Baby Signs

I have been trying to teach my son some baby signs – more, milk, juice, help, please, sleep. Before I refill his tray with Puffs I sign and say, “more please mommy.” My darling son has invented his own sign, which he has been teaching me, called “more NOW mommy!” This sign is basically banging hard on his tray. Then when I sign and say “more please” he just grins and bangs again (which is David sign for “I said NOW, and aren’t I cute?!”) Then when I help him put his hands together to make the sign and repeat, “more please mommy,” he grins even bigger. I’m sure he’s thinking, “Mommy’s so cute, but very slow at learning my sign language, I will just have to keep it up. Puffs. More. Mmmmm.”


Sooooo, I’m not sure who is going to give up first and learn the other person’s sign. All’s well that ends well – my boy is stuffed with puffs.

Three's A Crowd

The other day I baby sat for a friend… Her two kids, Brayden and Sophie, are adorable and David and I had a lot of fun with them…

I admit I was a *little* worried about watching three kids – especially two babies – at once. But hey, I figure that’ll be me soon enough. (Although my family planning doesn’t include having a six month old and an eight month old at the same time.) I see moms in Wal-Mart, kid in the cart, kid in a backpack and kid walking beside, and I cringe a bit. I *know* this is what I want in my heart, a house full of kiddos, but I’m also a tiny bit nervous at the thought.

The kids were great though, we played on the floor, Brayden gave us a puppet show, we ate lunch and then the babies took naps. (Put Sophie to sleep, fed & changed David, put him to sleep, fed & changed Sophie when she woke up and David was still sleeping, so I only had to juggle a little bit.) Wasn’t so bad after all. Of course that was only four hours, so we’ll see how I can do it once I have three of my own 24/7 – it will be an adventure!

Listy McListerson

Another new year… and I wouldn’t be the JenTran I know if I didn’t come up with a bunch of resolutions… 1. because I love making lists (always have, always will, OCD and whatnot), 2. because I think it’s a good idea to have a set of goals, 3. the new year is always a great place to make a new start. My list of resolutions almost always have included 1. growing closer to God, 2. getting in better shape, 3. reading more. Mostly it’s about becoming a better version of myself… I think those will be my top three once again. And I’ll add to that 4. keeping up with this blog. (maybe)

Sometimes I can’t remember what it felt like NOT to be pregnant…. I feel like this little guy has completely taken over my body and mind. I really do enjoy being pregnant, but I sort of miss a lot of things:
- taking deep breaths
- not having to pee in the middle of the night
- fitting in clothes
- painting my toes
- not having a constant bloody nose
- being comfortable when sleeping
- I think this list could go on and on….

But there are a lot of great things about being pregnant too….I really love it when strangers ask when I’m due or if it’s a boy or a girl.

Other pregnancy news/changes
- I’ve had to go up a bra size
- I’ve been getting a lot of braxton hicks, they are weeeeeird
- He especially likes to kick me on my right side, like way way over towards my back and it kind of hurts
- I’ve started his baby book/photo album… it’s so cute
- I get leg cramps, especially at night :(
- At my last appointment my midwife said my glucose was great but my iron is a little low, weight gain is perfect, size of uterus is right on track, his heart rate is steady, everything looks good.

I do wish I was feeling a little less lazy. My to-do list seems ever growing, but it’s nice if I can at least fold a load of laundry.
There are curtains to be made, scrap books to be finished, letters to be written, piles of stuff to organize, pictures to hang…. Oh yeah, and I’d like to maybe finish his nursery!
But we can’t even start until the cats are out because their litter box is in the front bed room. Once they’re outdoor cats we can move everything up fort and start painting. We’ve been having a hard time getting them outside because the weather has been so dreadful. Hopefully it will start to get nicer and we can kick them out! Yea! I really can’t wait until they’re out. I love them but they’re driving me crazy.

I can’t wait for the weather to start to get warmer! Life is so good!

growing a person is hard work!

