{Staying In}

For the first time in months, the boys and I stayed home for a few days.  On Tuesday, we went to the grocery store and that's it.  On Wednesday, we delivered lunch to a pregnant friend who is on moderate bed rest trying to keep her little girl to stay put for a few more weeks.  This is very unusual for us to not make plans and be busy all day long -- we are usually go, go, go!  But it was nice.  Very nice.  And the boys did pretty well without a lot of things planned.  And I actually stayed sane and had fun just relaxing and playing with the boys at home.  Here is a small list of things that happened or I observed as we stayed in:

1.  Luke went into the pantry Wednesday morning and helped him self to some dog food.  As in put it in his mouth, chewed it up and swallowed it.  Ewwwwww!

2.  The boys are interacting more and more.  The new thing that started this week?  Playing in Ben's crib together.  It actually entertains them for 30+ minutes and I just get to sit there and watch them have fun without lifting a finger.  Glorious!

3.  I think I changed close to 15 diapers yesterday.  It was blow-out after blow-out with some heavy urine soaked diapers as well.  Not sure what was going on with the boys' plumbing!  Our trash men must hate when they pick up our trash.  It has quite the aroma.

4.  The boys are now into accessories.  After a year of trying to get Luke to wear a hat or sunglasses, he finally seems to be enjoying wearing a hat just like daddy!  Of course Ben is so chill, the glasses almost gravitated into air and landed on his face.  They belong there.

5.  We are heading the bay for 5 days with my family on Saturday. Chat will be there for 2 days and then he heads to Boston and New York for work.  I am sooooo happy to have some extra hands while he is away.  So on Tuesday I actually ordered a book to arrive by this weekend so I can bring it with me.  I might actually try to read for the first time in over 2 years.

6.  Luke tried multiple times to sit on Ben yesterday.  Evidence:

7.  Luke has really started to like holding my hand.  Sometimes he just grabs it and he wants to walk around the front yard together -- hand in hand.  We did this a lot on Tuesday as we waited outside for daddy to get home. 

8.  The past two days have been good on the old routine for Ben.  He actually has taken all of his naps in his crib and lasted longer than the 30 to 45 minute mark.  The longest has only been an hour and a half, but I will take it!  He usually wakes up super happy and loves it when he is greeted by his big brother and the dogs.

9.  "Ready, Set, Go!" is Luke's new favorite phrase.  Well, other than "Luke's turn".  Hint...everything is Luke's turn now.  I am almost sorry we taught him that.  The goal was to teach him how to take turns, but instead he thinks he just has to say it and it is always his turn.  Parent lesson #452,858,301.

10.  I think it is time to get back out and about.  Luke was literally bouncing off walls last night.  Hello Thursday!

{Spanky}

Spanky...a new nickname that seems fitting!

{Brotherhood Wednesday}

There's nothing much better than this...

{Holiday Feel}

Nothing like taking a walk with the family to get a push-pop to end a great holiday weekend!

{Memorial Day Weekend 2012: Part 1 of 2}

We have had a great Memorial Day Weekend!  It was a low-key start to the weekend with just hanging out around the house, swimming in the backyard and spending time with family.  We were getting ready for the party we were throwing on Sunday, so we had a lot to do around the house.  So here are just a few pictures of Saturday...

Nothing like having a cold one while swimming!

Yay! Cousin Molly showed up to swim and then we all went out for barbeque!
Doesn't Luke look thrilled??  Not sure the face because he had a blast.

All this one does is move, move, move!  Think we are getting into new territory! 
I can't leave him alone for a second... 

Luke helping mommy set up for the party...aka eating all the snacks!

Next post...the party pics!!

{Bathing Beauties}

Ben has been sitting up on his own really well lately and his chunky legs hang over the sides of his little bath tub since he is so huge, so I thought it was time to try putting both kiddos in the tub together!  The best part -- Ben LOVED it!  And Luke LOVED it!  Ben splashed and splashed in the bubbles.  I could barely get him to look up to snag a few pictures.  And Luke enjoyed him being there and didn't do any of his lovely two-year-old whining when Ben gets too close.  I was a bit surprised how well it went and how much both boys enjoyed it! 

And here are my bathing beauties...

{Finding Feet}

This little one has finally found his feet!  It has taken him awhile since he has so much pudge to get through to them. Feels like it was just yesterday when Luke found his. Apparently it was July 2010, almost 2 years ago.  Wow has time gone by fast!

And then Ben decided to cooperate for some more pictures...

{Kisses For Ben}

Yesterday I was filming the boys and asked Luke to give Ben a kiss which he did so nicely.  Then I asked him to kiss him on the lips.  Hmmmm, I think he thought I said something else...

Sweet Luke.  He was just trying to do what I ask and give his brother a kiss on the legs.  Oh, and here is one more video of Luke saying his colors.  He loves to talk about them!  I love how is says yellow.

And to redeem my picture taking skills since yesterday's pictures were so odd, here are a few better ones of Benny...

