Do Not Lie

I just discovered this post that I meant to put up in March.   Oops!  Enjoy anyways:

Rinn's wonderful God-mama gave her this great Bible from Zondervan.  We recently finished The House at Pooh Corner and began reading bits of this Bible to her before she goes to bed.  This has lead to many great conversations.  The other night we were reading about Moses getting the Ten Commandments.  The book rephrased them so that children can understand and one of the commandments was "Do not lie."  

The next morning at breakfast Rinn asked, "Why can Moses not go to sleep?"  

Us: "What do you mean?"

R: "Why did God not allow him lay in his bed? He told him not to lie."

Thus followed a discussion about laying and lying.

Teeth Sightings

Last Thursday I noticed that Tempie's first tooth was breaking through.  She had been grumpy for such a long time, it was finally occurring! It was the bottom right middle tooth.

Sunday I noticed that there was an additional bump next to it!  Tooth #2 is the bottom left middle tooth.  Poor baby!

This morning, I might have spied #3 sneaking through on the top.  We'll have to wait and see! Poor poor baby.

A 3 year old at breakfast

Rinn during morning prayer: "Mommy, why is Hell not happy?" Me, wanting to concentrate on my coffee more than theology this early in the morning: "Well, that's where all the bad people go." Her: "Judas needs to go to Hell." Me: "Yeah."

Rinn-isms

Rinn, "I wasn't yelling for you.  I was yelling beep!"

Me: "Why were you yelling beep?"

Rinn: "Because when I press my belly-button I go Beep-BEEP!"

Rolley Polley!

Tempie rolled over from her back to her tummy from her right side for the first time on Friday!  She just started rolling to her side on Tuesday.  Almost automatically she has started to roll to her left!  We are very excited for her!  It is so much fun to watch her get to her toys by herself; she is so proud of herself!

A Milestone

Tempie rolled from her tummy to her back twice.  She isn't doing it consistently yet, but we are not giving her tummy time consistently either.  Yay for a growing girl!

Veggie Tales

Lately we have been watching a lot of Veggie Tales movies.  Rinn really enjoys it and this morning she spent a long time talking about Larry the "Cute"cumber.  

Honey

So you'd think that honey is a pretty simple thing and that there wouldn't be a way to get junk in it.  I thought that.  I was wrong.

Check out about it here .

Tempie Update

Tempie is a beautiful, sweet baby.  She always has a smile when you want one (except in the middle of the night when she is crying).  She and I have lengthy conversations that consist of coos and smiles.  She enjoys watching us, especially her sister.  We are able to put her in her bouncy seat where she will sit contently for half an hour gazing at everything around her!  She really enjoyed laying next to the Christmas tree and studying all of the details.

Last week she began stroking my arm while I feed her.  It is something I remember Rinn doing and it is very endearing.  She really likes to hold my finger while she eats.  This past weekend she began swatting at things.  We bought her a fun teething toy, Sophie, and she is fascinated with it.  Apparently, it's eyes are entrancing! :)

It is really exciting to watch her discover the world.  It is also wonderful to watch it with a second baby because we know what to expect and in many ways it makes the process even more exciting.  I understand the steps a bit better and am excited with each one; I am not impatient for the next like I was with Rinn.

She is having some slight trouble with green poop.  For several weeks it was consistently very green - no yellow (the normal color) at all.  I think might be a milk allergy, but her doctor is not concerned.  It just concerns me since it really shouldn't be green.  Any prayers would be appreciated.

Rinn Update

Rinn is a little girl now.  There is no baby left.  She talks, almost non-stop, about everything.  From flowers, to pictures, to what cuss-word someone just said - everything is subject for discussion.

Currently, we are learning the days of the week and the alphabet.  I printed off the days with pictures corresponding to the days of creation.  This way there is a concrete thing that makes each day different.  We also have a handy arrow that points to the current day.  When Nana and Papa came yesterday she had to run to the Days to the Week chart to make sure it was the right day that they came.  She was so excited!

We just bought a cute table for her to work at.  It is a wonderful addition to our home!  We have been drawing and playing play dough everyday since we put it together.  It is so nice to have a dedicated area for her arts and crafts.  Just above her table are the Days of the Week and Alphabet chart.  We also bought her a clock of her very own.  We put it down at her height so that we can teach her the time.  She was so excited to get the clock - she carried it throughout the whole store!

She is now potty trained with the exception of pull-ups at night.  The nighttime pull-ups are mostly to save us from having to get up at night one more time.  She is a trooper when we go out and is really good about using any potty.

Several months ago we discovered that PBS is finally appropriate for her age!  So now we enjoy Clifford and Caillou almost every morning.  She has recently begun to enjoy Super Why as well.  This gives me a couple minutes to do the dishes or nurse Tempie.  I don't like her watching too much TV, but I have to realize that this will not last forever, but is a great tool right now while I sometimes need the extra time.

