1.31.2009

Benjamin now has a....


Yes, yes, we caved. 5 months and 2 weeks...but he's waking 1-2 times a night and eating like he hasn't eaten in days. I was so sad we didn't make it to 6 months...but, I want to sleep again...so, we started the oatmeal today at lunch time.

First bite....

About half way through

...I think he likes it ;-)

Oh, my sweet happy boy! I could eat you!!!!

Kendi Wrap

Here's one that I made for a friend this week. I love it!!


After posting pictures on Facebook, I've had quite a few requests for wraps! I'm very excited

I just heard that the proposed "Feb 10th Law" (re: lead testing for all items that would be used by children) is being postponed a year!! I'm so excited. I had been putting off opening a shop due to this impending law...I hope to open an etsy shop in the next week or so!

1.30.2009

Kilo??

For a couple weeks now, Keaton has been saying, "Lo" ...he wouldn't show me what 'Lo' meant and I have been having the hardest time figuring it out.

On Monday, I thought it might mean color. I handed him his crayons and some paper and he sat at his table and colored for about an hour!

On Wednesday, he started saying "Kilo"...what??

Thursday erupted into an episode of him SCREAMING "kilo" at me. I had NO earthly idea what he was talking about! I kept telling him to show me, but he wouldn't. When I was making his lunch, he came running in the kitchen and screamed, "KILO!!" I sat on the floor and said, "Sweet Pea, I have no idea what kilo is. I need you to show me because I don't understand." He was almost in tears and kept saying "kilo ....kilo...kilo..." I felt just as frustrated as he did because I knew this had to be something important!

After 5 minutes of "kiiiiiiloooooooo" and tears, Keaton pointed to the refrigerator and screamed, "KIIIIILOOOOOO"...I looked and he was pointing to this....

He first pointed to "Keaton" and screamed at me, "KI" and then pointed to his coloring and said, "LO!" and then repeated - KI- LO....Ki-LO!!!!!!!!!!!!...Got it...Keaton...color.... :) He colored after lunch :)


Also - Congrats to Alicia who guessed correctly....


It was a heart wreath -

So as promised - Alicia has a super fun Etsy shop - The Purple Shamrock filled with beautiful photographs she has taken! My favorite has to be this amazing sunflower! Alicia and I were room mates at Mars Hill College, my sophomore year. We traveled together to her home of GA and visited Stone Mountain and met Mac Powell from Third Day. I have a picture of a lady from the concert standing infront of us signing to a song, however it looks like her thumb is stuck up her nose because of the angle. Alicia and I sat in front of our TVs on September 11 (after I woke her up by turning on the TV to see what was going on) and watched the news coverage. We went to the Red Cross that day to give blood, but they were 'full' - we never went back (hahaha) We organized a candle light vigil on campus that week (I can't remember if it was that day or the next)...and then swam in the fountain on campus! She graciously hosted a beautiful baby shower for us when I was pregnant with Keaton. We came with an empty car and left barely able to close the trunk thanks to her (her husbands job at Target!) and other amazing friends from Mars Hill!

1.29.2009

Care to venture a guess?


**Ok, Jean-Marie got it right w/ in seconds, haha...so I'll be more specific - can you guess what I'm making??? yes...w/ purple fabric!!! :)

1.28.2009

I'm here!

It's been a couple days, all is Ok...just one very tired mama here.

Benjamin went through a serious growth spurt. He slowly led up to it Sunday afternoon/evening. However, for about 12 hours (midnight Monday morning - lunch time Monday) he pretty much nursed non-stop. I was about to lose it. Monday afternoon, he slowed down and is back to 'normal' now. He's back to waking up once a night to eat, and that's fine and dandy, I'm just getting used to being with out that hour or so of sleep again.

We'll be starting solids in a couple weeks and in that starting, we'll be starting with oatmeal. After some research, I decided I wanted to try this oatmeal...here is the conversation that preceded the purchasing of the oatmeal...

