Trick or Treat

I know, long time between posts, but really I’m just tired.  But I’ll make up for it with this one.

Tonight Ben went trick or treating for the 2nd time.  Ashley and Mayson came over and we dragged the kids around the neighborhood hitting up our favorite students and parents.  In the end we only hit 4 houses, but man it took awhile and the babies were soooo good!  It took Ben a second to understand that you can take candy, but man once he did he loved it.  He did not, however, love when we took away his pumpkin because he tried to eat the candy while it was in the wrapper.  Daddy decided Ben wasn’t just going to be a baseball player, but he must be a Ranger’s player.  SOunds easy, but they do NOT sell toddler sized jerseys anywhere (unless you want to spend a small fortune and you know Daddy doesn’t play that game).  In the end I will admit I loved his costume, even though I stressed about Ben looking like a fool all week.  He can rock the girl’s leggings :)  On Friday he had a Halloween party at school and his teacher told me he was hysterical eating all the goodies.  If they offered it, he ate (and wore it). 

not so sure about this pumpkin, he kept throwing it like a ball

 

look at his legs…so cute!

 

and so his butt

 

Practicing hitting with Daddy before trick or treat time

 

Off to get some candy with the cutest pink cat we’ve ever seen

 

This is how Ben rode the entire way home.

Our little man went to bed way past his bedtime, but it was totally worth it, he had a blast! 

Santa sent another early present down to Ben via Grammy.  We need to build another house just to store all his loot.  Now Ben has his own basketball hoop just in time for the NBA to start.  Daddy put it together for him today and he loves it!  I like to call him my little Michael Jordan, but sometimes he more like Kobe and is a ball hog.  If I could bottle his energy and sell it, I would be a billionaire in no time.  This kid literally wakes up and then runs until nap time or bed time.  The ONLY time he’ll sit still is if he catches baseball on tv or when he grabs a book to read, but otherwise he is always running. 

My baby Michael Jordan

 

I asked Daddy to show me how tall it gets and Ben freaked when he couldn’t reach!

Ben has another new love-cereal!  We randomly bought super sugary cereal at the grocery store this week (hey, it looked good) and Ben will crawl up in your lap if you’re eating it and stick his face over the bowl to get some.  I don’t really intend to buy sugary cereal for him, but a treat is always fun.

Sharing some Reeces Puffs with Daddy

Since I know my favorite in-laws read this, I can’t forget to mention my fabulous Baylor Bears!  Sweet Ben, I want you always to remember that when you were one, Mommy’s Bears beat Daddy’s Longhorns!  Mommy has had to listen to Daddy and his entire Longhorn loving family put my Bears down for 11 years now.  Oh Mommy was SO excited when Baylor won last night.  And Boots owes Mommy pancakes since he lost his bet!  Don’t worry-I’ll share.  We have a whole year to be obnoxious and gloat about how fabulous Baylor is!  And speaking of awesome teams, the Rangers made the World Series!  Daddy has become a Ranger’s fan this year thanks in part to his season tickets.  It’s been fun watching the Rangers on tv (and Daddy can’t decide what he loves more-going to the games or selling his tickets for ridiculous amounts of money). 

And now Olive.  Olive is doing great I guess.  She’s growing little by little and it’s just about the point where I can’t hide that she’s in there.  Dr. Garner said everything sounded/looked great on Friday.  I think I found her bedding and I have to admit that when I went into Carters today to find Ben’s leggings, I got kind of giddy looking at all the adorable girl’s clothes.  We have another 3 weeks before we get final confirmation that she’s really a she, but Daddy said he’s totally sure (he’s ready to paint).

I can’t believe it’s almost November!  Daddy has a BIG birthday on Thursday and it’s also Grams’ bday, too!  And we have less than 4 weeks until Grams and Pops come to visit, woohoo!!!

Boots, baseball, a kitchen and Olive

I’m getting so bad at posting lately, but I seem to want to play with Ben instead of photograph him, sorry. 

