The Past Week Or So...

I don't have any pictures to add because our desktop is in storage and we only have our laptop.  Which means to photoshop.  Boohoo.  I realize I could still load the pictures onto my computer, but then what would I edit them with?!  I have to at least fix skin tones.  They're always off with digital.  Anyway, when I get that figured out, I'll possibly post some pictures.  In the meantime, I brief update.
On September 15, Benson turned one!  Holy cow.  Where did that year go?  He is amazing in so many ways and has the cutest personality.  I have absolutely loved watching him grow into a little man.  He loves to play ball, and with cars.  He shakes his bum when he gets excited and has the cutest grin in the whole world.  He gets a twinkle in his eye before he makes mischief and he loves to tease his sister. 
On September 16, Vanessa, Benson, and I flew out to Kansas City, MO to join Jon.  So happy we did.  I seriously couldn't believe how much the kids missed their daddy.  Vanessa still tells me almost daily that "daddy is better Mommy."  She wouldn't let him go the night we got in and gives him all kinds of hugs and kisses every night when he gets home.
On September 20, Vanessa turned 28 months.  That's right 2 years and 4 months.  She is getting so big too.  Her vocabulary has nearly doubled in the last month or so.  She was a good talker before, but now she can express herself even better and has even more to say!  She counts 1-2-3-7-8-9-10-11.  And she can say her ABCs to p and sometimes s. 
Today I am fifteen weeks (but who is counting right?).  I am still waiting to get the 2nd trimester energy. It may have something to do with the fact that Benson has been up every night this week for at least an hour.  He has a cold and is getting teeth.  An evil combination. 
Jon is rocking his clinical.  It's in a cardiac unit so he is seeing a lot of procedures he hasn't seen before.  It's also pretty intense anesthesia since most of the patients are pretty sick and having major surgery.  He is enjoying it though and he likes most of the doctors he works with.  He had a couple crazy days and/or nights right before we got out here.  Since we have been here though, he has been home at a pretty reasonable time everyday.  Even though getting home at 5 is still almost a ten hour day, he still pretends to have energy for the kids!

Playing with Water

I have wanted to try mixing water with food coloring for a while.  I thought maybe I could teach Vanessa how to make different colors.  She did really like it when I made purple.  But when I asked her later how to make purple, she didn't have a clue.  Oh well.  It was still a fun experiment.

 Benson was happy to play with Vanessa shoes for a good ten minutes.  He even offered them to me every time I tried to get him to look at the camera.

 I had to take his shirt off to keep it from getting stained since he was crawling right through all the dye.  He is showing off his huge muscles here.

And this is Vanessa showing off her skills on the tramp.  This picture just makes me laugh.  Eyes closed, tongue out and all.  She loves loves loves to jump on the tramp and I am fairly sure she would do it all day if someone would jump with her that long.

Faster Is A Girl, Right?!

We all know old wives' tales have a 50/50 of being right.  So I guess we'll see how it turns out for this little one, but we are all waiting until March!  Heartbeat was 174 and going strong (phew!). 

On a random note, do the 3D ultrasounds look a little weird to anyone else?  Maybe when the baby is a little older and more developed it won't look quite so weird.  But how cool is it to see their little "womb home"?  That part is pretty sweet.  Can you tell I have never had a 3D ultrasound before?  Lol

Halloween Costumes

Benson and Vanessa are going to be matching skeletons for Halloween.  I realize I am planning this a bit early but I saw them at Marshalls for $8.  They are pjs, so they will get more wear out of them and we'll just layer them down with thermals and other pjs for the big night of trick or treating.  Hopefully St Louis ward does a trunk or treat.  Here's to hopin right?  Cause we've got the outfits!
When I told Vanessa she was a skeleton and they were bones, she told me that she was scary!  I told her she wasn't scary, she's cute.  So then she told grandma "I'm a mountain, I'm no scary.  I'm cute!"  I guess mountain and skeleton sound kind of similar and could be confused.  They are both new things to her.

Things We've Been Up To

 Vanessa discovered this hammock and she loves it.  She wants to get in and spin all the time.  This morning we had this conversation as she was spinning.

Vanessa:  "I miss my daddy."

Me:  "I miss daddy too."

Vanessa:  "I no want go to church."

Me:  "You don't?"

Vanessa:  "No.  I want to go to the store."

Me: "The store?"

Vanessa: "No.  I want to go to Target."

Me:  "Target? What's at Target?"

Vanessa: "Grass."

