Proof

Here you can see B crawling & saying something near and dear to my heart ;-)

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.

7 months!!

I can not believe it! I know I say that every time, but, really I can't!

The latest -

He had squash today...he really liked that...it was all thanks to my Magic Bullet, good grief, I love that thing!!!

He isn't crawling, thank goodness!!! But this kid can scoot across the room like you wouldn't believe. Zach compared him to the way gymnasts move their legs around on the horse...

He's not really doing anything "new"...other than suffering from a MAJOR case of separation anxiety...whew...you can't walk more than a foot away (if you're lucky) with out him screaming bloody murder! I'm SO thankful for my hotsling these days...

Our lil, excellent sleeper took a turn for the worst and we've been having to get mean and let him cry it out here lately...he's not "adapting" as well as Keaton did when we let him cry (that took 2 nights and we never looked back...it's been about...a month now...haha!) ...speaking of...it's not going so well at the moment and I think I need to intervene...

Big Boy!

And, for once, I'm not talking about B! haha! K napped in his big boy bed today!

My mom had mentioned she wanted to help us get K a big boy bed and all for his 2nd birthday - unfortunately monkey wouldn't wait that long! We searched and talked...and talked and searched....a twin bed? A full bed? Frame? Mattress on the floor? bunk beds? What to do??

A friend mentioned IKEA's expandable bed line...I was instantly. in. love!!!

I can never find IKEA products on Craigslist but, immediately found this bed! (And for much cheaper! She listed it for $75, but ended up asking only $50!!)

He still doesn't have sheets for it - the ones on IKEA's site are pretty blah. So I think I'm going to make a 'pillowcase' for the funny sized mattress.

So, we set it up on Saturday night and left the boys with my mom for our date night (yummmmmy Kanki!) and then Sunday night, it just didn't happen. We also left his crib up for two reasons - 1) we didn't have time to take it down, haha, and 2) in case he just refused to sleep.

I tried to get him to nap in it on Monday, and he freaked out. Monday night was the same.

Tuesday he laid in his bed for about 1 minute and freaked out again. Tuesday night, he laid in there for 5 minutes and came out crying for his "cib" (crib).

I tried again today, asking where he'd like to take his nap - bed or crib. He looked back and forth and practically flew into his bed! I wasn't sure it would last, but! It did! It only lasted an hour (and I'd FINALLY got him taking 2.5-3hr naps again) but, that's OK...He slept in his bed!

We also have a rule that he must ask permission before getting out of the bed (we kind of did it jokingly because all our friends say their kids wait for them...we did NOT see him doing this!) But sure enough, I heard "Mom? Mama? Done.....done...."

I was SO proud of him!

In other news, my room mate from college (#1) had her precious baby boy on Thursday! I'm awaiting word on one of my bestest friends...I got 'the call' at 7am that they were hospital bound this morning!! Shanna, who was my doula, is going to be her doula as well! Whitney is having a surprise...and for the record - I think it's a boy ;) But I want it to be a girl so I can do a fun hot pink and spring green wrap for her! haha!

He has to beat his brother...

I thought we were in the clear with our lil piggy!

Keaton rolled over at 6 weeks and didn't stop. B didn't roll til roughly 5 months - I was perfectly fine with this!

Keaton crawled right at 6 months and started pulling up and cruising the same weekend. B started scooting today - he made it across the room in less than 2 minutes. As I sit and type this, he is spinning in circles on his (poor, bare, because his 12 month PJs are too SMALL) belly - SCREAMING at the floor as he pushes up on his toes and tries to get on his knees. He turns 6 months on Sunday - trying to catch up with big brother?

sigh...

Benjamin

is rolling rolling rolling...both ways.

He's stealth though. We missed the first time he went back to belly & I just missed him go belly to back...

It's about to get crazy!

Check back tonight for K's 22month update!

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!

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...

Our weekend

I feel like it has just flown by! I'm not even sure what all happened, except we just stuffed ourselves with my chili. We pretty much finished Christmas shopping. I swear, next year, we will NOT wait this long. It's driving me batty!

Keaton said some new words this weekend...
"gotcha" :)
Unfortunately, I can't remember the rest right now :)

Benjamin is super close to rolling over! I have to stop cheering when he's so close, it keeps scaring him (OK, I'm getting excited and ok with this milestone!)

This week, we will finish up Christmas shopping, have Benjamin's 4 month appointment (see below) and we'll head to VA for a quick, Christmas celebration on Friday. whew.

Picture Time!

Yes, you're looking at this picture the correct way. B thought this was comfy. How do I know? He slept for an hour like that?? (Dr. Davis - are you wondering why he won't nurse on one side?! haha!) P.S. - Check out the thigh rolls....love it!

Zach practicing for Sunday morning service...sorry, "practicing"

Not sure what was above him as the tree is only a couple inches taller than he is, but I love the look of amazement :)

I was trying to be creative...eh...not so much

I think "TAAAAIN" (train) was coming from his mouth...I think...?

4 months

Well, silly me posted pictures instead of talking about B yesterday! He turned 4 months! How quickly this time has passed!

He is usually a very happy baby (compared to K up until this point!) He loves "talking" - he jabbers all day long! He is super smiley and makes me melt with every gummy grin! He is trying so hard to roll over (I'm not encouraging it!) He loves his toes (who doesn't?!) He loves chewing and sucking on his hands. He still would rather be in the wrap snuggled up next to me than any other place (and I would rather that too!)