On Friday Ben got an early Christmas present from the North Pole via Grammy.  His very own kitchen.  She said to go ahead and let him play with it now.  What a hit!  This kid is in Heaven.  It has a light he can turn on, the burner makes different noises depending on which pot or pan you put on it and the stove and microwave will beep once we get more batteries.  It also has a cell phone, because well doesn’t every kitchen have it’s own cell phone?  B put it together while Ben napped on Saturday.  When he woke up he didn’t notice it right away because we had visitors.  B’s parents drove in from Austin.  It took Ben a minute to warm up to them, but then Gramma started playing with the kitchen and they became instant friends.  We’ve also been trying to find just the right name for B’s dad, but Ben took it upon himself to name him…Boots!  B’s dad has some sweet cowboy boots and Ben loves them.  He learned to say boots, but then kept calling B’ dad “Boots” so we went with it.  Kind of sounds more like “buuuts”, but so cute.  He also says “may-maw” for Gramma.  He’ll learn.  Thanks Boots and Gramma for coming to visit.  Ben loved watching UT and baseball and going to the park.  We can’t wait to see you in a few weeks.

playing with Gramma

this is what the kitchen looks like after about 10 minutes (we spilled water on our shirt)

 

after Boots and Gramma left we went to the field by the pool to kick around a ball and fly Daddy’s plane.  Ben kept watching the plane (and birds and real airplanes) with his hands behind his back like this.  Such a goof.

 

Look at the birds!

 

Learning how to kick

 

Mommy and Ben unintentionally dressed alike :)

 

Ben took a header into the corner of the wall while chasing the dogs.  He nailed the side of his head near his eye.  A little cold pack, juice (which he never gets) and some TLC from Daddy made all the difference.

And now Olive…

Ben will be a big brother around April 18.  This puts Mommy 14 weeks tomorrow.  I actually found out right at 4 weeks when Daddy was at a Rangers game.  It wasn’t a huge surprise to us.  Daddy asked me to take a test a few days earlier, but it was too soon.  We kept it a secret from everyone except a few people we work with for about 6 weeks.  Pops and Grams found out on Pops’ birthday and Boots and Gramma found out a few days later.  There are still some people who don’t know (my kids and their parents), but for the most part it’s not a secret anymore.  In fact I found out tonight Pops was blabbing away to people who have no need to know!!!  The entire time I’ve thought girl and this was confirmed at our 12 week level 2 sonogram.  Two days later I ate a TON of Olive Garden breadsticks and blamed it on the little princess so I’ve been calling her Olive.  We possibly have a name, but it’s a secret for now (and it’s not Olivia).  We’ve been blessed to have an easier pregnancy with this one and my wonderful doctor still lets me come in every 2 weeks for heartbeat checks.  I can’t wait to start feeling her.  We are very excited about all that is to come as our family goes from 3 to 4.  We have no idea how to do girls, but we’ll learn and we have no doubt Ben will be a protective big brother.  We’re also preparing ourselves for the poor princess to be beat and picked on by Ben, that’s what big brothers do :)  In the meantime we’ll soak up all the Ben time we can get before our lives change again.  Ben is so amazing and fun, we can’t wait to double that!

Rudolph

Our busy boy has been well-busy!  Sweet Ben doesn’t know how to sit still and this results in bumps and bruises including one right on the nose (hence-Rudolph).  It’s getting much better, but last week Ben tripped at school as they were walking inside and scraped his nose.  Thank God it happened a day after picture day! 

Daddy’s been getting to work extra early these past few weeks so he can be home in time to enjoy the gorgeous weather we’ve been blessed with.  Trips to the park and the field across the street keep our active boy a happy boy.  Mommy had the stomach flu and daddy has had some toe issues so it’s been a few days of no outside time for sweet Ben.  Today we took him across the street with a ball and it was bliss.  He loved playing with Daddy and then ended his time scraping all the bark off a tree.  Happy as a clam! 

Ben turned 16 months on Sunday.  16 months going on 16 years!  This little man is INDEPENDENT!  He wants it his way on his time.  He still loves his mac n cheese and blueberries, but also LOVES water.  His sign for water has turned into touching his ear and saying something that I don’t think sounds anything like water, but it gets the job done.  He would drink it 24/7 if we let him.  At least it’s healthy.  I think he might be a chef when grows up because man he loves to help Daddy cook.  We call him our sous chef because he’s always wanting help.  I think Santa may have already gotten someone his own kitchen :)  But as much as he’s growing up, he still loves his Mommy and Dada.  His hugs and kisses melt our hearts as does his smile.  Oh Ben, we love you SO much!!!

 

I took a ton of pictures today and just couldn’t decide which ones so here’s a bunch!

