We have a reader!

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
-Dr. Seuss

First- 5 posts in two days. I know, I rock!

I can still remember learning to read. That time my teacher cheered for me because I read, "beep beep" with great expression and the first time I sounded out a word, on my own, outside of school. I still remember it. We were visiting family in Chicago. It was really cold and we must have been shopping (so unlike us) because it was the word "and" on a store window sign. And to this day almost 30 years later I remember how excited I was that I did it! I write this because it is my hope that Ben remembers last night. Ben and B were looking at a 'search and find' book so I decided it was a good time to try something. I've been wondering for awhile if Ben could read yet. We practice spelling in the car all the time. At first I wrote down a couple words using lowercase letters and Ben quickly showed me he needs some work in lowercase letter recognition. So I switched to all capitals. Last night I gave Ben the words, "HAT", "DOG", "CAT" and "PET" and he read them to us! I know that we will never forget the look of joy on his face when he realized he did it. And it took quite a bit for me to not cry! It also tugged on the home school side of my heart a little.
Ben- we are so very proud of you. You love letters and sounds and I hope this is a start to a love of reading! We love you!!!

A trip to see Boots and Gramma

So this post is WAY overdue! The last weekend of Spring Break the boys spent the weekend in Austin -WITHOUT us! It was the first time both boys have done this. I met gramma in Waco on Friday and picked them up Monday. Ben was super pumped to go. I was a little freaked out/worried/paranoid, but they did great. Briggs was a trooper and kept up with Ben. They played bubbles, went to the lake to feed the ducks and had visits from their awesome aunts and uncles.
Briggs did great sleeping and Ben got to sleep on the floor in Boots' room. He LOVED that!
We talked to them a couple times a day and thanks to technology got pictures sent to us :). My favorite part was that Briggs found some pictures of us and went nuts so gramma gave him some very old pictures of us and he kept them by his side constantly. Even took them to bed and the park!
B and I enjoyed the quiet, but really missed our boys!!!

Easter 2013

I know- a little late. Easter was fun this year! We loved hearing Ben tell us about the real reason for Easter. He talks about Jesus so passionately. Just love it!
Michelle made the boys adorable Easter shirts that are ties with their monogram on them. I adore them! Ben had his Easter program on my birthday. Bill took the afternoon off and we joined Ben for his party and program (we skipped the egg hunt). Briggs was ADORABLE during the program. He sat on B's lap and shouted for Addie, not Ben. I'm pretty sure he would have taken off for the stage if we had let him.
The following day the boys had an egg hunt after our MOPS steering meeting. The boys were a little intimidated by the bigger kids, but got a few eggs so they were good.
We dyed eggs at home for the first time on Saturday. Ben wanted every egg to be blue and green. Briggs just liked putting the eggs in different colors and using the crayon to color the cups while he waited.
Sunday it was COLD and rainy, but the boys looked adorable in their matching outfits (thanks, Grammy). Church was wonderful and then we had breakfast and the boys went exploring the house for what the Easter bunny left. It was a nice day at home with our little family :)

Our new toy!

A few weeks ago we picked up a trampoline for the boys. Perhaps it was an act of rebellion from the two of us since we were both forbidden to have one growing up.
One of B's bosses gave it to us. It sat in pieces in the garage until Easter weekend. The sucker is HUGE. We still need to install a net around it (they never put it up and couldn't find it so we have to order one) and get new pads. For now they can jump if we are out on it with them. Ben LOVES it and it's a great way to burn some of his endless energy. I think it's kind of fun, too :). Briggs is a little more timid, but enjoys it if he's the only one jumping.
Today I took Ben out while Briggs was napping. We played, jumped and talked about his day at school. We came in super sweaty, but I totally enjoyed that one on one time with Ben. He even decided he'd pee in the bushes instead of taking the extra few minutes to go inside. Silly kid!

You should see the other guy!

Saturday Ben got his first (of what I'm sure will be many) black eye. He was playing too rough in a bounce house and a bigger kid got the best of him. He came out crying and being the awesome mom that I am told him he was fine and that's what happens when you play fight. I didn't notice it swelling until we got in the car and it didn't start bruising until he woke up from his nap. It doesn't bother him at all, but he loves to show it off :).
Makes me giggle each day because it looks like he found some eye shadow from the 80's :)

Happy Birthday, Briggs!

