Sleep

My precious boy Ben has decided that sleep is not for him.  Ever since Christmas, he screams like he's absolutely terrified when we put him down to sleep.  Imagine my dismay since this was my child's only redeeming quality--he was an excellent sleeper.  He'll only sleep if you lay down with him.  Of course I usually fall asleep first, wake up around 1am, sneak out, and then get woken up again by Ashlyn who thinks she needs to eat during the night.  This wakes Ben up and we all sleep on the living room floor.  Ben hasn't been taking afternoon naps and I have a bunch of things I want to get done.  I'm cranky because I slept on the hard floor and I don't get any "me" time to get stuff done/relax/burn some calories.  I'm sure the extra cortisol in my system is storing up even more fat.  That's ok...I like a challenge.  Ben pushes all of my buttons all.  day.  long.  I'm starting to think my kids will not live past age two.  Or maybe I won't.  This seems to be a VERY long phase.  But it's just a phase, right?  Kids do eventually grow out of the "I'll do exactly what you just told me not to do, look at you, and laugh when you get really mad" phase.  At least that's what I keep telling myself. 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Now that we have finally cooled down (I actually need a light jacket when I walk outside now) that I might be getting in the Christmas spirit.  I was completely ready for gift-giving, but it just didn't feel like that time of year.  Maybe the tree and lights will help this weekend.  We don't decorate much because 1) we don't have many decorations, 2) they are boxed amidst all of our other stuff that we're not using, and 3) it's already a packed house.  The last thing I want to do is set one more trinket on a bookshelf.  Our traditions this year are:

• to get a christmas angel from the mall
• to read the advent calendar each night
• to drive to see Christmas lights
• to see the temple lights
• to make candy and cookies and sweets galore!
• to help out a family in the ward
• to do a little craft with the kids each day

Today's craft was making snowflakes.  It was the first time I had ever given Ben scissors.  He doesn't quite get it and I don't think it helped that I don't own a pair of left-handed ones.  I'm going to have to rectify that before too long. 

What are your plans for the season?

PICTURES!

Sometimes it's nice to have a child with a birthday near the holidays because we can take his yearly pictures at the same time as our family christmas card ones!  Can you believe my boy is turning 2 on thursday????  Me neither.  Get ready for a walk down memory lane very soon.  I might just need a new box of tissue.  Anways, back to the pictures from this year.  We got so many fantastic pictures!  Here are some of our favorites!

Getting Ben to smile at the camera is a trick in itself

my two favorite boys

LOVE the coloring on this

this is the one and only time that she looked right at the camera

here he's ready to throw the fruit at the first unsuspecting person he can find, usually his sister

the classic, "are we done yet?" look

7 months

I started this post when she turned 6 months and am just now getting around to finishing it.  At 6 months, she was 12 pounds 6 oz and we have since had TWO weight checks (annoying little things) and she's now 13 pounds 5 oz!  YAY!  She's steadily gaining weight and doing well.  Luckily, we haven't had to add formula to her diet.  I've been eating good fats and she's been eating more solids and it seems to be a good combo.  She's had rice cereal, peas, green beans, squash, and carrots.  She likes carrots and tolerates the rest.  Her first facial expressions were hilarious!  (Since then, she's also enjoyed sweet potatoes, bananas, prunes, and peaches.)  She's a pro and sitting on her own and scooting around and I think we'll be officially crawling in the next day or two.  Her favorite things to go after are shoes, Ben's beloved magnetic letters (which he will NOT share), and his sippy cups.  They are the 12mo+ ones (I haven't bought any since) and she can get the juice out.  haha.  She's a strong sucker!   I think this is my favorite stage of babyhood.

We had some family pictures taken on Saturday and got a few back.  This one is my favorite so far:

Thanks Mimi for making us look so good!

A few of Ben's favorite things

Here are some of Ben's favorite things at 23 months:

Book: his Jesus book (called My Little Book About Jesus--he turns every page and points to Jesus about a zillion times each day)

Song: probably itsy bitsy spider, but I think do as I'm doing would be a close second

part about nursery: naptime!  he has fallen asleep 3 out of the past 4 weeks, which really sucks for us because then he doesn't nap at home and I really miss my 3-4 hours of afternoon bliss

Food: mac and cheese, broccoli/peas, ketchup, bread, fruit snacks, all fruit

TV show: word world--it's more like an addiction

toy: blocks/dirty clothes.  he's not so interesting in building with the blocks as he is putting them in piles


chore: laundry--he loves to load and unload the washer and the dryer


Just a side note...he's starting to say some words!!  YAY!  He can say mama, dada, wow, moo, baa (although it's more like maaa), this, two, and maybe a few more.  Sometimes I think I here stuff and I wonder if I'm hearing it because I want to or because he's actually saying it.  Last night, Alex and I both thought he randomly said here we go!  He shakes his head no for most everything and can sign please if you ask.  I need to work on it more.  At least there's some progress!

Our Dream Home

Alex and I have a tradition of looking at model homes.  It might even be classified as an obsession.  We love finding things we like and we love that it's free.  On Friday, we found the home of our dreams.  It has absolutely every quality that we have ever wanted in a home (gourmet kitchen, big tub plus separate shower, sink in laundry room, amazing pantry, separate living and family room, everything).  It's a Richmond American home and it is gorgeous. 

The price of such luxuries?  A mere 220k. 

Not too bad if you've ever watched the show House Hunters on HGTV.  Are there any homes under 500k that they show?  Seriously people.  I can't afford that much home.  The international version is even worse.  A million dollars?  Crazy! 

Do you want to see the house that I am trying desperately not to covet?? 

*sigh*

An Exciting Night at Work

If you didn't know, I work in a pharmacy.  Other than the occasional angry patient (or sometimes frequent angry patients) work isn't usually too exciting.  And that's the way I like it.  This past week was a little different.  One night at about 11:50pm, a guy walks up to the counter where I am standing ready to greet him with a smile and demands all of our oxycodone.  He threw a bag on the counter, flashed a weapon at his side and succeeded in scaring the heck out of me.  My eyes got really big and I involuntarily started backing away from the counter.  I looked toward my pharmacist who was unfortunately at the other end and started calling his name.  He didn't look up at first so I tried to sound more insistent.  Luckily, he sensed something was wrong and came over.  He told me to head to the back and I got completely out of the pharmacy and called 911.  I didn't want to be stuck in some sort of hostage situation!  All in all, the guy left before my pharmacist came back with the drugs (he stalled) and the police came shortly after that.  I kept thinking that I need to memorize what this guy is wearing and what he looks like but fear is a bit paralyzing and I didn't remember anything useful.  Oh the joy of dispensing drugs!