Christmas 2010

Spending Christmas with Ben is by far the best! It was just the three (and a half) of us this year and although we really missed our family, it was nice to just kind of chill. Ben was a very good boy this year and Santa remembered. Ben’s gift to us was a 3 hour nap on Christmas Eve. B and I actually took an uninterrupted 2 1/2 nap, which is unheard of around here (our little boy does not believe in long naps). And the little boy who wakes up like clockwork at 7 everyday he doesn’t have school slept until 9 on Christmas! Of all the days! B and I rolled over, said Merry Christmas to one another thinking it was super early and then both looked at the clock and jumped to see the monitor. It was 8:45 and the little stink was still asleep. I couldn’t wait to go get him and bring him down to see what Santa left. He was so cute going from one gift to the other. After checking out the unwrapped gifts we paused for pancakes and then tore into the wrapped gifts. He’d open a gift and want to play with it asap and then go on to the next. We spent the rest of the day relaxing while Ben played and played with all his goodies. We’re off tomorrow to Austin for the rest of the week, yippee!

I’ve been craving sugar cookies lately so B made some for us (and Santa) with the help of his sous chef on Christmas Eve

I LOVED helping Santa get things ready this year. It was so much fun!

the after picture :)

Can you say baby Tiger Woods? Maybe Baby Arnold Palmer (we go for class around here). One golf club has already been broken in half and he’s used the other one to hit any imaginable object including my foot and head…they might not be around much longer.

Ben loves his “choo choo” book from Grammy

The boys were upstairs and I was in the shower so someone made use of one of the pillow pets Ben got. He was too cute to get mad at.

Ben spent lots of time playing in his playroom with all his toys. At one point he just started singing without a care in the world.

I can’t wait for next Christmas!

This has nothing to do with Christmas, but I told B I was going to blog about it tonight. Ben LOVES books, but hates when I read them to him. He would rather point to all the pictures and say the corresponding word. B is always telling me how Ben doesn't get fussy when he reads to him. Tonight I was playing with Ben before bed and B walked in. He grabbed the book, The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss. I was putting all the books back on the shelf (the little monster pulled them ALL off as I was packing up his stuff) and I mentioned how there's no way Ben will sit through that because it's so long. We read it every year around Earth Day at school and my kids cannot sit still (and honestly it's just really long to read-thank goodness for the video). The little stinker sat through the entire book-no fussing, no squirms and no closing the book before it's over. I was so proud of him, but why won't he do that for me????

Lately…

It only took 17 days, but here’s another blog post of random bits of what Ben’s been up to lately.

*Boots and Gramma visited!  Last weekend they drove up to watch Ben for the night so B and I could go to his company party.  Last year we spent the night and intended to this year, but flat out just forgot to get it booked.  Ben is in awe of Boots.  It’s the cutest thing.  He really likes his grandpas.  He even tried to follow him to the bathroom on a couple occasions.  He doesn’t have many babysitters and did really well with Gramma and Boots.  Gramma even got up with him so we could sleep in.  I think he was mad at me for leaving him because he was not a nice boy to me when I woke up.  He wanted both to love on me, but also hit me and pout.  He went down for his nap when they left and the first word out of his mouth when he woke up was “Boots.”  He has been calling for them nonstop ever since.

*Aunt Lucy babysat!  For someone who rarely has anyone watch him, he had two in two weekends.  Yesterday B woke me up from a deep sleep kind of nap and told me to find a babysitter.  Luckily Lucy loves her Ben and was able to come for the evening so we could go see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.  Ben hadn’t played with Lucy since August so I was a little worried, but he was great!  I even left a list of things he hates and of course he loved all those things.  He hates when I put his blankie in his crib, but last night curled himself like a burrito in it.  He also hates being lathered with Aquafor, but loved it with Lucy (poor baby’s eczema is horrible right now).  And bubbles-oh bubbles.  Ben hates when there are bubbles in his bathtub.  He literally tried to claw his way out the other night when the bubbles started to get to him.  Nope, not with Lucy.  They played a game making them go away.  He won’t even let me try to play those kinds of games with him.  But I’m glad he did well with her.  And with no family around, it’s so nice to have someone like her who loves our little guy.

