Boy Mom– and No, We’re Not Trying for a Girl.

We have two boys. Two sweet, healthy, hilarious-in-their-own-way little boys. We have a boy dog. I have a husband. We’re expecting Boy #3. I’m outnumbered in this house 4 (almost 5) to 1. And y’know what? I wouldn’t change that for the world. Now that I’m pregnant with #3, I’m told congratulations, followed immediately by “Maybe you’ll get your girl this time!” Even before I got pregnant, I would be asked by everyone– family, friend, or stranger at Target– “Are you going to try for a girl?” Y’all, I’m a Boy Mom at heart, and no, we aren’t trying for a girl. Not now, not ever. Gender disappointment is just not a thing in this house.

Would we ever be upset about having a girl? Absolutely not. After 7 losses, you tend to not care what gender the baby is (which, I admit makes me a little unsympathetic to gender disappointment, but I’m working on that), as long as they’re healthy, but even beyond that, we firmly believe that God is going to give us what our family needs when our family needs it. We thought that that meant foster kids starting in the next year or two, especially now that we’re in the new house, but it turns out, we’re going to have another sweet little boy running around instead (for now). When we try for a baby, we’re doing just that– trying for a BABY. Not a boy, not a girl. Just a heartbeat and a personality and a soul to come join our family.

There are SO many amazing things about being a boy mom, but the most important one, in our book, is that we get to teach three little boys how to be the men our world so desperately needs. Our boys are going to grow up respecting women and using their male privilege to help the women in their workplaces and world gain the equality they deserve. They’ll be taught to make it obvious that they love their spouses and their kids, that there is no shame in having feelings (and EXPRESSING those feelings openly), and that they can do anything they want to do, no matter what the gender norms right now. Our sweet boys will grow up going to church every Sunday, knowing WHY they believe what they believe, and hopefully being willing to defend their faith, their family, and their passions. We need more men in this world who are able and ready to do just that, and I’m excited to have a little piece in shaping three of them.

Am I a little sad I may never get the dresses and bows and #monogramallthethings? Like any decent Southern woman, of course I am! But I have nieces I get to spoil with those things, and I’m beyond thrilled that I get to bring three (so far) little boys into this world to turn them into men who will love on and protect and encourage the women in their lives. I’m a boy mom– and no, we’re not trying for a girl.