Saturday, March 19, 2011

Cute Shirts-

 Ben's fave...
 From our cuz Andi, so Nora fits in with the boys... Ben's other fave!
 From our friend Jeff (he's got a sick sense of humor, and we love it)
Reactor Baby, from our friend Clif.
Hmmmm... Guess who this "I HEART auntie" shirt is from?! Love you too :)

Friday, March 18, 2011

Cousins-

Charlie, AJ and Uncle Chaz were in town over spring break... and it was so much fun. Ben and AJ really miss each other and were instant buds! Poor Charlie was really sick, so we missed him a lot, but we got to visit with him on the last day. One of the highlights of the visit was when Ben and AJ went on a Leprechaun Hunt on St. Patty's Day. They LOVED it and Ben is still talking about catching a leprechaun (AKA - chameleon - he could never remember the word, it was really funny). Bubba packed pillowcases to capture the leprechaun as well a binoculars to easily spot them from a distance. Next year the boys will need to find a pot of gold or some treasure - they LOVED it. Here's a pic of Ben's leprechaun near the tree he lives in.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Penguin Arms-

I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on the horrible reality that was Ben's 5-year vaccinations. Oh. My. Goodness. It was BAD. He was worried/nervous about getting shots, but we played it cool - "we'll see, big guy!" The actual doctor visit went really well - he's up to 43-3/4 inches and 42 pounds (75 percentile for both). He did great on his hearing test and listened to the doctor, answered his questions, etc. UNTIL the very end when the nurse came in with the tray with all the shots. Ben started FREAKING - "what are those... are those for meeeeeee?!" He jumped onto Joe's lap and started screaming as loud as he possibly could. Ben tried to make his way up onto Joe's shoulders to avoid the nurse and would have climbed out the window if he could have - shrieking the entire time. They started with the finger-prick lead test and proceeded with four(!) more shots, two on each arm. Joe had to hold Ben's entire body down while I held his head and stared into his crying face trying to calm him down... ugh. It was rough. Thank goodness Joe was there. 

Meanwhile, Miss Nora was as happy as could be looking around in her pumpkin seat like "what the heck is going on here?" When her turn came for a shot she let out a tiny little "yelp" and was done with it. Ben pretty much screamed bloody murder until we left the office.

So, afterwards Ben had little penguin arms - refusing to move his arms whatsoever and would only bend at the wrists. He even had us buckle his seat belt. It was pretty pathetic. UNTIL, a miracle occurred in our house - it was amazing! Bubba called to see if he wanted to play her new Wall•e Wii game and suddenly he was CURED. Hallelujah!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

One month!

Happy one-month birthday, Miss Nora! We go to the doctor on Friday, so I'll update her stats then. She definitely looks "pudgier" than when she was first born.

** At her appointment, Nora weighed 10 lbs. 6 oz. and was 22-1/2 inches long. She's growing :)

Monday, February 28, 2011

Our sweet girl-



What a cutie-pie... if I do say so myself! She's a sweet laid-back little gal (thank goodness). So far she goes with the flow and is pretty easy to calm and figure out what she needs. And I'm afraid to write it down for fear of "ruining it"... but she has been sleeping really well! She will snooze from around 11 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. and wake again at 6ish (her personal best was 11 to 5). Mamma is feeling a lot more rested and very thankful for it.

Mystery Reader / School Birthday party-

 Can you guess who the special mystery reader was at Ben's school?!
 It was Bubba! 

So... a mystery reader is a special guest who comes to the classroom covered in a mask and all the children try to guess who it is by asking the mystery reader a series of questions. "Are you a mom?" "Do you know someone in this class?" "Are you an aunt?" I think Ben was suspicious that it was Bubba towards the end, but he seemed genuinely surprised. The class figured out that it was a grandma so they went around asking who's grandma it could be. The teacher asked Ben if it was his grandma and he said "I don't know." Here he realized that it was HIS GRANDMA. Pretty cool :) Ben LOVES a good surprise.

 Bubba read a book to the entire class and they all wanted to share their favorite colors with her!
 Ben felt pretty special with his mommy, both grandmas and baby sister at school. All to celebrate his birthday (a little late... but better late than never, that's what I always say! PLUS, who wants their birthday to only last ONE measly day... seriously!)...
The kids singing the birthday rap for Ben while he wore the birthday sunglasses!