Just a quick update on where I’ve been in case you were wondering. My trusty laptop from sophomore year of college finally kicked the bucket. 
I have no way to edit pictures and post normal posts without it, so until a new computer arrives (coughmothersdaygiftcough) I am off the blog.
Will miss you all bunches!!
The new baby’s gender has finally been revealed! We had a little party with family and friends this weekend to unveil the gender, and it couldn’t have been more perfect. Don’t worry, I won’t leave you hanging until the end of the post to find out. Watch this and see what we are having next!!
Continue reading for all the details…
Yay! A girl! We are so thrilled, and can’t wait to plan the nursery, pick a name, and gather sweet little girl things. Jonah is now learning the word “sister”, and we will spend the next 4 months trying to get him to understand what’s going on. I can’t wait to see him as a big brother.
And now, for a quick rundown of the party. I went with a pink and blue theme (no surprise there), but kept everything really fun and simple. Guests were greeted by a “he or she” wreath at the door.
Once they walked in, they were asked to vote on who they thought Baby #2 would be. The group was pretty much split down the middle the whole evening.
The dessert table was set up with pink on one side and blue on the other. I hung the colorful spheres above the table because I thought they were fun.
I also taped up a few of baby’s ultrasound pictures. The “evidence” ultrasound pic was still sealed up in an envelope at this point.
Guests were asked to take a blue or pink felt circle pin to represent their vote throughout the night. It was fun to see which “team” each person was on.
Dinner was simple. We ordered jambalaya from the Jambalaya Shoppe, along with potato salad and rolls. Other than pink and blue cupcakes, I made pink-dressed strawberries (dipped in pink-tinted white chocolate) and blueberry crumble bars.
After we dined and let the anticipation build (and build!!), we went out back to reveal the gender. Josh and I had decided we wanted to find out the gender when everyone else did. A friend of mine was in charge of preparing the box of balloons. She was the first and only person to know the gender during the party, and she did a great job at keeping a straight face the entire time. We had no clue!
We were so surprised! Josh and I really thought we were going to have another boy (even though we told everyone we didn’t have a guess). As you can see from both of our faces, we were shocked and overjoyed.
It was one of the best parties ever! The entire evening was full of suspense and anticipation. We are so thankful for everyone who came and shared this special occasion with us. We won’t ever forget it.
I’ve made it to the halfway point! Yippee!
I have been feeling great, and other than having trouble sleeping, I really have no complaints. Baby is a mover. I feel that little one kicking and moving around all the time. Josh was able to feel him/her a couple of weeks ago, which was earlier than when he could feel Jonah. This baby is a strong kicker for sure! My belly is growing right on track (according to doc’s measurements). I am pretty much in maternity clothes full-time now. This is a good thing though– I love how comfy they are!
Here is my 20 week shot.
We had our big, 20-week ultrasound on Monday. The doctor said the baby is healthy and that everything looks wonderful. We are so thankful!! The ultrasound tech checked the gender, but wrote it down and sealed it up for us. Eeek! We are going to keep it a secret until Saturday when our family and close friends will gather for the big reveal! Josh and I are so excited to find out the gender when everyone else does. It will be such a special night, and I can’t wait to share our news once we find out.
Jonah turned 18 months on April 1st. What a big boy! He is a true, blue toddler– into everything, full of personality, and talking a ton. We have been raising him in a semi-bilingual household since birth. I speak English and Josh speaks to him mostly in French. It has been really cool watching him learn both languages, and we have seen some incredible progress. This is just my little update on how he has been doing and what we have learned from this experience so far.
His first baguette
Our basic routine goes a little like this: When Josh is home (after work and on weekends), he speaks to Jonah strictly in French. He talks about things they are doing, asks him questions, and now that Jonah is talking– he asks him to answer him in French. Josh reads Jonah French books before bed. We listen to French children’s music in the car every so often and have even found a few French videos that Jonah enjoys watching. When Jonah is with me during the day, he rarely speaks French. He may count or say some words in French, but for the most part he seems to know that mommy speaks one way and daddy speaks another.
Goodnight Moon-- in French!
We have not noticed any confusion or speech delay because of this, which many people seem to worry about when teaching young children another language. Josh has done a lot of research on the topic and has found that multiple languages actually can improve a child’s speech and language recognition. Jonah understands both of us perfectly. And he can easily switch from one language to the next when we are both home interacting with him.
Now that Jonah is starting to talk and say his little phrases, we are really excited to see how his French develops. From the words we have heard him say in French, we have already noticed a perfect little French accent. It really is incredible how well he is doing. This video is his most recent display of his French skills: counting to ten!
As far as where we plan on going from here, we really aren’t sure yet. There are only a couple of French-immersion schools in the Baton Rouge area, so it is hard to say if we will have French as part of his school day. I know Josh will continue what he’s doing because he loves doing it, but beyond that we just aren’t sure yet. As long as Jonah is still enjoying French and responding well, we will continue. So, I guess we will just see how it goes!
Here is another cute video of Jonah making animal sounds when asked in French.
Jonah just loves the phone. And he loves to make pretend phone calls. He usually just calls daddy or one of his grandma’s, but today he was feeling a bit more talkative and called almost everyone in our extended family. The best thing about his calls: they are incredibly short and to the point. Now, who wouldn’t love that?!
ps: This video was taken at Josh’s office. Jonah is obsessed with daddy’s chair, phone, and computer. He wants to be just like daddy!