Thanksgiving Chargers

We made these Thanksgiving chargers last year.  It was a really fun craft, so we are going to add some more to our collection this year, in order to include Rachael's hand prints on some :)  What a fun way to bring a personal touch to the Thanksgiving table!

You just buy the chargers at Michael's for $1.00 each.  Use washable finger paints, paint their hands, and then put their hands on the plate.  When they are distracted with something else, or sleeping, you an add on all the other stuff.  If your kids are anything like mine and you attempt to add detail when they are around, they will just want to help and you will have a big mess on your hands! :) (Pun not intended!)

Last year we discovered that the paint will chip off once dried, so this year we are Mod Podge-ing over our work in hopes that it will stay on better!

Rachael makes 4

So I have been away for a while... I had a beautiful baby girl almost 8 months ago.  She is the most perfect addition to our family.  It's becoming more and more obvious to me that God definitely knows what's up and He has the perfect plan all laid out for us! :)  Here's my proof:

So to recap on the reflux, since that is where I left off; Rachael had a tiny bit of reflux too.  The company that made the solution for Ben's reflux is gone, but the same mixture is now available at www.infant-acid-reflux-solutions.com.  I used it for Rachael, but she is already med free and almost outgrown her reflux.  Yay!

We are having fun and staying busy.  Erik quit his corporate job and now works from home - so I use the computer much less than I used to use it.  Basically, if I have something technical to work on, if I can't do it on my phone then I don't get it done for a while.  We love having husband/Daddy home more.  We get to spend a lot more quality time together, including breakfast, coffee, and "Charlie and Lola" most mornings. 

Ben is potty training and Rachael is nap training.  I'm trying to eat healthier, since it is so much easier to just grab a processed snack than to cut up something fresh. I'm doing a Bibly Study, going to the gym, and playing tennis.  Ben is going to preschool two days a week, and his own Bible Class when I'm in Bible Study.  Benjamin Loooooves his Bible Class.  Rachael does not like the nursery, will not nap there, and therefor, Wednesday afternoons are kinda rough. 

I'm hoping to get back to the blogging, but it's really not a priority right now, so I guess we will just see where it goes.  :)

Remembering Reflux ~ Part 2

As promised, I'm back to write more about Ben's infant reflux. I find that I keep thinking, "please little bean in my belly, don't have vicious infant reflux!" Then I remember that I am well-prepared this go-round! I know exactly what to do, how to handle it, and how to (not) let it be the center of thought for me all day long! So we come home from the hospital. I think the first couple days were just peachy. I don't really remember those first couple days much... so little sleep for a few days, so many visitors, and such continued excitement about being home with our little Benjamin. I know that I do have a couple pics of Ben not crying while lying down. He was probably just as exhausted. Feedings were going pretty well; they took forever, but the latched worked and it didn't take too long for both of us to get used to it. I am not bashful about breastfeeding in public. I try to cover up enough that others won't be uncomfortable, but with the boobs covered, I have no problem feeding in front of people. I remember the first time I knew something was 'off.' My parents, brother, and sister-in-law were over to visit when Benjamin was around 1 week old. It came time to feed him and this is what happened: After a couple minutes of eating (we were doing about 40 minute feedings at this time, about 20 each side) he started crying. But not his sad baby cry... it was like a mad baby cry... but I re-latched because I knew he was hungry. Drink, drink, pull-off, scream, latch, drink, pull-off, repeat. He was getting all stiff and tense, and I think quite naturally, I thought i must have been doing something wrong here. Or the boobs weren't working. Or he had gas. (That's what everyone says is the problem for every newborn, it seems.) He was fighting it so much that I couldn't comfortably feed him in front of my brother! And this is just a little guy, but I couldn't keep it all covered up. I tried and struggled for like 15 minutes and I ended up in tears (mommy-hormone-driven tears) and had to forgo the feeding for 30 minutes to regain composure while someone else gladly held a mad baby. I just clearly remember thinking, this is not normal. And then it happened that same way, again and again. Not every feeding for some reason, but often enough that I started to ask some questions. He checked out healthy with the pediatrician at his one-week check-up. I met with the Lactation Consultant on staff at the pediatrician's office and she was the most helpful and understanding LC I have met to date. (I am so happy she is still there, and will hopefully still be there when I have this little one.) She said it looked like everything was going well, checked his diapers, told me my milk was fine, and left me feeling very optimistic. Of course, when we were in the office, Ben was not screaming when he latched on. That was a perfectly normal feeding. But really, from there I think it just kind of went downhill. Ben screamed a lot. But we noticed that when he was held upright, he was much more comfortable than when laying down. He didn't sleep all that well, but we didn't really expect that of a newborn. I don't know the exact time-line, but I know somewhere around two weeks old, Erik had gone back to work and I called him a couple days in a row in tears. I just didn't know what to do for Benjamin. All day I tried... bounce him, walk round, go outside, car ride, hum, the 5 S's (which I despise because everyone told me over and over to use them and I really started to think there was something wrong with me for not getting the 5 Ss to work,) do bicycles, give Mylicon, sing and talk to him, feed him on demand, feed him on a schedule, let him cry a little, bounce him, burp him, cut foods out of my diet, blah blah blah... I tried everything and I was a mess. Of course the first day I call Erik in tears he came home from work and Benjamin hardly cried that night. But the next day, I think Erik came home a little early even, and he spent the next three straight hours with me trying to get this child to stop crying. And he had already been crying all day. Newborns need a lot of sleep and Ben couldn't get much because he was crying the majority of the day. When all else fails, go in the car and drive around right? So we load up to go get ice cream, and Ben cried the whole ride. As I mentioned before, it wasn't just crying... it was angry, mad, screaming. I remembered that just 3 months earlier my brother and sister-in-law had some days of crying with their boy, Jackson, so I took a video or Ben screaming and sent it to my brother and said "is this what J did when he was crying all the time?" and Brother said "yeah, kind of like that." Then I asked "for like hours without stopping?" and Brother said, "No. Not for that long." And that's when I decided to do some research. I just KNEW something was not right. More later... I have a video of him crying and I'll post it so you can see what I am talking about.

