Wow! Guys, we are so, so close! Some of you have asked us if no news is good news. Yes, no news is indeed good news. Pregnancy during surrogacy, as it turns out, is an awful lot like pregnancy not during surrogacy: lots of waiting around, coaxing the baby not to kick so hard, and craving strange stuff. Okay — full disclosure — cupcakes (our most frequent muse this go-round) are not that strange.

Since last we spoke, our kitchen (remember the nightmare-sized hole in its ceiling?!) has been fixed, both of our kiddos started school, and Amanda got a… job?! More realistically, a job went out and got Amanda. In other words, Amanda was not *looking* for a job. One just kind of fell in her lap. And she loves it. She works with surrogacy candidates for a local agency. I’m so proud of her and love fielding all her goofy Excel questions.

But, what about baby?!! I can’t remember if we’ve told the collective “you” yet, but Baby Seed, as our littlest says, is a girl! I don’t know that it’s possible for Amanda to carry a boy. It’s been fun to watch our girls interact with a baby they remind us every day we are not keeping. The older one doesn’t much care or notice while the younger one does immensely, but much more about the process and its impact on Amanda than the baby, though, she does show Baby Seed love often. Mostly, her interaction with Amanda and the baby takes the form of telling Amanda to sit down and rest and make healthy choices for the baby while reassuring Baby Seed that she is helping mommy (Amanda) to be good at being pregnant and make good choices. It’s a good outlet for her bossiness leadership skills.

We’ll be having this baby right around Christmas. That’s pretty cool to me. It’s hard *not* to think about babies and Christmas and Mary and Joseph and shepherds and angels etc. While this baby will have nowhere near the impact on the whole of humanity the way that a baby of Christmas past did, it is not lost on me that this little one will change the world nonetheless. It might just be our world and that of a loving couple from far away, but, sometimes, that’s enough.

And I’m super thankful. For a healthy pregnancy and baby. For the immeasurable support we have received from friends and family. For the honesty of our critics. For the opportunity to help start a family. For my rockstar wife. For each of my super-awesome kiddos and the confident individuals that they are. And, honestly, that I’m not a present-day Joseph, leading a donkey carrying my wife carrying a baby across challenging terrain with not a whole lot of protection from the elements. I think the Christmas story plays out differently if it takes place in Minnesota. I see the discomfort that my wife faces on the daily, and that’s while sitting by a fire on a couch. I can only imagine how comfortable being 36-40 weeks pregnant while riding a donkey (for days!) must be. Joseph, my man, you have my respect.

I wonder if Mary craved cupcakes?