Okay little man.  I know today isn’t your birthday, but your momma has been busy.  On Friday you turned 2!  I’m still not sure how this is possible as you were JUST born!  When Ben turned two you were already two months old.  All of this seems unreal to me.  You are just the sweetest little guy ever!  I can’t think of another word that better describes you than SWEET!  Here are tidbits about our sweet two year old:

*You are still obsessed with your paci.  You call it “bobby” or “boppy” for some reason.  You’re going to need some serious orthodontic work when you’re older thanks to these little suckers.  It’s time for us to start weaning you…not real sure about that one!

*You also love your “babies” and have three of them.  You are good with 1 or 3, just depends what you can see. 

*You sleep like a champ!  12-13 hours at night and about 2 hours for a nap each day.  You are super flexible and go down for your nap anytime between 11:30 and 2 which makes it very helpful as far as our days go. 

*You watch NO tv!  While this is really great, I’m not going to lie-a little break for mommy would be nice.

*You LOVE animals.  Your favorites are birds, cows and dogs. 

*You’re trying really hard to jump and it’s soooo cute!

*You are OBSESSED with your Daddy.  In your world he hung the moon and all the stars!

*You love to brush your teeth!

*You will put things away and like doors shut, drawers pushed in, etc.  A little OCD

*You do a really good job going to church and mops without crying, even though you don’t love it.

*Monkey See-Monkey Do with your brother.  Oh man!  You two crack me and make me want to pull my hair out at the same time.  But I love that you have each other!

*You are a wee bit in love with Addie.  And Mayson.  And Ella.  You have a thing for Ben’s female friends.  Maybe because they pay attention to you and love you unlike the boys.  Addie is who you ask for before bed and in the morning.  Today you brought her flowers for her birthday and had the biggest smile!

*You have a very specific bedtime routine.  Diaper, jammies, you turn off the light, kiss the pig (piggy bank-don’t ask why), and then we sing.  Your favorite is ‘You Are My Sunshine.’  My FAVORITE, FAVORITE, FAVORITE thing is how you make me sing to you with my head on yours.  If I turn my head away you will take your hand and pull me back.  I LOVE THIS and intentionally do it at least once each night. 

*Your vocabulary is growing.  Mommy and Daddy understand about 50 words of yours.  You’ve started stringing your words together, too.  Your first sentence was, “Where are you?” 

*You love to sing.  Tonight you sang to Grams on the phone and then blew her a kiss.

*You have some pretty crappy eating habits.  Not a big fan of those healthy foods I try to give you!

*You play independently pretty well.  Little People are your favorite toys right now.

*Your ‘naughty’ side is starting to show.  You hit when you’re frustrated, yell no A LOT and laugh and smile when I get mad and want you to listen.  I won’t lie-many times I have to cover my face because I’m laughing too.

 

We had your 2 year well visit the day before your birthday.  You were perfect during it.  Super friendly and well behaved.  The doctor said you look great (sans the paci issue).  You received one shot in your leg and instead of crying you gave the nurse one heck of a dirty look.  You are still so much smaller than Ben was at the same age.  Still weird to have an ‘average’ sized child.

Stats (with Ben’s to compare)

Height: 34 (36)

Weight: 28 (32.8)

Head:  19.75 (21)

 

We celebrated your birthday at home not doing much at all.  Went out for donuts and then hung around the house.  Ben was so excited for you to have cake.  Briggs enjoyed the icing and only the icing!  He was a big fan of presents, too!

We had his party Monday at our house.  We did it with Camille again this year.  It was ‘pancakes and pajamas’ themed.  Michelle made Briggs and Camille shirts again this year that matched their pj bottoms.  It was a little crazy with 30ish kids here, but fun!  Love having such great friends.

not cupcakes-blueberry muffins!

The babies last year and this year…getting so big!

sweet kisses

clapping because he blew out the candle!