Baby Gender ~ Determined by Old Wives Tales

I don't have my 'big' anatomy ultrasound until October 6, at 20 weeks along in my pregnancy. In order to determine gender sooner, I am going to follow many old tales to see if they can determine the answer for us. Are they going to conflict or agree? Only time will tell. Until then, here are my old wives tale results:

Baking Soda test: girl
Chinese calendar: Girl
Ring Pendulum: boy
Cravings: salty/fatty -> boy
Mood: cool and calm -> boy
Palm test: plams up -> girl
Even/Odd test: boy
Chest: boy
Cold feet: unchanged -> girl
Daddy's intuition: girl
Mommy's intuition: unknown
Heart rate: 179 @ 15 weeks -> girl What are your favorite wive's tales? Have I missed any of the good ones?

Remembering Reflux

I get anxious now and then, thinking about being a mother of two. I think about how much Erik and I love Ben and wonder how our love could possibly be spread to another human being. I think about how some days are absolutely crazy and wonder what will happen when I'm trying to just keep my head on AND offer the best love and care to two children, not just one. And I wonder how my social life and friendships will further change when my schedule shifts to accommodate two babies instead of just one. Luckily, I have many wonderful women in my life; both friends and family, present to calm these anxieties and not just tell me, but show me that these concerns are truly nothing to worry about. Then, there are the times I think back about Benjamin's acid reflux. Honestly, I know that in the big scheme of things, this is such a small problem to have with a newborn. But AR really took me for a ride. When we were expecting Ben, I knew that I would have a tiny child, I knew that we would lose sleep, and I knew that he would cry. I was totally unprepared for how much crying he would do. It wasn't like colic. It wasn't like he needed a diaper change or was cold. We quickly figured out how to take care of those problems. It was like a screaming cry. All the time. Day and night. Except when he was sleeping, and he wasn't sleeping as much as any newborn should. I look back and say 'oh duh' because of course, hindsight is 20/20 and now that I know about infant AR, I see a lot more of what was happening before I even knew it. The good news is that if this next little one has infant AR, I will be very prepared and well informed on the subject. The reflux road began Benjamin's first evening in the hospital. He was born at 10:40am. Everyone who saw him that day old me he was the most alert baby they had ever seen so young. I thought it made sense, because he was two weeks late leaving the womb and therefore that much bigger and developed. I now think he was so alert because he was always trying to figure out why he felt like his esophagus was slowly eroding. I made the decision to exclusively breast feed Benjamin and he had a great latch. That night, from about 10:00pm-2:00 am, Ben wanted to eat. I am not kidding. He wanted to eat all night. Newborns sleep right? Not when they're hungry, said the Lactation Consultant. Now, you mommies out there know that the first 'milk' is colostrum and there's not just tons and tons of it, so I knew it wasn't like Ben was swallowing enormous amounts of fluid. So maybe he was hungry. But even with a great latch, nursing hurts a little the first time you do it. Especially after hours of it. I called the nursery and lactation consultants several times in that four-hour period, and they finally convinced me to let them take him to the nursery so I could rest. When Benjamin wasn't nursing, he was crying, so I knew that may be the only way I would get any sleep that night. I went into a deep sleep immediately and didn't wake up until they brought him back to nurse a few hours later. That time, the nursing didn't go on and on, but there definitely many more tears all over again. Almost all of the photos I have of Ben in the hospital are of him crying. We checked out of the hospital 24 hours after I gave birth and I kept thinking, it's going to be so peaceful when we are in our own home. In some ways I was right, but on the nursing and cry factor, I was dead wrong! More on that next time I post...

