Random Happenings

Ben now LOVES to help me.  His newest accomplishment: doing laundry.  He likes to go outside with me (which he always has), but now he loads and unloads--and occasionally tries to reload--the washer with me.  

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He loves to help harvest the garden.  In fact, he doesn't even need help.  Now that our strawberries have seemed to diminish, he has moved onto tomatoes.  The other day while I was hanging clothes, he decided to pick some.  The only problem is he doesn't know to only pick the red ones.  When he picks a green one, we put it in the compost so at least it doesn't go to waste.  Well, he's no dumb kid and he caught on quickly that the green ones go in the "green monster."  So while I wasn't looking, he was busy picking as many green ones as he could, then walked over to the compost, pointed and grunted for me to open the lid, threw them in, and promptly clapped for himself and went back for more.

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Ashlyn has recently decided that she doesn't take bottles.  I love that she loves to nurse, but for the sake of the family, she really needs to suck it up and take one while I'm at work.  Or I might go broke trying every bottle out there. 

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Ashlyn sleeps through the night! 

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Ben can now go down the slide at the park all by himself.  He about gives me a heart attack every time he leans over the rails, but I'm adjusting.  Who makes a playground for kids 2-5 (albeit he's not 2 yet) with about a foot in between each horizontal bar?? 

A-MA-ZING

I just have to share how amazing I think my cute little daughter is.  At six weeks, she goes to sleep from about 9pm til 6 or 7am with one feeding at about 2am, which she falls right back to sleep afterwards.  She also does not take a pacifier well, which excites me since I don't care for pacifiers to begin with and always worry that my child will be attached to it way beyond her babyhood.  She DOES take a bottle though, which is in her best interest since I go back to work on the 25th!  Seven and a half weeks really does go by too quickly.  Last and best of all, she falls asleep on her own!!!!!  No binkys, no swaddling, no music, no rocking.  Just lay her down, she maybe cries for a minute or two, coos, and is out.  This thrills me to no end.  Ben didn't do this until 7 months and I chose to cry it out with him.  Even now, he usually cries himself to sleep with music unless he is super tired. 

I just got the okey dokey from my doc to exercise again! WAHOO!!!  Treadmill here I come!

Coveting

Do you ever get jealous of what others have?  I am usually jealous of others' lack of debt.  I see people buying new homes or paying cash for things that should be paid with cash, but I just can't find the money for and I get super frustrated.  I think finances is our big challenge in life.  We made some mistakes spending more than we made in our first few years of marriage and it looks like it's going to affect us for 10 years.  What other mistakes have such lasting impacts?  Why do other people have such amazing self discipline?  How do they make grocery budgets work on 35 dollars a week?  I want that.  We are trying SUPER hard to get out of debt and simplify life, but we still make mistakes.  We take the easy road (going out to dinner, anyone?) and give into our wants instead of saying no sometimes.  And then I read about how some families are paying cash for things like a HOME or the only debt they have is a home.  I try to remember that I have no idea what other people's challenges are.  We ALL have trials, even if they aren't as obvious as others.  In the meantime, I am grateful I have a beautiful, HEALTHY family and a roof over my head (even if I'm not paying for that roof).  One day, we'll learn our lesson, but then what will our trial be?  That thought scares me a little.  Maybe I like struggling financially...

Easter

Our ward had a little Easter egg hunt and picnic at the park nearby.  This year they didn't separate the kids by ages, so there was a free for all and poor Ben had no idea what was going on and only got one egg, which happened to have bubble gum in it.  Poor guy.  I was pretty camera shy, so I only got a couple of pictures of the kids. 

After church, we had our own little egg hunt for him at home. 

He definitely needed some coaxing to hold the basket

What he really wanted to do was open each and every egg.  Unfortunately they were filled with things like fruit snacks and chocolate covered raisins.  Not the best idea he's ever had...

See the chocolate on his foot.  He still had to dump every egg's contents on the floor.  Silly boy. 

This was not taken on Easter, but is a classic picture of Ben, tupperware top hat and all.

Culture Passes

The other day I found out about this totally awesome thing during our mother's group that just totally made my day.  Maybe even my month.  It's called...a culture pass.  It's this amazing thing that gets you into museums and zoos and the like for FREE and it's available to check out at our public libraries.  The city has never thought of anything so brilliant to do with our tax money.  I can't wait to stand outside a library before it's open when one becomes available near me.  Yes, I'm that kind of mom.   

THE SECRET TO LIFE

The secret to life with 2 kids, specifically my 2 kids.  At the exact ages they are now.  So sorry if you were hoping this might solve all your problems.  This week I learned that

a little boy at a park

plus

a very sleepy newborn

equals 2 long naps in the afternoon. 

I think we'll go to the park everyday at this rate!  Too bad it's just a stage...

My First Day

Today was my first day by myself. 

With 2 children of my own.

Good news: we all survived! 

Ben didn't do any permanent damage to her eye.

I didn't throttle Ben.

They slept well.

Now if only she stayed a very sleepy baby, I think I could do this everyday. 

Oh wait, I already signed up to do it everyday...I guess we'll figure it out as we go!