Me to Zach: I was researching and I think I found the oatmeal I want to get for Benjamin...
Zach: OK...
Me: It's a bit more expensive, but it's way better than the Gerber or anything...It's got probiotics in it and DHA which is very important...
Zach: ...yeh...how much?
Me: ((to sum up, I broke down the math and told him why we HAD to order it off amazon IMMEDIATELY because of a sale....))
Zach: OK, sounds good...What's it called?
Me: Happy Bellies....
Zach: .....of course it is...

Love you honey :)

I'm excited to get back to making our own baby food (well, not OUR baby food, but Benjamin's...)

And pray for Keaton. We've had to start breathing treatments again. He coughed all night. I'm giving it a day and I'll take him in tomorrow (probably where we picked up the germies in the first place) I'm hoping with the 65 degree weather today and some open windows, we can air out the house and get rid of it!

I tried to get a good picture of B's teeth - but that didn't work...so here's a blurry version...


Here he is Monday night, passed out after non stop nursing....(notice the bottle...mama needed a break! I wasn't worried about keeping up my supply...I think there's enough milk for every baby in the church! haha)


Here's my sweet boys playing :)


My extremely, super talented friend Carrie (who is famous in our house for her Chicken Dish) made these super, fun blocks for the boys when Benjamin was born. Keaton has loved them from the start, but Benjamin started to play with them today...


1.24.2009

Freezer Meal Swap

We had our swap today and it was so much fun! I hope to have all the recipes up soon on my recipe blog but for now, here's a listing of what all was swapped.

Group 1:

White Chicken Chili
Greek Spaghetti
Manicotti
Talapia

Group 2:

Tex-Mex Chicken Strips
Baked Ziti
Chicken Pot Pie
Layered Enchilada Bake
Bow Tie Pasta

I've already had a ton of interest for swap #2! I can't wait to dive into these meals!!!!

Lori, me, Carolina, Leah, Kathryn & Lisha

1.23.2009

a poem about Benjamin

this lil piggy went to the doctor

this lil piggy got undressed

this lil piggy got on the scale

this lil piggy peed on the scale

this lil piggy weighs 19lbs.6.5oz.

He got one shot, puckered his lip and off we went :)

Since we have successfully avoided the pedi for a month (basically, haha) they (the receptionists, aka: Keaton's girlfriends!) they were so excited to see the boys :)

that's all for now :)

1.22.2009

We have a....


Keaton climbed out of his crib....again.

I was REALLY hoping we'd make it til his 2nd birthday without the toddler bed, but, I'm thinking it's closer than we'd like...

A friend suggested I not waste my 'energy' disciplining for him climbing out, but just make the switch...I'd rather him stay in the crib though.

Last time he did this, I put him in the crib and asked him to show me how he did it and he couldn't figure it out.

Today, he was ALL too eager to show me how he threw his leg in the air and pulled himself over.

It looks neigh impossible that he could do it - it is QUITE a stretch, but sure enough, he is...

sigh....

1.20.2009

A Fun Surprise!

Zach got off work early! This never happens and it was great that it happened on a snow day (OK, it was because of the snow that he got off early, but still!)

He was able to come home and we got the boys outside and even got our first family picture....yes, B is 5 months old and this is the ONLY picture of the 4 of us! How sad is that?

My sweet B :)

SUCH a sweet picture :)


He even got to eat dinner with Keaton & me, which only happens on the weekends, so that was great too (good thing I planned to make a meal and not just re-heat leftovers!) :)

Also, I'm coordinating a freezer meal swap with some friends from church (and a couple others outside of our church!) and I'm so excited! Basically, we eat make a meal in bulk, freeze it, then swap it. There's 6 families in my group, so I made 6 (and then some extras!) batches of manicotti and stuck it in the freezer. On Saturday, I'll leave one for us, pull out 5, hand them out at the swap and then, put 5 other meals back in the freezer. It'll be great to just pull a meal out and throw it in the oven - and that's all I have to do for dinner. I'm not sure what the other ladies are cooking, except for one. She's made talapia. I'm excited. We don't eat fish (well, I like flounder and orange ruffy, and the appetizer shrimp at Japanese steakhouses!) but I've heard that talapia is very yummy! So, I had intended on showing the step-by-step of my 6+ batches of manicotti, but it was VERY messy. So here is before....
And after....