18 Month Update

My once tiny infant son (so he was never tiny, since he was born 9.1) is now a big littlw boy! He is full-on child; no longer infant, and quickly moving through toddler-hood. We don't have his 18-month check-up for a bit so I don't know his stats, but I'll tell you what I do know about this awesome little person I am so blessed to be 'mommy' to!

Ben is.....
Heavy. I know he is still in the 50%, but he is heavy and I can't carry him around as much.

Tall. He has been confused for a three (3!!!) year old, four times in the last couple weeks!

Smarter than I know. Every day I realize that he understands way more than I give him credit for. I need to take advantage of his understanding, pronto!

Trying to talk. He will repeat anything when he is in the right mood. Often he only says the first syllable, and I think it's pretty darn cute. Favorite phrases: "Awww Maaaaan" when something drops or falls. "Peepee." "Poopoo." "No cog! (dog)"

Super fun to play with. He laughs a lot and really loves to get in my face and make me laugh.

Polite. Please, thank you, hugs, kisses, sorry, and kissing boo-boos are mastered. Well, as much as can be mastered by a tot.

An outdoorsman. If we could be outside all day, every day, Ben would be in heaven. Unfortunately he is like a mosquito magnet, so our time is limited.

A preschooler! Just started preschool today. He did great! But he was super-cranky afterward, so I think he may have scimped on the nap a bit. That's ok though.

Teething! Can't wait for these 2nd molars to come through so we can go years before worrying about this again! (ha, well, for Ben anyway!)

Amazing! Seriously, I feel so blessed that God has trusted Erik and myself with a child as precious as Ben! He lights up our lives in ways we never saw coming!

What makes me angry

When I finally get around to blogging and for whatever reason, when I prss publish, not only does it not publish, but it erases it all. GRRRRRRR!

End rant.

In a nutshell I said I tried Pinterest again tonight and I was not nearly as overwhelmed as before and I like it.

End post.

When did vacationing became work?

I'll tell you when. It's not when I was pregnant the first time. It's not when I had a baby or when that baby turned 1. It's when that baby became a little boy.

We just came back from a family vacation with my in-laws and let me tell you... I was so happy we came home just in time for the weekend! We all needed time to rest!

Florida was fun and exciting, especially for Benjamin, but it was just not the most restful time of my life. Our little one doesn't ever sleep as well in a bed away from home. So after 7 nights of sharing a room with the guy, I was SO excited to sleep in my (our) own bed, in our own room!

I was so bad about taking pictures this time. It seemed as though every time I thought about my camera, my sister-in-law and my mother-in-law were both taking pictures and so I just kinda thought, "I'll just get copies of theirs!"

So when I get those pics, I'll share!

In other news, Benjamin is already working on his 2-year molars. So even though he is sleeping more soundly at night in his own bed, he is waking very early. His usual 7:00 a.m. bedtime has nosedived to ummm about 5:45, maybe 6:00. Lucky momma though, he is taking longer naps!

Also, Ben is 18 months now! So I'll be back soon with the 18-month update! :)

Ben's First Haircut

I started to title this "Ben's First Big Boy Haircut" but then I remembered... it's not a big boy cut! I absolutely, without a doubt, made sure the stylist knew that Ben could not lose ALL his curls with the first cut! So it is trimmed up to help with the tangle issue we were having, but it's not an all out boy cut.

