Weekend Recap: Busy Ben

Ben had quite the packed social calendar this weekend.  After over a month off, I was finally able to take him to music class on Saturday morning.  He is doing so much more in class than he was doing a month ago.  I nearly die from all the cuteness each and every time he does something new.  When it is his turn to do something, he now walks up there all by himself and takes his turn playing the instrument.  He used to need his momma--tear!  He is participating more and more and I am so proud. :)  After music class, he had a date with the kids of my friends from high school.  He loves being with the big kids.  I was hoping he would observe their eating habits, but the only thing he seemed to want to do to be like them was to play with their toys and climb all over the big chairs.  Even his ADORABLE, younger girlfriend was pounding the mac and cheese while he inhaled blueberries (until he dumped the bowl.)  Sigh...

He also was trying to act like a big kid by skipping his nap, essentially all weekend.  I secretly liked the extra time to hang out with him though.  My dad came over on Saturday afternoon to help me make a video for omphalocele awareness day on Friday.  I want to show how well these babies can do!  Yep, I guess that means I want to brag about Ben even more than I already do. ;)  Benji was up to his usual shenanigans of making huge messes, but we were still able to get a lot done.  He loves when grandpa comes over!

  

On Sunday, Ben had a lunch date with Auntie Anna and Great Grandma.   They brought her some Culver's and Ben entertained them as well as my aunt and cousin for a good couple of hours.  He finally showed some signs that he was tired when it was time to go home.  Do not be fooled; he only took a quick cat nap in the car.  

Meanwhile, Andy and I went to a chili fest.  I am not a huge chili fan and was more excited for the bread and fritos, but Andy was eager to choose from over 30 different kinds.  After we couldn't eat any more we had some more time to kill before Ben was going to be home.  We were really living large when we went to the mall AND the grocery store.  I know it doesn't sound to exhilarating, but we had an awesome time on our day date.  Thanks, Auntie Anna!

As always, we missed our boy when we were gone.  He clearly had a great time though, so that made it a little better.  He was so tuckered out from his busy weekend that he actually POINTED to his bed while I was snuggling him.  I plopped him in his crib and he was out like a light.  (Until 3:00AM, but we have had multiple nights where he has slept 11+ hours straight, so we'll take what we can get!)  I'm exhausted today, so hopefully tonight will be another good one.  Good night!

Weekend Recap: Momma-Benji Style

Andy went on his yearly snowmobiling trip this weekend, so it was up to Ben and me to have some fun.  Luckily it is impossible not to have fun with B!  We made sure we soaked up the last of our daddy time before he left.

Since Andy is the cook of the house, Ben and I ate out for most of our meals this weekend.  (two weekends in a row...oops!)  Although I know I am totally capable of preparing meals, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to go out with great company.  Friday night was dinner with my mom, John, and Auntie Anna.  It was our favorite restaurant for probably the 5th time this month.  :)

On Saturday I took Ben to the daycare at the gym for the very first time ever.  I almost started crying, but luckily he had plenty of distractions to keep him busy.  I rushed through my workout and a shower before going to pick him up.  There is a big window that looks in to the daycare.  When I went to get him, I scanned the whole room and could not find him anywhere.  I nearly had a heart attack before I found him by one of the daycare staff members, trying to open the cabinet under the sink.  CLASSIC BEN.  I didn't get the full, detailed report that I was hoping for, but they said he did great and that there were no tears.  SO proud of my guy!  To celebrate our success, we had a lunch date with my old college roomie and her daughter.  Ok, we weren't really celebrating our success, but had so much fun that it might as well have been a celebration.  It was great to catch up and  I absolutely love watching Ben interact with other kids--he loves it!  I see more playdates with his slightly older girlfriend in our near future.   

For dinner on Saturday, Ben and I went out with some of the wives of the guys Andy was snowmobiling with.  We had a great time, but unfortuantely Ben was not that interested in sitting nicely and having some quality girl talk.  I could only entertain him so long before it was time to put the babe to bed.  (How do single moms do this full time??)  We had to get some sleep before our Sunday adventure.  My mom, Joe, Anna, Ben, and I hit the road Sunday morning to visit my aunt and friend for the day.  

