Granddaddy." Even though he was quite feeble at the time, I think he meant it.

We all had a different relationship with Granddaddy, but ours was extra special. It's probably because I'm the favorite. :) I am the youngest grandchild. For a very long time, I was the baby in the family.

I spent countless hours on Granddaddy's "good" knee (the other had shrapnel in it from the war) while he told me stories, played Ride a Little Horsey, and singing his favorite song, Little Boy Blue.

Little Boy Blue was a song I'm pretty sure he made up and it had eleventy billion verses that were different every time. I was not allowed to get up until he decided he was finished.

His chair was always in the same place, and he was guaranteed to be there working crossword puzzles, reading the paper, or watching the Braves. Every time I walked behind his chair, I would mess up his hair (what little was there) or give him a kiss on the top of his head. It always made him grin and say, "I love you, baby."
I am going to miss him now every time I walk by that chair. I will miss going to their house and getting a big bear hug from him as a greeting. I will miss the way he picked at Grandmother until she got so frustrated with him that she threw up her hands. Then he would grin at us like a little boy. I will miss the way his voice got low when the conversation turned to something serious. I will miss the way he beamed when watching his grandchildren play or holding a new grandbaby for the first time. I will miss hearing him get choked up while saying the prayer before meals at family gatherings as he spoke of the loved ones who aren't here with us.

But praise God for blessed assurance. I know without a shadow of a doubt where my Granddaddy's faith stood. He spoke of the love of his Savior often. He was the faith leader of our family. He attended his church every Sunday, and when his body would no longer allow him to, he would listen to church on the radio, or watch it on his little TV that sat by his chair. When my mother was little, he would have her bring a hymnal to him, and she would sit on the arm of his chair, and he would sing her hymn after hymn.

I know today he is where he longed to be for several years since his health began to deteriorate. He is with his Savior. He is singing those hymns with the angels. He is having long conversations with my Dad. He is playing with our sweet Allie. He is walking on able legs, seeing with able eyes, and breathing with able lungs.

And he is waiting on the rest of us to join him.

Baby P - Week 16

I missed last week of Baby P update. Whoops.

Crazy week. I went to Dothan last weekend for the Miss National Peanut Festival Pageant. (Call me crazy if you'd like, but it's like Miss America down there...)

During the pageant, we gave a scholarship in honor of my friend, Brittany, who was killed in a car accident in March with her son, Shep. You can read about that here. The whole pageant was a beautiful tribute to Brittany, and the scholarship went to a girl who was truly deserving.

I drove back to Birmingham Sunday night. As soon as I walked in the door, Mom called Ben, hoping to catch him before I came home, but I was already there.

She was calling to tell me my Granddaddy died.

Granddaddy and I had a very special relationship, and I will miss him greatly. But I can smile knowing he is no longer in pain and that he is in Heaven, rejoicing with the angels.

I will post something about Granddaddy later. The real reason for this post is a Baby P update!

How far along? 16 weeks. Baby P is the size of an avocado! And it's growing eardrums, so it can hear me talking! I guess I need to watch my language...Although, I imagine to Baby P that it sounds like Charlie Brown adult talk - Wahp wahp wahp.

Baby Bump? Totally there. No hiding it. I don't even try anymore. It's not big, but it just can't be covered up.

Maternity Clothes? Yep. Greatest invention to known to WOman.

Total weight gain: 10 pounds. 10 POUNDS! Everyone keeps saying they can't see it anywhere but my belly, but Mom and I did notice it in my face in pictures. Doc says I'm right on track on weight gain and that I look good.

Cravings: Sushi. And I got some last night. Ben turned up his nose when he asked me what I wanted for dinner, but then it dawned on him that we could go to Sumo and he could eat hibachi chicken, and he was ok with that.

*side note* - Totally embarrassed him at Sumo. The waitress asked me what I wanted, and I ordered my Super Crunch Roll (it's all cooked, not raw...don't freak out!). And then I asked if I could have the rice, too. She says, "Sure, but it will be a little extra."

I said, "That's fine. Can I have the noodles too?"

Her eyes got REALLY big, and said, "I mean...I guess."

I said, "I'm sorry. I'm just pregnant and I want to eat."

And I did. I ate it all. I ate more than Ben.

Symptoms: The headaches have gotten better, but now I'm into the sore back and leg cramps.

Sleep: Off and on. I wake up around 2am for no reason.

Movement: I think some flutters. I've got an allergy something going on, and every time I sneeze, I get little bubbles in my tummy. It's like the baby is saying, "Bless you!"

Gender: Still feeling like it's a girl. We'll find out if we're right on October 29th!

Belly Button in or out? In. Although some random lady at Granddaddy's funeral touched my belly and told me I would have an outie before it was over with.

BACK UP OFF MY BELLY, UNLESS YOU'RE RELATED TO ME.

What I miss: Having a somewhat flat belly. I'm still terrified that people just think I'm fat. You know those people who wear really tight shirts and their flat tire hangs over their pants? I don't want to look like that person.

Best moment this week: I got to hear that sweet heartbeat again yesterday at the doctor! Still a feisty one - over 160 every time!