Normally, our freezer is SO packed that you have to stand back when you open it, but we've been eating leftovers like they're going out of style to make room for the swap!

It happened!!!

To start, some sweet pictures of my sugar....

those eyes!!!


Here's what happened!! It actually snowed in Raleigh, NC! This was at about 730am! It continued to come down until about 1230pm.

I took K out before B woke up. He loved it!!
And then he fell down...

& then it wasn't fun anymore (this picture doesn't capture the screams escaping his mouth!)

1.19.2009

Where have I been?

That's what I'm trying to figure out. With B's horrible sleeping the past week, I've felt like one of the aliens in Mars Attacks that just sort of hover and float along ...

Zach's sister & her hubby had their second lil girl Saturday morning - we got to go see them on Sunday afternoon.

B slept much better last night! We're pretty certain it was all the teeth...we'll see how tonight goes ((as I listen to him scream in our bedroom, joy...))

Honestly, I'm just too tired to type anymore!

1.17.2009

I take it all back...

About Benjamin being an 'awesome teether'....about being a 'great sleeper'....

I don't think we've really slept (I just typed sleeped....what does that tell you?!) in a week...

that's all I have to say....

((hoping if I take it back, normalcy will return...))

1.15.2009

5 months

Once again - I'm baffled?! Was he really born 5 MONTHS ago?? 5 weeks, maybe! Not MONTHS!

Ok, enough of that! :)

Well, not a whole lot to 'update' on, but here goes :)

2 teeth so far (ugh) he's not biting as much, mostly just if Keaton comes running through the room screaming and scares him :)

He's a rolling fool now :) Well, atleast rolling one way! He hasn't mastered from front to back - he just gets mad....really mad...and screams until one of us roll him over.

He loves:
Being in the wrap (as much as humanly possible!)
Being in the jumperoo (He looks like he will fly out of that thing most days!)
Snuggling with mommy (he buries his head into my neck - and I melt!)
His big brother! (He watches EVERYthing K does and quite often laughs at him!)
K's sock monkey he got for Christmas (K is growing to like it! haha)

He is slowly getting Ok with going to other people. Rarely do we see that precious bottom lip poke out anymore when 'strangers' are around :) He is DEFINITELY a mama's boy though! (And I love it!)

We're thinking he's about 19lbs. I had to pull out K's 12 month PJs for B to fit into. He's mostly in 12 month clothes (of course, depending on the brand/cut/fit - it could be 6 mos, 9 mos or 12 mos)

He loves his cloth diapers (as does mama) and he actually screamed at me the other day when I had to put a Luvs on him in the middle of the day (we do cloth during the day and disposibles at night for various reasons) He's in Med. cloth diapers and size 3 in disposibles, but we'll probably buy 4's next time - due to his Buddah belly and thunder thighs!

He's super long - not sure how much, but, very long :) Totally normal for the Jones' boys, I think!

We haven't started solids yet, for a handful and a half of reason, but we will start with oatmeal at 6 mos.

We go next Friday (I think) for some shots (we're doing a delayed schedule)

He is sleeping through the night almost always. Teeth and rolling have screwed this up the past couple of nights (OK - almost a week now, sigh)

And that's our baby!

Keaton loves...scratch that - ADORES his little brother! Today, on the way back from the chiro, I looked back and K was just about asleep (B was) and they were holding hands...they were still holding hands when we got home. :) I'm enjoying that while it lasts ;-)

1.13.2009

My Sweet B :)

While K napped today (and I use that term loosely) B & I took some pictures :) Here's the most recent of my sweet baby! Oh, Tooth #2 has officially emerged through...for those who care, he is LOVING biting while nursing (mama, on the other hand, is NOT loving this!) He continues to roll and roll and roll and roll :)

In his jumperoo, he LOVES this thing!

I just want to gobble up those cheeks!


1.11.2009

My Growing Boys!

Well, B (finally) did it! ...and we missed it! We were frantically running around getting ready for church, he was on the floor on his back on his play mat. I turned around to grab something, Zach looked away to put on his sweater...we both looked at B at the same time and I screamed, "Did you do that?!" He was on his belly! He's just laying there, propped up on his arms, looking all around with this, "WHAT just happened?!" look! He didn't do it again today, but he now knows how...and the excitement is about to begin...

