Let the Weaning Begin!

Well, it's not happening exactly how I planned it, but I have officially begun weaning Ben from the breast. What I had wanted to do was eliminate his evening feeding first, leaving only morning and bedtime. But as I have previously posted, that didn't go over very well. So until this week I have plugged along at 3 nursings a day. Most mornings I am awoken by my baby's cries for milk at about 5:00. It sounds bad, but that's the time he's been trained to wake up to eat. But on Tuesday, he didn't wake up. So I decided to let him sleep and go about my morning routine. He didn't wake up until 6:00, which is when I would be getting him up anyway (he would always go back to sleep for a bit after nursing). So I decided to forego nursing that morning and see how we did. He didn't even seem to notice. Today is day 3 of not nursing him in the morning. I'm really excited about having this feeding knocked out (assuming we continue down this path). This morning I was even able to get up and exercise a little bit which I have been wanting to do for a long time, but when do I have the time to do that? I am just hoping that my body quickly adjusts my milk production. By the time we get home from work, I am, shall we say, more than ready to feed him! We'll see how long it takes to get him off of me completely. I'm not in any huge hurry, but, in the words of my friend Robin, I am also ready for my body's part in all of this to be over.

1st Birthday Portraits

We had Ben's 1st birthday portraits taken over the weekend. The kid is a natural! Click here to see them. We had them taken at Kiddie Kandids. They did such an awesome job... but then again, look at their subject! =)

Swiper, No Swiping!

Josh is a big fan of the shows played on Noggin. He actually requests to watch the channel by name... "I want to see on Noggin!" What's great is everything on this channel is completely age appropriate for him, so we have no problem letting him watch them. On the show Dora the Explorer, there is a character by the name of Swiper, who is a fox who likes to come around and cause trouble. To get him to stop, you have to say "Swiper, no swiping!" When Swiper has to stop swiping, he says "Ah, man!" and goes away. His part of the show can really only be described as a cameo. But for some reason, Josh REALLY doesn't like Swiper. Whenever Swiper shows up, Josh promptly turns off the TV and says he is all done watching, because he doesn't like Swiper. When we ask him why he doesn't like Swiper, he says it is because he says "Ah, man!" We have no idea why Swiper is so disliked, but we like that Josh sticks to his convictions!

Rock Me Like a Hurricane!

What a whopper of a storm did we get last night! I have lived here my whole life and I don't remember a storm as severe as this one. At about 8:00 last night, the sky tore open, shaking our windows, the lightning and thunder were pretty much constant and the winds were unbelievable. We probably got about an inch of rain in maybe a half hour. It was insane, and at the time I had no idea just how out of control it really was.

So this morning we go out to inspect the damage, and find our roof looking like the picture above. That's not good... thankfully we didn't get any leaks, but we didn't want this to go unrepaired. Thankfully, my mother-in-law had recently given us a referral for a roofer they have known for a long time (we had already lost some shingles from prior storms) so Andrew got him on the phone this morning and he agreed to come out and got it all fixed up this afternoon. It worked out well because Andrew was already planning on being home because Ben still had remnants of a fever. Anyway, I packed up Josh and we headed off to school. After we got off of the freeway in Phoenix, most of the traffic lights were malfunctioning, or just plain not working at all. I was thinking that I didn't have a good feeling about this. Then I heard people calling in on the radio saying that schools that were close by to daycare were closed due to lack of power. Uh oh. Then we got to school and saw a downed light pole and found out that school was indeed closed for the day because they had no electricity. Too bad I didn't know that before I drove 25 miles in! But what can you do? So I took Josh back home and just worked from home for a good portion of the day.

I guess the destruction downtown was massive. Major arteries for rush hour traffic were closed down due to downed power lines (I believe there were about 10 on 7th Street), there were even multiple spots where large portions of roofs were laying in the middle of the street. There were reports of wind gusts of about 100 mph, and the practice stadium for ASU was completely destroyed. It was just crazy. Don't believe me? Check this out! http://www.azcentral.com/commphotos/azcentral/7667/1/69/

Thankfully the monsoon season is nearing its end. It has been a pretty impressive season this year. The storms can be kind of cool to watch, but not when they are causing millions of dollars of damage around the city. Hopefully this will be the last of its kind for quite some time.

Time for Round Two

Josh is over his random fever and got to have his first day in his new classroom yesterday. He was so excited and had a great day. His teachers seem nice, so I don't believe we will have any issues this year like we started out with last year, so that's a relief!

So after getting over one round of illness in the house, the inevitable second round has hit. Benny felt a little warm this morning, running a temp right around 100. So we did what any parent would do... pumped him full of Motrin and sent him off to school hoping that he would at least make it through nap time. Then 2:30 came with no call from daycare. Sweet! I guess he's okay. 3:00, we're for sure in the clear now. 3:15, not so fast. Daycare called me to pick him up because he had a fever over 101. He usually gets picked up at 4:00, so we were so close! So now he's not welcome at school tomorrow. Thankfully my mom is available to watch him for us so that we don't have to miss any more work. Andrew and I both had to take a chunk of time off last week because daycare was closed, and now the kids get sick. Isn't that always the way? I guess this is where being a stay at home mom would be helpful. Hopefully this will pass through him quickly and he can go back to school on Friday and we can move on to bigger and better things!

What'd You Say?

Little Ben is definitely finding his voice. At this age it's hard to tell what is actually being used, and what is just babbling, but there are a couple things that we SWEAR Ben is actually saying. He's been saying da-da-da for a while... that's pretty much been all he's said, so it's been hard to tell if he's actually associating it to Andrew. But a couple weeks ago he started adding the ma-ma-ma-ma sound to his baby vocabulary. But since then, we've noticed that he really only says ma-ma-ma when he is coming after me, climbing all over me, or when I am at least in the vicinity. We think he is actually calling me Ma Ma Ma (he adds an extra for good measure!)!!! He also has been making a da-da sound whenever he sees a dog. The intonations of this da-da are different than his others, and the other day he started trying to put a "g" sound in it and it really sounded like he was trying to say Doggie. It also sounds like he says "Thank you"... actually it doesn't sound anything like Thank You, but he makes the same sound - 2 little grunts - whenever you give him something. Even my friend noticed it, so we're not totally nuts. He has been loving experimenting with different sounds, and imitating some of the sounds we make. It's so cute, we just love it. We can't wait until Josh and Ben start having full blown conversations. That is going to be constant comedy!

Here We Go!!!

Ben took a few little steps tonight!!! It might not look like much, but it's one of the most beautiful things we've ever seen! Hallelujah! It looks like the trick to getting him to pitter patter is letting him hold onto something he thinks he's not supposed to have, as evidenced by my cell phone in his little hands. Whatever works for ya, buddy. Yay!

What a Weekend

This weekend was one of those that we were so happy to see Monday roll around so we could go back to work! There wasn't anything totally horrible that happened, it was just extremely long and taxing.

Let me start by saying how much we love our little Ben. He is so sweet and funny and such a joy to have. We are just at a difficult developmental stage right now that can make things difficult, especially for Mommy. There is only so much face clawing, hair pulling and hitting a person can take! We are learning that Ben seems to get frustrated pretty easily, which is understandable for a little guy just beginning to try to figure out this big ol' world around him. Since he has no other outlet for his frustration, he lets it out physically. So our big task right now is to try to teach him how to use his hands nice. In addition to wrath of Ben's frustration, he also feels he needs to be hanging on me at all times. This is just a challenging age, and I know this too shall pass (come on, walking!), but any prayers for my sanity would be greatly appreciated!

