Our weekends of fun!

I am catching up on some of our weekend fun! We have really enjoyed spending the weekends of January at home hanging with our boys and getting together with friends and family! A couple of weekends ago we had our good friends the Haluska's over for a Sunday afternoon get together, the guys watched football and ate chili, Kendra and I hug with the little guys, and Jerzey and Luke played so well together! It's a joy to have such wonderful friends with kids around the same ages.
Last weekend while Sean was away in Miami for his national sales meeting, some of my family came in for a quick visit. My brother and his wife from Chicago called and wanted to see the boys, and me of course! So I invited my parents and my brother and his girlfriend to come over. We had a great time hanging out at the house, Luke loved playing with everyone! We even ventured out for dinner at a local restaurant. I was so proud of both Luke and Ben, they were so good, I actually thought to myself, man...we should do this more often, they were both little angels!

Ben and Jace hanging out together. These two are 6 weeks apart and I can only imagine how much fun these two will have together in the upcoming years!
Jerzey and Luke stopped playing for just a minute to snap a quick picture!

My sister in law Kate, and Luke's godmama, hanging out last weekend!

Kolbi playing with little Benny

Luke loving his Uncle Bryan! Out of no where he started calling him "uncle Brynan"! It was so adorable.

Luke is totally into mimicking everyone and everything! He saw Uncle Mitch looking out the window with his foot on the ledge so he had to do the same! It cracks me up...if we stand with our legs crossed and lean against the wall, he will do the same!

Phone pics Friday

Today is just a recap of some pictures I have taken over the past week from my phone. I've been running solo this week, as Sean is in FL for his National Sales meeting, we miss him so much! The boys and I are having fun, spending lots of time playing peek a boo with Ben, baseball with Luke, and we like to hunt black bear and bucks from our living room window! I know I say this a lot but these two little guys are growing up before my eyes.

Ben enjoying a little rice cereal. He has only had it twice, each time giving him a bit of a tummy ache so we are going to hold off for a few more weeks! Luke loves to Run! He keeps me going by asking me daily, "Mommy run?"

Such a big boy in his high chair!

Luke has been getting himself ready. This was Monday morning before we left for Ms. A's he got his boots on, both hats, and was working on his gloves

My two little love bugs

Luke showing of his big boy underwear! Wednesday night I ventured out with the boys to Target to let Luke pick out some big boy underwear. Let's just say a work in progress. He will tell me as he is peeing in his pants then say "Wet mommy, off now, dry pants, off now!"

Ben just hanging out!

"B" is for Ben...happy boy!

Enjoying a snack

Happenings...

Ben got his first taste of rice cereal on January 16th. He took it like he had been eating solids for days! He is not going to get it everyday, were going to ease into it!
Rollin' like crazy...Ben was on the middle of this blanket on his tummy looking into the mirror being held up by his puppy. This was several rolls later...needless to say, no more laying on the bed unattended!

Happy Ben, loving his exersaucer! He will sit in this thing, spin himself around, scream with excitement and talk to himself like crazy. I can't get over how much more vocal he has become in the past week!

Last night Mitch and Kolbi came over to celebrate Mitch's birthday, he turned 26 today. Luke was eyeing his cupcakes!

helping Uncle Mitch blow out his birthday candles. They left a cupcake behind for Luke to have as a snack today. When I was giving it to him, he started singing, "Happy Happy Mitch!"

