The Big Revealing

I can’t believe I haven’t written in this long.  It's been since April 22!  What can I say...life has been busy in a fun way!  Many of you have probably heard the story about finding out the gender.  However, I have to write about this so the boys can read it one day.  Oh, that’s right, surprise we are expecting BOYS!

On March 13 I shared my prediction with you that we were expecting boys.  Not once did I falter from that guess.  99.9% of everyone around me guessed girls.  For fun, at work I brought in my sewing kit (that I never use because I don’t know how to sew).  A girl did the "pencil test" on us where you take thread and needle and stick the needle in the eraser.  The gender is predicted based upon if the pencil goes in a straight line or in circles.  Straight line=boys/Circles=girls.  If it stops and starts again that is supposed to indicate another child.  That day the test went straight line, stop, straight line, stop, circle, and then stopped for good.  Boy, boy, girl.  I can now testify the boys are correct.  Only time will tell on the girl.  The same day I went online and looked at the Chinese calendar.  Again, the prediction was boys.  To add to my crazy tests (this one I didn’t even sign up for) my masseuse did this thing to my arm and said you are having boys.  I quickly asked “How can you tell?”  He responded, "Your body tells me."  He put pressure on my arm and it stayed strong.  He said that indicates boys.  Had my arm bent or went up and down then supposedly that’s girls.  He said he has been 100% right and whenever I go back I have to tell him his accuracy is still at a perfect 100%.

We went to the doctor on Tuesday, April 26. This was the ultimate test!  We were heading to Kentucky on Thursday, April 28 so we decided to keep the gender a surprise that day so we could find out with our family.  I decided I wanted everyone to open an envelope at the same time to reveal the gender.  I didn't want it to just say "Girls" or "Boys" so I wrote two little poems. 

The girl one read:
"They took a picture of me,
To determine what gender we would be
Looks like we love dresses and curls,
Because we are two very special girls!"

The boy one read:
"They took a picture of me,
To determine what gender we would be
Looks like we love ninjas and toys
Because we are two very special boys!"

I know you are very impressed with my poetry.  I made six envelopes for the girls and bound them with a rubber band and six for the boys.  I sealed each envelope so no peeking was possible, but just to be sure I gave her a large envelope to place the smaller envelopes in to seal tightly.  I know myself!  I had to take all the necessary precautions.  We explained all this to the ultrasound technician and she got started on the ultrasound.  Right away she told us to look away.  This made me more suspicious that they were boys.  So we kinda stared at each other with big grins on our faces.  Like Eve tempted Adam I may have had a moment of weakness and made an attempt on my husband.  However, my hubby is no Adam and we kept eyes locked on one another.  The ultrasound technician must be an avid poker player because you couldn't read her at all.  So for two days the answer remained hidden in the envelope. 

On Thursday we flew to Kentucky.  We arrived at 9:30am and the "Big Revealing" (that's what I call it) didn't occur till 6:30pm.  I was so calm that day that everyone thought I already knew.  I didn't get nervous till I knew that Pappaw Bret, Cochran's dad knew.  He lives in Indiana and came that day to visit us; however he had to get back early so we sent an envelope with him.  When he arrived back in Indiana him and Tammy aka Gamey opened the envelope.  I became very anxious after that.  The cool thing is that day my in laws bought us a Flip Videocamera.  (They are awesome and I recommend you going and buying one today.)  So we were able to capture all of this on video!  We handed out the envelopes, counted to 3 (although I noticed my dad had already began to open his), and said open!  Of course I skipped right down to Line 4 to read "We are two very special boys."  My eyes began to water, both of Cochran's arms went up into victory, and everyone started rejoicing.  Uncle B who was filming asked Cochran, "How do you feel?" and my hubby responded, "Like a champ!" 



My baby shower was on that Saturday at the KC Hall in Lebanon.  Aunt Kimbo had come to Mammaw's house on Friday to take three generation photos of us.  She did her best to find out the gender.  My dad who is a big jokester actually tried to tell her; however the more he tried to convince her he was telling the truth the more she thought he was lying so it had to be girls.  She arrived on Saturday asking when the girls were going to be revealed.  Surprise Aunt Kimbo!  All the other ladies were questioning when they would find out too.  I had fibbed and said toward the middle of the shower.  Since it was so close to Easter I came up with the idea of passing out Easter eggs.  In all the eggs but one we had question marks.  Of course, no one knew what was going on and they didn't anticipate this is how they would find out the gender.  After all the eggs were passed out my cousin Mary Beth raised her hand and stood up and read: 
"Congratulations!  You have won a prize!
So stand up and shout for joy,
Because now you can announce to everyone
Leslie and Chris are having two little baby boys."

Everyone cheered; however I was videotaping and I had the loudest reaction.  You would have thought that I just found out.  I guess I was still so tickled at the news. 

That weekend was absolutely perfect!  It will always be one of my favorite memories!  God's timing is perfect because despite the distance we've been able to celebrate the news of the pregnancy and the gender at times when we are physically together. What a blessing!  Kristi & Sims welcomed everyone into their home for the "Big Revealing." They have always welcomed me and my family and I honestly don't see us as two separate families but one united family!  I always say that when I married Cochran I became a wife, daughter, and sister.  Being an only child, Brittany and Tori mean the world to me!  I couldn't have asked for two more beautiful, smart, and funny sisters.  My mother did a wonderful job decorating and planning my shower.  MeMe is truly my best friend and I'm so thankful for all of her love and support!  She sacrifices so much for me.  She is always there for me and I don't know what I would do without her.  So many friends and family came to the shower.  It definitely chokes me up when I think about how much everyone means to me.  I'm so grateful to have you all in my life! 

Now, aside with my pregnancy hormones being all emotional I know what you are wondering:: Do Baby A and Baby B have names since we know they are little boys.  We do have a few names, but have decided not to make anything official.  What if we change our minds?  What if they are born and we say you don't look like a C---- Cochran?  I know my parents named me when I was born.  They had Jessica and other names in mind but when they looked at me they said "Leslie Ann" for the first time.  When we get closer this may change but for now they are still Baby A and Baby B.

Have a wonderful weekend,

The Cochrans