About a month ago J and I were on a plane home after attending a friend's wedding. We were sitting next to a guy, probably about our age, and we struck up a conversation with him and talked throughout the flight. He was getting married in just a couple weeks, and so we talked about our wedding, and his plans, and then the conversation turned to kids so we told him that we had a two-year-old daughter and another one on the way. He asked if we were going to find out what the baby was, and we said yes, definitely.

Then he said something that a lot of people say. He said that when it came time for he and his wife to have children, he figured he wouldn't want to find out the sex of the baby before it was born. He said, "There are just so few surprises left in life."

I totally get why people want to wait to find out. First of all, that's got to be an amazing moment, when your baby is born and the doctor exclaims "It's a girl!" or "It's a boy!" That's a ton of excitement all at once - an amazing moment you'll never forget. I can think of a ton of reasons for waiting and I admire people who do.

But saying that there are "so few surprises left" isn't really accurate, in my opinion.

First of all, there are totally surprises!

If you're talking strictly about medical-type surprises - as in, we aren't as often surprised with advanced fatal conditions in this day and age because of improved technology - well, those weren't cool surprises to begin with.

But if you're talking about the good kind of surprises, I think you're wrong. I'm surprised almost every day. Sometimes the surprises are little, like when J brings me a cup of coffee just as I'm waking up, before I've even gotten out of bed. Or when someone sends you flowers. Little yet so great. Some of the surprises are big. Like when you a fantastic job offer. Or you get engaged. Or, regarding this specific topic, when you find out you're pregnant.

The other thing is that even if you find out what you're having halfway through the pregnancy, it's still a surprise. You're just getting the surprise a little earlier. I will totally admit that the reason I've opted to find out with both pregnancies is that I just can't wait. I CAN'T wait. You people who can wait? You are incredible! But also crazy. In a good way, though, I mean it.

When people bring up the "so few surprises" thing, I feel like it implies that I don't like surprises. Surprises are the best. And so far 2010 has been such an awesome, surprising year. And it just keeps getting better.

Guys, I love surprises.

And this morning, during my 19-week ultrasound, I was surprised.

We're having a...boy!