To add onto all of that, Joshua came down with a high fever on Saturday afternoon. He woke up from his nap and we were cuddling and I thought he felt a little warm so I took his temp. 103.6. WHAT? Where did that come from?! So we pretty much spent the rest of the weekend home with him, cuddling and watching more Noggin than I will ever care to admit. The bummer of it all is that he was so looking forward to his first day of school in his new classroom (he gets to go in the purple door now), and he wasn't able to go today. He seems to be doing better now and we anticipate he'll be able to go tomorrow.

So with Josh wanting Mommy to cuddle on the couch, and Ben wanting to climb all over me, my personal space bubble was pretty much non-existent this weekend. I love my boys with my whole heart, but sometimes the solitude of my office sounds pretty darned good!

One Year Checkup

Ben went for his one year old check up today. Everything is great! He weighed in at 19 lbs 10 oz, which is still in the 10%, but he is holding steady on the growth chart, so there are no concerns there. He is 29.75 inches long (50%) and his head is 47 cm (75%). So he is pretty much our little big headed boy. =) He is hitting every single milestone right on target. One little blip on the health radar is that his iron came back a teensy bit low, so they are having us give him an iron supplement every day for the next 3 months. He was just borderline anemic, so he should be up to par at his next checkup. Hopefully the iron won't cause too much staining to those brand new pearly whites! He also got 3 pokes today. But big brother was there to comfort him and make sure he was okay. The tears didn't last too long afterward and he quickly returned to his happy go lucky self.

Come On Already!

I've heard the advice... I've even GIVEN the advice. "Don't be in such a hurry for your child to walk. Once they start walking, there's no going back.." Blah, blah, blah. This is true to a certain extent. BUT, then you hit that point where it would honestly be so much easier if he would just start walking already. We're at that point, and it's driving me crazy. Ben has been incredibly mobile for a long time. The only think missing is independent walking. He crawls at the speed of light, pulls himself up and cruises.... and he knows it. He knows he can go wherever he wants to go all by himself, so he gets frustrated at being carried around and becomes squirmy worm that is hard to even keep a hold of, because all he wants to do is explore. He doesn't understand that there are some places you just can't crawl. I know he's going to do it on his own time, but I am praying that his time will be soon, and I'm also praying for endurance and patience to get through this time. I know he'll do it.... I just wish he'd get on with it!

Gotta Get Away!

The weather in Phoenix lately has been, shall we say, toasty. In addition to that, life has been a bit mundane. We have been really feeling the itch to get away from it all, break out of our box and do something new and different. We got our chance this weekend. Grandma and Grandpa B were camping up in Payson, and invited us to come up for the day. What? Spend a day away from 110 degrees and spend time outdoors, and all it will cost us is a half a tank of gas? We felt like we won the Health and Wealth! Okay, that might be going a little far, but we were pretty excited about it anyway.

We started our day by going out to breakfast with the boys before heading out on the road. I think we could have ordered Ben his own adult sized meal and he would have taken it down. The kid was bottomless! But I digress. After breakfast, we got out on the road, and were delighted to see the thermostat on our car tick down one degree at a time. By the time we got to the camp site, about 15 miles outside of Payson, the temp had gone down to 78 degrees. Whoo hoo! We met up with Grandma and Grandpa, after having an entertaining conversation with the old lady who was running the booth at the entrance to the camp ground. She was a character to say the least. Joshua was highly impressed with Grandma and Grandpa's trailer. Actually, so was I. This is not your roughing it camping. This is my kind of camping. Camping with a bed, a microwave, a DVD player and a fully functioning bathroom. We spent a little time exploring the woods behind the campsite, collecting sticks and pine cones. Ben loved crawling around in the dirt, too.

After exploring the camp, we packed a picnic lunch and headed up to Woods Canyon Lake, which is at the top of the Mogollon Rim. We got a nice little shower on the way up there, which kept the temperature nice a cool. Ben had a great time smearing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich all over his face and stroller. He may have even gotten some in his mouth!

Josh was fascinated by the lake, and even got to stick his feet in. It is so beautiful up there! We even got to see a crawdad and a water snake!

After bumming around the lake for a while, we went back to camp and hung out. I even let Andrew beat me at cribbage... ha ha, just kidding. He ALWAYS beats me. But I guess that's why he suggested we play cribbage instead of dominoes! But at least I held my own this time...he only beat me by one point!

Grandpa made us an awesome dinner and Josh and Grandma made a yummy dessert. Nothing says vacation like good eating! But alas, it was time to head home. We were all sufficiently pooped! Josh was sacked out before we hit Payson city limits, with a book still open in his lap.

I'm pretty sure Ben was too. After an hour and a half car ride, we were back to our 100 degree home and our normal routine. But it was so great to be able to get away, if only for a day. Thanks for the invite, Grandma and Grandpa B. Can't wait to do it again!

Standing Man

Ben's standing skills are increasing every day. It's so exciting! We really noticed how far he had come yesterday afternoon. Everytime he pulled up on something, he would let go and stay on his feet, usually without so much as a wobble. I don't even think he realized he was doing it. It was really for just a few seconds at a time, but we can tell that he is mustering up some bravery to let go of that security of holding onto something. We've learned a little trick to get him to let go... entice him with something "forbidden". None of his toys will do the trick. It's got to be something he thinks he's not supposed to have, i.e., the remote, the phone, a spoon, etc. It's the same trick we used to motivate him to scoot/crawl. Works like a charm! He's still not taking any real walking steps, but he is definitely finding his balance, which means the rest is probably soon to come.

Not Ready for Weaning

Now that Ben is officially one, I wanted to try to start weaning him from the breast to cow's milk. He has been drinking cows milk once a day for a couple weeks now, and does just fine with it. But this kid really loves nursing, which makes my heart soar! =) Our current nursing schedule gives him 3 nursings a day... 1st thing in the morning, right before dinner and right before bed. I wanted to try to cut out the early evening feeding on Monday, and try to give him milk with his dinner. But when I got home, all he was interested in was Mommy's milk. I tried giving him some cow's milk in a sippy cup, and he would have none of it. He pushed it away in utter disgust and then started poking at my shirt, as if trying to figure out how to get to those things he really wanted. So, of course I gave in! I don't want to take it away from him if he's not done with it. It feels nice to have that freedom to nurse if we want to, but if he doesn't, he can have cow's milk and it doesn't make a bit of difference. So I am going to just let him tell me when he's ready to wean, and enjoy this time with him while I still can! =)

Randy

We had an awesome experience on the way home from work one day last week. Where we get on the freeway to begin our lengthy drive home, there is frequently a homeless man standing on the median asking passers by for a little help. Andrew has taken to trying to have a bottle of water with him at all times for such an occasion. But on this day the only water we had had been sitting in the car all day, and would have been shall we say, less than refreshing. But feeling like we wanted to give him something, we gave him the cash we had on us. When Andrew handed him the money, he asked him what his name was, and our new friend introduced himself as Randy. Andrew shook his hand and told him we would be praying for him. It was so awesome to see Randy's huge smile at the idea of someone caring to know his name. After our light turned green, we got on the freeway and went about our way home. After a minute or so, I turned around to Joshua and asked him if he saw the man that Daddy was talking to. I told him that was Randy, and explained that Randy doesn't have a house, or a bed to sleep in like we do. When I asked what we should do for Randy, he said "we should pray for him. We should pray that Jesus gives him a house." It was too sweet. So we prayed for Randy and continued on our way.

Joshua must have continued to think about our new friend, and made a very profound observation... "Randy doesn't have a house. We have a computer." I don't think he probably meant it the way it sounded, but it spoke volumes to us, and helped us to put the whole thing into perspective. Randy doesn't have a house. Not only do we have a house, 2 cars, beds to sleep in, air conditioning, tubs to bathe in, food whenever we want it... we have a computer, which is probably the most frivolous thing we own.