He's been sleeping thru the night since about 6 weeks (minus the snafu with HFM and a few days after...) He just doesn't like to nap (taking after Keaton)

He loves being in his jumperoo and jumping and making the silly thing make all sorts of noises.We've had to move it up to the 2nd level - we're not sure if it's because he's that long or if it's his weight weighing it down (I'm not kidding!)

He loves his big brother and watches everything he does (and laughs when K gets into trouble! hhahah!)

We go on Monday for his 4 month check up and 2 vaccinations (1 shot and 1 oral) ((I promise soon, I'll write about what we're doing and why!)) I'm SO excited to see how much he weighs, I really do feel our scale was pretty accurate in saying 18lbs....we shall see!

So that's my baby at 4 months! I could eat him :)
----------
On the mommy front, I'm just about done with Christmas. I've been busy doing a lot by hand this year and it's been so much fun.

To go along with my peppermint marshmallows I "made" peppermint all purpose cleaner! I bought some 7th Generation All-Purpose cleaner and some peppermint essential oil. In a separate spray bottle I poured 4 oz. of cleaner and a bunch of drops of oil. I shook it & started cleaning...ahhhh, Christmas on my counters! yummmmmy!

I can't wait to show off some of my hand made goods, but not til after Christmas!!

I was also accepted to write for another blog, 24 hour menu. It's a recipe blog that I really enjoy reading. I'm super excited about this! I've really been enjoying coming up with ideas and writing for {busy mommy} as well.

Time to throw dinner in the oven! Til next time

Dueling Coughs

Such is the life with these two kids...

Yes, the Sunday school germs have invaded our home once again. Frustrated...tired...defeated - that's how this mama feels. I've decided to turn into a handwashing Nazi (I thought I was bad before) we are going to be washing hands all day long from here on out...I guess we need to find a stool for Keaton to stand on b/c my back will be killing me!

Right now, they're both asleep. One will cough and the other will mimic the others' cough...back and forth...I've been hearing that for 30 some minutes now.

Please be praying for our lil guys, that this would pass quickly, no ear infections would occur, that K would be obedient in using the neb, and for my sanity as I listen to coughing (which I HATE the sound of anyways), my patience as I listen to screaming all day, my persistence in the handwashing event of the century and my teaching skills as I try to get K to cough into his elbow (haha! my 3 year olds couldn't even do that!) and STOP touching his brother (whom he loves so so so much!)

Happy Note: a dear friend had her sweet baby yesterday! I haven't gotten all the detail yet, but his name is Josiah, he was born around 430pm and according to their doula, mama did AWESOME!!!! Way to go J.Leigh!!!!!! SO - if you go to North Wake - call me because I'm coordinating their meals ;-)

OK, I'm so excited about Keaton and his new words. He really wanted me to read a particular ABC book for him yesterday. I have the thing memorized we read it so often. Usually, I'll read it. Then we read it again and I *TRY* to have him repeat (it's usually, "no") or show him a sign for the word. Well, here's how our conversation went throughout the book. We had just finished one book (probably the X-men book, haha) and I asked, "Do you want to read another book?" (I signed book) he signed 'book' back and said, "Yeh." This was his first time signing book, so I got a little too excited about it ;-) I said, "Great!! Go grab a book (sign) and we'll read (sign) it..."

He brings back the ABC book. I open it....

Me: Apple.
Keaton: "Eh" (A sound, haha)
Me: (pointing to banana)
Keaton: Nay-nay! Nay-nay! Yummy!
Me: Cat
Keaton: Kitty, mew (first time making a cat noise!)
Me: That's right! A kitty says meow!
Keaton: (smacking the kitty) MEW MEW
Me: Duck
Keaton: Duck! (first time saying duck!)
Me: That's right! Duck! Quack quack!
(K looks at me like I'm stupid...moving along...)
Me: Elephant
K:....
Me: Fi...
K: FEEEEEESH FEEEEEEEEESH!!!
Me: That's right, Fish! Grapes...
K: mmmmm (while rubbing tummy)
Me: Hearts, Ice Cream, Jelly
K: Mmmm, telly
(insert 20 seconds of me trying to get a "J" sound out...)
Me: Key
K: Tey
(again, with the "K" sound...)
Me: Lemon
K sticks out his tongue. He knows lemons. He asks for one everytime we go out to eat...and then hates it!
Me: Milk
K: (signing milk, yay!) Mi!
(Me repeating Milk over and over...)
Me: Numbers....Orange...Pig
K tries to make a snorting pig sound, as usual, but just blows air OUT his nose ;-)
Me: Quilt
(apparently I've rubbed my arms like I'm hugging myself when I say that word, because that's what he did, haha!)
Me: Rainbow
K: TAIN!!!!!!!!!!
Me: Almost...Stars...now (pointing to train)
K: TAIN!!!!!!!!!! TAIN!!!!!!!!!! (the boy LOVES his trains!!!)
Me: That's right, choo choo
K: "too too" (hahahahahah, love it!)
Me: Umbrella...Vegetables...Whale
K: FEESH
Me:...Sure, fish!...Xylophone...Zebra
K points to his magnetic barn set on the door. I look at him and point the the zebra and repeat the word. He goes and points to the horse...Sure, a zebra can be a horse! :)

It was so much fun...we re-read the book again ;-) I won't put you through that though!!! :)

B is trying to roll over, every time he gets close, K comes running through screaming and scares B flat on his back.

For the record: I'm totally content with B not rolling! (K had been since 6weeks) because little did I know at this point with K, he was up and crawling/cruising in 2 more months...yes, my lil chunky monkey, you lay there :)