Movin' Movin' Movin'

Benjamin is crawling! He's been taking a "step" (a crawl??) the past two days, this morning, he let loose before church and off he went, he even shot me a "now what are you going to do??" look...thanks, kid!

After church, he took the puzzle basket, pushed it out and then crawled to it, pushed, then crawled....all the way across the living room.

I think he likes crawling ;-)

Tooth #6 is here, 7 & 8 are on the horizon and bothering him ever so much! I feel so bad for him.

9 Months (B)

Simply amazing!

What is B up to?

Well, he has 5 teeth and working on #'s 6, 7 & 8 ((6 & 7 are about to pop through, 8 is on the horizon))

He's trying so hard to crawl - he pops up on all fours and rocks ((can I state AGAIN how nice it is to have him 'contained'...How did I survive when K started crawling at 6 months?! However, with B's 'girth'...he's getting a tad heavy, possibly within 4lbs of K....walking might be nice)) ;-)

He's trying to pull up - he has super arm strength, he just can't figure out what to do with his legs

He loves to crawl over things (like a pile of pillows or K's bean bag seat)

He's eating avocado, bananas, yogurt (for breakfast every morning with avocados or bananas), squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, green beans, and mum mums (due to his potential wheat intolerance/allergy/whatever...) - all homemade (except the mum mums and yogurt - until this weekend...maybe, haha!)

Everything finds its way into B's mouth - including 2 bugs today (he's one up on his brother on that one...that I know of...)

He still, for 9 months now, thinks Keaton is the greatest thing, however, has started lashing back. Yesterday he bit Keaton when he was aggravating him! I had a nice laugh ;-)

He can clap, loves shaking things, loves when things 'disappear' and then reappear, loves to be ticked, "eaten" and kissed

Still sleeping all night, how we got it right at 6 weeks this time, I still have NO idea!

He quit nursing last weekend, much to my dismay, he'd really rather eat solids or be playing - he barely even takes a bottle

He says dada, but no mama - it was the same with Keaton ;-)

He's still as snuggly as ever (and I hope it stays that way!) :)

And I think that's it on my little mini me!

It's official

We.

Are.

Potty Training.

Keaton loves the potty...and apparently has been asking in his Sunday school class and they've been taking him! (haha!)

We figured we should run with the cues.

After avoiding the inevitable for awhile now, two days ago, I knew I had to do it.

He had the worst diaper rash. I needed to put some serious diaper cream on him and I couldn't do that with a cloth diaper, but he freaked out over the disposable being on him. So that settled it. Run naked and let me know when you have to go!

So far, no accidents in 2.5 days. But he's spent more time in the diaper than I anticipated due to errands. He's gone a handful of times on the potty.

I made a run to Babies R Us last night to get a ring for our toilet (I hadn't anticipated doing this, but, I figured it would help K relax so he didn't have to hold himself up and some stools to stand on to wash hands (what we've put off buying for a year now anyway).

So we did that and we'll get some undies this weekend ;-)

And...

That's that.

We're training!

Photo Fun

Capt'n Keaton :)

Why is B so happy??

Because his heiny isn't crooked, thanks to our chiro!!!!
The boy loves his mum mums, but also found out today that chunks of banana are pretty good too!

Keaton also found a new found love for pistachio salad!

The flowers that Susan (Zach's mom) got me for Mother's Day

The hanging basket my mom got me

My hibiscus plant!

My Mother's Day/weekend

We had a jam packed, super fun Mother's Day weekend.

Friday afternoon, Zach's parents got in town and we (we meaning every one but Zach b/c he was still at work) went to Chili's for dinner...

