Back to work...

I have some catching up to do on the blog but a perfectly good excuse for my absence. My maternity leave is up and I am back to work today so I have spent the last several days just soaking in the joy of being home with my sweet boys. I am going to miss being with them every minute of the day and it will be an adjustment for us all. It amazes me how fast 12 weeks can go and how much these two little boys can change in such a short time. Luke has really grown up so much right before our eyes and Ben is growing out of his "newborn" stage and becoming so interactive with us. It has been such a great blessing to have spent the past three months with our boys, I adore them with all my heart and looked forward to what each day was going to bring. We are so fortunate to have Miss Judi with us, so it will make our transition much easier for myself and the boys. Luke loves her so much and I know Ben will too. I have a great piece of mind knowing that she is with them when I can't be. I am thankful that my going to work means they get to stay home with Miss Judi and when I work from home I can always sneak upstairs on occasion to get a little fix of their sweet faces. I will say it is a little harder working from home the older Luke gets, he likes to come down to our offices and he just knows when we are actually home, even if he doesn't see us go down to our offices. I will begin my traveling next week, with my first over night to Memphis, which is very hard for me to swallow. It has to come to happen at some point. Sean reminds me they will be alright and I know they certainly will, its more of a question if I will be alright?!
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and have so much to be thankful for...first and foremost our beautiful two boys that we have been greatly blessed to parent and our wonderful family and great group of friends near and far. We are thankful for our jobs that allow us to provide for our family and offer challenges to us that keep us going! We are thankful for our house that we have made a home and celebrating ONE year in our new home on November 26th! A year ago we were working our way out of boxes and to say we have greatly enjoyed and embraced the comfort of our home is an understatement. We are looking forward to celebrating another wonderful holiday in our home together, and most importantly with the addition of Ben to celebrate with us, his 1st Christmas. We spent Thanksgiving day with some of Sean's family in Davenport at his aunt and uncles house, and headed north to my parents on Friday. We celebrated my mom's birthday by making her a special dinner and let her sit and enjoy the craziness of her home during the holidays, she truly enjoyed and appreciated being waited on and served for once being she is always stuck in her kitchen when we are home. Saturday we got together with my extended family on my dads side, which is a house full. Everyone from our family was there with the exception of my brother and his wife in Seattle and my cousin from Denver, which hasn't happened in many many years. It was great to see everyone and I know it meant so much to my Grandma.
The goal of my blog has always been to keep track of our ever so crazy lives and capture as much of the excitement and milestones I can. I have printed off our first year and find myself looking back to it quite a bit. As busy as our lives can be with our two boys, our busy work schedules, and all the above, I want to make sure that I am keeping up with our boys so one day they can look back on what their days looked like as an infant and crazy busy toddler. You may not see me on here as often, but I will be sure to highlight what is going on in our family so we can have it to look back on.
I will end this random post with a couple pictures of our cuties, both taken from my phone! I am taking more pictures from my phone these days because it is much "easier" to grab it rather than getting our big, nice camera.

Ben really is a very happy baby, cooing, kicking, and laughing all the time. He still likes his swing for naps and constant movement when it is time to sleep. He is mostly happy unless he is letting us know it is time for a nap!
Our first baby! Luke is loving all the things he use to have as a baby. Too bad he didn't love them then as much as he does now! (jk)

Super Saturday

We have had a wonderful day at home, the four of us, lounging around the house, putting up Christmas decorations, and getting things done around the house. Did I mention, we didn't get out of our pajamas...ahh, it was so wonderful!
Last night we had our Friday night get together for happy hour and pizza with our group of friends. It is such a fun thing we try to do most Fridays, we get together after work, have a few drinks, let the kids run wild, and enjoy a Friday night with our great friends! This morning when Ben went down for his nap, we started the Christmas decorations. I will say that I don't remember it ever being this lengthy of a process..all day! But with a newborn needing to be fed, and a two year old wanting to help do everything, it took sometime, but I wouldn't have it any other way! It was so fun this year talking to Luke about Christmas while we put up the Christmas tree and hung the garland on the banister.

Luke had so much fun hanging ornaments on the tree
taking it very seriously

the finished project

Ben just hanging out getting ready to enjoy his first holiday season! On a side note, Ben rolled over again, twice today