 

 

this is what he does as he starts to run

 

 

 

hugs for Daddy are the greatest!

Mommy

I’ve been called many names before.  Princess, Peanut, Boobala, Michalson, Mickelson, Mrs. Mahrer, Sweetie, Ah-me (oh I miss my Grampy), Amers and of course Amy.  But my favorite name I think I will ever be called is Mommy.  Just the past two weeks Ben started calling me Mommy instead of Momma.  He used to say Momma, but it’s also the word he mumbles for other things.  But Mommy is just Mommy and I LOVE it! 

Ben’s been fighting a cold lately.  Nothing like a kid with a snotty nose.  Today though was one of the best days we’ve had with him.  It was just so much fun.  He fussed a little after I picked him up, but then once Daddy got home we hit the park and had a blast.  He must have gone down the slide 100 times laughing and squealing all the way.  After a dinner where he actually ate what we gave him (Daddy refused to give in and let him eat just bread like he wanted) he laughed and played until bedtime.  There wasn’t any tears when it was night night time, just love and kisses. 

When I pick up Ben from school I love to stand by the door and just watch through the window.  If I walk in Ben will stop what he’s doing and run to me so I stay outside and watch him.  He’s very much a teacher’s helper.  On Friday I watched him insist on turning the pages of a big book before the teacher was done with it and today he was grabbing the shakers out of everyone’s hands to put them away.  Then once I walked in he bopped another kid on the head not once, but twice.  Lovely.  Yes, I have that kid.  He’s a bit territorial.  If he’s playing with something, he does not want you touching it.  He pushed poor Mayson on her birthday twice because she used the car he was sitting on to stand up.  So looking forward to his behavior chart when he starts kindergarten.  I see many teacher conferences in my future…

I haven’t taken too many pictures lately.  Ben loved watching Daddy mow the yard yesterday.  He chased him around and around.  Being stuck inside while Daddy’s working outside is just not an option for Ben. 

Ben loves to cook with Daddy.  Lots of tears when he can’t help.  Last week Daddy was making lasagna and Ben helped with the mixing.

 

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…for some

I.LOVE.THIS.KID!!!  Ben is just amazing and all I want to do is kiss and hug on him all day.  He’ll give hugs and kisses on demand now…LOVE IT!  And the kisses aren’t open mouth and slobbery anymore, even though we’d take those, too.  And yes in between his adorableness and sweetness his horns appear (and not the burnt orange ones).  Man this kid can throw a fit.  He is not a fan of getting in his car seat sometimes and Heaven forbid you take something away from him.  If he’s doing this at 15 months I don’t want to know what it will be like in a year or two.  Ben had his 15 month check up on Friday.  I had to get him during nap time at school.  It was the first time I’ve seen him napping on his nap mat.  He was sound asleep and wasn’t too happy I was waking him up.  I tried so hard to get him out quickly, but I’m pretty sure that his cry caused a domino effect in waking the other 3 babies in his room up-oops :)  Anyway, Dr. G said he looked great.  We’re finally getting some more teeth.  I have concerns about his toe nails and Dr. G said they will be normal “when he’s an adult.”  Thanks!  Our little trooper got 4 shots.  He’s never had an adverse reaction to a shot, but man was he crabby that night.  We had to miss out on a bday party that night because of our little stinker.

Height: 32.5 (90%)

Weight: 27.10 (75%)

Head: 20 (go ahead and guess the %)

 

Football started this weekend so Daddy is one happy boy (hence the post title).  Ben sat and watched some football, but called it bay-ball the whole time.  We worked on touchdown and he’ll do it at random times.  Shoots his arms in the air and starts going “woo.”  Mommy’s team plays Daddy’s team this weekend- GO MOMMY’S TEAM!

 

Ben LOVES to help Daddy cook.  B let him dump the beans in the pot when they were making chili the other night.

Thanks to our buddy Wyatt’s blog we had to break out our tent from Aunt Kristin and Uncle Tommy.  Not sure who enjoyed it more, Ben or Daddy.

 

He just looks so grown up dressed like this

 

Today we went outside because we have two escape-artists of dogs and I needed to watch them.  Ben found their big water bowl and had a blast with it.  He was drenched when we went in for dinner.

 

Do you see his head?  He fell on a big wooden block toy Sunday and it left a huge mark.  There’s a straight line from where his head hit the edge and a goose egg formed around it.