*We have a new doctor!  I’ve been talking about doing this forever, but finally switched after having it with the other doctor (Dr and office staff).  We LOVE this new doctor.  It’s just one doctor, but so far so good.  His office is so cute.  He didn’t make me feel stupid and spent an hour with us at his 18 month check up.  And we didn’t have to book it months in advance.  I’m sure there will be times when there just being one doctor will have it’s drawbacks, but for now we love him.  Each room has a different kind of bed.  We were in the bus bed and it has stairs so Ben can get up himself.  And each room has three baskets of kid stuff (books, toys, stuffed animals) under the Mommy bench.  We had to go back today for a sick visit and went to the fire truck bed.  I even found a tray to pull out to keep Ben from using the stairs on the bed.  The little man has a sinus infection again.  It probably never went away from last time.  Hopefully these stronger meds will do the trick.  The best part is that unlike the old doctor, we have had NO tears with this new guy.  Ben used to crumble just when Dr. G walked in.  Today he said “hi doctor” and smiled. 

Ben loves his bus bed!

*Christmas presents = fun!  Ben is still loving all the packages coming to him each day.  He loves to help me open the boxes.  I think Aunt Linda was trying to be funny and sent him a Green Bay Packers bat and ball (this Bears fan did not find it funny).  Sadly it tore open in shipment and Ben’s little eyes found it in 2 seconds.  There was no taking it from him, hope that’s okay Aunt Linda.  It’s his new favorite toy.  I am so excited for him to see everything on Christmas morning. 

I think he’s channeling Babe Ruth in this one :)

*On Friday I had a regular check up for Iron Man.  B said he’d go with me and then bailed at the last minute since he said it wasn’t anything “fun.”  Stinky boy.  I asked Dr. Garner if he was SURE it was a boy.  I still can’t get over it being a girl for 6+ weeks and then all of a sudden a boy.  Just unsettling.  Anyway he was like, “well let’s see” and had a tech do a sono (it’s still a boy).  She was so awesome and since she was done for the day spent some time playing.  She showed me his boy-ness in 3D (I’ll spare you the pic) and then let me see his face in 3D.  I had almost 10 minutes of looking at him in 3D.  It was so awesome.  I think he’s gorgeous even if B says he looks like an alien oompa-loompa.  We had a 3D with Ben around 30 weeks so hopefully I can have another then to compare their pictures. 

It was an awesome early Christmas present!  That’s what B gets for bailing on me at the last minute.

Happy 18 months sweet boy!

Dear Ben,

Today you are 18 months old…a year and a half! Your daddy and I cannot believe how fast the past 18 months have gone. Sometimes I could swear we just brought you home and other times it seems like forever ago that you were wearing those itty bitty onesies. One thing is for sure-we never in a million years could have imagined our lives as blessed as they are because of you. Today you were in our bathroom and Daddy stood there in disbelief as you grabbed items from my top drawer. He kept saying over and over, “he’s so tall, remember when he could barely touch the top drawer? Now he can see over it!” Each day you amaze us with the new words you pick up. The latest-medicine (it took 4 visits, but Dr. G finally gave you an antibiotic on Monday and I’m happy to say no more runny nose!). You are still ALL boy. Even your teachers said it at school today when I picked you up. You truly love sports and automobiles. You are becoming a very picky eater like your Mommy. You do not think protein is important and still just want fruit and carbs. And thanks to ‘Aunt’ Ashley you love your snacks (cereal bars) and now insist on them all the time. Waffles are by far your favorite food. Most mornings it’s the first word out of your mouth. You get two breakfasts daily because (like your mommy), you wake up starving and need to eat. You take after your Daddy and could drink water all day long, but still call it “owie” even though we practice saying it correctly daily. You’ll repeat it correctly, but say it incorrectly on your own-little stinker! And just when we think you’re the smartest little guy you’ll start doing something like banging your head into the couch or ourselves over and over until it hurts. Yes, we are a little worried. You also like to smack your head until it hurts-again, we have some concerns. But you will do anything to get us to laugh or smile. After dinner when you have a full tummy you just shine. It’s the Ben Show! As absolutely adorable and sweet as you are when all eyes are on you, you have some problems sharing with friends. Poor Mayson has gotten the raw end of the deal during play dates lately. Daddy ordered you a timeout spot so maybe we can halt some of this not so nice behavior. I’m sure you’ll love it :) You are still in your ‘I must be with Mommy at all times’ phase. You don’t seem to care at all that it’s getting harder to carry you as Iron Man grows. And yes, even though it drives me a little nutty at times, I love it!

