Pictures

I love the tongue thing that he does. He has done it since he was born and it just cracks me up. He'll be sitting there poking his tongue in and out like he is checking the wind or something.















Ashley's new job! She is getting good at feeding Boca. Except when she wants to play in the food, so she transfers all the food to the water dish. Let me tell you cleaning up soggy dog food is not my idea of a good time.
















Nor is cleaning oatmeal and blueberries out of previously clean hair. She did this one pretty good. There was oatmeal everywhere!















Ben loves laying on the ground. We put some toys up above him and he loves swatting at them and watching everyone else from a new angle. My only complaint is I can't take my eyes off him with Ashley around.

back in school

Well I just finished my first week of classes since having Ben. So far they don't look to be that bad. But ask me again in 6 weeks and my answer might be a tad different. I am taking the psychology of adolescence & the psychology of adult development and aging. They both seem to be quite interesting.

Ashley has re-figured out a new trick that is driving me bonkers! Get this.... Yesterday I had to go to the bathroom so I figured everything would be fine if I was only gone for 2 minutes. I closed the door, ahh a little privacy for once. When I came out I couldn't find Ashley, I ran around the house calling in each room and looking under the beds and in the closets. But when I entered the living room I realized the back door was wide open. I ran over there and only to see her out in the MUD. Not just any mud, stinky North Dakota stagnant mud! Of course she didn't have shoes on so she was up to her ankles in goup. Lovely! Today I just about locked her in the crawlspace (oh wait, we don't have one, but I really thought about it :)) Because she kept opening the door and walking out. Mike thankfully whipped a stick concoction that we can wedge at the top of the door frame so she can't do it any more!!! HAHAHA

Mike's ALS graduation is on Thursday! Whoohoo, I will then have a hubby again who isn't so darn busy to breath. I have a honey-do list that has been growing over the last 5 weeks. Poor guy thought he was gonna get a break...

Comparison

Ok, well I was writing an email to my friend C.R. and mentioned that I thought the kids looked quite a lot alike. I hadn't actually pulled out pictures to compare so this morning i decided to do so. So here are 2 pictures of Ashley when she was 2 months old, so let me know what you think.

Shots, shots, and more shots

I took Ben in for his 2 month well-baby appointment today and he is doing great. He is officially 14lbs 10oz. and above the 95th percentile for weight. (up almost 3 lbs in the last month) He climbed up in height from the 50th percentile to the 75th and of course big heads run in our family so his head is up there on the scales too. He had to get 3 shots and a oral dose of the new roto virus vaccine. Poor guy did not like that one bit. Plus he's a bleeder. Ashley never bled when she got her vaccines but all three of his did and not just a little dot of blood it was all over. Weird. Poor Ashley was just a tag along to the dr. visit and when they saw her in the immunization clinic they told me she was due for a new vaccine that just came out. Great, poor girl was blind sided. Now she's been cranky all afternoon. Ben is just sleeping like a lamb, he wakes up to eat and then passes out again.

My 1st one sheet wonder...

Alright, I know I am a little slow in trying this but I finally did it and boy is it fun. I love how I came up with so many cards that are all a little different! I will definitely have to do this again.

Holy Buckets!

Holy Buckets of snow, that is. Last night when going to bed the news man said a light dusting, is that what they are calling 6+ inches of new snow, a light dusting. That one got a chuckle out me alright.

I still managed to drag both kids out in the snow and to the gym even though my thighs were still burning from yesterdays cardio class. Today's kickboxing class kicked my butt even more and now my legs and arms are sore. Double Whammy! Why do I do this to myself again? OH yeah, to be healthy! I have to keep telling myself that when I have to grip the chair to stand up.

Ben goes for his 2 month check up in the morning so we'll get to see just how big he is really getting.

Oh and today is our Anniversary! 4 years and 2 kids later....Sad thing is with him in ALS we can't even do anything. Oh well, we've got plans for a quick dinner this weekend, in between his mandatory volunteer time and our well needed oil change.

EEG

I took Ben in for his EEG that the neurologist ordered because of his shuddering spells that he has been having. He was not a happy camper when they were marking his head for placement nor when they were glueing on the electrodes. But once we got him settled down he just passed out. He really didn't want to wake up when they had to test his awake state. Poor guy. Needless to say after all that crying he was pretty quiet the rest of the evening and he only woke once to eat all night!!!! I really needed a good nights sleep!