Luke's latest & phone pictures

This is a random shot of some pictures I recently took off my phone that highlight a little about our two boys that bring so much energy and joy to our house. It has been awhile since I have given a recap on what Luke is up to being I don't do monthly posts any longer on him. We are having so much fun with him and each day he does something new that makes us laugh even harder! Luke is such a great big brother and a tremendous helper around the house. He loves to help do just about anything we could ask, whether it is to get a diaper, pick up his shoes, or throw away trash. He is always willing and ready to do anything we ask! He loves to play pretty rough with Gunner and Gunner loves it just as much. Every morning Luke will go to the basement to see "Gundy", chase him, wrestle him, or grab his collar and walk him around the basement. Luke is getting so much better at playing independently with his tractors and trains. He loves to play farm and is very particular about what Bop does and usually follows the pattern of what my dad does on the farm. Speaking of farm, Luke is obsessed with Bop and Nannies "barm", blue, john deere's, and tows (aka cows). He loves to spend time at the farm, and he loves it just as much when his Bop and Nannie come stay at "Luke's house". Everything is in third person to Luke, "Luke's house, Luke's toat (coat), Luke's ball, Luke's choo-choo" you get it! Lately when Sean and I are talking he will hold his hands out and say "top guys" (stop guys), if he wants to say something. We are working on him tapping our shoulder or saying excuse me, but for now it is "top guys". Friday night my parents came down and he wanted them to put him to bed, the three of them were walking up the stairs and he noticed he forgot his water cup, so he yells "stop guys, tup water". His vocabulary is expanding and I love watching him think about what he wants to say when he is telling a story. For example he will run to the window and say "momma hurwy, two does eat drass", or "bop nannie Luke's house two days" Everything is "two". I had told Luke that uncle Mitch was going to come tonight for his birthday dinner, so this morning when he woke he said "Mitch Luke's house cupcake". It is so fun to watch him grow and learn, he is quite the story teller and loves to make people laugh! We are working on staring to potty train with marshmallows and money! Luke's latest obsession is marshmallows, so if he sits on the potty we give him a marshmallow to eat while he sits and reads his books. If goes on the potty he gets to put money is in piggy bank to buy a new John Deere! Luke is still going to Ms. A's twice a week and he loves going! He knows all of his friends names and he is good an showing me how to get to her house every time I take him, "dat way mama"! He is growing like a weed, wearing mostly all 3t pants and some 3t shirts. His famous saying when we dress him in the morning is "too tight". Everything is tight! He is still sleeping in his crib tent and I am very hesitant to transition him to a big boy bed anytime soon. He is such a good sleeper and napper. Lately after I read him his bed time books and will always want to take one book to read in his bed, so I will dim his light and he will sit in there and read. I like to turn the monitor on and listen to him tell his own story! I usually give him a few minutes then go back on and take the book and shut his light off. He is getting so independent! We love the excitement he brings to our home, there is never a quiet moment. We are working on using our inside voices, especially when Ben sleeps. Luke loves to make Benny smile and laugh so he is always trying to say and do funny things. He loves to give him sloppy kisses on top of his head and help him roll! I am truly amazed at how much he has grown up in the past few months!

On our way to the mall, Luke found Sean's ski goggles and wore them for days!

Luke is into putting on our shoes, hats, gloves, anything he can find!
Another morning with the ski goggles, this time he was fixing his sled with the screwdriver. Notice the unmatched pajamas, he is into picking out his clothes now too!

Such a good helper, washing Ben's bottles

Little Ben smiling while in his carseat...this is a rare moment!

We introduced Ben to the jumparoo a few weeks ago and he loves it! He will sit in it playing with all the exciting toys and then will just sit back and watch Luke run around like crazy in the toy room

This is even more rare! A couple of weeks ago we went to the mall to buy a treadmill and get out of the house. We were walking through the mall and I looked down to see this, I was shocked! Ben hates his carseat and isn't a big fan of the stroller either. So when I saw this I wanted to jump around right there in the mall! I thought we were making strides, but Ben reminded me a few days later that he really did in fact dislike his carseat!

Chillin' out sucking on his fingers

...and it snowed

January 12th and our first snow fall of the winter...unheard of! Just when I finally got to taking my Christmas decorations down it now looks like Christmas! When Luke woke up Thursday morning I told him to look outside and his response was "Holy Moly Mom, no on ground!" He was so excited to tell Sean that there was snow outside. Sean had to fly out to Dallas last night and we were secretly hoping the snow and wind would keep him home, but he made it out safely. Prior to leaving he got to reve up his snow blower for the first time this season and promised Luke he would take him sledding on his new sled from Santa. Luke got all bundled up and stood in the garage watching Sean snow blow the driveway. When Sean was all done, he took Luke on a couple of laps around the house. We had to keep track of the time while Luke was outside and kept telling him that if he got cold he needed to tell daddy. Finally, after 30 minutes we had to coax him in with a cookie, he literally would have stayed outside all afternoon!

Luke & daddy sledding
Enjoying the first snowfall of the season

helping daddy with the driveway

such a great helper

Wordless Wednesday

THESE BOYS MAKE ME SMILE

Stats are in...

We had Ben's four month check on Friday and he is growing very proportionally in the 35 percentile. Ben is measuring 24 1/2 inches long (birth was 2o inches) and weighs 13 lbs 13 oz, birth weight 7 lbs 12 oz. He hasn't quite doubled his birth weight so he needs another pound or so.
He is healthy, happy, and right on track for a 4 month old. I felt horrible when he got his shots, he was all happy, smiling, and cooing at me as I was holding his hands, then turned red and screamed...just for a few seconds, then he was all done. Ben has a little goopy eye that I think we will need to get some antibiotics for, other than that his ears healed from his last ear infection and we hope to keep him healthy through the rest of this cold/flu season. Ben has been doing really well sleeping for mom and dad the past several nights, napping much better in his crib, and waking happy, which is all we can ask for! He loves loves loves when people talk to him and gets really excited he starts waving his hands and kicking his feet.
Love you little Benny!