Oh Ben, we just can’t tell you enough how much we love you. I know we will blink and you won’t be 18 months-you’ll be 18 years! Thank you for being you. We couldn’t imagine you being any different way than the way God made you-absolutely perfect!

We love you!

Mommy and Daddy

I neglected to take a picture of Ben on his half birthday when he was awake, but I got him asleep instead. This is how he sleeps every night-head stuffed in the corner with his hand on his head while laying on his tummy.

Thankful

 

I remember thinking last year how thankful we were for all He provided and this year is no exception.  My heart just sings every time I look at the little monster miracle God gave us.  This Thanksgiving was so nice and relaxing.  We are very sad the week is over and reality returns again too soon.  Here are some of the things I loved about this Thanksgiving!

*My parents came!  This was the first time in 10 years to spend Thanksgiving with them.  Starting my junior year in college I stopped flying home for Turkey Day.  We have such a tiny family (small but mighty as Grammy says) and it just seemed like such a waste of money to spend the Holiday fares to fly home to eat dinner.  B has such a HUGE family so we’ve always done Thanksgiving in Austin.  It was Thanksgiving with the Mahrers, Christmas with the Michalsons (where we make up for being so few).

*My awesome husband cooking EVERY part of Thanksgiving dinner.  He earned his cooking badge this year.  The past few years we’ve had fried or smoked turkey and all I wanted was an oven roasted turkey.  He even got up at 5 since it had some thawing issues.  The man was amazing!  From two homemade pies to a turkey to everything in between he did it all.  All I had to do was open the cans of cranberry sauce.  I guess when you ruin enough meals, you don’t have to worry about cooking the important ones (gosh, too bad).

His homemade apple and cherry pies after they came out of our oven that’s on steroids (turns out it cooks 50 degrees hotter than it says-only took 5 years to figure it out-maybe that’s why so many meals I’ve made have been ruined).

B had everything so organized as he cooked.  Each part of the kitchen had the upcoming utensils ready to go all laid out.  He made fun of me for taking a picture.  It’s so him and such a Mahrer thing.

*Putting up the Christmas tree with my mom and Ben.  Ben is in awe of the tree, especially the ornaments.  Ben is so cute looking and trying to touch all the ornaments.  He loves balls and of course that’s what ornaments are shaped.  He walks up, pretends to touch and then says, “no no.”

*Shopping and lunches with my mom.  My mom and I could shop for hours.  And we LOVE potato soup!

*Countless hours of football.  Anyone who knows this family knows that football is just as important as turkey.

*Starbucks hot chocolate every morning courtesy of Pops.  As Ben calls it, “mommy juice.”

*Having another set of hands around to help.  Messes were cleaned up as soon as they were made.  So nice!

*Taking Ben to the pet store to see the birds and fish.  Great cheap entertainment!

*Ben loving on his Grams and Pops.  He got kind of tired of the name game as they left, but he loves his grandparents so much and oh my goodness is the feeling mutual.  Today they watched him so we could work on the lights outside.  I walked in and he was nearly asleep on Grams. 

*The one day B got up to get Ben he had HORRIBLE diarreah.  It also happened while we were shopping.  Thank you Ben for having these issues when Daddy was ‘in charge.’  Our little man has a bit of a tummy bug along with the never-ending cold and a tooth coming in.  The three just don’t mix and he’s pretty miserable.  With all this comes some of the worse diaper rash I’ve ever seen.  Our hearts just break for him, he’s in so much pain. 