It's easy to get caught up in the "keeping up with the Jones'" and obsessing about all the stuff we want and think we need. Experiences like this really make us extra thankful for the things we take for granted in our cushy lives, and motivates us to do a little more for those less fortunate than we are. I guess it all comes down to being Jesus' own hands and feet. I hope we see Randy again, and can continue to be a blessing in his life.

It's Fun to be ONE!

What a happy (and kinda sad) day it is. Our little Baby Ben is officially one year old. How on earth did THAT happen?!? What a year it has been. I have to admit that bringing Ben into our family wasn't quite as much of an upheaval to our lives as the first time around, but it has definitely made our lives more rich, joyful, and of course hectic! We celebrated the big day (a day early) with a big party at our house. The whole family - minus Auntie Kerri and Uncle Jonathon - was there to celebrate with us. We had yummy Mexican food and the kids played themselves out. I've got to say, the best part of the day was the birthday cake. We were so excited to see Ben cover himself with bright blue frosting. He had a blast. It was too cute. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure! It was a great day. Happy birthday, Baby Ben. We love you, buddy!

The Dancing Man in Action

We finally got a decent dance video of the almost-birthday boy. Watch Ben get down and funky! You will also get to witness his patented "lay flat on my tummy and be cute" routine. Enjoy!

Comprende?

Ben's cognitive skills seem to have exploded over the last week or so. A couple weeks ago, I was thinking to myself that he just doesn't seem to be getting what we're saying. In thinking back to Josh at this age, he seemed to understand a lot more than Ben appeared to. I was never concerned about a delay or anything, it was just an observation. Then all of a sudden, Ben has started following directions and really seeming to understand what we are saying to him. He will give us a bite of his food when we ask for it, he will stop doing something when we tell him to stop... it's amazing to see how the light bulb has suddenly come on. Last night during dinner, he even tried to copy us blowing kisses and clapping his hands. He hasn't quite gotten these things down yet to a fine art, but it was so cool to see him try. As the birthday fast approaches, he seems to be growing up even faster. What will he do next?

Dance Machine!

Ben has dicovered a new love... Dancing! Whenever there is a funky beat, you will see little Ben bobbing his head and groving to the music. We are so excited and amused by this. Baby dance is a new thing for us. Joshua wasn't at all interested in dancing at this age. Much too serious a fellow for that tomfoolery! Ben seems to be a little more happy go lucky, loving to cut loose!

Ben's favorite thing to dance to is Hokey Pokey Elmo. Ben loves this Elmo. As soon as he sees it, he will start dancing... even before the music begins. Then when the music starts, his whole face lights up with a huge open mouth smile. I am trying so hard to get a good video of this, but as usual, once the camera is present, all activity ceases (or he just goes for the camera... darned mobility!). But I will continue to try and as soon as I get one, I will share. It's just too cute not to!

The End of an Era

Today was quite the ceremonious day for me. It was my last day of pumping at work... and probably of pumping ever. YAY!!!! I am so excited to be done with pumping. It has been well worth the inconvenience. I can proudly say that Ben has never, and will never, have a drop of formula. With the milk I pumped today, he has enough to make it through the week. Then starting Monday, we'll have his daycare teachers give him a little whole milk in his cup. I figure starting on a little cow's milk a week early won't hurt him. I've given him a little once or twice, and he seems to dig it, and hasn't had any adverse reaction, so we should be in the clear. I plan to continue nursing for a little while longer, but probably not too much. I'm ready to have my body back.

Although it is a little bittersweet for me to think that nursing is coming to an end. In a way I feel that has defined me over the last year. Nursing has been my thing... my soapbox, if you will. I'm certainly not shy to talk about it. I feel such a sense of accomplishment (only 17% exclusively nurse - as in no formula - for the first year). I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to pump at work without a problem, because I know not everyone has that opportunity. My employers have been exceptionally supportive of it. But it is a relief to know that I can now carry my cute SMALL purse to work, instead of the ginormous backpack. Plus, I get my lunch hour back!

So long my friend Ameda Purely Yours. We've had some good times, but I'm glad to be done with you!

Tornado Ben

Here is a great demonstration on how Ben likes to occupy himself. He must know how much I love to step on magnets with my bare feet. Thanks Buddy!

What a Weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Will Do To You

Josh spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa B last night. Usually it's Josh wearing them out, but apparently this weekend the tables were turned! Josh fell asleep at the dinner table tonight. And when I say asleep, I mean ASLEEP. We could not rouse this kid. It must have been the 3 juice boxes he said he had (BUSTED Grandma!!!). =)

Big Faker!

We're on to you, Ben. You can't fool us with your "I need to hold onto something to stand." We've seen you when you think we're not looking, standing unassisted. Then when you notice us watching, slowly sitting down. Let's stop the charade!

Okay, well maybe he's not a professional stander yet. But we have caught him on several occasions letting go of whatever he was holding onto while standing, only to remain on his feet for a few seconds. When he realizes what he's doing, he squats down in a very slow and controlled manner. Usually it is in the bathtub - Why is it always the bathtub? Josh did the same thing when he was little... Whatever works for the little dude, I guess. It's just a reminder for us to enjoy our little Baby Ben while he's still doing baby things, like crawling. We're pretty confident that those first steps will be taken at some point well after the big birthday, and that's a-okay with us. But as much as we are in no hurry to get to that next phase, it is still exciting to see him take that next step into big-boydum.

The Case of the Missing Library Card: SOLVED

As you may have read about in a previous post, Andrew took Josh for his first visit to the public library a week or so ago, getting Josh his very own library card. When they got home, Joshua was so excited to show me his new card. He ran in the house and shoved it in my face so I could see it. I'm glad I got a good look at it because none of us ever saw it again. It was the strangest thing. We knew he was the last one to have it, and we know that he loves to stick things places... places that probably make sense to a 3 year old. So when we discovered that it was missing, we asked Josh where he put it because he usually knows exactly where he puts things. Like I said, it makes sense to him. But even he couldn't remember. So we determined that it was either in the pantry or got thrown in the garbage. After scowering the pantry, we decided it had to have been thrown away, in which case it's gone forever. So I gave up, totally defeated by a library card we had for all of 10 minutes.

THEN this morning, Josh and I were making lunches, and I asked him to get a cookie for Daddy's lunch. He went to the pantry and was very sad to find the cookie box was empty. So I went over to get the box to throw it away and, ta-da! The library card was safely tucked away inside. Of course it would be in the cookie box! How silly of me. That's where we keep everything important! I have never been so excited to see a piece of plastic! Case closed!

What a Pain in the Neck!

Literally. For the past week I have been going through physical therapy for the injuries caused by my car accident a few weeks ago. My pain is mostly in my neck and between my shoulder blades. So far, I haven't really seen any improvement, but I know I am just getting started and shouldn't expect too much at this point. I am just not used to this. I am not a doctor person, and avoid going to the doctor at all costs. Now to be going 3 times per week is like torture for me. As most mommies, especially those who also work outside the home, I do not have an over-abundance of time to be spending 3 hours per week at the doctor. Plus, its really hard to recover from a neck injury when I've got two little ones at home that want Mommy to play with them and pick them up. But I suppose life goes on, despite car accidents and neck pain.

But in all this, I've got to really hand it to my husband. He has really stepped it up (not that he was slacking to begin with). He ends up making dinner most nights since I'm not home from therapy until after 6:00, all while keeping the kiddos entertained. It makes it so much easier on me to know that he is here, with a servant's heart, willing and able to pick up my slack. You're awesome, my love!

