Fish Stories

This morning Benjamin, Daniel, and I were sitting on the couch in the toy room reading a book about Nemo. In the middle of the story Benjamin gets off the couch, picks up a cell phone (one of our old ones that we took the battery out and gave him to play with) and started talking away. Normally I don't understand a word of what he's saying (the sounds he makes don't even usually sound like words anyway) but today I was able to make sense of what he was saying. The "conversation" basically went like this:

"ah boo cah Mama."

popping sound with mouth (because that's what the fish says)

"eeeeeed Da"

Translated: "Mom Fish Read Daniel"

Sitting Up! And Playing "Boo" and "Sleep"

Sorry in advance for the long post. It started as a short one about Daniel sitting up and then I just started rambling. But it's entertaining rambling!

Daniel sat up by himself for the first time today. For the past week or two he has been sitting in the chair part of our baby swing that comes out and sits by itself as a rocking chair. We've had to make sure he was strapped in at all times because he would pull himself up until he was sitting straight up without any support and we were worried that he would fall forward and out of the chair.

Today I decided to try and have him sit up by himself on the floor. He has been doing it a little bit while sitting on my lap but I figured it was different than being on the hard floor. I was actually surprised that Daniel did so well on his own. My little boy is getting so big so fast!

We are expecting Daniel to start crawling within a month or so. Benjamin didn't crawl until he was 8 1/2 months old, but Daniel already has the motion down when he's playing on his belly and he attempts to push himself forward with his feet toward the toys and other things that are just out of reach. Luckily he has a great older brother who doesn't mind getting on the floor and showing him how to roll over and crawl and jump and throw things and whine and scream for cookies and... Hold on for one second (scrolling down to view my previous post as another reminder to why I had kids)

Ok, and I'm back. I was talking about what a great brother Benjamin is. He has started to interact a lot more with Daniel. I wrote about the first time he specifically did anything to make Daniel laugh on my picture blog Just today he started playing peek a boo with Daniel. We were in the car on our way to Target to pick up a few things and I was on the phone with my dad when I heard Benjamin start giggling. I wasn't paying much attention until after I hung up the phone and after watching him in the rear view mirror (safely, of course) I saw him hide his face behind the collar of his jacket and then pull it down and say "boo!" to Daniel. My guess is that it was making Daniel smile really big and that's why Benjamin was giggling. Jonathan said he was playing peek a boo with him later tonight as well while I was in the kitchen making dinner.

Benjamin's newest "game" that he likes to play is "sleep." He will get his blankets and stuffed animals from his crib and put them on the couch an then lay down and say "sleep" (which sounds more like "shweep") The picture above is him telling me to "Shhh" because he's sleeping (I do that to him when Daniel is sleeping and he's being loud).

Sometimes he will pretend to snore too. The funniest thing about it all is that he keeps his eyes wide open and looks right at you as he's snoring and sleeping. In the past couple days he has also been putting his stuffed animals down for naps as well.

Why I Had Kids- My Reminder to Myself

Daniel was up until midnight last night.

Crying.

Benjamin woke up at 5:15 am.

Crying.

And refused to go back to sleep.

When Jonathan relieved me at 9am so I could get some more sleep I laid in bed and thought, "Why did I have kids? I really miss my sleep." Immediately these images filled my head:

So, yes. That is why I had kids. Because they bring me more joy and love than heartache and tears and sleepy days. I would get only 5 hours of sleep a night every night if it meant having my boys smiling and laughing with me every day.

Now, I think that's enough mushy stuff for today. If you'll excuse me- it's time for another nap :)

Late Night Talking

Before I get in bed every night I go into Benjamin's room and turn off his cd player and make sure he is comfy in his bed. Last night I went in and Benjamin was asleep on top of all his blankets and his room was a little cold. I could tell he wasn't as warm as he wanted to be because he was curled up into a tight ball and had his hands tucked under his chin. So I lifted him up and pulled the blankets out from under him. As I did this he woke up a little bit and looked at me and smiled. As I put the blankets back over him he snuggled in and hugged his blue doggy and said, "yay."

What a funny kid.

For Mom...

