It's a... BOY! :)

Only a couple days after we got back from our not-so-fun (okay, kind of fun) adventure in Vietnam, we found ourselves at our 20 week ultrasound appointment eager to find out whether our lil babe was a boy or a girl!  As I have told many of you, my dear husband had been praying every day (seriously... e.v.e.r.y. day) that our first born would be a baby boy.  He was not ashamed to admit that he wanted a boy, though he had to reassure me many times that he would still love our child even if she was a girl :)

In all fairness, I have to admit that I, too, was secretly praying for a boy.  I saw how excited Steven would get daydreaming about all the fun things he would do with his son... all the things he wanted to teach him and all the big plans he had for him and the lil guy.  (Like working on the Jeep together, teaching him how to build and fix things, taking him to the farm, coaching him in sports, going 4-wheeling together in the mountains of Thailand, etc...)  It was so endearing to watch and made me think multiple times, "Man, Steven's gonna be the greatest dad ever."

Not to mention, ever since my grandpa died and we found out 2 weeks later that we were pregnant, I had this little feeling that maybe God would give us a boy.  It's no secret that I have always wanted to name one of my children after my grandpa, William Takashi Hiyama.  (So much so that I basically made my brother and sister-in-law name their boy something other than their first choice name William!  I'm so demanding...)  Anyway, I didn't want to assume that God would work in this way, but I would also find myself daydreaming about how cool it would be to have my own little William Takashi to hold just 9 months after my dear Gpa passed on.

And so... right before we went in for our ultrasound I told Steven that this was his last opportunity to pray for a boy.  (There would be no turning back after we found out!)  And so he prayed.  And it was just so cute and so "Steven".  It went something like this:
"God, we pray that ultimately this baby is healthy and growing strong in Lauren's tummy.  But um... if there's not a little pee-pee growing yet, we pray that You would make one sprout real quick.  Right now.  You can do that God!  Amen." (I love my husband.)

And with that, God answered Steven's prayer (and his many previous prayers...)!

We are having a boy!!!!

And we couldn't be more excited!!!

We wanted to do a little gender-reveal shoot for our family and friends back at home, so Darin & Staci (our partners in crime in Vietnam) were nice enough to take some pretty pictures for us!  Enjoy :)

 Look!  Stevo's got something growin in his belly too :)

 Sometimes I get a little sad wishing that my Gpa could still be here to meet baby William, but Steven reassures me that he's watching it all from heaven and is singing praises to Jesus for this blessing.  Just because he's not here doesn't mean he's not a part of it.  This picture reminds me of just that. God's ultimate sovereignty and goodness towards us.  

We can't wait for you to get here, lil William Takashi!  You're loved so much already.