The past week has been so wonderful.  Thanks Grams and Pops for coming.  Maybe now they won’t wait so long in between visits :)  We love you!

Some more pictures:

 

Grams teaching Ben some of her tricks in the kitchen

last Thanksgiving Ben had his first taste of veggies.  This year the first thing he asked for was a spoon.  He has grown SO much in one year.

    

What’s breakfast without reading the paper?

 

Ben came out to see Daddy’s progress on the lights

 

always nice to stop and smell the flowers

 

Ben and Pops

 

Ben’s horse, Bailey

The Michalson Clan

Zoo Day!

I have been looking forward to today for months!  Back when the weather was insanely hot we planned to take Ben to the zoo on the day before Thanksgiving if we stayed in town.  Well we’re here for the holiday so off to the zoo.  I was giddily happy (is that a word) about this day.  I even had snacks and water ready to go last night.  Sweet Ben loves birds and animals so we thought he’d eat up the zoo.  As soon as we got him in the stroller a strong gust of wind blew leaves and a bunch of birds flew by and he went nuts clapping and cheering.  Guess we could have just sat in the parking lot all day.  Once we were inside he was more timid than we thought he’d be and did a lot of squeezing of Daddy’s hand.  He LOVED the monkeys and the turtles were a hit, too.  I guess at school they practice being elephants because he started acting like one with his arm as a trunk as soon as we saw one.  Too funny. 

I took over 100 pictures today (I know, surprise).  Here are some of my favorites:

 

My two favorite monkeys watching some monkeys.

just in awe…

 

 

We asked him what a monkey does so he started acting like one :)

 

it’s so big!

 

A certain mommy forgot the straw that goes inside this cup, oops.  Poor kid was a little thirsty all day.

 

Turtles!  Oh my goodness does this kid love turtles now.  We let him out of his stroller to get a closer look and he refused to leave them.  When we’d walk away he’d sneak around us and run back shouting “turtles!”

 

There just aren’t words for how much I love this little man!

 

Ben heard Daddy used to wrestle gators (wink wink) and thought he’d try it himself.

 

A bear!

MOO

2 1/2 hours of zoo fun equals a pooped out little boy. 

The difference between 95 and 100%

Okay Ben-you've got some competition in the jokester dept! Anyone reading this already knows, but it's one of those things we want documented. On Friday Daddy and I went for a sonogram to see your baby sister. The first thing I said to the tech was, "just let me see her heartbeat." She asked how we knew it was a girl and then said something to the effect of "they're never right, they just tell you that since they'll never see you again." Well Ben they were 80% you were a boy so we were pretty sure Olive was a girl since they said 95%. Fast forward about 15 minutes after she's checked all the vitals and we see this shot (minus the words):


She points out the butt and Daddy interupts her and says, "what's that BETWEEN the legs?" For 6 1/2 weeks we've planned for baby girl, debated her name, looked for bedding, planned out rooms and wondered what it would be like to have a princess. All that time God had his own plan. So just like your Uncle Tommy, it appears we have a little jokester on our hands. Already trying to fool his parents. Mommy and Daddy were literally in shock and just laughed for the rest of the appt. The tech even told mommy to stop laughing because it was ruining the pictures. So there is no Olive. It's back to Iron Man as Daddy originally coined it. Iron Man's real name is still up for discussion. We've spent the past weekend trying to figure things out like rooms and furniture. And your poor family already bought lots of pink which they get to return now.

Everything was good at the appt. Iron Man has long arms and has been enjoying headbutting mommy, but I LOVE feeling him.

And since I think this might be the first post without a picture of Ben...gasp...here's a little Ben tidbit: Tonight was the first night that Ben has told us he was pooping. We were sitting on the couch and he walks up, points to his bottom and says poop. I'm not sure if he took care of business after he told us or while he was telling us. It's the little things that make this momma happy :)

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

No, you’re not seeing things, this really is a new post!  A very sweet friend emailed me last night saying how she misses my posts and yes, I have been really bad about it. 

The past 2 1/2 weeks have been busy.  We haven’t really done much, but I’ve been so wiped out and in bed by 8 lately.  I guess I’m resting up for some sleepless nights coming this spring.  Ben is just an amazing little boy.  No one makes me laugh like he does. 