I'm hoping to start seeing more improvement in my pain level over the next week or two. I'm really hoping to be done with therapy after my 4 week prescription is up. We'll see what happens. Thank you to all of you who have been praying for my recovery. Hopefully I'll have good news to report soon!

Not So Sweet Potato

To the casual observer, the above picture appears to be a small piece of au gratin potato, placed upon the end of an everyday fork. But to certain 3 year olds, this is much much more. This is a foreign object, unknown in origin. A substance that may cause great pain upon the taste buds and digestive system. An enemy so great that it should be avoided at all costs, even if that means spending 45 minutes at the table and forsaking bath toys and bedtime stories. So my friends, beware the au gratin potato. It may look tasty to you and I, but unknown evils must lurk within.

Gotta Love the Classics

With all of the new fangled technology and the all of the overstimulating TV shows of today, it's nice to be able to introduce our kids to some of the simpler classics that we grew up with. Here are two of Josh's all time favorites that we also loved as kids (you just gotta love YouTube!)

Going on a Cruise!

Where are we going, you might ask. The Bahamas? Nope, much too moist. Alaska? Far too cold. No, the cruise we are going on is a little closer to home.... it's from one end of the couch to the other! Okay, maybe this cruise is specific just to Ben. He finally decided today to give those little feet a try, and started cruising along the couch. He's also taken a few steps using a push walker. He's been pulling himself up for quite some time now, but once he's up, he pretty much grows roots and has not really even tried to move his feet. If there was something that he wanted that was out of his reach, he would sit down, crawl over and stand up again. But I guess today it occurred to him to try things a new way. On one hand, we hope that this new found skill will put some ideas in his head and get him walking around his birthday (we're not holding our collective breaths, but I suppose it could happen). On the other hand, it makes us sad to see how close walking is, and how there is NO TURNING BACK once that door opens. Whenever he decides he is ready to walk is fine with us. We are just enjoying each stage and milestone as it is reached at his own time.

On a teething side note, Ben officially has 2 teeth, his bottom left that sprouted last week, and top left front tooth that finally decided to break through yesterday. We've been watching this little sucker trying to come in for about 3 weeks now, seeing a large hard bulge in Ben's top gum. We were so glad to finally get a look at it. And I'm sure Ben was happy it wasn't poking him anymore. We're pretty sure the right side is soon to follow, and then hopefully he'll get a little break, poor little guy!

Bookworm

Even though Josh LOVES books, we have somehow never gone to the library during the first 3 years of his life. Today we finally went down and got him a library card, and Josh loved it. I think he wanted to take half the books home with him! We read a few books while we were there, and eventually picked out 5 good ones, including one called "Food Fight" that I think Mommy and Daddy like almost as much as Josh. In any case, I think that we will be spending a lot more time there in the future.

Pictures

I really wasn't digging the layout and some of the features of Shutterfly, so I am now in the process of moving the pictures over to Picasa/Google. The link has been updated, so feel free to check it out. We now have captions on some of the pictures, and I believe it is easier to comment on individual pics. I'll get most of the old albums moved over... eventually.

Where'd Benny Go?

Ben has become quite proficient at the game of peek-a-boo. See for yourself!

Barbara Who?

Speech to a 3 year old can be a tricky thing. You know what you're trying to say, but can't get it quite right, and hilarity ensues. One of our recent favorites was last weekend when Andrew made some ribs for dinner. We put some in front of Josh, and he pushed it away and said "I don't like Barbara Screw Off" What? After a little guessing game, we figured out he was talking about barbecue sauce. Andrew, can you please pass the Barbara Screw Off?

Big Boy Food!

I am so tired of buying baby food. They overtake my pantry, they're expensive and now that Ben is eating Stage 3's, there is very little selection. So I am now a woman on a mission. My mission, and I have chosen to accept it, is to have Ben totally off of baby food by his 1st birthday in 5 weeks. So far, we're doing really well. I think I have only fed him about 3 jars of baby food in the last week. He's still eating it at school, but our options there are limited, so we'll work on that one later. But at home, he's loving his new menu. I've decided that I'm going to just start giving him whatever we're eating. The first 2 nights, he had meatloaf and au gratin potatoes. He was in heaven, eating the whole thing! He's also eating grilled cheese, macaroni and cheese, cut up fruit, crackers, he even got to enjoy his first hot dog on the 4th of July. I hope to be able to introduce a wide array of foods to him and try to bypass some of the pickiness I (unbeknown to me at the time) helped to create in Joshua. Ben seems to be all about food (he gets that from his Mama) so I think we're looking good!

4th of July

What a big wonderful weekend we've had! We really decided to celebrate Independence Day in style this year. It's so nice when a holiday falls on a Friday giving us a long weekend to relax and spend time with friends and family. Our original plan was to go see the fireworks at Tumbleweed Park, who holds Chandler's official display. But my car accident and the resulting neck and backache put an end to those plans as spending hours in a park with no comfortable place to sit did not sound appealing to me or my back. Instead, we got together with some good friends from church who have 2 boys just about the same age as ours and did an impromptu barbecue and swimming party. Josh and his little buddy Nathaniel had a blast together, and it was nice to hang out with Jennifer and Brandon again. After leaving there, we met up with some other church friends and were able to watch the Tumbleweed fireworks from their neighborhood park, and totally avoid the crowds and traffic. Of course neither of the kids really wanted to nap that day, which is always the case when you really want them to nap, but they both were such troopers. Josh fell asleep on Andrew's shoulder shortly after getting to the park, but woke up in a great mood when the fireworks started. Ben was not at all interested in sleeping unless he was in his car seat, but was such a mellow happy boy and just sat on my lap watching everything around him. We got home at almost 11 pm. I think that's the latest we have ever kept our kids out. But it was so much fun!

Then on Saturday, Auntie Kerri and Uncle Jonathon finally had a chance to come from Las Vegas for a visit. They hadn't even been able to meet Ben yet! So we piled in the car and headed out to Avondale for a family barbecue. It is always so much fun to get the whole family together. There is no comparison to a house filled of 5 little kids ranging from 3 years to 1 month, and everyone getting along and having fun. The kids splashed in the kiddie pool in the backyard, everyone ate way too much good food and genuinely enjoyed being together. What a joy filled day! The gathering was even more joyous, because we found out that there will be a new addition to our family come March. Auntie Kerri and Uncle Jonathon are expecting their first baby! We have had such an awesome weekend. Here's a slide show of all we have done. Enjoy!

Tour de Chicago Street

Josh got a great Radio Flyer tricycle for his 2nd birthday. But he has always had trouble with the peddles, and so we would always have to push him. He hasn't had much of a chance to try lately since it has been so unbearably hot outside. But on Friday morning, he woke up super early (someone needs to explain the concept of sleeping in on holidays!), so after breakfast I took him outside to enjoy his swing set and other backyard toys that haven't gotten played with since May. After playing for a bit, I took a small break to get some water (even though it's not 110+ at 7:00 am, it's still less than cool), and when I came back, Josh was riding around the backyard on his trike, as if to say I've been doing this since the day I was born! We were so excited, we took him out to the front and let him ride up and down the sidewalk. He did such a great job steering and peddling. He helped Daddy give the bike a tune-up, and when we were done, we washed our bike in the driveway. Do we have the next Lance Armstrong? Maybe, maybe not, but we're pretty darn proud of him either way!

Choppers!