We met for a quick lunch before we were off to the children's museum.  That's right, there were 6 adults to 1 child.  Buddy boy is so spoiled in the attention department.  I think all of the adults had fun, and I am 100% positive that Ben had a blast.  It is hard to say what his favorite part was, but playing in the water, sweeping with a broom, and petting (odd) animals seemed to keep his attention the longest.  

While we missed Andy dearly, I am so glad that we were able to spend time with some of my (our) favorite people!  Ben L-O-V-E loves all of the people who love him.  It makes me happy to see the happiness he brings to others.  

16 Months (1/13/2014)

Dear Ben,

Happy 16 month birthday!  I blinked again and another month had passed.  Every single day you are doing something new and I love it!  (Hopefully I'll have time to take your 16 month pics one of these mornings!)

GENERAL:  I believe you are still around 30 inches and when I weighed you yesterday, you came in at 19 pounds and 2 ounces.  You are as happy as can be, almost always.  Recently, 2 different strangers told me that they could tell you are well loved. You are most definitely loved a LOT so I'm glad that it is somehow visible.  You certainly love to give a lot of love yourself, to animals and people alike.  :)

EATING: Your eating has been so-so.  We finally found a vitamin with iron that you will take, so that makes me feel a little better that you are at least getting this!  Your breakfast is typically fruit and blueberries are still your favorite.  You are really liking these puffed popcorn things, which I never in a million years thought I would buy, but they have lots of fat so buy them, I will.  You are starting to eat yogurt again, as long as you are able to feed yourself.  You're getting good at that!  We are still working on getting you to drink whole milk.  You will drink a sippy cup of water during the day, and you have typically 2, 5ish-ounce bottles a day.

SLEEPING:  As I mentioned the other day, you had a nice stretch of sleeping through the night this past weekend.  Unfortunately, that is not the new norm.  You have been getting up once a night, which isn't horrible, but it isn't our first choice either.  :)  You continue to nap about 2 hours during the day, but the timing varies.  We still give you a bottle when you wake up in the night, but again, this is because we want you to get all of the calories you can get!  I should really start breaking you of this habit but it is the only time you will take it!

FINE/GROSS MOTOR:  I probably say this at least daily, but you are SO BUSY.  You love taking all of your toys out and making a big mess.  You love going through drawers, laundry baskets, and anything that can be taken apart.  When you aren't making a mess, you are climbing everywhere.  You are always moving your grey chair somewhere new so you can reach more trouble.  You can't quite get up on to the couch by yourself, but you know how to pull a pillow over for an extra boost.  You like to climb our tiered shelf, so we are slowly clearing that off.  You are getting waaay too close to being able to open the bedroom/bathroom doors by yourself.  You love the bathroom, so that just spells more trouble.

COMMUNICATION/COGNITION: You have really started to talk a lot lately!  You love music and you love to sing and dance.   You had 2 new words today alone.   I was singing "Humpty Dumpty sat on the..." and right on cue you said "wall!"  It was so cute that we had you do it like 10 more times.  And then when it was snowing you pointed outside and said, "snow!"  You still use your signs, but you are now saying "more" with your voice instead of your little hands.  You can label all of your family members when asked where so-and-so is.  You are obsessed with your "Spot" books and you laugh at the same pages every time.  (What is so funny about the penguins??)  You love to be a little helper and whenever you find a crumb on the ground, you are sure to show us and then you'll run and throw it away.  You are super duper attached to your momma!  I can barely go to the bathroom without you banging on the door and waiting for me to come out.  It is reeeaaally hard to get ready in the morning because you constantly want to be held.  You are smiling in the picture below as you wait for me, but typically you are sobbing with big old tears.  Poor daddy!

I can't wait to see what the next month will bring!  These months go way too quickly.  I've been looking at a lot of baby pictures of you lately and I can barely believe that you have grown so quickly.  I love you SO MUCH!

Weekend Recap: Celebrating

It's Sunday night and I just realized that this week will be the first full week I've worked since before Christmas, and that I have no days off for the next several months.  Boo!!  Oh wait, I'm taking off a random Wednesday in February for one of Ben's appointments.  I'll have to make sure we plan something fun that day!  In the mean time, I'm going to continue to try and soak up all of the fun we can on our weekends!  This weekend did not disappoint.  Benji and Nana headed to music class on Saturday morning, while I headed to my friend Sheila's wedding shower.  She is the last (but not least!) in my group of college friends to get married and I could not be happier for her.  She is one of the sweetest people I know and she is marrying an amazing guy.  I can't wait for her big day in March!

