Who's in control?

For over a year, I have debated in my mind and with Nick whether or not we should and would have another child.  We had always said we wanted three but sometime during Bennett's first year, Nick said he wasn't set on three anymore.  So if you know me at all, you know that this uncertainty drove me crazy.  I am a planner.  I am a planner.  I am a PLANNER.  And while this third child we both dreamed of previously was never going to be an Irish twin (born within a year) of Bennett's, I had still planned he/she would arrive sometime in our future.  We talked about it many times and neither of us knew how to make the decision.  There was the rational way about it taking into account finances (loans, private school costs, etc. etc. etc.), logistics (car, bedrooms, etc.), and what we wanted for our family.  Then there was the somewhat irrational way of talking about it and I only say irrational because there wasn't anything specific backing up us "wanting" another child, we just wanted them.

During this last year, I kept thinking of advice I had given friends and friends had given me.  If you're unsure, you should go for it.  In twenty years, you will never look at that child and regret them.  But if you don't, you may regret not trying.  I also had a friend tell me she knew her family wasn't complete.  She always felt like someone was missing until she had another baby.  I wasn't sure if my wanting to have another child was the same as feeling like someone was missing.  Since our first two were kind of far apart at four years, we didn't want to wait and have another four year or even three year gap.  Bennett just turned two so that meant we were theoretically running out of time.  After realizing, we were never going to rationally and absolutely come to a decision, we decided it was time to let go of our control and planning (yes, I was able to do that and it was even my idea!), and leave it up to God.

So today, on July 12th, 2013, I type this through tears of joy and anticipation (and a little anxiety of course) because I am 4 weeks and 3 days PREGNANT!  I am due March 18, 2014...yes you read that right, March not May in case you're thinking of the same joke Nick made when I told him ha!  Our hearts are full and my cup runneth over.  Thank you God for another beautiful miracle and choosing me to be a Mama all over again.

How do you want your eggs?

We can finally ask Benny how he wants his eggs!  A little over a year ago, we found out Bennett was allergic to eggs (http://thekellylife.blogspot.com/2012/02/allergieschild-2-round-1.html).  Luckily after a visit to the allergist for the skin and blood test, we learned that he had a high possibility of outgrowing his allergy.  Since it had been over a year, we decided to give it another shot.  Nick made himself some eggs for breakfast on Saturday and naturally Bennett wanted some of whatever was on Nick's plate.  Nick gave him one bite and waited a few minutes.  Nothing happened.  Bennett wanted more so Nick gave him a couple more bites.  Still nothing happened.  Last year the reaction was immediate so I was very hopeful but Nick said sometimes it can take a couple hours.  I am very happy to say that hours later, Bennett had NO reaction to the eggs!  It isn't likely Jackson will outgrow any of his food allergies but I am thankful that Bennett has outgrown his egg allergy.  I don't know if this Mama can handle many more allergic reaction scares!

I love bedtime!

I really do love bedtime and it's not because I'm ready for some alone time without the boys.  On some days, sure I am counting down until the day is over and they are in bed but every single night, our bedtime routine makes my heart happy.  On a normal night we each read to one of the boys, Jackson is allowed to read to himself and then I go and tuck him in one last time.  This is when I get the extra cuddles and "I love yous."  And yes, I realize at this age, he's trying to gain a few extra minutes of time before bed but I'll take it!

When it's my night to read to Bennett, I sit in the glider and wait for him to bring me two or three books and his "nia nia" and then he climbs onto my lap.  I read to him and then we get up to turn out the light.  He insists on doing this himself and lately has gotten a kick out of doing it with his foot (no pun intended)!  Then I sing to him.  I don't have a great singing voice but my sweet baby doesn't know or doesn't care.  He just lays his head down on my chest and we sway.  Some of my favorites to sing "I sing you a song" (sweetest lyrics http://www.take-note.org/I_Sing_You_a_Song.pdf), "A bushel and a peck," and "You are my sunshine" which I used to sing to Jackson when he was a baby and still do upon request!  After I'm done singing, I say "Night night" and he immediately pops his head up off my chest, puts each palm on my mouth one at a time for a kiss and then leans his head in for a kiss on his forehead.  Then one last big hug and "I love you" and I lay him down.

I wish I could freeze these moments.  Forever.

Bunny Ears!

I've tried twice before to teach Jackson to tie his shoes.  And by try, I mean show him once and help him once before him loosing interest and giving up.  Last month, he needed new shoes for school and BEGGED me for lace ups instead of velcro and I gave in.  I've asked some friends for their opinions and advice on how to teach kids how to tie their shoes but there wasn't one method that stuck out.  This morning we tried again.  I went through all three methods with him a couple times and then we decided the bunny ears was the way to go.  He wasn't that into it and said he couldn't do it and it was too hard and whined through it all but it took less than TEN MINUTES!!!  Then of course he was so excited and went around the house showing Nick and Bennett.