Just when we thought Ben was destined for a life of applesauce and pureed meats, he FINALLY sprouted his first tooth this weekend! This kiddo always keeps us guessing. For the last week or so, we have been able to see his top teeth through his gums. I mean, these things are bulging out, just not having broken through yet. So we were sure that he was going to get his top two teeth first, even though that is a very strange order to get teeth. We were joking that he was going to look like a bunny rabbit, living up to his nickname of Benny Bunny. Then on the 4th of July, I stuck my finger in his mouth and felt something hard and rigid on the bottom gum! It's just barely broken through, and you can't even really see it yet, but you can sure feel it. I've never been so excited about teeth! I suspect that the next few will pop out in rapid succession, but like I said, he always keeps us guessing!

Magnetic Personality

What can I say? People just want to be near to me... .they want to reach out and touch me... at least when they're in their cars. That's right. I was in yet another accident this morning. Nothing major, but it still pretty much sucks. Fortunately for me and our insurance rates, this one was totally not my fault. I was coming back from the grocery store with 2 weeks worth of groceries in the back of the van. Yes, our brand new van that we've had less than 4 months. I was driving in the right lane, and I'm not even sure if I had gotten up to the posted speed limit yet. All of a sudden, a pickup truck that was driving in the middle lane just ahead of me decided to make a right turn onto a side street. I slammed on my brakes, laid into my horn, and then proceeded to smash into the side of him. After calling 911, I called Andrew to have him come and get the groceries out of the back of the car so they didn't spoil in the 110 degree heat while we waited for the cops. I had no idea how long it would take for someone to get out there since it was a minor accident with no injuries. But thankfully the cops were there within minutes. Gotta hand it to the Chandler police! The guy's story was that he was driving around hanging signs for John McCain (is this a sign that I shouldn't vote for him?). When the signs in the back of his truck started blowing around, he decided to pull off and secure them. He told the cops he was changing lanes and just didn't see me, trying to downplay the extent of his bad driving, but we both know what actually happened, and the cop saw right through his story. I think the guy even knew he wasn't making sense, but he still had to try, I guess. But it doesn't matter. He got the ticket, he admitted fault, and even got his claim with his insurance company set up at the scene. So we should be taken care of. It just makes me sad that our new car is hurt. But it's all cosmetic, so it shouldn't be too bad. I just gotta say grrrrr!

Joshua Sings the Hits

What a musical household we have! It seems there is always some kind of music going in our house. Lately, our main musical source has been our little maestro Joshua, who cannot get enough of singing. Gee, where did he ever get that?!? He learns the words to songs fast...well, at least most of the words. Sometimes he doesn't get them quite right, which makes it all the more entertaining to listen to...over... and over... and over again. There are some days that we don't even turn on the radio on the way home from work because Joshua provides the musical entertainment. Here are some of our favorites:

"I've been working on the railroad, throw my lunch away!.... Someone's in the kitchen with Dino, someone's in the kitchen I know-o-o-o..."

"Do you know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man? Do you know the muffin man who makes us very late?"

"Row row row your boat, gently down the stream, mary, mary, mary, mary mary, lika bika dream!"

"I like to eat, eat, eat Aypples and the banaynays!"

"Boom boom, how to be crazy! Boom boom, how to be crazy!"

"He got the whooooole world in his hands, he got the whooooooole world in his hands, he got the whooooooole world in his hands, he got the whooooooole world in his hands, he got the whooooooole world in his hands...." I think you get the picture. It's a never ending song!

The other day he totally surprised and amazed us with his photo and phonographic memory. A week or two ago we were watching a show on the Disney channel called Little Einsteins. They incorporate classical scores and famous works of art into an adventure. They had applied words about springtime to one of the classical pieces and sang it a few times throughout the show. Well, Josh has a toy in the car that plays the same song, without the words. When he heard it, he started singing the springtime song. I couldn't believe that he remembered the song from that long ago.

We can't wait to get him into piano lessons! Maybe he'll be the next Harry Connick, Jr.!

3 Year Old Checkup

Josh went for his 3 year old check up today, and passed with flying colors. He weighed in at 31 lbs, so he is finally at the 50% for his weight! We couldn't believe it. He's still so skinny, with his little chicken legs and his teeny tiny heiny that we love so much, we were surprised he had jumped up on the growth chart like he did. Especially considering he only gained about 2-3 lbs the whole year. Apparently growth tapers off around this time. He measured 40 inches, which keeps him in the 95% for height. At this age they start measuring his Body Mass Index (BMI). He was only in the 3% for BMI. There is not an ounce of fat on this kid! Cognitively, he is right on target, and even a little ahead of the curve in some areas. He is completely potty trained and has been for a while now, he loves to read and can memorize entire books (there are at least 3 that he has memorized word for word). He picks up the words and tunes to songs and can start singing along very quickly... all in all he's just one smart little boy. So we got the clean bill of health this morning, and got out of there without any pokes in the arm or the leg. Whoo hoo!

Sippy, Sippy!

I didn't think he would EVER do it, but Ben has finally decided to try drinking out of his own sippy cup. Yay! I was beginning to think he was going to want me to hold his cup for him forever! I guess one drawback to nursing is that he only gets one bottle a day and doesn't really get the chance to practice holding it himself very often. I knew he COULD do it.... he just WOULDN'T do it. The lazy bum! But the other day he started to show some interest in doing it himself. So, in order to encourage him, I broke down and got him a little bottle of juice (gasp!). I am not a fan of juice, but wanted to try to give him some way watered down incentive to put his little hands around that cup. It seems to have worked. He was double fisting the cup and taking swigs tonight. Go Ben!

Say Cheese!

I think we might take too many pictures of Ben... Whenever he sees a camera pointing at him, he makes a "CHEESE!" face.

Looks like he's taking after his cousin, Stevin!

Mr. Yucky Ear

Ben came down with his first ear infection today. We've made it 10 months, so I think we did pretty good. Everything was fine, and then I got the dreaded 10:00 am telephone call from daycare... that's never a good sign! They said that Ben's ear was oozing green stuff (mmmmm, green stuff). So I whisked him away to the doctor for antibiotics. You would never know this kid wasn't feeling 100%. He has been Mr. Smiley, Giggley and Happy all day long... except for the breathing treatment at the doctor. He has a little chest congestion, so they had him take a 10 minute breathing treatment while we were there.... I can't say that I feel it was totally necessary, but at the same time it couldn't hurt. So now we have antibiotics for 10 days and a prescription for Albuterol to take whenever he might seem congested. Now our wallets are a little lighter, since insurance for whatever reason didn't cover the Albuterol or the device to administer it. Oh well. What are you going to do?

Since he was already at the doctor, I had them plot his weight on the growth chart to see if the weight he had gained was sufficient enough for them to lay off about his weight. He weighed in at 18 lbs 10 oz, (at 9 months he was 16-15), which brings him all the way up to the 10th percentile, which just sounds crazy to me. To look at this kid you would think he was at least in the 50th. He is totally healthy. But the gain was good enough to make them happy, so it's all good. We just have thin kids. Nothing wrong with that!

Tummy Rug Burns

Little Benny is starting to realize that he doesn't need to get rug burns on his tummy in order to get places! Over the weekend, he started taking a few full blown crawling steps! He doesn't go very far on his hands and knees yet, and if he's trying to go any real distances, he drops down on the tummy, but he is definitely progressing into big boy crawling. We have tried so hard to capture a good video, bur of course as soon as the camera is on he tries to make us look like liars. Stinker! But we'll keep trying.

He has also gotten very fond of standing. He now pulls himself up on anything he can get those little hands on. We're so proud of him, but at the same time it reminds us that our little "Baby Ben" is growing up. Can't he be a baby a while longer? We hope he's not in any big hurry to walk. It doesn't seem like he's too close to that yet, so whew! We'll take what we can get. Still no teeth, so at least we can enjoy that gummy baby smile a while longer!