I think it's cute.

My husband thinks it's too "Ellen DeGeneres." He's so wrong, but I like Ellen, so I'm OK with that description!

The cut went fairly well for a child that doesn't like to be told what to do. He started off on his own, then I held him after he tried to make a break for it. And the dum-dum pops... well, they saved the day!

Before



During



After

Pregnancy Comparisons

ETA: I know the formatting is off. I'll fix it at some point in the future but I'm posting anyway so I don't forget all my thoughts!!

I realize that is post will mean more to me (and maybe my mom) than anyone else, but I figured as long as I was logging the differences between my two pregnancies, I might as well make it public in case any other mommies or mommies-to-be find it interesting.

Here I sit, 12 weeks pregnant and this second pregnancy has already been much different than my first! Many will jump to the conclusion that I'm having a girl this time since I had a boy first, but only time will tell. I know my list will grow, so I will just copy and paste and add on new comparisons when I post future blog entries. Fun, fun! For me anyway!!

First Pregnancy
Sickness: Major nausea until 13 wks
Exhaustion: Tired but not too bad
Showing: About 18/19 weeks
Food Aversions: Oatmeal, vegetables
Cravings: Sweets
Daddy's Prediction: Boy. Definitely boy
Cahpped Lips: Not at all
Planning?: Unplanned
Gender: Boy
First Trimester Weight Gain: 3lbs

Second pregnancy
Sickness: On and off nausea til 10 weeks
Exhaustion: Utterly exhausted til 12 wks (I do have a toddler now though!)
Showing: Don't know if it's official, but I'm about there (12)
Food Aversions: None
Cravings: Fats and meat (but, yes I'm still vegetarian)
Daddy's Prediction: Girl (had a vision, will he be right!?)
Cahpped Lips: Severe.
Planning?: Planned and trying
Gender:???????
First Trimester Weight Gain: 5lbs

Blessed with good news!

Erik and I are excited to announce that we are expecting baby #2!! yay! Another child for us and a sibling for Benjamin, we are so blessed and so very happy!

It is for this reason that I have not been blogging much lately. Either I'm so exhausted that I am napping when Ben naps and retiring to bed shortly after Ben goes to sleep. Or I have a great idea to blog about and then I realize my hormones are on slight overdrive and I could not completely explain myself without disclosing the pregnancy!

I am due at the end of February and almost 12 weeks along. We only told family in the beginning and waited for our first ultrasound appointment, where we heard the glorious heartbeat, to tell our friends, friends of friends, etc! And that means that when some people asked me straight to my face if I was pregnant, I had to lie in order to keep the secret. I hate lying. I especially hate lying to close friends, so that kind of sucked. I am so happy that we have shared the news with all the world so that I can be free of lying, I can blog about topics like being mad at silly things, and I can share my pregnancy experience.

And because it's adorable...

Random Ramblings

It's just a low-key Friday night. I'm watching dateline, primetime, and 20/20. Unwinding with TV and a snack because B was a little bit cranky today!

First and foremost, I'd like to ask you all to pray some more for my friend Lo. Her transplant went well and her dad is on track to good health again, but Lo has hit a road bump and is back in the hospital. I don't know details, so please just pray that she gets through the issue quickly so she can get home and get back to enjoying life with a new kidney!

On another subject, I do not like Target. At all. It seems like everyone and their baby loves the store. I can't handle it. Today I had to go to Target because I needed to buy a backup lovey for Ben. He has grown very attached to a specific blanket. Ironic because it's the only one of like fifty blankets he was given that does not have a real sentimental value. When choosing a blanket you would think it might be the one Grammy made him, or the one Grandma brought back from Italy. But I guess in a way I lucked out because if he had chosen one of those, it would be much harder to get a duplicate.

Anyway, I go to Target because I found they carry the same blanket. This is what it looks like:



So of course, even though their online website says this store has it in stock, they don't have it. Way to go Target. But, since I'm already in the store with a toddler in tow, I might as well do my grocery shopping. (When you have a child that doesn't like the car, it is best to make as few stops as possible!). Every time I somehow end up shopping at Target I leave feeling robbed. It's like someone might as well stand at the end of every aisle and take a five dollar bill from me!! Or I should just throw twenty five dollars out the window on my drive to their store.