My belly is *definitely* growing along with David! I’ve started feeling a different type of movement now, not just kicks (and he still HARD) but I can feel him start to stir and then just roll around – it’s such a weird, cool feeling! I THINK I felt him get the hiccups the other day… it was along stronger/harder than I expected. We have also started playing the “flash light game” where I shine a flashlight on my belly and he kicks at it… which is very funny to watch, I can only imagine how annoyed he is with me! I’m counting down the days until April 18th when I get to see his cute little face on 4D! This pregnancy is really flying by -- I know he’s going to be here before I know it!

We’re well on our way to starting our nursery too… I’ve bought almost all the fabric we need to make curtains, bumper, bed skirt, pillow/quilt and to recover our glider cushions. It’s kind of a different blue we’re using so it’s kind of hard to find stuff to match it but I really really love what I did get!

Our next doctor’s appointment is tomorrow morning, I can’t wait to here the sweet thump of his heart again! Last night Stephen and I laid in bed just talking about how cute he’ll be, how much we already love him and how much more will love…

I tried walking outside for exercise when the weather was nice in hopes that it would give me more energy but it only made me more exhausted and sore! I’m sort of feeling overwhelmed these days, I feel like I have a million things to do and in the evenings I still only want to go to bed!

I’m 25 now. Weird. I’m going to be a mother soon. Weirder.

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!

David Summitt Strosnider - 20 weeks 3 days
He bounced around so much it was hard to get a good "money shot." I personally don't really see it that well, but the doctor said she was 98% positive it was a boy! Guess we can go ahead and pain the nursery blue! The doctor said the placenta was in a good place and that the cord had lots of coils (which is a good thing apparently). His lips/nose/organs that she checked also loooked good. Very thankful to have a healthy report!

15 cm long, 5 cm wide, 14 oz - due date July 1st (we're still saying/hoping Fourth of July)

Finding out that we’re having a BOY has been the highlight of my week/month/etc! I just love being able to refer to him as a “him” and know that I’m talking about my David! It makes me feel even more connected to him and more in love with this little guy that I haven’t even met yet! I know I’m a real girly-girl, and I really do hope I have a daughter one day, but I also love little boys! They’re so much fun and come with their own set of cuteness! I’ve started reading James Dobson’s book “Bringing Up Boys,” which will hopefully give me some good insight. I also just finished reading “Slacker Mom,” which was a fun, short read with a really good parenting philosophy and it’s a lot closer to mine than some of the other books I’ve read. I know there will be a lot of challenges about parenting, but I’m more excited than scared. I figure it will be somewhat like marriage – in many ways harder than you would expect, but considering that I’ve got a really wonderful marriage!

On a little down side… I’ve got a nasty cold. I think I caught it from my cute little cousins (I think I get sick ever time we go see them) I guess I’ve got to get used to snotty little noses! Bring it on!

TAG... you're it

You may or may not know this about me...

- I love my cats, but they also drive me a little crazy.
- I’m scared of ceiling fans.
- I’m in love with my best friend and if anything every happened to him I honestly don’t think I could ever find a husband as wonderful as he is!
- I don’t like sea food, but I love, almost crave crab legs (or maybe it’s just the butter)
- The thing I am most afraid about being a mother: doing my very best to raise a person who will love God and others and having them turn out to be rotten.
- The thing I am most looking forward to about being a mother: laughing A LOT with my kiddos, and reading to them, and seeing Stephen be a dad.
- I am a milk coinsure: I like it cold, whole, and in a carton. (Especially Shenandoah Pride)
- I don’t feel like I look pretty without make up.
- I feel guilty about all the books I want to read and haven’t yet.
- I hate change. (Mostly.)
- I really like the few freckles I have.
- I could watch “You’ve Got Mail” over and over and over and over, and still love it!
- Every year I make a valentines day book for Stephen, last year I was late in giving it to him. THIS year I will be on time!!!
- Today, I have a very special, life changing secret! :):):)