Could it be? Is he really 3?!?

Yes, Joshua is somehow 3 years old. In some ways it seems downright impossible, and in other ways it seems as though he has always been here. To celebrate the occasion, we had a big birthday bash at our house over the weekend. Just about all of our family was here (that's a party in and of itself!), and a lot of Joshua's closest friends. It was such an awesome day, and one I hope he remembers for a long time. We set up our kiddie pool and a sprinkler toy in the backyard for the kids, and had water guns and other water toys too. The kids had so much fun running around and splashing in the water. Yay for summertime birthdays!

The "theme" to his birthday party was "The Backyardigans", still one of his favorite TV shows. We even found a Backyardigans cake!


It was such a wonderful day. Happy birthday, buddy. We hope all your birthday wishes come true. We love you more than you'll ever know!

Here I Come!

You've heard about Ben's scooting... here's the live show! It may not technically be crawling, but whatever gets you from A to B!

Mobility... Ain't it Great?!?

Okay, so much for blogging more often! Now that Ben is moving around there isn't much computer time left in my day for blogging!

Ben has gotten to be a mighty speedy scooter. He's found what works for him, and he's sticking to it! Now that getting places is a mastered art, Ben has moved on to bigger and better things... standing. That's right. Ben has started to pull himself up. The conditions still have to be exactly right, but he has learned how to get those little feet under him. His favorite thing to pull himself up on is his musical Leap Frog table. It's the perfect hight for him to get up on his knees and hoist himself the rest of the way up. He gets so proud of himself!


The other milestone he has reached is getting himself into a sitting position. For the longest time, he couldn't figure out how to get his knees under him. Now he's got that down, and can crawl (or scoot) over to something, then sit up and play with it. It's great! The only thing is, you never know where you're going to find him! For instance...


Still no teeth. Although my body isn't complaining about that, I'm starting to wonder if he'll EVER get teeth! I've (partly) joked that I want to get him a dental x-ray just to make sure they're in there! It sounds silly, but it would make me feel better.

9 Month Check-Up (mini rant alert!)

I took Ben for his 9 month check up yesterday, and history is definitely repeating itself. I put him on the scale, and he weighed 16 lbs 15 oz. So I took him back to the room, just had his diaper back on him, when they said they wanted to weigh him again. Here we go, I thought. But again, he was 16-15. Turns out his weight is only in the 5th percentile. If you look back to about March of 2006, you'll probably see the same exact post about Josh. Apparently we just make lean little boys. So he goes back in a month for a weight check to make sure he's still gaining weight. We are not at all worried, because if you've seen this kid, you can tell how healthy he is. He totally doesn't look as thin as he apparently is. He's a chunky baby as our kids go! But the NP (who I LOVE!) just told me to try to get him a little more calories during the day, but thankfully didn't try to push me to give him any formula (after 3 years of treating my kids, I think she knows me better than that). In other check up news, he measured 28.5 inches, and has hit every milestone that he should have for his age, so we're cruising right along.

This is the time where I get a little annoyed with the growth charts. I know that they are important to gauge how a child is developing, but it seems like it turns into an obsession about where our children fall on a graph. Why do we need to put them in this little box? God, our perfect creator, saw it fit to make each person different, and so all kids are not going to grow at the same rate. Both of my kids cruised along at the 25-50% in weight, right up until their 9 month appointment, where they both dropped to the 5th percentile. Newsflash! When a baby starts moving around everywhere, they burn more calories and therefore are not going to put on weight as they did in their earlier non-mobile days. It's funny to me. With all of this talk about the childhood obesity epidemic, you would think that there wouldn't be so much focus on getting a child to gain weight, especially when they are clearly healthy healthy kids! I also believe that the growth charts are set by formula fed babies (of which Ben has never had a drop), which tend to be heavier than breast fed babies. All in all, I will give him the extra calories he needs so that they won't have to subject him to blood work and all that garbage if he doesn't weight what they think he should at his weight check next month.

Now that I've ranted, I just want to say that we feel so blessed to have such a happy, HEALTHY little baby boy in our lives. He is just awesome! What a perfect way to complete our family. We love you, buddy... just the way you are!

Open Shut Them

Joshua is the master of memorization. He can remember songs better than anything. Every once in a while he'll bust out with a song that we didn't even know that he knew. Tonight during his bath, which is like musical hour in our house, he all of a sudden started singing two songs I had no idea that he knew. "Where is Thumbkin" and "Open Shut Them". Thanks, Miss Michelle, for teaching him some of the old classics that we had forgotten about!

Some of our other bath time favorites are "C is for Cookie", "Rubber Duckie" and "Grandpa's Farm". I guess it's time to start memorizing bible verses!

I'm Gonna Get You!

Ben has been mobile for a while now, scooting himself to wherever he had enough motivation to scoot. Tonight I realized just how mobile he is. I couldn't get away from the kid! Everywhere I went, there he was. If I was doing puzzles with Joshua, there he was. If we moved over to the couch (all the way across the room), there he'd be. Over by the fireplace? Oh, there he is too. It was cracking me up. I felt like he was chasing me all over the house! So we made a game out of it. I don't think there was an inch of the living room that didn't see his tummy!

We've noticed over the last week or so that he has been working really hard on getting up on his knees, and in the last few days we've caught him up on his knees and rocking, like he was trying to figure out how to make all of the parts work together to crawl, so I'm sure it will just be a matter of time until he really is everywhere. In the meantime, this scooting maneuver he's got is pretty efficient. He even decided to go exploring in the kitchen over the weekend, scooting from one doorway all the way to another (from the play area to the pantry for those that are familiar with our house). He's starting to realize that he can go check things out. Glad we're already baby proofed!

Ben has also discovered how much he loves to stand, so whenever he is next to me, he pulls himself up. He's not quite to the point of pulling himself up on the furniture since he hasn't yet mastered getting himself into a sitting position from his tummy (that first time seems to have been a fluke), but he can pull himself up on Mommy like a champ.

He goes for his 9 month check up tomorrow, so I'll post again with all the stats!

Milestone Alert!

Baby Ben reached another milestone on his road to big-boydome. After his nap today, we walked into his room to find him sitting up! He has never gotten himself into a sitting position from lying down before. We have no idea how he did it, and he didn't do it again today, but even doing it once is a big step for him. Who knows what he'll be doing this time next month. That's the most amazing thing about a baby's development... one day they can't do something, and then all of a sudden, they can.

In other Ben news, we think that Ben suffers from some seasonal allergies. The air quality has been really bad lately, and the last few days Ben's eyes have been gooping up. The skin around the eye is puffy and red, but his eye is not at all pink, so we don't think it's pink eye. What leads us to suspect allergies, is that he also has the runny nose and a little bit of a cough, but no fever, and he really doesn't seem to be feeling all that bad. I plan to call the doctor tomorrow just in case. We hope there is nothing actually wrong, and hope that maybe there is something we can give him to stop the goop. That just can't be comfortable. But he's handling it all like a champ, still as smiley and happy as ever. What a sweet little boy!

An Evening Out

Last night we decided to take the family out to dinner. No special occasion or anything... just really didn't feel like cooking or cleaning! So we loaded up the kiddos and went to Some Burros. We hadn't taken both of the boys out to dinner in I don't know how long, so we weren't really sure what we were in for, but we were feeling brave. It was such an enjoyable evening. Joshua found a new love for Spanish Rice, and Ben got to taste some refried beans and a couple grains of rice. As we were sitting there eating, an older woman came walking up to our table, staring Ben down the whole time, and then asked if she could touch Ben's head (everyone LOVES his hair!). We were fine with that (but happy that she at least asked before laying her hands on our child), and it seemed to make her day. Joshua really liked her too. So much, that he started yelling "HI... HI... YOU WANT TO SIT AND EAT WITH US?"