He literally amazes me with what he is learning.  Yesterday I picked him up from school and grabbed his jacket and he said “jacket” and then as we were walking out a leaf blew across the sidewalk and he pointed to and said “leaf.”  The amazing thing to me is that those aren’t words I’ve told him. 

He still LOVES sports and is getting over his depression of no more baseball.  Football is “butball” and basketball is “bataball” and he loves them both.  He waves bye to every car, bird, airplane, leaf…anything.  He’s gotten into trains, planes and automobiles lately.  He loves when cars and trucks drive by.  Anything bigger than a car is a truck (SUV, van, truck, bus).  It’s safe to say he’s still ALL boy.  And being all boy I’ve had to sign a few incident reports at school lately that someone has bitten or pinched a friend.  He worries me sometimes.

I love to watch him through the window at school while he plays.  I’m not sure his teachers love it, but I do. Yesterday he put a tambourine on his head like it was a hat and was so proud and walked to tell his buddy Austin (who he calls “Au-too”). 

We practice names each day, too.  He will repeat every family member’s name except Grams.  Most of the time when we say Grams he just laughs.  And he knows who goes together.  If you say Mommy he’ll say Mommy and Daddy and if you say Gramma he says Boots.

He loves to put things away.  He grabs my shoes when I take them off and puts them where we put shoes.  Sometimes we can get him to put laundry in baskets and put his books and toys away.

He is trying really hard to jump right now.  He still won’t lift both feet off the ground at the same time, but man it’s funny to watch him try.  He’s done two tiny jumps and then he falls when they happen.

He loves waffles and calls them awfuls.  Whenever he hears the toaster pop up he says “awful!” 

My favorite thing he does lately is lift up my shirt and give the baby kisses.  When you ask him, “where’s the baby?” sometimes he’ll pull up his shirt and point to his belly. 

Another favorite is when he tells Bruiser no.  The dogs pretty much stay outside when Ben is up and Bruiser has a habit of whining through the window.  It gets pretty annoying so we yell “Bruiser, NO!” quite a bit. Our little sponge has caught on and when he hears it he turns to Bruiser and says “Broo-er NO NO.”  It’s so funny.  Bruiser even barked once at night and Ben got up and said it.  The best is that he takes his little sausage finger and shakes it at him as he says it.

Ben has also become a bit of a Momma’s boy lately.  Yes I love it, but it does get a little uncomfortable lugging around a 30 lbs Ben with a growing tummy.  

I haven’t taken too many pictures lately, sorry.  Here’s what I have though:

Daddy celebrated his big bday a couple weeks ago.  Unlike most normal people he doesn’t want to go out to eat to celebrate and instead insists on me making these ridiculous enchiladas.  So while I was making Daddy’s dinner, Ben chowed down on some pasta and veggies.  I thought he was so cute using his spoon and took the first picture and then looked back and saw the 2nd picture.  He was a MESS!

 

I love this goofy kid!

Here he is helping Daddy make his bday cake (yes he always makes his own rum cake for his bday)

 

It’s been a little cold lately so we had a fire.  Ben was pretty fascinated by it.  I couldn’t get a good picture, but there really is a fire.

 

Ben the little rapper!  He was playing basketball with Daddy and put on Daddy’s skull cap.  We told him to do the pirate dance (he does this at school).  So funny!

For his birthday, Ben got bath crayons.  He was having so much fun playing with them tonight, he didn’t care if the water was gone from the tub.

 

goofy-goof!

So it has been colder lately and Ben has had to wear jackets to school.  He HATES jackets (and clothes in general).  Today I was really worried about him being cold when they go outside so I made him wear a super heavy coat.  He looked like the little boy from A Christmas Story walking around the house.  He was so unhappy in the car.  This is what I saw each time I looked back.  Not one smile the whole way to school.  They were playing when I picked him up and his teachers called him the marshmallow man bundled up.

I should be better about posting the next couple weeks.  After tomorrow I have a whole week off and Ben can’t wait for Pops and Grams to get here!