I usually shop at Walmart. A Walmart that isn't so walmart-y. It's in south t-town/north bixby. Whatever you prefer to call it. It's really not so bad. And food is so much cheaper... The EXACT same things cost way less! Shopping at Target, my mouth just drops when I look at the prices!

For example, these fruit cups:



$1.25/each at walmart and $1.60 at Target (marked down! Regular price at W.)

These peaches:
(can't find a photo... Picture a jar of peaches...)

$2.50/each at W and $3.25 at T (another markdown!)

These pretzels:



$2.50 at W and $3.00 at T!!!

Ugh! Every time I put something in my cart I felt sick! Needless to say, my cart did not get very full. I only bought what I absolutely needed.

And these:



Ummm, do not buy these unless you are trying to put on weight. I knew they weren't good for me, but I didn't know how bad they were until I got home and had eaten like 15. (Because they are addicting!) There are 140 calories per 5 cookies!!! Are you kidding?! Insanity! These will wreck your diet. But... They are delicious!

So I don't like Target. And I still need to get back online and find another lovey for Ben. Think I'll get to that right now! Goodnight!

Things that make you go Hmmmm

I know many parents have been in this place. I know many are in this place on a daily basis just like me. Lately my son has me wondering... "Hmmmm...?"

I'm basically talking about those moments where your child acts like the kid with a bucket on his head in the movie "Parenthood." (GREAT movie by the way, 15-20 years old, but great!) I have found myself feeling like the Dad, Gil (I think,) and thinking "there's no way this is normal!" Even though I really know it is.... normal... in some weird way.

Let's see... banging one's head into the ground in anger, looking up at mom, sad because it hurt, then doing it harder, and harder, and harder until tears are spilling out. Hmmmmm.... but they say it's normal...

Walking around the entire house backward. Need something right in front of you? Oh, well, of course turn around, walk into it backward, then bend down to pick it up... Hmmmmm... Oh, it's just a developmental thing...

Moving your head side-to-side rapidly, as if shaking a firm no, out of the blue, off and on again for several minutes... haven't asked anyone about this, but I'm sure it's.... well, normal!

Most of the time these things are just humorous, but sometimes they are just a little too strange and make you stop and think "Is this kid going to be OK?!" Ha! I really know the answer to that, and I actually kind of cherish the weirdness because I know it won't last forever. And I mostly find it funny because before I had a kid, I never thought I would relate to Gil, but now I do, and I know that for us parents, it's probably the norm!

Prayers for a Birthday Girl

Yesterday was the birthday of a dear friend of mine. My friend Lo, and the rest of her family, is special to me and my entire family. We have all known each other for quite a long time.

For Lo's birthday, her sister, Jane, requested everyone send up prayers for their family. Lo has Cystic Fibrosis. She has had two double-lung transplants and she is now in need of a kidney transplant. Her dad gets to be the donor!! Lo needs to continue to stay healthy for a little bit longer so she can be in tip-top condition for the transplant.

Everyone reading this, please pray for Lo for her birthday! Keep her in your prayers long after her birthday! Pray that the transplant goes well for Lo and her Dad, Don. Pray for their quick and healthy recoveries from surgery. And please pray for a cure for CF.

Happy Birthday Lo!

We miss you (haven't seen Lo in a while because I never want to get my viral germ magnet, aka Ben around her!)

We love you very much!

J, E, B

Cursing on the court

If you know my family, you probably know that I play tennis. The whole family does. And while I played as a teen, I never really took it very seriously then; it was more of a social activity than anything else. I played like twice ( or maybe ten times) between high school and marriage at 27 years old. When my husband decided to try out tennis, I decided I should go back to my old favorite form of exercise. This time, it wasn't just for socializing. I was picked up by a fun group of women to play on their competitive USTA team. Though I never liked competition much before, I got a taste of winning with my team and I want it more and more each season!

In other matters, I am a fairly polite person. At least I certainly try to be polite. I consider cursing impolite, especially in certain places like the tennis court! Since having Benjamin I have gone to great lengths to make sure I do not say impolite things in front of him - because you never know when they'll just hear it and start repeating what you're saying. But, unfortunately, I have found myself cursing on the tennis court. Not a lot... Maybe a couple times each match. Not loud... Certainly not loud enough for a singles opponent to hear across the court. However, even under my breath those bad words may be audible to a doubles partner or a doubles opponent when we are both up at the net.