So, good food, good company and good quality time with the kids. I'd say it was a pretty good night!

Wanna W?

Now that we are all home earlier in the evening, we have again started to take Copper for a walk after dinner a few nights a week. Copper, with her selective hearing and understanding, is unable to understand phrases such as "Get out of the kitchen" or "Go lay down", but whenever the word "Walk" is uttered in our house, she goes nuts. So we have taken to calling a walk a "W", and somehow she hasn't caught on to this.

The other night at the dinner table, Andrew asked me "Do you wanna W?". Before I could say anything Joshua announced "You have a W, Daddy have a M, I have a C." He then got up to go over to the refrigerator to find those letters among his many magnets.

He's so fun to have around. We love his little take on life. You just never know what he's going to say next. This was just too cute not to share!

Crazy Drivers!

I think Josh pays a little too close of attention while we are driving, as evidenced by this video. For those that don't speak 2-year-old-ese, Josh is politely indicating that he will be honking the horn, and calmly saying "Goodness Sake!". We are glad this is the only thing he has picked up on from driving with Daddy =)

Pinky and Some Pics

Not much to report from the past week... Josh had a minor case of pinkeye but we still had some leftover medicine (i.e. Liquid Gold) from last time, so that saved us from having to drop $50 on a new bottle (if you can call 3 mL a "bottle"). We used the rest of it up and he appears to be good as new. Yay!

We posted a TON of new pictures of Josh, Ben, Easter, and the Liver Walk, so be sure to pay the photo album a visit!

One Small Step, One Giant Leap

It looks like Baby Ben has finally figured out another direction other than reverse. We were at my parents house today, and Ben was doing some tummy time on the floor, when he spotted a matchbox car on the floor just out of his reach. A look of determination overtook his face, he planted his feet on the floor, and scooted forward, forward, almost there, GOT IT! It was awesome to see him actually getting somewhere on purpose! Something finally clicked with him to use his feet on the floor instead of just kicking them. It also looked like that was giving him ideas as to how to get his legs underneath him, so we'll see what he decides to do with this new bit of information. Good job, Baby Ben. We're so proud of you!

Potty Training... Phase 3

Okay. We have reached our final stage of potty training. Joshua has mastered daytime potty training, breezed through nap time potty training, and now we are tackling overnight potty training. We were just about out of diapers for him, and he has been not fitting so well into his size 4's, so we knew the next pack would need to be bumped up to a 5. I really didn't want to go up a size, and instead wanted to try to do away with the diapers altogether. Andrew wasn't quite so excited about it, and didn't think Josh was quite ready because he would wake up with a full diaper in the morning. My theory, however, was that he was going in his diaper because he COULD, not because he had to, so I wanted to try and see if he could do it. We decided to go for Pull Ups for this one, since they aren't quite as absorbent as a diaper, but wouldn't make quite so much of a mess as if he had an accident wearing underpants. We called the Pull Ups "Special Underpants" and got him really excited about them. We told him that he was wearing underpants to bed, and that he doesn't go pee pee in his underpants or in his bed. He seemed to understand and be on board with the idea, so we went for it. At 5:30 in the morning, he woke up crying that he had to go potty (he doesn't come out of his room, and so he usually will cry for us if he needs us). His Pull Up was completely dry! He had made it all night and had woken up to go potty. After Andrew took him to the bathroom, he went back to bed, and slept for another hour or so, until he woke up needing to now um, finish his business. We are so proud of him! He never ceases to amaze us with how grown up he is getting to be. I am hoping that this package of Pull Ups will be the last diaper type item we will ever have to buy for him. What a big boy!!!

What a Weekend!

What an exciting weekend this has been! It's hard to believe that it's over already. We had so much fun, it is worth the exhaustion we now feel.

On Saturday morning, Andrew took Joshua to a Daddy & Me day that was being held by our daycare. The theme was "Having a Ball". They had all sorts of fun activities, such as tricycle races, gymnastics, baseball, soccer, bouncy obstacle courses and so much more. Joshua even got to sit on a City bus. He had so much fun, and even got to see some of his friends from school. It was great for him and Andrew to be able to spend such quality time together.

After Having a Ball, we went with Grandma and Granddad to the open house of the new fire station by Grandma and Granddad's house. Joshua got to sit up in a fire truck (and play with the walkie talkie), a helicopter, and even wear the fireman's headset. We got to see where the firemen hang out, where they sleep and where they eat.

On Sunday, our old friends Jason and Carrie Miller from Seattle (Jason was Andrew's friend from his MCC days, and was the one who got him out to Santa Barbara) came over with their little 18 month old daughter Natalie. Joshua and Natalie were fast friends, playing on the swing set and with all of our toys. They had such a great time running around together. After they left I realized that we didn't get any pictures of Jason and Carrie when they were here. =( But we at least got a couple of Natalie, so at least we can prove that they came over. =)

With so much happening this weekend, it went by so quickly. But it was all stuff that was so much fun to do with the kids (Ben was at least for the ride for most of it... one day he'll be able to participate too), and we hope that it will make some really happy memories. That's what it's all about!

Where'd our Angel Go?

Joshua has always been such a good little boy. We have really been spoiled with him. He is a good listener, makes good choices, and is usually the most well behaved 2 year old I've seen. His teachers have always told us what a joy he is to have around, and when we were part time, tried to get me to take other kids home instead so that they can keep Josh longer. =) But with our new schedule has come some adjustment. Joshua is starting to misbehave a bit at school, and we are getting some less than glowing reports at the end of the day. His biggest problems are spitting and throwing toys (not really throwing them at anyone, but just chucking them across the room). He even pulled his little girlfriend's hair today (does that mean they are broken up now?) His teacher told Andrew this afternoon "He's always been my little angel!" but he's been less than angelic the last couple of weeks. Well, maybe that's being a little harsh. It's only been 2 or 3 bad days, but when you've had 2 1/2 years of nothing but glowing reports, that's a lot. We suspect it is because he is getting a little less sleep due to the new schedule. He used to get up at 7:00, and now he is getting up at 6:00, and there hasn't really been too much compensation on the bedtime side. So we are making an effort to have him in bed at least a half hour earlier than we have. But when you're putting the King of Procrastination to bed, that can become a challenging task. The "I make it dark" and "one more ice ice baby" and his moment of solitude before finally deciding to get under the covers can really drag bedtime out, and before you know it, it's 8:30. Hopefully in another week or so we'll have our schedules all worked out and will be back to normal. We just want our little angel back!

A Glimpse Into our Future

Andrew was informed today that Joshua has a girlfriend at school. There is a little girl, Emily, in Joshua's class that apparently has a big crush on him. They run around holding hands, and Emily always wants to sit next to Joshua during snacks and lunch. We always said that all of the ladies were going to love Josh and those big brown eyes, and I guess it's starting already! In addition to Emily, Joshua had a little "fling" with a girl he met at his counsin Chevlynn's birthday party on Sunday. She apparently liked what she saw and decided that Joshua needed a big smooch right on the mouth, so that's what he got. So apparently, we've got the Ladies Man on our hands! I don't think I'm ready for this. =)

Scooter McBooter

Ben is really working on becoming mobile. He has been rolling for quite some time, but now he is trying his hand at a better method of transportation. He's not really crawling yet, but we can tell it's right around the corner. Tonight he was scooting himself, backwards, all across the living room floor. He's trying so hard to go forwards, but his arms are much more useful to him right now than his legs are, so they keep pushing him backwards. He gets pretty mad about it, but it's so funny to see him scoot, scoot, scoot away from you when he's trying to come to you. He'll get it one of these days. But please, Ben, don't be in any hurry!!!