Oh I forgot to add that we got the results almost immediately after the EEG at our follow up appointment. Everything checks out and the neurologist said that he no longer has any concerns with Ben and says that he seems perfectly normal and healthy and the shuddering spells should end by the time he is 6 months- a year.

Ashley is doing great in her toddler bed. Nap time seems to be the easiest but she is still doing remarkably better than I expected. Whooohoo Ashley!

The big move....

Well, I finally made the decision to move Ashley to the toddler bed. I didn't make the drastic step my friend E did by taking down the crib because I am going to need it very shortly as my bassinet is only good up to 15 lbs and my little chunker weighed in at 14 (with diaper and clothes) yesterday when daddy weighed him....So anyway my friend S had a Finding Nemo toddler bed for sale so I made the plunge and bought it.

I decided to put it to good use last night and told Ashley she was going to sleep in her big girl Nemo bed. She was excited at first but after our night time routine and I left the room she got out and cried at the door. I gave it 15 minutes and then went in, moved her back to the toddler bed and told her it was time to go night-night! She was asleep in her bed by 7:30 only 30 minutes after starting our bedtime routine. Not too bad! We'll see how nap time goes today, lets hope for success.

It's still snowing...

I love it when I can actually succeed in getting a picture of Benjamin smiling. He has really started doing it often this past week. It is so cute. He has started cooing also. It is the greatest thing to see the excitement on his face when he tries to make a noise and something really comes out!


Here's the diaper shot for Grandma so she can see how big he is getting since she left. His hands and feet are so huge. He is already in a size 2 shoe.


Mike was lucky enough to get released early from work (even though he will have to make it up) but it was nice to have a snow day with all of us home. Oh, and the guys from his shop came over and plowed my driveway and unburied the green car. What a relief that was as we got over a foot of snow last night and about the same is expected for tonight.


I had to take a picture of Boca outside. The snow is already up to her belly and it is still coming down. It was hilarious to watch her try to find a place to go potty because her but is almost already in the snow when she is standing.

A moment of peace

Why oh why do kids feed off each other. My goodness today is one of those days. Ashley is cutting 4 teeth and is crankier than all get out. She woke up from a 2 hour nap crying and just hasn't stopped. She is whining, crying, throwing tantrums, ugghh, and of course Ben just wants to be held and or fed constantly. I am cherishing this moment as I have gotten both kids quiet. Ben is sleeping in his carseat (bad mommy, i know)and Ashley fell asleep during her "time out".....OH WAIT, here she goes again. Moment of peace concluded. Back to mayham!

I hope everyone else's days are a little brighter :)

Goodbye Grandpa

Mikes dad left this morning headed to see Mike's sister Jenny and her new baby. Ashley was quite sad to see him go and has been asking for him all morning. At least I took some pictures because I don't think she will see him again until Thanksgiving when his whole family is coming to visit.

Mike started ALS this morning. Let me tell you last night was a fun night! We had to do some stressful rushing around to get all his blues together so that he would be ready today. We managed to get it all together well enough even though clothing sales was closed because it was a Sunday. We had to sew on stripes, attach new ribbons, iron and shine all the while his dad was packing up to leave and of course Ben is getting a cold....Oh well it is all done and today is a new day!

Ben is going in to see a neurologist on the 7th for an EEG to make sure the shuddering he has been having are not seizures. He was seen this past week and they couldn't rule anything out so they are running an EEG to make sure. They really don't think it is anything serious but are concerned enough to run some extra tests. I will update as soon as we know more.

Ashley's new "orsie"

Grandpa got Ashley a new spring horse for her birthday/christmas. At first she was scared of it but within an hour she was up bouncing away. It is still quite big for her so she needs help getting up and down but she really likes it. She has really enjoyed Grandpa visiting and daddy having the long weekend off.

Grandpa's Visiting

Mike's dad is in town visiting so Mike and him have been busy working on Mike's 1956 Ford F-100 that has been taking up my garage all winter. I swear they are crazy. Who in their right mind would subject themselves to these horrible North Dakota temperatures? Not I for sure! Anyway we have enjoyed him visiting and as I uploaded pictures from my camera I realized I haven't taken any since he has been here. Whoaa I am really slacking here. I need to get on that quickly.

what a chunker!