Tooth #2 is making it's entrance. I take back anything I've blogged, said to friends in person or on Facebook - he is not a 'great' teether. NOT as bad as his brother, but I think the pain of it all is finally hitting him. Naps have been few and far between the past 2 days, last night was a pretty bad night (I can't complain because it was nothing like VA Christmas or HFM)

Keaton has expanded his vocab some more: "stuck" (which he exclaims whenever he sits in the Bumbo...He has to sit in it or it gets no use...I can't get B out by myself...chunkster!) and "Q" (I got him a magnetic alphabet set and he was holding the Q, Zach told him what letter it was and for an hour, all we heard was 'Q')

This morning, he woke up and this is what I heard after a moment or so of fussing...

"Hey! Mama....Dada....B? Hey! Where is? Ok...oh no! One....no...no....GO GO GO GO GO!!!!! ::more fussing:: Mama?? bye!"

haha, I LOVE it! Of course it was screaming after that, but it was cute while it lasted! :)
--------------
In grown-up excitement...We bought a Wii!!! We are slowly catching up with the rest of the world! ;-) We have been playing WiiMusic, WiiSports and WiiPlay since Friday night! I have since found out that I'm addicted to golf games!! And I'm not all that bad! I've been told that if I want WiiFit, I have to buy it myself...but I'm thinking about getting a kettlebell to work out with instead for now...

That's about it for now...


In random annoying news...

1.09.2009

Lock up your daughters!

Just a real quick post.

Keaton (& Benjamin!) and I had a play date with some friends this morning.

Keaton was chasing Addie (the daughter) and then it got really quiet. Kristen (mom) and I got up to see where they were...

Keaton was lavishing Addie with hugs & kisses!!

He eventually got her pinned up against the fridge in a huge hug...

Poor Addie...she looked scared out of her mind!!!

...
while we were there, Keaton decided to show off and say, "dump truck" - OK! :)

1.08.2009

21 months

Wait - what?! 21 MONTHS?! like, in 3 months he'll be 2???? oh my!

Keaton has new discoveries everyday and never ceases to amaze me.

His vocab is taking off. I was 'warned' by other mama's from the 'older toddlers' class that once their child was in that room, there was no stopping their vocab. Now, I know what you're thinking if you know Zach or myself - we were worried about this child talking?! (how about getting a word in edgewise?!) :) I wasn't worried. I just wasn't pleased with where he was when he went into that class. But a few things have happened since he entered the older toddlers class room 3 months ago - I do not compare my child anymore to other children, I ignore other mama's and their 'well, my child is doing x, y, and z...' and well, Keaton proved those mama's right!

His latest words include:
Blue, shirt, grandma (he said it 2x when he saw Zach's mom!), carrot and drill (he got a tool set for Christmas)

He has started a handful of 'sentences':
"what's that?"
"where go?" (Where did it go?)
"there is!" (There it is!)
"Where is?" (Where is it?)

His vocab (atleast what we can understand!) is growing everyday! Of course, 'no' is still the word of choice, but I've given up on changing that (I have not given up on disciplining for it as needed, however). He said "Benjamin" once, way back when, but continues to call him "B". He recognizes the letter "B" (probably because there is one in Benjamin's room and we always talk about it) - I can show him a B and he'll respond correctly. Sometimes with A as well.

He will count "1" and hold up one finger, but anything past one is "no"!

He absolutely loves to do puzzles. He got a super cool puzzle book for Christmas and I seriously think he would play with it all day if I didn't 'hide' it!

He has gone to the bathroom on the potty once, totally by chance but has (thankfully!) shown no desire for a repeat performance!

He climbed out of his crib once, and again, no encore.

However, while at Zach's parents for Christmas, we had laid him down for a nap. The next thing we hear from the top of the steps is, "Hey! Hey!" He had climbed out of his pack & play, opened the door and wandered down the hall! Thankfully, he didn't try to go down the stairs (we were all down stairs at the time)

He still loves to play peek-a-boo, but has his own twist on it. He takes your hands and covers your face and takes them away when HE is ready for peek-a-boo! Another game he could play for hours! :)

In the last couple of weeks, he has become very affectionate in giving hugs and 'kisses' (aka: headbutts!)