I took this Tuesday night, my three boys hanging out! I love this picture

Luke stories

I have a Luke story about everyday, but I want to highlight a few funnies from the past couple of days!
I have received some feedback from Luke's teacher that he likes to play "rough" with the other kids, so we have been working on it and reminding him that we need to play nice with our friends or they won't want to play. So everyday before I drop him off on our way to Ms. A's I remind Luke to play nice, no wrestling, and share with your friends. So this morning we got to Ms. A's a little late so all the kids were down stairs already. Luke sat down to take off his shoes and he looked and me and said "Luke be nice, Luke no wessle, I share". Boy if I don't have it beat into his head! When I walked Luke down the stairs the a few kids shouted "yay, Luke's here!" This program has been so good for Luke, he truly enjoys going and has been learning to share and play so nice with his little friends.
This morning while I was getting his breakfast ready, Ben was in the swing and started fussing a little, so Luke ran over to the swing. Just as I was going to say "Luke, be nice." He beat me to it and said, "I be nice". Then he sat in front of the swing and shhhhh'd Ben, it completely melted my heart and made my day!
Last night Luke was in the basement playing with his new train set that some neighbors were so kind enough to share with Luke. I had just finished feeding Ben and Sean was cleaning up the dishes when Luke ran upstairs pretty upset. I asked him what was wrong and he said "Luke side". So Sean and I went downstairs thinking he was frustrated with his train set, and he pointed to our sliding glass doors all scared saying "Luke side". Here he was seeing his reflection in the window! We thought it was pretty funny but understood he was scared. So we all danced around and made funny faces in the window so he realized it was just us!
Last Luke story, I could go on forever, I just think this is so sweet! When it is bedtime he gives Sean his kisses, tells Gunner nigh-nigh, and off we go. Luke has a Buzz Lightyear doll that he got from Uncle Nate & Aunt Debbie for his birthday that needs to sit next to us on the chair and read books before bed. When it is time to get tucked in, he needs to sleep right between Buzz and his pet monkey. I have to cover all three of them up and Luke will say "Buzz, Luke, Monkey, bye-bye mama". He is just the sweetest little boy and such a creature of habit. Then when it is time to get up in the morning or from naps, he has to hand everything from his crib out, Buzz, Monkey, snuggles, his heart pillow, pumpkin pillow, and his blanket!
Oh the stories of Luke that we could tell all day. These are just a few as of late that I want to make sure he can read some day!

sick little boy

Unfortunately Ben has come down with his first ear infection:( boo-hoo for my sweet baby Ben. He had been fighting a cough for several weeks and it just wasn't getting any better. Another "unfortunately", Sean is sick with walking pneumonia, so I decided to take Ben in this a.m just to rule it out because he just couldn't kick the cough and it was severely effecting his sleeping. (and mine!) As it turns out is lungs were a bit noisy and his left ear is infecting. I hate to put the little guy on antibiotics, but I also want to get my boy healthy. So he is on his first dose of antibiotics. I feel absolutely horrible because I found myself getting frustrated with the digress in Ben's sleeping routine, especially night time, and here to find out this poor little guy has been fighting misery, and all the while being a pleasant little guy most of the time. I am very nervous about the long term effects of getting an ear infection so young, so I have our house loaded with sanitizers everywhere you look...extra vitamins for Sean, Luke, and I, and here is hoping we can keep all those nasty bugs out of our house. When Luke was a baby we joked he was a "bubble boy" and we certainly kept him secluded from all sickness which worked because he didn't get sick until he was nearly 10 months old. However, we can not do the same with Ben because we have Luke in activities with other kids (bugs passing from kid to kid non stop), which we can't keep Luke from doing. We will just make sure our hand washing is on overdrive and hopefully we can keep our house as healthy as possible to keep Sweet Baby Ben from getting sick.

He sure doesn't look sick, does he? Ben is loving tummy time and watching all the lights and listening to fun music on his toy
Yesterday we put Ben in the bumbo for the first time. He didn't love it, but he was pretty content for a few minutes looking around. He is getting so strong! I feel like once you can hold him on your hip, he won't seem like a baby anymore:( They grow up so fast, so we are cherishing every second we can with him and giving him extra snuggles and cuddles to help him get better soon!