I guess curse words just have to come out somewhere, and if not at home (thank goodness) then why not where I feel at my most competitive. Its not very sportman-like, and I don't really like it one bit, but I'm not sure how to stop. Maybe a new competitive sport where I compete with only myself? But I don't run anymore. Maybe I just start throwing out Fudge and Ship and hope it fulfills my subconscious need to curse? Hmmmm... Maybe.

Until I figure it out I'll just try to bite my tongue and apologize when something sneaks out because honestly I would rather curse on the court than say anything at home that is not worth Benjamin repeating. :)

What we've been up to

The month of May was super-busy for us! We took a vacation with another family to San Diego and had a blast! Benjamin loved having two friends around for an entire wekk and Erik and I loved havin the company of our good friends at the same time! SD provided us with so many great things to do: the zoo, wildlife park, beaches, hiking, golf, great restaurants, pool time, exercise time, a Mothers' Day spa day, alcoholic beverage time, the list goes on... we had so much fun!

Benjamin came back from that trip having learned to talk as much as a three year old. Not that his talking makes much sense to us, but he is chattering away none-the-less!

We came home just in time to witness the marriage of two of the greatest people ever... our friends Laura and Ryan had a beautiful intimate wedding ceremony, and we were so happy to be part of their special day! I think this was the first wedding I have cried during since my brother was married in 2007!! It was just so special, and it's one of those marriages that so wholely represents what marriage is meant to be, and I just couldn't help but cry sappy, happy tears! :) We love you guys! Congratulations!!

The next week, Benjamin and I joined my parents in Scottsdale for a few days. My parents spoiled us rotten and we thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the trip! We went swimming every day, I went shopping while my parents watched Benjamin, I had a massage, a mani/pedi, great food, and some down time that I truly appreciated. I also hiked a mountain a couple times, wearing Ben in a child-carrier! Talk about a great workout!!

While we were there, Benjamin came golfing with the three of us. It was just for nine holes, and the kid did wonderfully!! We did learn something about him though. He can get stressed out over little things! Ben freaked out when we hit the golf balls!!! He really loved hopping out of the golf cart to pick them up before we could get to them. When people were teeing off, he would start running up to the tee shrieking, and once the ball was hit he would whine (very close to a cry, but more of a distressed whine.) It was quite funny, though I did feel a bit bad for him. His favorite part of the golf trip was picking up all the balls in the green and placing them in the cup. Best way for me to improve my score right there! I usually 3-put, and with his help, the ball went right in! Ha!

We came home just in time for Memorial Day weekend and spent our time as a family and swimming with some friends. I love that we have a pool, and I love that Benjamin LOVES the water. We will probably go swimming most days of the week this summer! We also love that our friends love to swim and can enjoy the pool with us!

Speaking of... this last weekend we co-hosted (with the Crains) a fun Fiesta Party at our home. I think everyone had so much fun! The Crains had attended a Cystic Fibrosis Foundation fundraiser with us, and together we purchased a Mexican-food catering (care of Andales at 61st and Yale) that included food and margaritas for 20. They ended up bringing enough for about 50, but we're okay with that! :) We had over a bunch of friends and the girls next door came over to help watch all the kiddos. It turned out to be a lot of fun for the kids and the adults!

So anyway... there you have it... what we've been up to... basically having fun! Hoping to keep updating more frequently now that I have caught up! Yay!

One of the two pics I have from SD because my camera had no battery... oops!


A few from Scottsdale... Beautiful!!

Just saying Hi!

Well, because it has been a month since my last post, I just thought I should drop in to my blog-space to say hi to my readers who have had nothing to read (nothing from me that is!). I miss my blog and I hope to get some goodies up here soon, but I have simply become very good at procrastinating!! In the last four weeks I have had about 16 good ideas for my blog and I haven't followed up on any of them. So, wonderful readers, please stick around and I will bring you some good stuff soon!! Hope each one of you is doing well! :) love, Jess

Easter 2012

Oh my, how time flies! Everyone says it will, and it truly does... but sometimes it just doesn't sink in until you look back.

My Dad loves candy. He has passed that love on to me... among many other things, including a love for some of our family traditions. One of his favorites is the "bunny trail" that the Easter Bunny leaves from your bedside to your Easter basket on Easter morning.

Last year (2010, Ben 5 weeks):




This year (2011, Ben 14 months):




Hope you all had a wonderful Easter full of family fun and family tradition!