 

Briggs, you are an amazing little boy!  We love you more than words could ever say.  You make us laugh every day.  I love seeing your sweet face in the morning and putting your sweet self to bed at night.  I’ll miss you so much when you start school in the fall.  You are a perfect fit for our family.  A perfect mix of Mommy and Daddy in just the opposite way of your brother is a mix of us.  I could kiss you a million times a day and it’s still not enough. 

 

Adiós Tonsils!

Last summer I noticed Ben's ginormous tonsils and had his ENT check them out. They were rated as high as they could go because of size and it was recommended we get them out. Ben doesn't have chronic strep throat so we didn't really want to put him through surgery if it wasn't really necessary. Fast forward seven months to our Florida trip when I had to sleep with him. The boy snores like an old man! We've known that, but I also noticed he seemed to have sleep apnea. So we went back to the ENT and the little guy's tonsils were even bigger! Doc had no idea how he hadn't had more problems. We were told they needed to come out ASAP before they completely blocked of his air passages.

The surgery was two weeks ago. We had talked to him a little about it and then the night before he asked if he was getting a shot. We couldn't lie. He was sooo upset! I felt awful. But the next morning we had to be there at 6 for a 7:30 appt. last time we were there for his tubes. It was much easier waiting with a 3 year old who likes tv :). The nurses were great and Ben liked the glove balloon. I showed him a picture of him pre tubes playing with one and he had me take another one. Cute comparison. The anesthesiologist have him a 'cocktail' before they wheeled him back. He was hysterical 'drunk'. And then he was off. After mommy composed herself she ate breakfast and waited. Not too long after the dr met with me and said he did great! And about 20 min later I got to see him! He was still very out of it. I ended up laying down and he laid on me for about an hour. Slowly he came to. He HATED his IV and wanted it out. And just when he got super cranky I gave him the new doctor's kit grams and pops sent to him just for this. He LOVED it! The pathologist brought me a pic of his tonsils to keep and let me actually see each one. HUGE!!!

Daddy and Briggs came up for lunch and seeing them helped a bunch. And then sweet Addie came with a balloon! At that point his meds were working and he was sooo happy (and had been unhooked from his IV). Daddy and Briggs came back for dinner and Ben showed daddy the kitchen- his favorite place. All the Popsicles, juices and 7up he could ask for. He was in heaven! We had to stay overnight to monitor his oxygen and it was a ROUGH night. When his meds wore off he felt awful and just screamed. Very hard on mommy!

We were very happy to go home the next day. Ben loved his ride in the wheelchair out :). We were told to expect a rough week and they weren't kidding. If Briggs has to go through this we will definitely be flying someone in to help. Sucked not having family around. But sweet friends brought us dinner all week so that helped. Ben was very lethargic and whiny. VERY! By day 10 I was in tears because I was so beaten down by the constant fussing. Not that he could help it though. And his pain meds tasted GROSS! He hated taking them and a few times had to be restrained. But by last Friday he started to perk up and is very close to 'normal' now. Although he did lose 10lbs!!! He wouldn't eat anything, just liquids. He's starting to eat a little now. And the snoring is almost gone!!! He can start to get restful nights now!!!

Very happy this is behind us. And because Ben was sedated when they did his IV, he doesn't even know he had a shot!!! Very thankful to our amazing friends who helped out as much as they could! And sooooo thankful for a healthy little 3 year old who is recovering like a champ! We are blessed!!!

My little man at 6am

A little side by side comparison 

 My little guy post surgery not quite with it yet.  He seemed to really like his glove balloon.

Lovely!!!

Dr. Ben working on Daddy and watching endless Spongebob episodes (which he knows he can't watch at home so he milked it at the hospital).  Grams and Pops sent him a new doctor kit just for his surgery.  He was SOOO excited.  Thanks, Grams and Pops!!

Lunch date with baby bro

I wish I had a better picture of what Briggs was wearing.  The shirt was WAY too small and the shoes he came in were 2 sizes too small.  And Daddy didn't even bring a diaper with him.  Typical!

Daddy showed Ben how to stream tv shows before they left that night.  Happy little guy!

Happy to go home!  And sporting Ella's pants because his pullup leaked onto his and I didn't have another pair (luckily Ella's mom had a dr appt at the hospital that morning).