Happenings

We have had a very busy past week, but an enjoyable one! The weather has been like a roller coaster, one day sunny and beautiful, the next rainy, windy, followed by snow, then wrap up the week with a beautiful sunny Saturday perfect for an Iowa Football tailgate! I have two weeks left on maternity leave and I am in a bit of denial that I must leave my two boys in 14 days to go back to work. I have truly enjoyed being home 24-7 with these two sweeties. Luke has grown up SO much in the past couple of months, talking a lot, and surprising me everyday with his amazing memory. Today we were driving past the turn off to go to the doctors office, as I was driving he tried to get my attention, "mom!" he shouted from the back seat, when I said, "Yes Luke", he pointed to his ears and then pointed to turn. I asked him if his ear hurt, he told replied "no mom, Becky!" Oh, that is right, Dr. Becky checked your ears! Two weeks ago I took him to the doctor and yes she did in fact check his ears. He cracks me up with the things he remembers. Poor little Ben has been battling a horrible cough for quite some time now. I did check in again with the doctor and there really isn't much we can do for him. It is affected his sleeping at night, which I feel so bad for him, and I have a little pity on myself too! Ben was a champ night time sleeper, sleeping from 6:30 to 4 in the morning, then up again at 7 or so, he started doing this when he was just a few weeks old:) Unfortunately, he just can't settle into a good sleep because he is constantly coughing, so we have had a rough few nights. We have made some strides with napping, which I am thankful for! He still has little period from 5-630 p.m or so where he just wants to be held. Last night I found myself reading our blog from this period in 2009 to see what was going on with Luke at 10 weeks old. It was so fun to read it and it reminded me not only do our two boys look identical, it is like reading exactly the stages Ben is going through right now. We are having so much fun watching Ben smile, coo, and kick his legs like crazy! He loves to be talked to, responding with a smile and a squeal. This morning when I came downstairs from grabbing Luke's clothes, Luke had a few of his tractors and he was showing them to Ben during tummy time. Both boys were on their tummy's and Luke was driving his tractors around in front of Ben, awwww...those moments are priceless.
We spent a few days at the farm last week to support Sean during his hunting excursion! Luke always has a blast at the farm. This weekend we had our great friends from Kalamazoo in for the weekend. We have made it an annual tradition to get together the weekend of the Iowa/Michigan State football game. The Rozewicz's lived down the street from us and they have a little girl, Melina (Luke's future girlfriend), who is 6 months older than Luke. We met the Jankovic's through Sean's work, and they had their first boy 6 months after Luke. It is so great to be able to share these weekends with them and watch our kids play so well together. We get together with the kids about twice a year, so each time we see each other with the little ones, they play together so much more. Brayden had a blast keeping up with Luke, little Melina kept up with the boys, and Ben was thinking that our house was crazy! It was a wonderful weekend and we are so thankful for such great friends! We look forward to this tradition and sharing it each year, and watching the kids play together over the years to come! We have a quiet week on the agenda this week and I am very much looking forward to it.

Ben taking a marathon nap in the swing. This little guy has started to like his swing and will nap for 2-3 hours sometimes in it. We are making strides with not having to hold him for his entire nap, and this is step one...getting the little guy to nap without being held. Next step, napping for more than 30 minutes in his crib!
Does it get any cuter? This is Ben's first day/night in his crib, October 31, 2011

Last Wednesday we headed up to my parents. We left Iowa City, sunny and beautiful, only to arrive to my parents two hours north to find 5 inches of snow on the ground! Luke was so excited to wear his boots and build a snowman with Nannie! All bundled up and ready to go!

You can't really see the camo in this picture, but Luke had to support his daddy hunting, by wearing his camo shirt and hat! He is a little outdoorsman and will be Sean's future hunting buddy. One our way to Waukon he would say "daddy, hunt buck!"

all smiles from baby Ben, he melts my heart!

The three boys from the weekend, Brayden, Ben, and Luke. We laughed how Brayden keeps up with the wild man Luke, and soon enough Ben will be running after them both.

Our little hawkeye sporting his new jersey from the Rozewicz's. Cutest lil Hawk I know!

The four kiddos...they played and played and played some more. Brayden, Ben, Luke, and Melina! Luke was so tired after everyone left Sunday, he was sitting on our bed getting ready to watch Buzz, I was changing Ben's diaper and talking to Luke about how much fun he had with his friends. He didn't respond to be so I looked up and he was starring at me and just like that his eyes clothes. He was exhausted and took a three hour nap!

Brayden just loved Ben. I couldn't get over how much he loved the "baby"!

My two adorable hawkeyes

Luke and Brayden ready for the football game! Luke wanted his hair like Brayden's so Erin styled them both up, so cute!

Erin loving on little Ben.

...and again, these two keep our house full of life and lots of energy!

Vacation Bop & Nannie

Last week we spent a few days at my parents farm, aka Vacation Bop & Nannie. We love going up there this time of year, the colors are beautiful and we love harvest time on the farm! Sean spent sometime in the tree stand, but most of his time he spent helping my dad. They also had another little helper this year, Luke! I was afraid after spending four days up there, we would never get Luke to come home with us, our house is clearly not as much fun as Bop and Nannie's. The weather was great, the food was delicious as always, and it was just so nice spending some extra time with my parents. Unfortunately, we took a trip Wednesday night to the ER with Luke. He had been battling a cold for a week or so and I had just taken him to have his ears checked because he was rubbing them and sleeping in much later than normal. (is that bad that I think my child is sick because he is sleeping in????, ha!) By Wednesday night he was laying on the kitchen floor rubbing his ear on the floor, I knew it was an ear infection! We missed clinic hours so we had to take him to the ER only to find out, not only did Luke have double ear infection but also bronchitis, poor little guy! The hardest part was keeping him inside the house at the farm, and keeping him away from Ben as much as possible. Ben did come down with his first cough/cold this week, but he seems to be getting better. Our house is on the mend and Luke is eager to get back up to Bop & Nannie's to help drive "blue" and "Luke's John Deere"!