Ben is 4 months old

My oh my...how can it be that little Ben is already 4 months old?!?! This little boy is full of smiles and he sure knows how to brighten our days by flashing that adorable smile of his! He can be tired as can be, but will smile as soon as you do. I feel like we are just getting the hang of Mr. Ben's schedule, or at least until it changes again. It took some time to figure out what this little guy wanted all the time, but I will say he is a complete joy and the best addition to our family. Luke loves Benny so much, talking to him all the time, which makes me smile. Ben is already looking up to his big bro, watching his every move. There was a point where I was feeling a little guilty not giving Ben all the attention when he was awake and playing, but Luke sure keeps him busy, as Ben always has to keep an eye on him! So sweet little Ben, what are you up to at 4 months old??? You have your 4 month check and shots tomorrow so I will give a stat update after your appointment!

-You are a very happy baby, always smiling, cooing, and laughing. You are a pure joy, even when you are tired, as long as someone is talking to you!
-you are getting the hang of napping in your crib, still will take naps in your swing when you just aren't having it in your crib. This is all new in the past week or so. I dedicated sometime during my time off to get you to nap in your crib and sleep through some whimpers!
-you are taking 3 solid naps, occasionally 4 if one of them is short
-you still despise your car seat, we are hopeful that you are making strides. You feel asleep in your carrier at the mall this week so I have my fingers crossed you are getting the hang of it. But up until this point, you are not a fan one ounce.
-you are exclusively being breastfed, eating around 6 times a day depending on your night
-you are toying with sleeping through the night on occasion but not consistent.
-you like to go to bed by 7pm, we usually start wind down around 6:30 or so. You will then sleep until 4-5am, occasionally waking at 2 am. I have my fingers crossed you will start to give me more full nights sleep
-you had your 2nd ear infection this month. You are a trooper and still happy when you are sick, but I could tell you weren't sleeping well, so I took you in on December 23rd before the holiday to make sure and sure enough, both ears:(
-today it was 61 degrees outside so you sat in your carrier and watched Luke and the neighbor kids play
-wearing size 2 diapers and mostly 3-6 mo clothes
-you are rolling both from tummy to back and back to tummy
-you like to sit in your bumbo seat and watch all the excitement around you!
-you love to be read and talked to
-we are still swaddling you and sleeping with a sleep positioner, although I see that going away soon. You are very strong and bust out frequently
-you have the most precious smile and adorable little laugh that can brighten any and all days!
Mr. Ben you are the sweetest little boy around, very content, and quite the chatterbox. You get really excited when people talk to you, you kick your legs like crazy. We are loving each minute with you and watching you grow...although you are growing too fast! We love you to the moon and back little Benny!

I had to snap a picture of this cute little guy in his bibs
our happy little Ben

Full of smiles at 4 months old

January 3, 2012

Luke wants the sticker...

...see mom!

...ok Benny, you can have it back!

You will have to excuse me here...but I just had to snap this picture tonight as I was putting Ben to bed...are these snuggles not the best thing in the whole wide world???? I LOVE THEM! I don't ever want to forget these sweet moments because as Ben is growing so fast, I won't get these snuggles much longer. This is the best way to end a very chaotic day and puts everything into perspective. I just love snuggling my little guys:)

Ringing in the New Year

We are so blessed to have met some really great friends to share such great times with! We all have kids around the same age as well, so it makes getting together not just fun for us, but for the kids as well. So we decided to have a little New Years celebration with the kids as well! We hosted it and it worked out great, we got the three little ones to bed by 730 in the bedrooms upstairs, moved a tv and dvd player into the toy room for the "big kids" (meaning the 2-4 year olds!). They were so cute, all in the pjs, laying down watching movies, but they were up and down all night long. The cutest was they didn't want any adults to come into the toy room during the movie. At one point I walked up there to check on them and Luke ran to the door "stop mommy, out"! We played games while the kids watched movies, played, and ran around the house. We decided to have a new years dance party at 11:00 pm during the New York New Years celebration with the kids because they were all begging to go to sleep by then! Which surprised us all:) We had a blast celebrating with our friends and sharing it with the kiddos too!

movie time for the kids!
So blessed by such great friends!

...and we all can have a real good time!

time for a toast to meeting each other in 2011 and for the great times ahead in 2012

CHEERS!

Watching the ball drop!

Luke giving Avery her New Years kiss!

ringing in the new year

Sparkling Apple Juice for new years cheer

"Happy" New Years to our Sweet Little Ben! You made our 2011 shine so bright sweet one!