I took Ben for his 1 month appt. yesterday and he has gained 3 pounds. He is now up to 11.2 lbs.

Driving Mrs. Macy...

I dropped Macy our puppy off to her new family today. We were sad to see her go but relieved to have a quieter, calmer house. You wouldn't believe what a difference one dog makes. We found Macy a home on freecycle and the family seems wonderful. They live in Hillsboro on a 10 acre farm and have 4 kids and another dog. They are really excited to have her in their family and we are glad to have found another family for her so quickly!

Mike has weekend duty tonight, Ashley's in bed, Ben is sleeping in the rocking chair, and I get to SCRAPBOOK....WHEEEEEEE. Off I go to scrapbooking heaven.

It's about time

Alright, I know it's been a little while since I have updated. I've gotten used to a routine that doesn't include downloading the pictures I have taken. Yikes I know. So this last Monday I took both kids by myself to a spouses group meeting as a trial run. I still hadn't done it on my own yet. Thankfully little Benjamin slept through the entire thing (except when Ashley decided to step in his car seat to use it as a boost to see on the table). Ashley didn't want to go play in the nursery so she stayed with me. I think that was pure proof that I need to get out more especially times when I am not by her side the whole time. I am awaiting the clearance from the Dr. so that I can head to the gym and join the mommmy class that has childcare. Can't wait!

Oh and Ashley got into a box of jello and decided it was quite the yummy treat! Aren't you jealous you didn't get to clean that one up?

Bye bye bili blanket

So we took Ben off the bili blanket yesterday morning and his level had gone down to 11. We took him in again this morning after being off all day yesterday and over night to make sure it wasn't creeping back up with out the phototherapy lights. Ben's liver is now caught up and is able to process the bilirubin on it's own and today his level was 8.2. So it is going down on it's own!!!! Now since we have been in there every day for the past week they are bumping his 2 week well-baby appt to a 1 month well-baby so that will save me a trip out in the darn freezing ND weather!

This weather is just misrable!

Getting comfortable

Well we are starting to get into a routine now. Grandma is leaving tonight (a little mix up with her tickets because we thought she was leaving last night) so we have a little more time with her. Ben threw a humungo fit last night at bed time but after about a half hour or so he calmed down, ate and fell asleep. I think he slept from around 12:30 to 8am with out a feeding....unless there was one zombie like feeding that I don't remember. Trust me at this point I can't rule it out. hehe.... Hopefully he turns out to be a good sleeper. He doesn't like his bassinet much so far but I think the bili lights really make it hard to get comfy in there. Plus I am sure it is much more comfy to sleep in bed with mommy than in a bassinet....they're smart ya know!Daddy and his little munchkins
Ashley taking care of her baby!
Grandpa visiting with his 4th grandbaby! 2 boys and 2 girls how perfect is that!
Our little glow worm on his bili lights in the bouncy seat.

Jaundice....Yuck!

Well we took Ben to the Dr. last Thursday for his first check up and his bilirubin level was 14. They said it was fine and they weren't too concerned because he was eating and pooping well. But by Sunday he was looking really yellow. So I called and took him back in on Monday morning to have it checked again. Poor guy's bilirubin level had shot up to 19.4. They warned that if it hit 20 they would have to admit him to the hospital to stay under the intensive bili lights. Since his was under 20 we are now using the bili blanket like we had to with Ashley, although now they have one that is 3 times stronger so we hope that he will get over this soon. We have to take him in daily to get his blood checked until he is in the normal range, his poor heels. He has to stay on the biliblanket for 23 hours a day so it makes feeding, diapering, and cuddling quite a challenge but at least he should be getting better.

Ashley is going in today for her 2 year old well baby appointment so we will see how she is doing also. I don't assume there will be any concerns as she seems to be recouperating well from her bout of the nasties that caused her to lose so much weight.

My mom leaves tomorrow to head home so now I have to conquer this mommy of 2 thing on my own. Well at least Mike is off until the end of the month so that will give me some time to adjust to normal life. I am still very nervous about taking both kiddos out on my own. Oh well, I better get used to it because I can't stay locked up in my house forever......well at least for the winter. Hehe

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