{Ben Bloopers}

I took some rather odd pictures of ole Benny boy this weekend...

Hello!

Who me?

There are no words for this one!

{Ben's Sleeping Update}

I actually feel like I can talk about it now that Ben's sleeping has gone back into the toilet again.  For almost a whole week, I had a sleeper.  I had no idea it was so good.

It was pure bliss.

Let's start back on Thursday, May 10th.  {Note: For the weeks prior to that night, he had been waking up 3 to 4 times a night.} I nursed Ben to sleep around 7:45 pm.  By 8:30, he was up fussing.  I knew he wasn't hungry -- he had just eaten a very full meal.  So I decided to let him fuss.  It took about 25 minutes and then he was back down again.  It was hard to hear him upset, but he wasn't ever crying too hard, so we just powered through. 

Well, once we got through that hurdle, I thought to myself "Well, I guess we started this.  I didn't just listen to him cry for almost 30 minutes to have that mean nothing."  So we started the crying it out process that night much to my surprise. 

He was back up at 1:30 am and it took 40 minutes and he was back down.  He then woke up around 5:00 am.  By that time it had almost been 10 hours since he ate, so I felt like it was time to eat.  So I went in, nursed and then he went back down till 7 or so.

Friday night.  He slept the whole night, only waking up around 4:45 am to eat.  What?!?!?!  Was it that easy??

Apparently so.

The next night, the same thing.

Mother's Day -- Sunday night.  I put him down at 7:45 pm and he wakes up at 7:00 am.  Over 11 hours straight without a peep.  Cue angels singing.  I had no idea who this baby was.  But I loved it.  Best Mother's Day gift ever.  Of all times.

The next three nights, he woke up only once a night around 5:00 for a quick bite and then down he went till 7:00 or 8:00 each morning.

I didn't dare write anything down about his sleep because I didn't want to jinx anything. 

Well the fat lady has sung because it is over.  Thursday night, he woke up several times and I endured hearing his little cries again.  Last night, terrible.  He was practically up all night.

I just don't know why we are regressing.  I am doing nothing different.  Even more so, he has been sleeping better for naps in his crib.  Even falling asleep awake.  I know -- I can hear the gasps.  It has been that life-changing this week. 

So, I am now a bit sad, dreading the night once again.  Thinking things were heading in the right direction.  I am just saying my prayers tonight hoping that we get back to where we were. 

{Options}

Lately, it has been extremely challenging to change Luke's diaper.  He either runs away from us, won't sit still long enough, kicks, cries, screams, etc.  It is lovely. We are still far away from potty training so I know this is what our future looks like for at least the next few months.  Things need to change. 

Today, we got home from Mother's Day Out and a funky aroma spread throughout the living room.  {Side note: Luke does not poop at school.  Monday is our last day of the school year and he has not pooped once at school.  He goes either 5 minutes before we leave the house or 5 minutes after we get home.  Smart boy.} I knew I needed to change his diaper for the sake of all of our noses, but as he sees me grab the wipes and a new diaper, he starts to run and climb on his train table so I can't get him.

I decided to stop fighting him.  So I gave him two options:

1.  Lay down nicely and let me change his diaper and then continue playing.
2.  Go to time out.

Guess which one he picked?

{A Night Without Dad}

Since Chat has to work several nights out of the month from 5:30 pm to 5:30 am, I have lots of nights where it is just me and the boys.  It can get hectic and tiring to deal with two and dinner, baths and nighttime crankiness.  Some nights go better than others.  But we try to find ways to pass the time and have fun.  So we send pictures to Chat to let him know that we miss him!

Here are the close-ups of the pictures we sent....

{And I have no idea why I post pictures of me when I look so terrible.  But I guess this is my reality at 7:45 at night.  One day I will post a good picture of myself :)}

{Roller Coaster Fun!}

Chat brought Luke to a birthday party recently and when he got home he *raved* about this "roller coaster" that Luke played with the whole time.  So we searched the interent and finally found it -- a bit cheaper than the retail price and with free shipping.  What a deal, right?!?  (Not sure about that one, but it was nice to convince ourselves)  We decided to splurge...we bought it for Luke for no reason.  We typically don't like to buy just to buy, but for some reason we decided to just get it.  And clearly, someone was very happy we did....

I am not quite sure where Luke learned to raise his arms up when on a roller coaster.  I asked Chat and he said that he did not teach him that.  It must be an instinct for daredevils!

He is actually almost too big for this toy, but he definitely has a few months to enjoy it.  And then it will be all Ben's. 

Speaking of Ben, he got his chance on it too...

Wow, he looks big in this picture.  His rolls are turning into more rolls and he is starting to look like an overstuffed sausage.  I swear, this boy is only getting milk.  I am not feeding him hamburgers as his picture might suggest. 

I digress.  This is what Luke looked like when he was taking turns and it was "Baby's turn".  Gotta love the terrible twos!