Things I Love... Again

My baby boy had really dry skin throughout the winter. Even though spring had arrived and brought some humidity along for the ride, his skin had not completely become smooth as a baby's bottom. Well, his bottom was smooth, but his back was still dry in patches. We tried the mainstream baby lotions, we tried Vaseline, Aquaphor, and baby oil. Nothing made his skin completely better.

Then I tried Caren enfants Moisturizing Treatment for Babies. Ta-da!!! I swear, overnight, after weeks and weeks of dryness, Benjamin's skin transformed back to the silky soft beauty the rest of his body still was. Amazing. And I love this stuff.



Funny thing is I had this in his room the whole time, but since we had "won" it at a charity auction a long time ago and really knew nothing about it, I just had the container stashed away with no intention of using it. Then one night we ran out of the regular stuff that was not really helping anyway, so I used this instead. And Voila!

The basket I won also had Cleansing Milk, which I like to use, and a diaper rash treatment which I have never tested because Ben has one lucky bum that has never had diaper rash. *crossing fingers and knocking on wood!!!*

What I like about this product:
*it is not tested on animals.
*it is safe for the face
*it smells yummy
*it contains Shea butter

What I'm not in love with:
*it contains parabens (as do the mainstream lotions but that doesn't mean it's a great thing)
*it's kinda expensive. I looked it up online and it is $17 for 8 ounces. This makes me happy my money went to charity. I'm normally cheap and would not pay this much for lotion. But now that I know how much I like what it does... Well, I might shell out the $$. We will see.

Has anyone tried the shampoo? I would love to know what you think!

Spring Beauty (oh, the flowers are nice too!)

My mom got this great pic of Ben... Can you say "He looks just like his Daddy!"


And I took a couple cute ones. Benjamin LOVES to be outside. SO MUCH. But he also loves to grab my camera... which results in a lot of up-close photos!




And because there's nothing better than getting sloppy with ice cream on a hot day...





Spring, we welcome you with open arms!!!

First Birthday Party Planning Tips

I threw Benjamin's 1st birthday party in February. It was great, but I learned a few thing I think are worth sharing. Hope they help you out!

1. Go to a Dollar Store. I don't know how similar they all are, but I went to a local Dollar Tree and they are loaded with party supplies. Unfortunately, I went to the Dollar Tree a few days AFTER I had already ordered and paid for all of Ben's balloons, table decorations and party favors. I could have saved a bundle. I'm sure they quality is less superior that at the party supply store, buy really.., who cares how great the quality is when you just need it to last two hours?

2. Don't buy your party favors at a party supply store. Same kind of principal applies as above... You can find the same things for cheaper elsewhere, AND you can find more creative, unique ideas at other places like Michael's, Hobby Lobby, Target or Walmart.

3. Do smash cake pics!!! Your birthday party cake scene may not provide you with great photos. I mean, if your kid cries and steps in his cake like Ben did, then pics are not really going to happen. If you do pics when it's just you and your kiddo, whether it's at a studio or in your kitchen, you will more than likely get a good shot of something adorable. The birthday party pressure is hard on the little ones!

4. Some decorations are not worth making. referencing this post, the 'Happy Birthday' banner took me like an hour to make. I could have bought one for $1.00. On the other hand, the timeline banner was personal, easy to make, and totally worth the 30 minutes of effort. Likewise, cake balls are not worth the time to make, but the displays were quick and easy and totally worth it!

5. Even if you plan a 'small' party, unless it's just your family, it won't feel that way. I really did my best to keep the invitation list small, but by the time you have family, a few friends, and a few children, the house is full. Which is fine. But don't trick yourself into thinking it's small.

A lot of there tips don't just apply to the 1st birthday party, and I will keep my own lessons learned in mind when I throw Ben's 2-year old bash! :). Please share your party tips!!

The baby boogie

Our little toddler has been dancing a lot lately. It's no surprise that he is dancing, since this seems to be a milestone every child hits. But Benjamin's style of dance is super cute and one of a kind.

Do you remember the commercial they made a long time ago about how hard it is to walk and chew gum at the same time? Well, it's kinda like that. He dances with either the top half of his body or the bottom half of his body. Putting it all together must be much too difficult!

When the top half dances, he stands still or walks and swings his arms around and crisscrosses them and smacks them together occasionally. It's very cute and silly. When the bottom half dances, Ben bounces his legs as he moves around, sometimes just moving at the knee and sometimes going up on tip-toes. I love watching him dance and can't wait for him to put it all together!