I may have taken a little detour on the way home and stopped at the outlet mall.  I had such good luck when Andy and I went to a different outlet mall last weekend, that I couldn't resist trying to find some more good deals.  It was a success.  Hand sanitizer at the Bath & Body Works outlet for $0.43?  Don't mind if I do...  As much as I love to shop, I love my boys even more, so I headed home soon so I could hang out with them before dinner.  We made some last minute dinner plans with some friends we haven't seen in what felt like ages.  Although Ben wasn't in the greatest mood before we left, he was an angel at the restaurant.  I am soooo proud of him for sitting so nicely in his highchair for almost the whole meal.  Oh, and for eating a lot (for him) too!

I would be amiss if I didn't mention that for the FIRST TIME EVER, Benji slept through the night for TWO consecutive nights!!!!!!  He has slept through the night approximately 10 times in his entire life, so the fact that we have had 2 in a row almost seems to good to be true.  I'm not holding my breath just yet, but I really hope he's on to something here!  I shouldn't be that surprised that he has been sleeping well because he certainly uses a lot of energy during the day.  Today he spent the morning coloring/holding creamers, flirting with the waitress at brunch, playing with beans, and holding the groceries for daddy.  He was so busy at church this morning that he managed to find/ peel off some chewed gum that was under the pew.  I was thoroughly grossed out, but then he made it all better when he heard "let us pray" and he folded his little hands on cue like an angel.  I (and the people behind us) nearly died from the cuteness.  Love him. 

We ended our Sunday by celebrating Uncle Joe's 29th birthday.  While what we really wanted to get him was a girlfriend, he has to settle for a Benji smooch for now.  Don't worry Uncle Joe, we're still going to work on that other gift!  

I cannot believe how much Ben has grown since Joe's birthday last year.  Uncle Joe hasn't aged a bit though.    We love you, Uncle Joe!  We hope you have a great birthday!!  

And since I just realized that we ate out for nearly every meal this weekend, I decided to come up with a menu for the week.  (In our defense, we ate pretty well while out, but still.)  Today Andy made a huge pot of his amazingly healthy and delicious soup, so we'll be able to enjoy that for awhile.  Andy knows how to make all of these dinner options with no/low sodium.  He even makes his own pizza sauce and taco seasoning, both with zero sodium.  I'm so blessed to have such skilled chef in my life.  I would be living on noodles and microwaveable meals without him.  

Since I am failing miserably at many of my resolutions, I better be off to bed since it's almost 10:00 and I'm getting up before the sun tomorrow to get a good, sweaty workout in before work.  Goodnight!  

Happy Anniversary!

Yesterday Andy and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary.  Actually, we've technically been celebrating since Sunday, and I think we are going to celebrate the whole week.  I feel like I blinked and 2 years passed.  Andy and I watched our wedding video last night and we couldn't help but laugh at ourselves...we had NO idea what the next 2 years would bring!  While a "high-risk" high-stress pregnancy wasn't the ideal way to kick off our life as a married couple, we wouldn't trade it for anything.  Happy anniversary to my best friend and the best daddy a kid could ask for!  Looking forward to a million more years!

My super awesome mom lovingly volunteered to have a sleepover with Ben so Andy and I could go away for the night.   We did this last year, when Ben was 4 months old and I sobbed as we were leaving.  This year, I nearly started to cry, but he was so darn happy to be with some of his favorite people that I was able to hold it together.  We made a quick stop for lunch and some outlet mall shopping before we arrived at our favorite place for R&R: the spa.  Andy even willingly missed part of the Packers game so that we could get facials and massages...for 150 glorious minutes, might I add.  It was possibly the most relaxed I have ever been in my whole life.

Aside from our massages, we spent the majority of our time in the quiet room.  This is the first time that either of us actually read for pleasure in a really long time!  We lounged in our robes (dress code around these parts) and read, listened to tranquil music, and drank lemon water/ ate homemade granola for hours.  No cell phones, no electronics (minus the iPad and Nook we were reading on...) just peace and quiet.  HEAVENLY.  Besides, it was -10 degrees outside with a -50 degree wind chill.  Why go outside?!  Although we were loving our getaway, we also missed our little man like crazy.  Thankfully Nana was able to send us plenty of pictures of his sweet little face.  For the record, we didn't totally give up electronics, they're just only allowed in your own room.  I don't think I could have left my trusty phone at home!  Seeing this face on an hourly a daily basis is a MUST!