Is this heaven? No, it's Bop & Nannie's!

Luke riding in the combine with Bop and Nannie
Harvest time on the farm. Here is my dad's new combine and "blue"

Sean checking his full load of corn ready to haul back to the farm

Luke & Bop

Does it get any better for a 2 year old little boy??? I think not!

This is what Fall on the farm is all about

Luke waving bye to Daddy!

Luke driving "Luke's John Deere" helping Nannie

Ben clearly disgusted by the Hawkeyes loss to Minnesota

Luke helping Nannie make malts for an afternoon snack

What does Ben do while Big Brother Luke is having fun outside...hanging out, being cute, smiling, and cooing at the ceiling fan! We did get out for a few walks and enjoyed the fresh Fall weather. Ben was happy as a clam in the Bjorn while I got a little exercise.

Rollover

Going...
Going...

Over

Ben is 2 months old

Benjamin David-2 months old

November 3, 2011
Sweet Baby Ben, you loveto look out the big living room windows at the trees

Ben, your big brother Luke loves you very much! He asks about you first thing every morning!

Our sweet boys...we are so blessed

Ben, can it be that you are actually two months old already? So many days, its like it was just yesterday when your daddy said "it's a beautiful boy", and then there are days when we feel like we have known you much longer. You still love to curl up on my chest and it absolutely melts my heart. I smile just thinking about those snuggles we share and I will cherish those moments endlessly. You are becoming much more interactive and spending more time awake, which we love to watch your personality develop. It doesn't matter what you are doing, when you hear Luke, you stop and try to find him. I can only imagine how you two will be the best of friends, it is my wish:) So, what is Mr. B up to at 2 months old:

-you have moved onto size 1 diapers

-weigh nearly 11 lbs

-still nursing every 2-3 hours during the day

-you like to start bedtime around 6:30 p.m, then you will sleep until 3-4 a.m. which mommy loves!

-there are nights when you wake up at midnight, then again at 5 a.m but you almost always go right back to bed so I can handle our quiet, dark, middle of the night feedings.

-we moved you to your crib in your room upstairs on October 31st, it hasn't been going so well this week, but we will get there!

-you absolutely love your bath! We put your little bath in the big bath tub with Luke and he helps give you a bath and you two have so much fun together

-you have no schedule, what so ever...and it is driving mama crazy, but I know we will get there. we have been somewhat following eat.wake.sleep, but you really fight your naps during the day so it takes us awhile to get you settled in for a nap

-you love love love the baby bjorn!

-you still want to be held a lot while you sleep and this week we are starting to work harder at putting you in your crib or bassinet for naps, it is a work in progress:)

-I love to hold you my sweet little boy...but sooner or later you will have to nap in your crib!

-you are still wearing a few newborn clothes, mostly just the pants, the onesies don't fit too well and are hard to snap

-you rolled over from your tummy to your back twice today, on your 2 month birthday!

-you enjoy spending time on your tummy and you hold your head up very very well, even the doctor commented on how strong you are

-you love to stand on our laps and look around, you get so excited

-you are squealing, cooing, and love to be heard in our crazy fun house!

-you celebrated your 1st halloween as the perfect little monkey

Ben, you are a blessing and perfect addition to our family! We love our little boys more than we could have ever imagined. Each day I feel like you are growing so fast, I want to slow down how quickly time is going. Daddy, mommy, and your big brother Luke love to you to the moon and back sweet Baby Ben!

Ben 2 month check

This little guy had his two month check up today and is growing leaps and bounds! Ben will be two months old this Friday and I will do a complete 2 month post but wanted to highlight his stats from his appointment this morning.

At 8 weeks old Ben is measuring

23 1/4 inches long (75th percentile)

10 lbs 15 oz (50th percentile)

Overall he is right where they want him to be, smiling, cooing, making eye contact, eating and sleeping well, and holding his head up nice and strong! Last night was Ben's first night in his bedroom and it didn't go so well:( ha! Actually, I should have expected it, but he was up quite a bit during the night, which is unlike Ben. Because Ben was upstairs he woke up Luke early this morning too and we couldn't get Luke back to bed. So a few things we learned...noise machine for both boys' rooms will be arriving tomorrow via overnight shipping! Also, over the past couple of weeks, we have learned that Bed loves to go to bed around 630 p.m, if he gets to bed around then, he will sleep until 3:30-4:00 a.m, which is a slice of heaven for me. If we push him past 730 p.m, he likes to pay me back by waking at midnight, 3 a.m, and 5 a.m! The good news, I got some unexpected exercise in the wee hours of the night running up and down the stairs several times, ha!