The tiny 3-0!

Saturday was my 30th Birthday! Another year has passed and I have gained a ton of mommy-wisdom, and left about 33% of the rest of my brain somewhere, so overall I am another year older but not another year wiser!

My wonderful, amazing, sweet, thoughtful husband planned a HUGE surprise for me! We were planning on going to St. Louis for the night because we were headed to the Cardinals game the next day. We had decided to have dinner there that night to make it special, and I had told my parents that they could invite their families, but that I would appreciate them not making a big deal about it being my birthday. Erik was in KC for a bachelor party on Friday, so he was planning on driving from that to STL for my birthday. This was all I knew.

I arrived at the airport on Saturday, Ben and bags in tow, and my mom met me at the car to help carry things inside. I thought I saw my friend Nicole's car, but my mom just kind of shrugged it off when I asked her "Am I walking into something here?" No one unexpected was in the airport... just Mom and Dad, and Jonathan and Jackson. So we board the plane and SURPRISE!! Five of my favorite people are already on the plane!! I was so happy and excited to see everyone, and to know that they were joining me for my birthday weekend!

We checked into our hotel (Erik was there, waiting) and got ready for dinner and GNO! The restaurant we went to was about a mile away, so we walked to it. When we arrived, we were led to the back of the room, which seemed strange, but since I knew we were kind of a large party, I just assumed we were being put in the back. Then I saw a private bar, then I saw a private room, and in the private room I saw balloons, and when I walked in I saw... tears. My own tears, clouding the vision of many, many, other of my favorite people! Surprise number 2!!! Friends from high school, friends from college, family members from both sides of my family... so many people there to make me feel special for my 30th birthday!

This was more than I could ever imagine! Each one of these people has such a special place in my heart. They all mean so much to me, and I was so happy to see them there, ready to celebrate my 30th. Erik had planned on my friends and me having a big GNO, but we ended up just going to a wine bar for food and a drink. I was exhausted. And it was perfect. We all knew we would have much more fun the next day if we weren't up until all hours of the night. I know it might sound lame, but 12:30 is LATE for me, especially when I know my baby will be awake at 6:00 a.m. as usual, wanting to play.

The game was fun, weather was perfect, the Cards got a win, and I had a chance to talk to everyone a little bit :) Thank you all so much for coming out to my birthday dinner surprise! Thank you for caring about me so much that you gave up a weekend with your own families to spend some time with mine. Thank you for making me feel so loved. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. The number 30 is tiny compared with the number of blessings I have in my life. All of you are among those blessings.

*Pics coming soon!

Things I Love (part deux)

Have you tried this stuff?



Fage Greek yogurt is deeeeelish! I love it. Fage is one of the things I love. Ben loves it too.

This yogurt is so sweet and so creamy. It's the best yogurt I have found and is good for so much more than just eating plain. It can be used in dips, desserts, smoothies... Opportunities are endless!

You should try it. They make the original, fatty stuff which is super healthy for babies. They also offer 2% (my fav) and 0% fat varieties.

If you eat Fage, what is your favorite way to have it? Please share, I'm looking for new ideas!

The wonder of change

Several things about me have changed over the past two weeks. Not really significant changes, but just a few of those material things that don't matter in life, but that make you feel different (especially once you're a parent) for completely material reasons.

I had a brow wax: I used to get this done once a month. Since having Benjamin, I have had it done twice. You can do the math. A brow wax takes me...

From here:


To here:


Then I got braces: again. I had them like most others, at the age of 11-13. Well, this time it's for my jaw. I have TMJ that is just getting worse, so when faced with the choice of braces now or possible surgery later, I decided to nip it in the bud.

So that took me from here:


To here:


That night I had my hair cut. I just wanted to keep my long hair but have something a little more going on. So I did what I did three years ago and got side-swept bangs. I'm not in love, buy I'm not hating on them either.

So that took me from here:


To here:


And then the braces caused me to be in so much pain that I literally could not chew anything for several days. I had ice cream for most of my meals for five days, which

Took me from here:


To here:


Obviously this is a slight dramatization, but sometimes the slightest changes can make you feel so good or so bad. In actuality, here is a photo of me after all my minor adjustments, happy as can be!



What changes have you made lately or plan to make? What are your favorite routines that make you feel like a million bucks?