The End of One Journey, and the Beginning of Another

What a time of transition it is right now! Friday was my last day at Bohm & Jones, the place where I have spent part of every day for the last 5 1/2 years. It was hard to say goodbye to so many people that I love. I worked with most of them for so long, they began to feel like family! Some of my favorite memories are: not burning Laura's lunch and getting yelled at for it; Cindy believing her home phone was bugged so she took the front office phone home with her at night; Liberty... need I say more???; "There were 2 reasons for that", "I'm having too much fun"; Christmas parties (after the attorney had a few cocktails in them); and I know there are many many more that I'm forgetting (Hey BoJoers, if you read this, leave me a comment with some of the good ones I'm spacing on!)

Yesterday I started my new job. My new boss, Rick, is a really nice guy. The first thing he said to me yesterday was "I am SO HAPPY that you're here!" That's nice to hear from your boss! Most of the day was just set up, but I also was able to dive into some trial prep for a trial coming up on Friday. This is my first experience billing my time, but in 2 days, I was able to bill 5 hours. Not too bad, I'd say! I also was able to show him a nifty tool in Outlook to save your e-mails as PDF's (thanks B&J for teaching me that one!) He was really excited about that and decided to make that how we save e-mails from now on. As I was leaving on that first day, the last thing he said to me was "I am SO HAPPY you're here, I can't even tell you!" Well, I'm glad he was still thinking that at the end of the day! Things are kind of getting off to a slow start, but that's to be expected in this kind of position. I have a lot to learn, as I have never done this kind of law before. But I'm sure I'll be able to stay busier in a couple weeks once I start getting the hang of everything.

In addition to my own transition, the kids are now adjusting to full time daycare. We have been so blessed over the last 2.5 years to be able to only have them in daycare part time, but we are at peace with the decision, and they really don't seem to care. I think Josh might prefer it! He is having a hard time adjusting to a slightly modified sleep schedule, but he did better today, so I think we're on our way!

Hopefully this job will work out for a while... at least until Josh is in kindergarten. Then I would lke to find something closer to home... but that's a ways off. But for anyone that knows me, I'm a huge planner! But it is still feeling like this was the right move for me, so off I go to where God leads. I wonder what he's got in store for me!

Here's Your Covers

Daddy made up a cute little bedtime song that Joshua loves to sing. Here are the words so you can sing along at home (to be sung to the tune of "Where is Thumbkin")

Here's your covers
Here's your covers
Go to sleep
Go to sleep
Have some real sweet dreams now
See you in the morning
Joshua
I love you!

Here is Joshua's rendition...

Joining in the Fun

Ben now has his very own swing on our swing set, so he can now join in the fun! It's a pretty cool baby swing. It is shaped like a race car, and came with all sorts of decals to stick on. Ben loves it, and Josh is so excited to have his baby brother swing with him.






In other news, Ben has finally been upgraded from the carrier to a convertible car seat. It will be so nice to not have to lug around that carrier anymore. We bought the car seats at Babies R Us, which we call "The Baby Store". When we told Joshua we were going to the baby store, we jokingly told him that you buy babies there, and asked if he wanted a new baby. And he said "No, I just want that baby. I love my baby brother." He's such a sweet little guy!

Making Progress

Joshua has always been a very picky eater. Even when he was a little baby just starting solid foods, it was difficult to get him to eat. We had gotten into the very bad habit of making him his own separate dinner, usually comprised of either chicken nuggets, a hot dog or a grilled cheese. It has gotten to where that is all he will eat. There was a short time in there when he had gotten a little more adventurous, but that was short lived. We decided that we are done with all of that, and we want the habit to be broken by the time Ben is old enough for table foods. We think that Joshua needs to learn to eat what we are eating, so we have taken a pretty hard lined approach, giving him whatever we are eating, take it or leave it. It is also a benefit for us, because we end up eating a little healthier since we like him to get as many fruits and veggies in him as we can. For the first few nights, he ate most things but the main course (he loves fruits and veggies - even broccoli!). We have been able to coax him into a bite or two, but that's it. Then last night we had spaghetti. Josh decided he was going to eat it and did a great job. We're not sure if he tasted it and just really liked it, or if he is learning that if he doesn't eat what is in front of him, he doesn't eat. Whatever the reason, we were encouraged to see the progress. We'll see what tonight brings!

Our New "Baby"

It was quite a day for our family yesterday. We traded in our 1999 Nissan Sentra for a 2008 Toyota Sienna. We were sad to see the Sentra go, because it was such a great little car for us over the last 8 years, and still got over 30 mpg. But it was needing a couple thousand dollars on repairs, and was a bit small for our family of 4, so it was time to move on. Here is one last picture of our old reliable Sentra. Good-bye, ol' girl!


The Sienna is so nice! We hadn't planned on buying new, but it just worked out to be a better deal that way, so why not? We got the LE, middle of the road, version. Among it's many features is 1 power and 1 manual sliding door, and a 6 CD changer. It rides like a dream, and now we can move stuff, so we won't need to borrow so many trucks. Yay! Now, all we need is a road trip! =) Welcome to the family, Sienna!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

Well, I did it. I accepted a new job. It was a long and agonizing process and decision, but I feel in my heart that this is the path that God is leading me down, and I am so excited to see what He has in store for me. I have been at my present firm for the last 5 1/2 years, and have made some life-long friends there. Because of the partners there, my family was blessed enough for me to be able to work a part time schedule after Joshua was born. Now that Ben is here and we're paying double the daycare the ends just quite haven't been meeting as comfortably as we would like, and now it looks like one of our vehicles is on its last leg, so there's another expense we really can't afford the way things are. So it was time for me to make a move. I have been feeling the winds of change for quite some time, but I did not feel any prompting to act on anything. Then, as the year ended and we started to look forward into the new one, I felt that little nudge that I should get out there and start making my move.

This past Friday, I had an interview with a sole practitioner who works in real estate transactions and commercial litigation. He is a really nice guy. I was talking to him for more than 2 hours. There are so many perks to this job. He is super flexible with hours, so I can still come in early and be done by 4:00. He has offered me a salary that his higher than what my current full time salary would be, plus frequent bonuses for my billable time, which could bring in roughly $10,000 more per year on top of my salary, which is huge for us. Right now his office is at 44th and Thomas, but he is going to be moving in the next few months down to the Biltmore area, which is close enough to daycare and Andrew's office that we could carpool, saving us probably $150 to $200 per month, plus wear and tear on our cars. Funny thing is, he is looking for space in the same building where my current firm is. I spoke with him again the other, and he is genuinely excited for me to come and work for him.

I officially gave my notice to my boss on Thursday, which was really hard. Cried like a baby! Although he can frustrate me to no end, we have had a really good working relationship over the last 5+ years, and I knew he was not going to be happy to see me go. But he was very gracious about the whole thing, and made sure to tell me how much he has appreciated everything I have done for him.

It's so hard to make these life changing decisions. But I feel as though God knew my heart, and knew that I only wanted what He wanted for me, and I feel like He has blessed me for my faithfulness. I have been around long enough to know that His plans are better than mine, and I have learned to trust Him. Thank you to everyone for your prayers while I have been on this journey. Your continued prayers for a smooth transition would also be greatly appreciated. I am really excited to see what is around the bend!