A new thing-he puts his arms up like this as if he’s say “what is it?”  He does this when he sees something new or if the dogs do something crazy. 

 

Ben loved chasing Bailey girl through the yard.

 

3 more days until the weekend and Miss Mayson’s bday!!!  And yes, it’s Pop’s bday, too, but Ben never got an invitation to his party.

Bay-eee

Did you miss us?  Sorry for the very long delay in posts.  There just aren’t words to describe the complete exhaustion I feel after work.  I’m not going to lie-it’s going to be one rough year (just ask B about the content of the emails he gets daily from me), but…I will get through it and things will perk up (and thank God I work with 4 amazing girls-finally).  Ben, on the other hand, LOVES school.  He loves to run in each day and on Friday the weather finally cooled enough so he could go out and play and he was so excited.  When I get home any energy left in me goes to playing with our boy (who seems to have boundless energy). 

Ben is still so much fun.  He cracks us up.  Yesterday he turned 15 months.  B took him to the doctor a week ago (sinus infection) and they weighed him.  27 lbs of love!  He loves to watch baseball “bay-ball” and stand in the bathtub.  B taught him how to take the cup in the bath and splash/pour all the water ON THE FLOOR!  Thanks, babe!  He’s a pain with food.  He’ll eat anything at school, but at home still won’t eat anything with protein.  Just wants fruit.  He loves drinking water out of B’s cup and always wants “bup” on the couch.  He runs everywhere.  In general he’s a very happy boy, except when he’s hungry.  He doesn’t know how to say or sign hungry, but instead says “more.”  I swear he wakes up saying it and goes to bed saying it.  The kid could always eat, but right before dinner is a little stink.  He’s just so hungry lately around that time, even after a snack.  Right now his back gums are twice their normal size just waiting on the teeth to pop through.  He dances whenever he hears music or if you just say “dance.”  He’s started stomping his feet in addition to moving his arms and head.  Speaking of stomping, the other day he threw a huge fit and stomped his feet and cried when I wouldn’t let him do something he wanted to.  I can hardly wait for the kid to turn 2.  Wish I could blame that on B, but I think he’s going to have his Momma’s poutiness.

So I titled the post after our sweet Bailey girl, or “Bayeee” as Ben calls her.  We had a little scare Thursday night and came very close to having to say goodbye to her sooner than we want to.  We came home to a house COVERED and I mean covered in doggy vomit.  We weren’t sure which one it was, but after I got Ben down and cleaned it up we let them in and she got sick again.  Lethargic and just not herself, it was so sad.  We went to bed and I couldn’t handle knowing she was so sick so I took her to the emergency vet.  A bazillion dollars later they’re not totally sure what happened.  They told me to expect the worse based on her symptoms.  They kept asking if she got into something or ate some of Ben’s food.  I tried to explain that we have Bruiser at home who is the dog who gets into EVERYTHING and has tummy issues.  Bailey is our perfect dog.  I think I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve gotten mad at her in 5 years.  We’re pretty sure Ben will start calling Bruiser “no” based on how often we get on to him.  Poor Bailey girl was on her way to organ failure from being so dehydrated.  They pumped her full of iv fluid and electrolytes and gave her pain meds and antibiotics.  Not one cry from her as they poked her a million times.  They even had trouble drawing blood because her veins were so weak due to a lack of fluid.  She’s doing so much better now and tonight we let Ben play with her for the first time and he was so happy to have his girl back.  They just snuggled.  My heart was happy.

My camera has been resting lately, but I got a few pictures today and had a few from a couple weeks ago. 

Someone fell at school and got an boo-boo.  They said he didn’t even cry.

 

He takes all his toys off the shelves.

This is what he does when you ask him, “How tough is Ben?”  And he’s holding part of a nacho-like father like son :)  The dust pan is his shovel.  He’ll use it to pick things up.  The other day he helped B with laundry by shoveling the dirty laundry out of the basket and into the washer.

 

Ben’s favorite book.  It’s starting to fall apart now.  He has us read it probably 50 times a day.  He’s pointing to the bee and saying “buzz.”  Do you notice how dirty the couch is.  Thank God for leather.  He thinks it’s fun to wipe his hands on the couch all over it when they’re dirty.  We can’t keep up with wiping it down.

 

I promise to try to be better at blogging.  He changes so much each day and I need to capture it!