Me: "oh."

 They both love their otter pops.  They melt slower here, which actually works in our favor.

 Benson makes a ginormous mess and I had to dump water all over the deck.  You can see his legs are all red from crawling through the red sugar water.

 I was totally excited to make goo.  I saw the idea on pinterest (my new love) and couldn't wait to try it.  The picture above is right after I poured the borax/water into the glue/water.  It immediately starts forming into a giant glob.  You pull it out and this is what you get.

 I think it's pretty sweet.

 We also helped grandma pick tomatoes out of the garden.  Vanessa helped pick a few and then decided she just wanted to have us hand them to her and she put them in the bucket.  Probably better, she grabbed a couple orange ones.  Benson sampled the tomatoes as well as the dirt.

 He only thought they were cool until his teeth popped them open and he got a taste.  He would spit it out pretty quick at that point.  But they must have looked really enticing because he tried like three or four.

Vanessa cracks me up all day long.  She is at the age where she just has funny, random things to say.  Lately, the monsters and the dinosaurs have been after her.  She also likes to growl at us and then tell us we are scared.  She LOVES all the attention she is getting from grandma and grandpa and cousins.  My mom has to put her to bed every night now, which isn't the worst thing in the world, until grandma isn't around..... But I guess we'll just deal with that later. 

Vanessa has started to look after her brother.  She still does get a little jealous occasionally but she definitely loves and cares about him.  Whenever we go anywhere, she always says "Benson come too."  There are certain toys that are Benson's and no one but her is allowed to take that toy from him.  And when he cries, if I don't get to him right away, she will walk over and rub his fuzzy little head and say "it's okay buddy."  If that doesn't melt your heart, I don't know what would.

Today she would run up to us, yelling "I'm gonna get you."  Then do a little tickle thing and we would scream "aaaahhh."  After doing this a dozen times, Benson started screaming with us and rubbing his hands down his temples.  Kind of like an oh-no motion.  Funny boy.

Vanessa went to a new nursery today with no problems, though she was definitely ready to go when I picked her up.  And Benson slept through 1 1/2 hours of church.  Needless to say, it was the most church I have listened to in a LONG time.

Benson still refuses to stand.  Not really sure what to do about that one.  He just doesn't use his legs in general but his arms are like freakin macho man.  Or michelin man, one of the two.  He has the funnest personality.  He loves to dance, clap, entertain, flirt, and just generally be happy.  Though he will always let us know when he is ticked.  I have also noticed lately that he prefers men (except I am still the favorite, ha ha).  He warms up to the guys way before he warms up to the ladies.  Benson loves to play in the sink and usually cries when I pull him away after being washed.  He is also starting to learn his animal sounds.  I don't think he knows any except dog, thanks to the neighbor's dog, but he will repeat them after us.  He is also saying "do" (as in dog, without the g) followed by "ru" (as in ruff without the ff).

I feel pretty lucky to have these kiddos.  Someone asked me their ages the other day and when I replied 2 and 1, they said I was brave.  I think what they really meant was crazy, but honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way.  I think they will totally love and look after each other as they grow up together.

Twinners

 My mom bought these twinner dresses for Vanessa and her cousin, Micah.  Micah was so excited to wear these and of course I left them in the room Benson was napping in.  So they had to wait a whole two hours to try them on.  And then, she really didn't want her pictures taken after all.  Typical five year old I guess.  Vanessa is just always hard to take pictures of, but we did get one or two I thought turned out okay.  This second one is not a good one of Micah but I am ranking it up there as one of the best smiles of Vanessa caught on camera.  She is a tough model, she does not like the camera.  It may or may not have something to do with the fact that we are ALWAYS taking her picture.

Climbing Trees and Penguin Hats

 Vanessa has been obsessed with climbing trees ever since I attempted to climb one in Florida.  It was pathetic.  But this one had a low branch that she actually could climb with some help.  Hope the neighbors didn't mind her in their apple tree.

We have been doing a lot of shopping.  Trying to find this little guy a new car seat.  It is killing me making this decision.  Why?  I have no idea.  You would think it was life altering or something.  I think I walked into a Target and picked on in a matter of ten minutes when we got Vanessa's.  And I have love/hate issues with the thing so maybe that's why this is so rough.  I want the perfect seat and I'm having a hard time deciding what features are the most important.  I'll let you know when I finally decide.  I also have pictures on my camera I need to download.  There are some super cute ones.  These were just what was on my Ipod.