Daddy's off to 7-level school

Daddy left today for 7-level school. We have been so spoiled that he has been home for over a year straight! We were loving it but now I am out of the swing of deployments and stuff. He'll only be gone for 10 or so days but I still feel like I don't know what to do with myself. (And to keep myself from going crazy caring for the munchkins. So we went to the gym this morning and took a walk to the park this afternoon.


Poor kids. Mommy wasn't paying attention to the temp and I over dressed us all. It was windy and overcast out so I decided long pants for us all. Wrong choice mom! It was over 80 out and humid, long pants were the wrong choice. Oh well.


It was fun to get out of the house but oh my goodness playgrounds are so scary for parents. Ashley has no fear and is climbing up everything and running around. There are all the gaps and poles and toy things that are designed for bigger kids. I must have looked like a fool chasing her from one area to the next to keep her from running off the deck. I swear at each playground on base they need to have a big one for the big kids and a smaller one (not as tall with few gaps to fall from).

But as you can see Ashley enjoyed herself! We met up with our friend Laura and her little girl Katie and had a good time. Plus I got in some mommy talk, which was definitely appreciated.

Climbing the big slide. Eeek!

Now Ben was the easy one. He stayed put!

The mysterious disappearing tooth

So Ben's mysterious tooth disappeared. I know I am not crazy! Mike saw it, I saw it and another lady at the FSC saw it! I have no clue where it went as it was just about to break through the skin. I could feel it and see it but now it's gone. Hmmmm, interesting. So now I have to see if I want to keep my appointment on the 7th or if I'll look like the crazy woman who thinks her kid has a tooth when he doesn't! Oh well!


Ben loves playing on his tummy but will only stay that way for a few minutes. He usually ends up drooling so much I have to change the blanket.





The first cracker...So today I was eating some saltine crackers and Ben was really acting interested so hmm I handed him one I figured what the heck right. He seemed to enjoy licking it the most. He took a few nibbles and then had some really confused looks when he had chunks in his mouth. Overall I think he got about a quarter of the cracker in his mouth and the rest of it ended up in a soggy mess. So much for rice cereal as a first food.

A canine tooth, already!

Holy moly, so the past few days I have noticed signs that Ben was teething. Lots of drool, chewing on anything and everything, and overall crankiness. So yesterday I shoved my finger in his unsuspecting mouth to feel around. What did I feel? A tooth! But not where it should be not a front tooth, nope, not Ben! He is cutting his first canine or eye tooth. Ashley just cut hers like 4 months ago. I called the pediatrician to double check and they recommended that I call my dentist to see what they thought. So I called my dentist and she said that it is VERY unusual and although nothing may be wrong they want him to see the pediadontist. Hmm this should be fun. I will update when I know more. We have to see the base pediatrician. first so we can get a referral because Concordia doesn't cover them when they are so young. Lovely, this should be an event.

Benjamin

Ben napping on mommy's bed. He loves cuddling!




Alright, I have heard some complaining about me not posting any pictures in like 5 days....holy moly, sorry mom. Here you go.
Caught red handed! Or at least that's the look he gave.


Ben's first grass experience.

EGGS-celent

This is what happens when you are feeding the baby....I told Ashley that for breakfast we could have scrambled eggs. But I had to feed Ben first. So I am sitting on the couch feeding him and crash...she is repeatedly saying "uh oh, broken now, eggs". Not only do I get to clean up 8 smashed eggs but I get to listen to crying/whining toddler who now does not get eggs for breakfast....poor girl

All done!

Well I just finished up my last homework assignment for this term. Yeah! It is a relief to have it all done and a few weeks off. My next term starts on June 4th, so I have 2 weeks to relax and try to get some stuff done!!!! (yeah right)

I took Ben for his 4 month check yesterday. He is doing great. On the doctors scale he is 17lbs 4oz and 26 1/4 inches long. He got 3 shots and an oral roto-virus vaccine. I have never heard him cry that loud or sad sounding before. Man that pulls at a mommy's heart strings. Otherwise they said he looks super healthy and said that we can start him on solids anytime between now and 6 months. I think I will wait a little while but that will be fun.

I switched him out of his infant car seat because he is officially too long so we'll see how he likes it on our next trip out. I already miss the bucket!

Ashley's poor little earrings (well, actually just the holes) are infected for the first time. I put some cheap, cute earrings in the other day and apparently her ears didn't like them. Mommy feels bad again! I took them out and now don't know if I should put the good ones back in so the holes don't close up or if I should leave them out until her ears clear up...any input?

picture time!

Ben has just started enjoying his tummy time. Before he would just scream as soon as I put him there but now he'll hang out for a while with a smile!

Here are the kids this morning. Ashley decided she wanted to hold Ben (doesn't happen all that often!) so I jumped at the shot to snap a pic.

It's crazy there is only 7lbs difference between them.

were better now!

What a smile!!!!!

Chilling out watching TV while mom put away the laundry.



As you can tell Ashley is now back to her usual self. She is much better now. She is still down 2 lbs but is eating like crazy so I don't think it will take her long to gain it back. (don't I wish that was my problem...)

Next week is my last week of classes so my life will calm down for a little while. I just finished up 2 papers that are waiting for Mike to proof read. At least they are out of my hands now!

Today we tried out the Johnny jumper and he really liked it. He stayed in for about 15 minutes and was able to touch the floor even at the shortest settings. I think those things are made for doorways that are 10-12 feet tall not 8 ft like in base housing (or most places for that matter).

Ben will be going in on next Thurday for his 4 month well baby. I am excited to hear what they say. But not so excited for the shots part of it.