And now for the results...

Well, we had our appointment today. And as it turns out, 56% of you somehow knew that we were having a GIRL.

Iris and Donevan will have a sister. The boys will now be outnumbered. Iris still wants a brother and doesn't really believe us that it will be a girl. But I think she will love having a little girl to boss around. I think deep down she really just doesn't want to share her princess status. But maybe she will like having a little girl to show the ins and outs of being a princess. 

We are pretty excited. I think we would have been excited with a boy too. New babies are just full of excitement. But it is nice to know. I give props to the people that wait to find out. I can't stand that kind of suspense. If we did that we wouldn't be able to look at the ultrasounds, because now that we know what each looks like, we knew that it was a girl before the doctor even pointed it out. 

So now it just comes down to what we are going to name her. We have a few that we like, but nothing decided yet. We will probably keep it a secret. Maybe. Maybe not

Week 26

*For explanation of The Happiness Experiment" go HERE .*


Last week's secrets:
Be a peacemaker.
Cherish animals.


Secret #51
Make your work a calling.


"If you see your work as only a job, then it's dragging you away from what you really want to be doing. If you see it as a calling, then it is no longer a toiling sacrifice. Instead, it becomes an expression of you, a part of you."


This is such a hard one for me. Not that I have an 8 to 5 job, but I do work from home on top of being a stay-at-home-mom. So sometimes it can be difficult to remember that what I am doing every day is a blessing and a calling. I am able to be home with my kids, teaching them something new every day. I am able to work with my husband doing something we love. If I could get myself to be better about Secret # 20 and develop my household routine I think I would feel like I have more time to do the things that I really want to do. I am getting better. I at least have the schedule written out and am following it most days. But I know that if I follow what I have worked out, I won't resent the time that I use to work on business stuff or with the kids, thinking that I could be sewing or reading or doing something just for me. I just  look forward to that time that I have set apart for those specific things and I feel like everything gets accomplished that needs to be.


"In research on working women, researchers found that even for those working in the same kinds of jobs, work was alternatively viewed either as a series of hassles or as a positive  experience  in which the women were in control of their lives. Among those who felt control, life satisfaction was 28 percent higher than among those who did not."


Secret #52
Never trade your morals for your goals.


"People who compromise what they believe in to satisfy their goals wind up dissatisfied with their accomplishments. If you do not believe yourself to be moral, satisfaction is unattainable."


I like to watch the movie "Catch Me If You Can" . All of the main character's success is completely based on lies. He starts out at a young age writing bad checks and then becomes an airline pilot, doctor, and lawyer though never having set foot in a school or college of any kind. All because he had no morals. He didn't care that everything he was doing was illegal and just wrong. He loved the money, the girls, the success. But I don't think you can ever really enjoy all those things knowing about all the bad things you did to get them.


"Being happy and being moral buttress each other. People who feel they lack morals report they are half as likely to feel happy compared to those who feel they are moral."