Saturday, we went to Lowe's to get some things to fix our couch (it broke when we moved...I tried to move it and well, b/c of the brokenness, it got stuck in a place I hated it). My flowers that Zach ordered arrived for Mother's Day (they are gorgeous!) Then, my mom got here around 11 with lunch. My mom gave me my Mother's Day gift - some yumy Bath & Body Works lotions and a super fun cupcake book! After lunch and naps, Zach mowed and then my mom & I headed to Marshall's. Zach met us at Zaxby's for dinner (yummmmy!) After dinner, (and after my mom and I got lost trying to get back home!), we got the boys in bed and then my mom and I headed to Target for groceries and supplies for our cook out the next day.

Sunday morning, we had baby dedication at church - always a fun morning! After church, we came home and had a cook out -
burgers, dogs, chicken, deviled eggs, pistachio salad, beans, watermelon, potato salad, drinks, and pound cake with whipped cream and strawberries.

Zach's mom bought me a gorgeous flower as well.*

Whew.

The boys napped and then, my mom and I went back to Target to get non-grocery things (and some grocery things) and brought home yummy Taco Bell.

Yesterday, my mom came and helped me with the boys most of the day. We were going to go to the Farmer's Market in Raleigh, but opted just to visit the little fruit stand near our house and got some green beans (for B), some squash, cucumbers, and kiwi as well as two gorgeous plants...one hibiscus and one....other pretty one* ;-)

We also went to World Market because I finally found curtains I liked for the living room!

She left around 4, I made pancakes for dinner and, surprisingly, for the first time ever, I think, Zach got off work early! So he rushed home before class to see the boys and put Keaton to bed.

Whew!

*I'll look at the names and take pictures later! :)

Freedom!!!!!!!!!!!! *

This bag represents Freedom. Ok, I'm being a BIT dramatic ;-)

B is now almost 9 months old. We've yet to take him to the nursery at church, mostly because he's a completely different baby than K was - he SLEEPS and is QUIET (usually) at church. Where, at this point, K was crawling and screaming, haha!

Well, I agreed that after Mother's Day we'd start taking him to the nursery. My main reason for not wanting him to go (other than gross germs that we have MORE than enough of, thank you, K and your 2 year old class) was his naps. He sleeps GREAT in church (drool, snoring, the whole nine yards...) Well, he woke up after we finished singing and I knew it was going to be a fight to get him to stay quiet. So, I did it.

I took him to the nursery.

Now, we are uber-blessed at our church, as we take the whole "multiply" thing seriously. We've got a bajillion babies (42 we dedicated today, that means, approximately 42 babies were born in the last year! Not ALL the children were newborns, but, not all newborns were dedicated...one of those horrendous math problems, haha, anywho). So, our nursery is set up "bed babies", "crawlers", "young toddlers", "older toddlers", "young 2's", "older 2's", "young 3's", "older 3's", "pre-k(A)"**, "pre-k(B)"**, Kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd & 3rd grade, and 4th & 5th grade....and yes...we have amazing, incredible people who serve 6 months a year in these positions teaching our children!!!!

Moving along....so, I dropped B off in the bed babies class. I felt dumb taking a near 23 pounder in there with these itty bitty newborns, but the kid can't crawl (woohoo, haha) Apparently, he did just fine...

We agreed that if he was sleeping, he'd stay in the service with us, to get his nap, but once he woke up, I'd take him on into the nursery.

Zach's parents had gotten the boys these super cute back packs for Christmas. I normally just carry a back pack when we go out - has changes of diapers, snacks, etc...for the boys and then my stuff (mainly gum, wallet and chapstick...) K carries his bag to Sunday School with a diaper, wipes and his sippy...well, B will now have his little bag...

And mama??

Mama will be carrying that cutie patootie bag you see up there! I'm super stoked (yes, I said stoked) :)

Stay tuned for funny stories from the weekend....