He LOVES Benjamin. That's all there is to it. He must be wherever B is. If B is on the floor, Keaton is on the floor. If I go to chance B's diaper, Keaton must tag along. He is super sweet with him and would hug him all day if I'd let him, but he gets a little aggressive with his hugs on occasion.

I've started thinking about his 2nd birthday festivities....not ready to share quite yet, but, soon :)

1.07.2009

The latest...

The inevitable happened. I knew it was bound to happen. But I really thought Zach and I made big babies that don't get teeth til much later (K got his first tooth at 9 months-ish)...

Well, we make big babies...

But Benjamin has decided now is a good time to start getting teeth. I noticed last night his bottom teeth were right below the gum line.

Today we were eating lunch and he was ready for lunch too, but I needed to get K down first and I stuck my knuckle in his mouth to gnaw on ...and I felt it. Bottom, front right tooth.

Sigh. We're not even done with K yet - he has 2 more 2 year molars to go. I just wanted a week long break from teething. The hope is he'll get it over with quickly...maybe?

The good news - he's a MUCH better teether than K was/IS! You'd never know there was a tooth coming through.

I have a feeling K is working on one of those said molars. He's warmer today and clingy and fussy (the later two are nothing out of the ordinary, but the 'warmness' is usually his teething indicator)

And finally (because both boys are napping and I want to lay down and read!) head on over to my mommy blog and enter for a chance to win some Mabel's Labels! I had a chance to participate in this giveaway via The Giveaway Connection, a new blog in the momgeneration.com circle. There are 6 bloggers participating in this giveaway - and you can enter at all the blogs!

1.04.2009

Picture Overload!

Keaton, why is Benjamin crying? (for the record - K did nothing to B. B was upset that I left his sight for 30 seconds to go get K out of his crib when he woke up from his nap...ahem - mama's boy...) ;-)

Here's the 'meal' Keaton made for me one afternoon :)
Seconds after 'pee pee on the potty'...I've been meaning to update: Since this happening, K won't go near the kid pot! haha! He'll still go into the bathroom, but he has NO desire to sit on it!! YAY!
Whenever Benjamin takes a bottle and he's super tired, he starts rubbing his head, it is so sweet :)

Ok....and how did you do this, Keaton? WHY did you do this?
Keaton had a bowl of cereal for breakfast the other morning, it went great! He loved it!

Wait - Mommy wants me to go where to college?! (Though from his PJs, you'd think I'd have some Crimson Tide thoughts...)
There's my 'lil' sugar lump in all his glory! :) I want to pinch every, chunky roll!
Even though it had only been about 6 weeks or so since K's last hair cut, he had to tilt his head back to see anything...to me, that meant he needed another hair cut. Since it was my birthday, I wasn't going to deal with it! I sent Zach (and his parents!) to do the dirty work (apparently, afterwards, Keaton was glaring at Zach from the backseat!) He HATES getting his hair cut (he doesn't have the cape on because it scares him...)(sorry for the blur!) But now he can see!!!!
And that was our New Years/Birthday weekend! :)

My Birthday Weekend

Whew - it flew by and is over already!

Thursday, my mom got into town mid-afternoon. We celebrated Christmas with her and had delicious chili that night (if I may say so!)

Friday, we went to Coldstone Creamery to get my cake (cookie dough!) and run a couple errands. Later that evening, we went to Michael's and stocked up on Christmas items!

Saturday we celebrated my birthday and his dad's birthday. I got lots of goodies! :) Sat. night, after Keaton was in bed, my mom stayed and entertained Benjamin while Zach and I had a much-overdue date at Kanki - we absolutely stuffed ourselves with yummy food!

Today (Sunday), was church, lunch and a quick Target run (including stocking up on more Christmas!)

Let's just say, our trees (yes, Trees!) will be fully decorated! :)

It was a fun birthday :)

Now, it's loads and loads of laundry!

And for the record, I'm 27 :)

((Pictures to be posted later))