Girls

Before we had children, I didn't really have a preference as to whether I wanted boys or girls. But, for some reason, we always thought we'd have a girl first...until I became pregnant. During my 1st pregnancy, we were convinced we were having a boy. True, we didn't REALLY know because we chose not to find out during the ultrasound. But, we were fully prepared to meet our son in the delivery room. What a surprise when Ella came out! This time around, I didn't have a feeling either way. But, once again, Brett fully expected to bring a son home from the hospital. His boy name list was much much longer than the list for girls! That was just one of the reasons that Lucie didn't have a name until about 2 hours before we left the hospital!

So, here we are three years into parenthood with TWO daughters, and I have to say that I love it. Don't get me wrong, I would be ecstatic to have a son...and I hope that one day we will. But for right now, I really do enjoy having girls. I have an Estrofest-filled future with my girls!

What is an "Estrofest?" you ask. Well, it is a tradition in my husband's family when the females of the family get together for extended girl-time. I'm not sure on all the particulars since I've never had the pleasure of attending one. But knowing what I know about Brett's mother and sisters, I assume it consists of lots of talking, laughter, shopping perhaps, maybe a chick-flick, food and of course SWEETS.

This past weekend I took the opportunity to have an Estrofest in my own home with my girls. Every so often, Brett is out of town for a few days -- either work or church related. Rather than moping about it, I've decided to embrace it as bonding time with my girls! So, this weekend, we picked up dinner (at "Old McDonald's" as Ella likes to call it), had a picnic on the living room floor, and watched a chick-flick! No kiddie movies at an Estrofest. I make Ella watch one of MY movies. She doesn't yet know the names but she is learning to identify them. She wanted to watch "the one with the girl in the rain and she's crying" (aka Sense and Sensibility). But, I decided that it should be Pride & Prejudice since we just watched the other a little while ago. Yes, Ella does actually watch these with me. However, I DO have to put up with questions like "Where is her mommy?"..."Why is she sad?"..."Is that her daddy?" But, I figure that if I don't start introducing her to MY kinds of movies early on, she will only want to watch her Daddy's kinds of movies, aka war or history movies. (She has been known to say, "Hey Dad, let's watch The War.)

Okay, I guess it isn't quite an Estrofest when the only other participants are Age 3 and 2 months. But, I hope this will develop into a tradition that they will enjoy as much as I do.