I couldn't get Gmail to let me email these to you- so they are here instead. One is the scrapbook page I did of Benjamin blowing out his birthday candles. The other I followed a tutorial on how to create that cool look. I thought it turned out cute!

My New Years Resolution- Project 365

One of my resolutions this year was to try to document the little, everyday happenings of our lives that we often so easily forget. A few weeks ago I was backing up all our 2007 and 2008 pictures in case of a computer crash and I realized that there were so many things I had completely forgotten about! Some things had just happened a month or so earlier too! So I decided to try my hand at Project 365, where you take a photo a day.

Well, I've managed to keep up with it for 3 weeks now, so I decided it was time to share my progress. Check out my blog where I post my picture of the day. (You'll notice a few duplicate pictures- some I loved so much that I had to share them on this blog as well as use them as my picture for the day). Most of my pictures are of our 2 boys, but that's to be expected when your life revolves around two of the cutest kids in the world.

I'm also digi-scrapping all the pictures into one layout each week so at the end of the year I'll be able to print a book about our 2009 daily happenings in addition to having our regular scrapbook of our "big" adventures (birthdays, vacations, etc). Hopefully one day we'll look back on 2009 and laugh at our Wymount apartment and our lovely "poor married college student" days. I'm planning on posting these pages as well, mostly to make sure I keep on top of it and don't rush at the end of the year trying to play catch up.

I hope you're willing to follow along with me on our simple daily adventures. And, if there are any suggestions on things you would like to see in my pictures (what we ate for dinner, the inside of my refridgerator, my favorite book, whatever!) please let me know- I need some inspiration some days!

Happy Birthday Benjamin!

Today was Benjamin's 2nd birthday. It was a fun day, but long too. So I'm too tired to spend a lot of time blogging about it tonight so I'll catch up soon (24 is on tomorrow night so it probably won't be until Tuesday unless I miraculously find some time during the day).

But to not leave you hanging in suspense, here's a sneak peek at the fun we had!

What Do You Do...

... when you think your little brother is getting bored sitting in his car seat?

Why, you make sure he has enough toys to keep himself entertained, of course!

Daniel is 5 Months Old Today

We can't believe how fast time is going by. Daniel is our little happy boy. He is always smiling and laughing and having a good time. It is rare to see Daniel really upset about anything, and often when he's crying he is also laughing at the same time.

He loves to watch Benjamin playing more than anything else. Benjamin enjoys having Daniel has a little brother. He loves to give him hugs and kisses and is always quick to get him a toy or his binkie when he needs it.

Daniel is a rolling machine! He is quick to roll over and hang out on his belly. He knows how to roll back over to his back again, but he seems to prefer "tummy time." We can tell he's getting ready to learn to crawl because he kicks and pushes with his legs when he's on his tummy. We think he is anxious to keep up with his older brother.

We are so glad to have Daniel as a part of our family. He brings us so much love and joy. Although it has been tough having 2 little boys so close in age, it has been completely worth it to enjoy Daniel every day. We love you, Daniel!

I Have One Hot Date Tonight...

Has anyone else missed this guy?

Todd and Heather, This One's For You

We went fishing with our friends, Todd and Heather, back in August 2007 and I finally got around to scrapping the pictures. Enjoy!

At Least One of Us Has All Their Ducks in a Row

Daniel Talking

Daniel is quite the little talker these days. He just lays on the floor or sits in his bouncy chair and talks and talks and talks. It's so fun.

Rolling Over

Daniel is getting really good at rolling over. Sometimes I'll put him on the floor and turn around to grab a toy and when I turn back around literally 2 seconds later he is already on his tummy. He has even rolled over while completely swaddled in a blanket. That is kinda scary for me since he can't use his arms to push his face up or roll back over to his back again. By request from Grammy in California, here is a video of Daniel rolling over . PS- I love that Daniel got Jonathan's blue eyes! They are so pretty!

Christmas 2008

I worked on this 2 page spread today and wanted to share it. All the pictures are from the Christmas activities and celebrations we experienced this year. I was glad to be able to get so many pictures in 2 pages. I know I've already posted most of these pictures, so just pretend it's your first time seeing them :)