Happier Times

Benjamin is doing so much better today! He woke up at 5am crying and I asked if he wanted some medicine to feel better (he was feeling feverish again and I'm sure his ear hurt) and he said "yes" and it sounded so sad. I read him a story after giving him some motrin and put him back to bed and he slept again until 8. He has been pretty happy all morning and is even playing and interacting (yesterday he was just larthargic all day).

Daniel slept so well last night! He went to bed at 7:15 and woke up twice between 8 and 9, but went back to sleep without needing to be fed. And he slept until 2am. YAY! He was up again at 5:30 (right after I got Benjamin back to bed) and again at 6:30. But still, way better than he has been sleeping. I've been feeding him every 2-4 hours all night long since he was born and I was ready for a longer stretch of sleep.

Also, Daniel cut his first tooth this morning! Now we know why he's been a little fussier than usual. Yay for teeth!

Sad Times

Benjamin had a rough day yesterday and I just knew something wasn't right, but he
wouldn't tell me what was bothering him and making him cry for hours at a time. Right before bedtime he developed a fever. I called the doctor this morning and she suggested we come in since this is the 2nd fever he's had in 3 weeks that didn't have an obvious cause. I took him in this afternoon and Benjamin has a really bad ear infection in his left ear and the beginnings of an infection in his right ear. My poor baby! What a brave boy to have been suffering for so long without telling me he was hurting.

Belated Valentines Day Post

I meant to post this on Valentines' Day, but we were really busy last week (when are we not) and I never found a quiet moment to work on this. So I'm posting it now. I think Valentines' Day is a great holiday. I know we're supposed to show the people we love and cherish what they mean to us all year long, but the idea that there is one special day to go above and beyond the usual daily reminders and expressions of love is wonderful.

Today I wanted to express to each of my "boys" just how much I love them and what they mean to me. You'll have to be patient with me because I'm not the best at expressing emotions and things don't translate well into actual words.

Daniel, you are my shining star! I cannot get over how happy and cheerful you are every day. I love watching how you admire and look up to your older brother even at the young age of 6 months old. You are so patient with me when I have to delay your feedings and diaper changes because Benjamin needs attention or dinner has to be made. We are so blessed to have you in our home; the spirit and love that you have shared with us is tremendous. It's true that I was hoping you were going to be a little girl, but now I wouldn't trade you for a million little baby girls. I am so happy and humbled to be given the chance to raise you at this time and help you become the little prince you are destined to be. I love you, Daniel.

Benjamin, you are my special boy! Not a day goes by that you don't make me laugh out loud at your funny antics and outrageous behavior. I waited a long time for you to join our family (well, it felt like a long time to me!) and I know that you came at the right time for you and for us. I love watching you care for your little brother and I know you are going to be his best friend. You are so caring and aware of those who may be sad or upset and I hope you always remember to watch out for those smaller than you. I can't wait for you to learn to speak your thoughts because I know we are going to have some amazing conversations. You are so smart and capable of great things. I love you, Benjamin.
Jonathan, you are my soulmate and I love you. There is no one else who could put up with my weakness and be so patient with me as I struggle and learn and grow. I can't put into words how deeply I feel love for you. I love how you are deeply commited to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I trust in your ability to hold and honor your Priesthood. You lead our family toward righteousness and for that I am eternally grateful. You are a wonderful father- our boys obviously love you very much and look to you for guidance even though they are so young. You are a great husband because you try to put my needs ahead of your own and you want me to be happy. Thank you. Oh, and you're the world's greatest fisherman. No joke. I love you, Jonathan

6th Folder, 6th Picture

Yup, another one of these tags. This time I was tagged by Joni of Joni Gray Digiscrap Freebies (awesome freebies by the way). I kinda like these tags since I rarely go back and revisit some of the old pictures I take.

So this picture is of Benjamin eating yogurt. Not too exciting, but that is a very typical face that he pulls when a camera is pointed at him. Looks like he needed a haircut too!

I tag whoever wants to do this!

Bowling!

We took Benjamin bowling for the first time on Monday. He really enjoyed it and love pushing the bowling ball down the ramp they had for the kids to use. Jonathan is a great bowler. He took a bowling class at BYU last semester just so he could bowl a few games every week. I'm not a very good bowler. I think I used the bumpers more than Benjamin did :)

Here's a video of Benjamin's very first time rolling the bowl down the lane.

Daniel's Haircut

Daniel really need a haircut. We've been doing a decent job of hiding his long hair by tucking it behind his ears and giving him a comb-over on top. But too many people have asked me how old my little girl is lately, so we decided to give him a little trim. Check out these "before" pictures.
Benjamin and Daniel had matching "faux-hawks" yesterday after church.
Daniel was so good during his haircut.

And here's the after picture.

Such a handsome boy!

Squash, Take Two

Today's attempt at feeding Daniel butternut squash went so much better! Daniel made a couple funny faces at first, but then he got the hang of eating and things went smoothly from there on.

Mmmm.... squash IS yummy!

Yummy Yummy!

Yummy butternut squash...

Or Maybe Not...

Daniel had his first tasting of solid food today. I had pureed some butternut squash early last week to hide in Benjamin's food so I pulled some out of the freezer today and fed it to Daniel. He wasn't all about it. He kept gagging on the food, especially when it got near the back of his mouth. We'll have to try again another time.

Benjamin's Job Chart

I downloaded a template from the Crafting Chicks blog and made Benjamin this job chart. I "scraplifted" (or copied) much of the original example because I liked it so much and I think it turned out cute. I'm excited to get this printed and laminated for Benjamin to start using it!

***click on the image to enlarge***

The Crafting Chicks blog has so many cool ideas. I'm planning on using this Potty Training Chart when it's time to work on that with Benjamin. And if we move across country this summer, I want to try and put something like this memory game together so Benjamin and Daniel will have a fun game and a good way to help remember their extended family. I haven't had much time to look through the blog yet, but I'm sure I'm going to be making one long list of things to do over the next few months. Check it out!

The Difference an "S" Makes

Lately Benjamin has started adding an "S" to the end of all his words. I think this is because we started talking to him more about what is Mom's and what is Dad's and Benjamin's and Daniel's. I really don't know how it happened but he add this "S" to everything. Some examples-

Cars
Babas (banana)
Balls
Das (Daniel)
CooCoos (cookie)

It's really not that big of an issue except in one situation. We've taught Benjamin the sign language for All Done and he used to do the sign and say "Aaa" (the same A sound as in cat or bat. You know where this is going! Imagine now a little kid saying "Aaas" all day long.

Yup, we laugh every time.

Superbowl Halftime Entertainment

We had the best halftime show ever. Our friends Bart and Rebecca and their daughter Addison came over today to watch the Superbowl with us. Benjamin and Addison had the best time dancing to Bruce Springsteen.