More on Sign Language

I can't believe how helpful learning a little bit of ASL has been with Rowen. He's really picking it up now, and for record keeping's sake I wanted to add to the list of his "words!"

Yesterday, for example, he was in one of his uber-whiney-clingy moods where I just feel like throwing my hands in the air & blocking him out. But then, he put his hand up to his mouth (like how he says "thank you") and I asked him "thank you for what? what do you want???" and he started saying "shh, shhh, shh." Putting the noise and the "sign" together, I guessed he might be asking for juice. (juishhh) (The sign is somewhere in the ball park of "drink," which he's never done before.) So, I opened the fridge, took out his juice, and handed it to him. He squealed with delight, clapped his hands, chugged half of it, and toddled off to the living room to play with his toys for a half hour. Content as can be. What happened to my whining monster? He got what he'd been trying to ask for. phew!

The old list (from Jan 5th entry):

dog

daddy (he pats his head for daddy, momma, grandpa & grandma)

eat

more

all done

milk

water

bath

nap/sleep

banana

monkey

please

help

hot

adding to it:

drink

horse

orange (fruit)

apple

thank you/you're welcome

outside

hurt/owie

diaper

hello/goodbye

bird

fish

cat

cracker

book

cold

....oh, I know there are more. I'm going to have to come back and add to it as I remember :) So much for what was left of my brain!

Big Boy Bed

can he get any sweeter?

It's a Girl!

Thursday night we had our family dinner/baby gender big reveal night! Everyone came dressed in either blue or pink, depending on if they thought the baby was going to be a boy or a girl. There were 11 family members in attendance, 9 minus Matt and I, and it was 3:6 blue to pink. It was so fun to take off our sweaters and reveal our pink shirts!

The "winners" (aka pink shirts) got to indulge in cheese cake while the "losers" had to do the dishes. Of course, everyone got cheese cake in the end :o)

We feel so blessed to be able to have both a fantastic little boy and now a little girl too! One of each. How sweet it is.

Preparing for a Sibling

I've started doing a little reading on how to best prepare Rowen for his new baby brother or sister. (key word being "little"- I should really start spending some time on this probably.)

Some suggestions that I think might be helpful are moving him to a big boy bed asap, and taking the crib out of his room until the baby needs it. Then I guess it feels to Rowen like it's not *his* crib the baby is hijacking.

Another is getting Rowen a baby doll. I can't say that I'm uber excited about getting my baby boy a dolly, but I'm not against the idea either.

Also, checking out "new sibling" books from the library, visiting friends with newborns, etc.

Last night was day 1 without a bottle before bed. He got his warm hemp milk in a brand new "big boy" sippy cup he picked out himself. Which, he outright rejected of course. There was much crying. He did sleep eventually, however, and tonight will be day 2.

So I guess I'm asking for your advice & opinions, on things that have worked for you, gone terribly for you, or for others you know... keep in mind Rowen is 16 months now and will be almost 21 months when baby's born, Lord willing.

These five months are going to go by so quickly...

Four Months

34.25" 107#

Not much change since last month, nothing tremendously exciting to report, all seems well and little Bell Pepper is busy doing acrobats most of the day. I feel good, tired and a little breathless at times, but good. I do love being pregnant. Such a sweet time...

We're very excited for the ultrasound Wednesday... looks like our readers are rooting for some pink! We did the "needle test" last night with my mom, and the needle says "girl." as well. (The needle accurately "predicted" Rowen's gender, as did the ancient chinese gender chart, which is saying "girl" as well. We'll see!!) YOU, my dear reader, are going to have to wait until Friday to find out. Thursday we're playing a little game at family dinner night. Everyone is going to come wearing either pink or blue, whatever they think little Pepper is going to be. Matt and I will come also in the correct colored shirts and we'll see who is right and wrong!

One thing is for sure, God is good and He knows not only the gender, but the exact child we need in our family and that's who we're going to get. Such a peace!

The Progress:

pre-pregnancy: 105#

One Month: 100#

Two Months: 101#

Three Months: 102# 29"

Rowen inside @ 4 months

Resolutions

Why does January get to have all the fun?  (or torture?)  I think resolutions are great- except that they usually fizzle out by mid february.  This year, I've been thinking about making a new "resolution" each month.  If it's working out for me, I'll keep at it the whole year through.  If not, I'll try to "better myself" in another way.  
January 1st I decided it would be a good year to read through the bible in it's entirety.  I've done it several times, but the last time I read all the way through in one year was 1996/97!  The first year I was saved.  I was So hungry for the word of God, I ripped through it.  So, I downloaded a (free) one-year reading plan and I'm happy to say that I'm on track.  Not that I've done my reading every single day, but I've been able to catch up when I skip a day here and there.  I'm surprised each reading only takes 10-15 minutes.  Is that all it takes? Wow.
Anyhow... on to February!
As many of you know, we're Dave Ramsey fans.  FPU graduates, to tell you the truth.  We've been on the cash system for over a year.  Well, we were anyway.  I haven't gotten cash out since October!!!  I love my debit card, what can I say?  Oh, so swipey easy.  Well, my "resolution" for February is to get back to the envelopes and stick to our budget.  With another one on the way, we're going to have to tighten our belts anyway so it's high time to get it gear!
How are you doing on your resolutions, one month later? Keep up the good work!