Learn to tie your shoes - CHECK!
Next up:
Ride a bike without training wheels

Not so chatty Bennett

If my memory serves me correctly, Bennett is following in his brother's footsteps as far as his verbal development.  I remember thinking Jackson didn't say many words and then once he turned two, his vocabulary erupted.  Bennett will be two in five weeks (FIVE?!) and so far isn't very talkative.  I started making a list of his words earlier this year just to keep track and here's what we've got so far:

Uh oh (he used to say uh uh)
No
Mama
Dada
Jackson (says all.day.long)
Lila
Nana
Jiddu (Diddu)
Shoes
Sock (caw)
Please
Thank you (doodoo, sometimes confused with Jiddu lol)
Cracker
More
Ball
Nose
Eye
Hi
Bye bye
Nia nia (his blankie)
Down
Up
Off
Tickle
Book
Night night
Car
Choo choo
Vroom vroom
My ball
Pop pop
Mimi
Lilly
Chocolate (ca-ca)
Outside (ide)
Hat
Poo poo (I'm hoping this means potty training will go a little smoother)
Blue
Mooooo (cow)
Quack quack
Roar
Bubble
Change
Auntie (FINALLY!)
Milk (mo)



He seems to be on a roll now and is learning at least one new word a week.  He has perfected the inflections but not always the pronunciation which just makes it cuter.

Back for good! Maybe...

I haven't blogged in a very long time!  To be exact it's been a year but we have had a lot going on and between not having time and not thinking anyone reads my blog, I decided it was okay to just let it go.  But I am also realizing that my memory (while awesome) isn't perfect and I'm going to want to remember or document more of these times.  I'm not sure how often I'll post but hopefully it will at least touch on the big stuff.

Bennett is 10 months old...give or take a week ;)

Oops I forgot to blog last week but in my defense it's been a very hectic month of going back and forth to Atlanta.  One of those trips was to celebrate sweet little Lila's 1st birthday!  I can't believe she's already one and that means Benny is just 8 weeks away from his birthday.  Seriously, how is that even possible?  I adore the baby phase!  Even with the sleepless nights, I just love it and now I can't believe it's almost over.

This last month has been a big one for Benny Bear.  He started crawling a little over a month ago but now he's not only gaining speed, he pulls up on everything and has even started to walk while holding on to things like the couch or table.  He hasn't perfected getting back down to the ground from a standing position so I hear a lot of thuds and thumps during the day.  He hasn't been able to stand alone yet and I doubt that will come anytime soon.  His feet are so chunky and are never flat, he's always on his toes.  He loves to play with toys, especially Jackson's big boy toys.  He is almost always happy and unless he's having stranger anxiety, he'll shoot anyone a smile that just melts your heart.  As my mom says, even his eyes smile.  He can clap and is starting to give high fives.  We're working on "Soooo big" but aren't quite there yet.  He can make kissing sounds by smacking his lips together so I'm trying to get him to make the connection that those are kisses.  He babbles a lot and it's so sweet to hear.  Mama, mmmm, and Dada are the main ones even though I'm not sure he knows yet what he's saying.  He says mmm and Mamamama a lot when he wants food so maybe he does know it's me, who knows.  I still love hearing it :)  And Jackson will tell you he heard Bennett say Jackson one night.

His sleeping habits haven't changed much.  He still goes to sleep very easily for naps and at night.  He wakes up once during the night for a quick feed and then goes back to sleep.  I'm ready for uninterrupted sleep but once a night isn't that bad and I do love our one on one time...even if it's at 4am! 

Bennett's eating slowed down drastically a few weeks ago and I wasn't sure if he just wasn't into the chunkier foods or just annoyed with eating all together but luckily he's back to normal.  He is trying new foods almost every day.  I will give him a small portion of whatever we are having for dinner and then he usually gets fruit and yogurt for breakfast and vegetables and fruit for lunch.  A few weeks ago we tried scrambled eggs and he had an immediate reaction.  We waited a few weeks but knew the next step was to try something with eggs so last Monday I made him a pancake for breakfast.  Not only did he love it but he had NO REACTION!!!  I was so happy.  I will continue to try little things like that until we can figure out how sensitive he is to eggs but at least we know it's not extreme.  We had introduced a sippy cup a few months ago with water.  He can bite it, tip it up and somewhat suck the water out but he doesn't really drink it.  One day, he got a hold of my water bottle and went to town drinking my water through the straw.  So next time I was at Target (which obviously was pretty soon) I picked up some straw cups for him and he loves them!  He also loves the veggie puffs.  Once he's done eating his main "dish," all I have to do is show him the container and he literally squeals with joy and his little feet start kicking under the high chair.  It's adorable!

These pictures were very hard to take and I didn't really get any great ones but here you go...I love the look on his face in the first one, as if he's trying to be sneaky and grab the turtle!