*Must be read with a voice used in Braveheart ;-)
**A is the 1st half of the alphabet, while B is the 2nd half :)

Meet the Jetsons

This little gadget is supposed to enable us to pick up more digital channels without having cable. If it's cloudy, it works perfectly. So, while I was able to watch a potential tornado form near N.C. State earlier this week, watching the CBS Early Show each morning is quite a feat....not to mention, look where it has to reside....
Zach - weigh in on how awesome it is.... ;-)

Updates

My mom always asks what the boys are going new...and then there are the times when Zach sees Benjamin (sometimes for the first time in days) and B will do something and Zach is amazed. I say, "Yeh, he's been doing that for days..." forgetting that he didn't see it the first, second, third....eighteenth times!

So, what are the boys doing?

Benjamin is:
*Starting to get up on all fours and rock...
*Trying to pull up
While B might crawl 3+ months later than Keaton did, I feel that he will copy him in the crawling & pulling up/cruising at the same time....
*Eating more than I can keep up with in any way, shape or form - his favorite food is AvoAppleGurt (homemade Avocados, Applesauce and Yogurt). His favorite snack is Mum Mum's as we think he may have a wheat allergy or intolerance. He started getting a horrible rash around his face when he'd eat Cheerio's. I stopped giving them, the rash went away. I gave them, the rash came back...So we're being careful for now.
*Loving being outside - eating grass and going for walks in the wagon

Keaton is:
*Eating everything in sight. I think he may be in the middle of a growth spurt as he's asking for snacks 2-3 times a day (or maybe this is just him being a boy!) :)
*LOVING his big boy bed!!
*Showing me how 2 year olds throw tantrums!
*Trying to do EVERYthing himself!
*We're talking about potty training, but nothing serious yet; however, he apparently "loves trying" according to his Sunday School Teachers that are letting him try (they want to train him, BY ALL MEANS!!! Go for it!!!)

Giddy!!

This weekend I sent off my registration to start my doula certification!! I'm so excited!! (and nervous! haha!)

I have one birth lined up to attend in August (if we aren't at the beach at that time...don't worry, she has a 'real' doula too!!) :)

I need 6 births within a year of the workshop in June.

Yes. Giddy sums it up!!! :)

#5

Says it all...again, nothing that would make him "even"...not even a front tooth...it's the 'lateral incisor' - top left....crazy kid :)

Dah dah dah dah dah

This took place while the boys were napping (obviously, B had better things to do than nap...) :)

Guest Post

I posted on our freezer meal swaps on Once A Month Mom. This blog has QUICKLY become one of my favorite blogs! Peek around and I think you'll agree!

2 year appt. and 4 teeth

Well, Keaton had his 2 year appt. today.

He weighed in at 27 lbs. (not sure why he was 30 about 6 weeks ago - probably lost it in the last week running/sweating in the back yard!) but they didn't say anything, and I didn't care :) He's 36.5inches tall...and his head circ. was 48.4cm.

He didn't get any shots, but did have his finger pricked to test for lead and his iron (since that was low last year) - both came back normal.

He was great on his ages and stages form (for fine & gross motor skills, communication, etc...) Communication was a bit low at first, but once the pedi and I communicated, he was practically at the top of the chart, haha!

He does have horrendous seasonal allergies, but other than that, he's perfect :) He threw a beautiful tantrum and Dr. W. said, "Yes, he is indeed two!" (as if we doubted....)

----------
Benjamin popped his 4th tooth today....bottom left 'lateral incisor' (thank you to the chart, again!) The bottom right lateral incisor will be coming very soon - but it doesn't look like any others are nearing showing...great...WAY uneven, haha!

He is very close to crawling. He's moving everywhere as an amazing scooter. OH how I've cherished 8.5 months of immobility!!!!!((way better than Keaton crawling at 6 months!))

-----
And other than Keaton's bubble lawn mower coming today, it was a fairly uneventful day!

Is it because you're two?

we bought Keaton some sandals. He was less than excited....

90+ degree days...

So nice (says the one not grilling or mowing the yard, haha!) Wait...what?!! did you say grill?! I did! Zach went out and bought an AMAZING grill! We put it together yesterday while the boys napped (yes, WE, haha) and cooked out dinner...and then lunch today! Yummmmy! SO nice to have this back! For now, with his work schedule, we'll only be grilling on the weekends, but, hopefully if he gets his old position back (where he goes in super-duper early and get off at 330pm) we'll be using it a lot more!

