4 weeks to go...

as of Monday, i'm dilated to 1 and 10% effaced... so i'm 10% of the way there! i'm now going in to the dr. once a week (every monday until Lexi's born) to see how things are progressing and when it looks like she's going to decide to make her debut.
Lincoln has been REALLY helpful in putting together all of the baby stuff. he's helped me put together Lexi's pack'n'play/bassinet, bouncer, etc. he's just as excited as anyone about the arrival of his sister. he kisses my belly every day and asks me how many weeks are left until she gets here. i also (quite often) get the question, "mommy, what is Lexi doing? is she sleeping or is she kicking you?". whenever i tell him that she's sleeping, he says she sleeps too much. i think he will be disappointed when he sees that that's just about all she'll do when she gets here!
we've started a new reward program at home for Lincoln that has already greatly improved his daily behavior. we have recently encountered major issues with obedience and talking back. this fun little trend really got bad when Scott started working such long hours (about a month ago). most days, Scott leaves home before Lincoln wakes up and doesn't get home until after he's already asleep. needless to say, Link's had issues adjusting to it (we all have!).
So anyway, the new system is simple- it's actually something i got an idea for after being forced to watch Super Nanny with Scott (he loves that dang show). Lincoln has a bowl full of marbles. any time he's really good, he gets another marble added to the bowl. when he doesn't mind or is otherwise "naughty", he gets a marble taken OUT of the bowl. the goal is to have ALL the marbles in the bowl. when such feat is accomplished, he will be rewarded with a trip to Mr. Gatti's. we've only been doing it a few days, but any time he's misbehaving and i mention losing a marble, he immediately fixes the problem... i have heard, "i'm minding you, mommy!" more in the past 3 days than i had throughout his entire life. ..."i'm minding you! i promise!" :) so far, so good.
will definitely have more to post by monday, when we find out the latest info about Lexi.