The Merrick Family has grown: 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!