Blueberries for Ben

Oh sweet Ben!  Thank you for the most wonderful summer EVER!  I have loved, loved, loved the past ten weeks with you.  Before summer started, a little part of me hoped I wouldn’t like staying home with you so that it would be easier to go back to work.  NOPE, not even a little bit.  Everyday was full of smiles, giggles, laughs and love.  You grew and learned so much.  I’m so glad I was able to be home to be a part of it.  I just love you to pieces!!!  Tonight was a little hard for mommy putting you to bed.  As you gave me kiss after kiss and hug after hug, tears fell from my eyes because I know that tomorrow we’re both off to school again for another year.  I hate that we pay someone to play with you and experience all your fun while we’re missing you.  But that is what God’s plan is for us right now so we will accept it and love every second we have together outside of school.  I hope you have a happy year at school.  I am looking forward to telling another group of 1st graders all about my absolute favorite little person in the entire world each and every day!  I love you sweet boy!

 

While tomorrow might be my first day back, we were smart enough to start Ben back last week to ease into the routine again.  Monday was HORRIBLE.  So many tears on both our parts.  After a summer with Mommy, Ben wasn’t quite ready to let me leave.  It got better each day and Grams still calls and checks on him each day for me.  I kept him home Friday so we could have our last Mommy and Ben day together.  I took him to the mall playground and the kid was in awe!  We left after 10 minutes because there were just too many big kids there and I was scared he’d get hurt, but he LOVED it.  I mean LOVED it!

The director emailed me these pictures on Monday to ease my heart.  Everyday when I pick him up I watch him for a few minutes in the window and he’s happy and running around.

They can tell me a million times he’s fine, but a picture does help SO much.  The other little boy in this picture started on Monday.  I wonder what his mom thought as I walked out SOBBING?

He loves this silly old kitchen.  Pretends to turn on the water and rubs his hands under the faucet.

A little fun after school on Monday.

On Friday Daddy made nachos.  He makes them then puts the piping hot tray on a lap tray and eats in front of the tv.  After Ben was done with his dinner, he crawled up next to B and started LICKING the nacho tray (it had cooled by then).  I’m very worried about his table manners. 

Off the subject of nachos, but I was SO happy to have B home on Friday night.  He bought season tickets for the Rangers for the rest of the year with Jonathan and although they’ve only gone to games this week, I HATE him being gone.  He goes straight from work so I don’t see him until after midnight and the only time Ben sees him is when B takes him to school.  I begged him to give away his ticket Friday and come home and he surprised me and did.  He does watch the games on tv now and Ben will sit there and watch them too.  He shouts, “BALL” and claps and cheers when the batter hits the ball.  Pops would love it!  The Rangers are away all this week-I’m one happy Momma!

 

Have you met our horse, Bailey?

And before I leave you with one final picture of my favorite 14 1/2 month old, let me explain the title to this post.  Ben has found a favorite food.  Blueberries are his absolute favorite food.  He eats a pint a day if we let him.  He even knows they’re coming and will eat about 5 bites of a meal and then starting signing for more and by more, he means blueberries.  It might as well be the sign for blueberries now.  We try to give him more of whatever it is he’s eating and he hit our arms out of the way.  When we put the blueberries on his plate he lets out a squeal of delight.  He was with me when we bought some and just about flipped himself over the seat of the cart to grab them.  Now I have to hide them behind something else.  And we make trips to the store just for blueberries.  I was in my classroom organizing my class library and came across the book, Blueberries for Sal.  I stopped and read it and it reminded me so much of Ben.  I could just see him walking up Blueberry Hill, finding a spot full of blueberries and sitting down and eating all them instead of filling his bucket with them.  And yes I cried as I read it in my room because it made me miss my best buddy.  I took the book home though to read to Ben.

Today we went out to eat for lunch.  We had a long wait before we were seated and stayed outside so Ben could walk around without being trampled.  This kid is all boy and loves to play.  His face was bright red and sweaty when we were paged.  He chowed down on a taco and left no crumbs.  He fell sound asleep as we pulled into the neighborhood so Daddy let him sleep on his belly when they came in.  I was a little jealous Daddy got some cuddle time.  The monkey is always on the go now and doesn’t cuddle anymore.

 

Do you think I could go wake him up and love on him a little???  I already miss him so much.