And I confess - the wood that's on the front and sides...I spent the majority of our 'putting together the grill' time, smelling it....it smelled (smells!) soooo good! Can anyone tell us the type of wood?? It reminded me of the shops in Gatlinburg, so we're both thinking pine maybe?

In other news, Benjamin has popped his 3rd tooth...I thought it was his top right 'fang' tooth (eye tooth) but, I was wrong. It's not his front tooth, but the one to the side...(aka: lateral incisor, I just looked it up...haha)

Today was an exciting day in church as we commissioned TWO church plants! The first plants from our church (our church was planted about 20 years ago). One team will be going to Tampa to plant Covenant Life, and the other to DC to plant Restoration Church.

Finally, what you're really here for :)

Too funny not to show - he LOVES water bottles :) Who can blame him - so cold on the hurting gums!

Papa and Grandma Susan bought Keaton (B will use it eventually, when not everything goes in the mouth!) an oh-so-fun, classic turtle sandbox. At this point, it was a pool because we hadn't bought sand yet. Yesterday was a day of learning for K as he had to learn (the hard way) that sand stays IN the box!

He wanted a ride in his wagon. I asked him to wait a minute...and he got sad, haha

Ah, sweet Benjamin!

Both ready for a ride around the house in the wagon. I had dreams of going for walks with them in the wagon, but this is esentially pulling about 55lbs. behind me...whew...

For the record - that is NOT water from the bottle - that is DROOL! The next day, I saw the aforementioned 3rd tooth :)

B discovering....pine things. There's a TON of pine trees around our house, so it was this or very sharp, spikey pine cones ;-)

Couldn't resist...

Last night, the boys took their first bath together. It went great and will save a LOT of time in the future!

Phil. 2:14

¹⁴ Do everything without complaining and arguing,
-NLT

I decided it was time Keaton learned this verse, as he's developed a bit of a 'tude lately... (I adapted it a tad...)

So we're in the back yard (yes, BACK YARD, woot!) playing and I said, "Keaton, say 'Do'"

Keaton: "DO!"

Me: "Everything"

K: "Eh-tha"

Me: "Without"

K: "Hmmmm"

Me: "Grumbling"

K: "Noooooo..."

Me: "Or complaining..."

K: (insert tantrum here)...

Seriously, I just asked you to repeat not eat worms!

Maybe tomorrow....haha

To: Zach, From: Benjamin

To Daddy:

What happened to the weekend...

I commented about an hour ago that it's hard for me to believe that people have a normal weekend in the midst of the chaos we've had this weekend!

Our official move day (Saturday) start very early. 5:30am to be exact. Keaton opened his bedroom door and then slammed it...then locked it. We have the turny locks (as opposed to the push locks) and we'd never once had to open them before. Needless to say he was NOT thrilled at the amount of time it took Zach to figure it out!

But, it was a blessing in disguise, as there was MUCH packing to do and if he chose to sleep til 8 that morning, nothing would have gotten done. Packing boxes at 6am isn't at the top of my "fun things to do" but knowing that we'd be moving to this beautiful house, kept me going!

We went & picked up the truck and got to loading my mom's car, my van and, once Zach's parents arrived, he & his dad started in on the truck.

Zach's mom and my mom went to Kroger to pick up the cupcakes and some last minute party supplies. I headed to the house with the boys and started unloading the van (and making room for a party!)

Thankfully, it wasn't a 'formal' party and (hopefully) no one was expecting much more than fellowship!

We had a small, yet fun gathering for Keaton's birthday party, including Keaton's grandparents, his Aunt Meagan and his cousins, 'Aunt Christina' ('Uncle Chris' had to work), and Robin, a friend from church/Seminary/small group, and her two sweet kiddos. He got lots of goodies (much more than he really needed) and will have a sandbox arriving sometime this week! (Woohoo!)

