Q&A’s with Ashley, the expecting mommy:

Are you expecting a boy or girl?               

Girl

When is your expected due date?           

July 24, 2020

What is the baby’s name?          

Sarah Elizabeth Ball and we are calling her Sarah Beth

Who picked out the baby’s name?          

Dad (my husband) Keith Ball

How &/or why did you decide on your baby’s name?    

Elizabeth is after Keith’s paternal grandmother. Keith has always loved the name Sarah. We decided to call her Sarah Beth to put a sweet, southern twist to her name.

Is this your 1st baby? If not, what number?        

First

If there are older siblings, how did they react to the news of a baby brother/sister?      

Just three pet siblings (2 cats and 1 dog) who are inspecting all of the new baby items very carefully. Our dog, Sally, has also already tried playing with a few of Sarah Beth’s new toys to make sure they will be good options for her new baby sister.

Was the pregnancy planned or a surprise?         

We had “removed the goalie” but were not fully focused on it at the time. So it was an anticipated surprise when it happened.

How did you share the news with the daddy?   

I wanted to have this big reveal and surprise him with the news, but I just couldn’t keep the news to myself anymore so I blurted it out as soon as he got home. It was a Friday morning when I took the test and found out myself. Keith is a referee for high school football games so he gets home quite late on Friday nights in the fall. So, by the time Keith arrived home late that night, I couldn’t hold that secret in any longer.

How did you share the news with extended family and friends that you were expecting?            

My mom figured out our secret and asked me at Thanksgiving. I am very close to my mom so I confessed even though I was just six weeks along and keeping things quiet. I told my dad at Thanksgiving as well since my mom already knew. We told Keith’s parents at Christmas. I ordered an ornament that said “Grandpa and Grandma to be” that we wrapped up and had Keith’s mom open Christmas morning. Our parents kept the secret for us until we were ready to share the news. Our second trimester started at the same time as the start of Carnival/Mardi Gras season. Keith and I both dressed in Mardi Gras attire and took pictures that we sent out to friends and family as well as posted on social media to announce the news. We captioned our photos as “Laissez les bon temps Rouler. Baby Ball is on the way!”

Did you have a gender reveal? If so, briefly tell me about it.       

We did have a gender reveal. We had planned a big “baby bash” with all of our family and friends coming together for a fun party time and we would have the gender reveal during the event.  Unfortunately, the restrictions and stay at home orders due to COVID-19 began at the same time so we were unable to have the party we planned. Keith’s parents live about 5 minutes from us so they came over and we shot a confetti canon for the reveal. We made a video of that which we sent out to all of our family. Prior to sending the video, we had everyone text us their gender guess. We created a list of the guesses to place into the baby book.

What are you most nervous about for the baby’s arrival?            

We are nervous to introduce baby to our two cats. Our kitties love attention and get very jealous of anything getting the attention other than them. So it will be quite the adjustment for them. However, we think our dog will be the best friend and protector of Sarah Beth.

What are you most excited about for the baby’s arrival?             

We are most excited to just experience life with Sarah Beth. We look forward to seeing the world through her eyes. We are excited to explore and travel and show her the world and watch her experience all of the good and fun and beauty this world has to offer.

List 3 fun facts about your pregnancy    

Keith and I were 100% convinced this baby was a boy. We had both dreamed it was a boy and we just “knew” so much that we didn’t even have an early ultrasound to find out the gender. We waited until our 20 week ultrasound because we figured it would just be like a confirmation of what we already knew. So when we found out it was a girl, we were the two most surprised and shocked people in the world at that moment.

My cravings are both salty and sweet. The entire second trimester, my motto became “the saltier, the better”. I craved crispy, salty French fries day and night. Then, in the third trimester, I switched to “the sweeter the better” as my motto and craved chocolate and ice cream.

This is the first grandchild on both sides of our family. Both of our parents are so, so excited. Both of our dads already have little pink fishing poles picked out for Sarah Beth to use when they go fishing.