And Baby Makes 5!

So we had a blast this weekend telling our families that we are going to have another baby!
We tried for a very long time, so didn't want to wait very long to let everyone know the big news...
Well, that, and we couldn't tell our kids till we told everyone else because we knew Jaylen would spill the beans! And the boys are SO excited to have a baby brother or sister... Jaylen's hoping for a girl, and Trevor's wishing for a boy. I don't think we'll find out what we are having, so it'll be a big surprise in the end!
My due date is May 27, so we've got a long ways to go... I just want to paint the nursery, set the crib back up, wash the baby clothes, find all the baby stuff and get it all organized. And then I have to tell myself I have about 34 weeks to do that!
Yep, I'm excited! :)
So far, feeling pretty good, although a little tired (what would pregnancy be without sleepiness?!). And if this pregnany is similar to my previous two, I may end up a bit nauseous in a couple of weeks... Right now praying this baby will grow stong and healthy, and we won't have any complications!

The "Shut Your Mouth" class

"The Bible has a lot to say about our mouths, our lips, our tongues, for our speech betrays us. What is down in the well will come up in the bucket." - Vance Havner

I love this quote from the book for the women's Bible study I'm in at our church. We just started and boy, is it convicting! The study description said a few things, including this: "Have you ever stuck your foot in your mouth, just to take it out and put the other foot in?" The book is called "The Power of a Woman's Words." So far (I'm only a couple of chapters in) this is great for me. What we say literally has the power to change lives, for the better or for worse! Some of the women started calling it the "shut your mouth" class, but it's really more than that. "A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver." (Proverbs 25:11)

My boys...

Look at these two cuties...

Aren't they the best?

I just love these little boys...

with their handsome blue eyes,

wearing their favorite Romeos - just like Daddy.

Dare I say (type) it? Trevor is potty trained... (now hopefully he won't regress because I just typed that!). He also is binky-free, and doing quite well. He still asks for one every once in a while (or asks if we can buy another one), but seems to be past it. And last night he slept in a toddler bed for the first time! I wasn't planning on moving him to a toddler bed just yet, but with the potty training, he wakes up and needs to go, so he cries and calls out for me to get him. I was leaving the rail down on the crib so he could climb out, but that didn't help because even though he COULD climb out, he wouldn't until someone went up there to tell him it was OK. :) So this morning about 1:30 he started crying and said he needed to go potty. I was really hoping he would have figured out he could go by himself, but no such luck. I'm sure he'll get it eventually! My little boy is growing up...

Happy Birthday, Trevor!

Trevor's 3rd birthday was last month... I can't believe my baby is 3! To celebrate his birthday, we had family over after church the Sunday before for Dutch soup, muffins, and birthday cake! Trevor was SO excited to blow out those candles -

probably more so than he was about opening the presents...

At 3, we are STILL working on potty training, but we're doing potty training bootcamp this week and last, so no more diapers or pullups (except at night)! And, we are making progress.

Trevor talks a lot (sometimes he doesn't stop!) and is getting a lot easier to understand, too. He loves fruit, but it's hard to get him to sit still long enough to eat a complete meal. If he had a choice, he would would graze all day long.

Kinda funny, the last week or so, he insists on climbing IN to his crib at night, but has yet to climb OUT of it! I'm not complaining, moving to a bed is one thing I don't have to worry about just yet. Probably sometime this summer we'll tackle that. He can now make it through the day without a nap, which is also nice if we need to be gone or have stuff to do...

Trevor is (generally) a pretty happy little guy, and very sweet. Every once in a while, he'll just say, "Mom, I love you." Awwww... how can I resist the little bugger!?

Brothers...

I love finding creative discipline tricks... and a new one I found recently has worked quite well! When the boys start fighting and arguing, I make them sit on the couch next to eachother and hold hands for a few minutes. While they do that, I talk to them about a time when they played nice together and how much fun it was, or some other positive or fun time to get them happy again. I don't even remember where I found this idea, but so far, it's working great!

There were two on the couch...

Both boys love this spot on the end of the couch. Sometimes they fight over it, and once in a while they can get along well enough to be there together. They did this the other night and I couldn't NOT take a picture! It's so fun to hear them playing together. Sometimes they fight like cats and dogs, but more and more lately they love to play together. This is what I had really hoped for when we found out Trevor was a boy, and what I was afraid wouldn't really happen when we found out Jaylen was autistic. But Jaylen has come a long way. At his parent-teacher conference in November, his teacher said last year he wanted to spend more time showing the teachers how much he knew academically, and not as much time playing with the toys and other kids. This year he is much more into playing with the toys and learning to play with the other kids the way he plays with Trevor. He started Awana this past year, and for the most part really likes going. He was chosen to be the Cubbies helper a few weeks ago, and boy, did that boost his self-esteem! He was so excited to tell me about it! And Geoff (who got there early to pick up so was watching him through the window) said he did so good at the front of the class, handing out papers and doing whatever they asked him to do. We still have our "bumps", but overall, Jaylen is making great progress!