Last month, we began reading aloud to her before she goes to bed as part of the bedtime routine.  We are purposely choosing books that are slightly above her and have almost no pictures.  We started with a character she was very familiar with, Winnie the Pooh, and are now expanding it into other books.  I think she is learning to listen more carefully.  Since we started reading aloud, she is making more observations during Morning Prayer and asking more complicated questions.  Such fun!!  We began with The House at Pooh Corner, then read Winnie-the-Pooh followed by  Haffertee's First Christmas (a British book I read as a child).  We are having to go and discover books that we did not read as children like Mary Poppins and others of similar levels.  Any suggestions would be wonderful!!!

Beautiful Baptism

This past weekend, Epiphany, we baptized Tempie.  It was absolutely beautiful.  It was a joy to be with all of our friends to enjoy such a special time.

Tempie was a wonderful baby.  She did not cry except when I was drying her off post "pumpkin dunking" (as her God-Mama would say).  

We are so happy to have this new little Christian in our home!

Today During Morning Prayer

Morning Prayer goes, "...and we are the sheep of His pasture..."

Rinn, "Baaaaaaaaaa!!!!"

Tempie, Tempie

Our youngest is so cute and she is such a good baby!  Except for the first day when she would not burp and the past two days when she would not sleep (for an hour after each feeding, grr), she has been great!  She chats away while she eats and is so excited to get food.  She barely cries and often when awake just lays quietly taking everything in.  She looks nothing like me and a lot like Mr. Speck, but the person she looks the most like is Rinn.  We are constantly shocked to look down and see an expression that was exactly what her sister would do.

Potty Potty Potty

This is insane.  You know the evil BPA that is in many baby products like bottles and formula, the same BPA  that causes reproductive problems.  Well, apparently it's even in paper products like recycled toilet paper (Zrecs ).  Sheesh!  We can't get away from it.

Green Baby

Have you checked out Good Guides ?  You should.  It's really good.  They rate how healthy, safe, and green different products are.

They had a great post about the Top 10 Toxins You May Be Putting on Your Baby .  It has a long list of chemical names, but then explains them in easily understood ways.  I never knew how little the companies that make most of the products we use care.  It's scary what we unknowingly put on ourselves and our kids everyday.  

Going Green

Since Rinn was born we have been trying to live healthier.  While living in the Midwest we tried to cook lots of our own food: making our own humus, tortillas, bread, refried beans, and even baked beans (some recipes are better than others).  Now that Tempie is here, our desire to live healthy is even greater.  We are still make lots of our own food and are trying out new recipes all the time.  We have found a local recycling center which was convenient for all of our packing supplies.  Now we are beginning to look into buying healthy products such as cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, diapers, and toiletry items like toothbrushes, shampoo, soap, baby wash, etc.  

There are many amazing resources out there and the research that have done scares me.  Everyday I discover something new that I am shocked and appalled at.  For instance, did you know that normal brass keys contain high amounts of lead (healthy child) or that recently the labels from onesies by Carters, the baby clothing company that I love, caused chemical burns on many infants (only the 2007 line, but still! - Zrecs).  Yeah, why didn't I know this before now.

I'm going to try to post interesting finds and tips as I come across them.  

The Newest Addition!

On the twenty second, we welcomed our new daughter into the world!  Tempie was born just before 2 in the afternoon and came in at 6 lbs. 12 oz. and 19 inches (though Mr. Speck thinks that the nurse was wrong and she is actually longer).

Breakfast Discussions

Most mornings Rinn and I listen to morning prayer on iTunes.  This is an easy way for me to do prayer each day and to expose Rinn to it at the same time.  Rinn has enjoyed it and is beginning to ask some interesting questions.  

This mornings questions:

• who is the Father?
• who is Jesus' god?
• when is Jesus coming?
• where is Jesus?
  

Please answer in 5 seconds or less, such that a two year old can understand and before she asks "why?" for the sixth time.

Historic Day

Woohoo!!!  Rinn finally pooped in the potty!  Pinkish popsicle treat here we come!

Goodbye Normal

Rinn's been sick all day today with a runny nose and cough.  This is perfectly normal and yet inconvenient for moving.  All was fine until we were in the middle of Target picking up a few last minute things and she threw up over everything.  Mr. Speck and I just stand there wondering what we should do because this was the second time in her life that she has ever thrown up.  Yes, I know you all hate us now.  I can probably could on one hand the times that she spit up as an infant and the last time she vomited was last year when she had a coughing fit with a cold, just like this time.  She handled it like a trooper.  She was not freaked out, but just a little confused about what happened.  She was not embarrassed at all just worn out.  

Please pray that our little one gets better soon and that tomorrow's unloading of the truck is successful.  Praise be to God that today the storage unit is empty and the truck is almost full!