Once the party was over, it was nap time and time to get to unloading.

The guys headed back to the apartment to grab another load and later, Dale, another church/Seminary/small group friend, helped with some of the heavier items (piano, dryer and fridge) --- wait, fridge??? That's right folks! We got our amazing fridge back. The one my mom bought us as a wedding gift about 4 years ago and we only got to use for about 6 months before it spent time in storage and at Uncle David & Aunt Dianne's house. Oh how we've missed our beautiful fridge!!!

The rest of the evening was spent doing typical moving day activities...

Until about 9:30pm, when I was starting to loose steam and tried to get a shower...

Only to realize that we had no hot water....

So, after Zach attempted a couple things to no avail, we called the landlords. I am a firm believer we have the best landlords around. They jumped in their car and headed right over to help us out - at almost 10pm, and even assisted with a couple other small issues around the house!

About 30 minutes later, we had hot water.

This morning, Zach had to play at church. Then we went out to lunch with family. We rushed home and Zach headed to another friends' to pick up a futon. He got that here and then took Keaton to Lowe's to pick up a couple items.

We went to Applebee's for dinner and then my mom and I headed to our apartment to clean out the fridge and freezer.

Tomorrow morning, I have my toe surgery...and hopefully the recovery will much MUCH better than last time and I'll be back to unpacking and playing with my boys in no time!!

Right now - sleep!

How's the move going?

I'm so glad you asked! ;-)

Well. Family got into town early afternoon and we took a van and car load over. It was my mom and Zach's parents first time seeing the house (other than pictures) They were wowed....yes I know I'm awesome for finding a great house ;-) Anywho :)

When we got there, there was a note on the door that the water company had come by to turn on the water but it was already on so they shut it off....

The landlords HAD the water on, we just needed it in our name...

So I called to try to get it turned back on, but I wasn't allowed to do anything because my name wasn't on the account (Zach handles all our bills) The lady was getting an attitude with me because I wouldn't let her talk to Zach. I was like, "He is at work and can't take calls, I'm calling on behalf of him..." Her response was, "Well, I have no proof you are his wife or allowed to make decisions regarding this account..." blah blah blah

So, he finally calls on his break to get it sorted out. Apparently they didn't even ask him his name and said they'd send someone out. By the time I got this information, we had just walked back in the door of our apartment. Zach sent me a text saying that I needed to be there.

So, we load the boys back in the van and head to that side of town....

When we get to the house, there was the same note on the door - that someone had been there and they noticed the water was on, but no one was at home, yadda yadda....

I call the water company. again. and again. they tell me I can't make decisions....blah blah blah. So, I sent Zach a text telling him the same thing happened. He quickly called and then informed me that someone was coming. So we wait.

and.

wait.

and.

wait.

and.

wait.

This was approximately 4pm.

My mom took them out back so I could do some unpacking (I will say that most of my kitchen is in order! Woohoo!)

Zach ended up calling around 515 or so saying that he was getting off work (he told his supervisor there was a 'situation' at his house that needed taking care of, hahahaha!) He stops and grabs us all dinner and we eat....

and wait.

and wait.

My mom and bring the boys back home and leave Zach there...

It's 8:55pm...

he's still waiting...

Seriously.

We just needed the water in our name....

Big Boy Bed

Well, days 2 & 3 have gone swimmingly!

Lots of disciplining to stay IN the bed, but when he finally gets to the sleeping point, at night, he's back to sleeping all night and no crying out...and naps, well, they are shorter than they were, but he's still napping (my biggest concern!)

In other news, we're all sneezing and congested due to the lovely sea of green (aka: pollen) that we're living in. I boiled peppermint on the stove in water all day to open up the airways...whew, so much better!

The packing continues, though I don't feel like we're getting very far!

Two more days til moving day!