In addition to our anniversary celebration, we also celebrated with family that was in town from Boston and with some other friends we haven't seen for a long time.  My mom hosted dinner for 20+ people on Friday night and 8 + Benji on Saturday night.  I wish we could have big, delicious, and fun meals like this EVERY weekend. :)  It was soooo much fun, even though we kept Ben up way past his bedtime!

And when we weren't eating this past weekend, we were just trying to keep warm.  I do love being home and watching the snow, but it is less pretty when you know it is some obscenely cold, negative temperature outside.  I am hoping that tomorrow will be in the positive when I leave for work in the morning, but I'm not holding my breath!  Poor Benj just wants to put his sled to good use.  In the mean time, he'll have to settle for climbing the windows.  (Yep, standing on the window sill with no support.)

I'm not exactly sure if I am going to keep up with the weekend posts, but I'm going to try and keep posting as much as I can!  Goodnight for now!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2014!  Our 2013 was so amazing that it will be hard to top it, but we are certainly going to try!  We didn't get off to the greatest start, as both Andy and I became violently ill shortly after the clock struck twelve.  (Yes, we actually and shockingly made it to midnight.)  Andy was in worse shape than I was, and we are thinking it must have been our dinner.  Ugh!   We are both feeling better as the day progresses.  It is (another!) snowy day and we have nowhere to be until later, so its a pajama day with my boys.  Heavenly!

Since Ben is finally taking a nap, I have some time to work on my new year's resolutions.  I love writing "to-do" lists, but I hesitate to write a thorough, detailed list of resolutions, as I just read something that said only 8% of people are able to stick to their goals.  Since I don't like to fail, I am going to try and make mine very concrete, because in my mind that will make it easier to keep them.  

The number one thing I am going to work on is being more thankful.  I know, I know, not very concrete.  Cue the cute new thank you cards.  :)  When reflecting back over the past year, there are literally millions of things that I am thankful for.  The first thing that comes to mind is obviously Ben's good health.  We are infinitely blessed that things have turned out as well as they have, and we know it could have been much worse.  Although I hope and pray that I never have to go through something like this again, we sure met some top-notch people along the way.  I'm not sure I came close to expressing my extreme gratitude to all of these caring people.  

But back to my goal.  One of my new year's resolution is to show my appreciation more for all of the wonderful people in my life.  Do I say thank you enough?  I want to send hand-written thank you notes to express my appreciation.  Maybe I'm just speaking for myself, but handwritten notes can go a long way.  I recently received a card from one of the higher-ups at the hospital after I organized a conference at work.  I'm sure it only took him a few minutes to write, but it had a positive impact on me.  (I later saw him at the gym and thanked him for the thank-you...kind of awkward, I suppose.)  

My trusty shopping buddy helped me pick out some cute thank-yous at Target.  I also have a stash of stamps ready to go, so really, this is a pretty fool-proof plan.  I have 30 to start with, but I am hoping I am able to thank more people than this.  Birthdays and other special occasions don't count towards the 30!  I am hoping to thank people at work, my family and friends, and even strangers who provide good service at a restaurant or a store.  There are no limits on who I can thank and for what I can thank them for...obviously. :)  Oh, and I want to be timely with these thank-yous too.

 And since I can't resist a good list, here are some other things, albeit generic, that I would like to work on:

• Being a better wife and mom (heck, might as well through in daughter, sister, friend, NP, etc)
• Getting back in to running again and exercising on a set schedule, at least 3 days a week
• Writing shorter, more frequent blog posts, and potentially expand my audience
• Eating better--eating breakfast regularly
• Being more organized
• Going to church more
• Volunteering
• Going to bed earlier, ideally by 10:00 at the latest
• Reading more, facebooking less

I'll add to it as I think of more and I hope to check in on this list every few months or so.   I better get to bed, so I can at least check off of few things on my resolution wish-list for today.  Happy New Year!  Wishing you good health and happiness in 2014!

NYE 2012/13 and New Year's Day 2014  (same restaurant, bigger boy, less tired parents)