Happy Halloween!

We took Ben trick or treating last night. It was his first time going as last year on Halloween he had bronchitis. He dressed up as a lion and he looked so very cute as you can see.



We took him to my in laws house first. He was fascinated with all the Halloween decorations they had up. My mother in law had lined up Halloween baskets like the one Ben had up and down the driveway. Ben kept picking them up and often would be carrying 2 or 3 baskets at a time. We went to two or three houses on their street. Every time we brought him to a house we'd hear "Oh, he's so cute!" At one house, I heard the man inside say to his wife "You've got to see this one!" After the first house or two, Ben started making the connection that people were going to give him stuff to put in his basket. He was really getting into it. We didn't spend too much time trick or treating outside. It was starting to get cold and Ben's asthma has really been acting up this last week. He started coughing and I just wasn't comfortable with him staying outside for a long time.

We ended up heading the mall since it's inside and nice and warm. There were a lot of people there but it wasn't unbearable. Ben wasn't afraid to go up to anyone at the stores and soon started holding up his basket for them. He was so funny. A couple of times he sat down on the floor in the mall and started trying to dig into his basket. He wanted his treats right away! They were having a costume contest while we were there. They showed the kids in Ben's age range. They were cute and I know I'm prejudice but I think Ben would have still won. :)

We left there around 6:30 and just made one more stop at our neighbor's house. They were so happy to see them and spoiled him rotten with candy. He did get to have a few pieces when he got home. I honestly don't let him have a lot of stuff with sugar or chocolate in it so the basket is probably going to disappear since he's had several pieces yesterday and today. Oh well. He'll never remember.

All in all we had a great night. It was just so fun to see him get into his first Halloween. I can't believe that next year we'll have two to take trick or treating! Hope everyone had a great Halloween. Enjoy the pictures!

27 Weeks and counting

So in case you don't know, we are having another little boy! His name will be Zachary Daniel. Zachary just because we like the name and Daniel after Jason's father. I had a gut feeling that the baby was a boy. I don't know why but I did. So it wasn't too much of a surprise when the ultrasound tech told us the news. I am very excited for Ben. I think he'll make a great big brother and it'll be nice to have two boys so close in age.

Ben is understanding so much more now. He's 18 months old and it amazes me what he comprehends. We talk about Zachary being in my belly but I didn't really think he understood. Then the other day I said "Ben, can you give Zachary a kiss?" and Ben leaned over and kissed my belly. It was so very cute! I don't think he realizes there's a baby in there but he knows when we talk about where Zachary is that my belly has something to do with it.

Ben loves to talk now. He says so many words although I'm grateful he hasn't learned the word no yet. He says "Yeah" and "Yes" a lot when we ask him questions. He also loves to roar like a lion. He copies so much of what we do. It really makes me aware of what we're saying and doing as you know he's always watching. Not long ago, he took my mom's deodorant and started trying to put it under his arms. It was very funny!

I am 27 weeks pregnant now and to be honest I can't wait to be done being pregnant. Don't get me wrong. I am very grateful that I'm able to be pregnant and be blessed with this baby. I'm just not a person who enjoys being pregnant. I love feeling the baby and I do love my belly. What I don't love is the back pain, the heart burn and now because of my anemia the heart palpitations and shortness of breath. But I also know it's all worth it in the end. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and I'm hoping he'll schedule my c-section for sure then. I think they'll be doing it the 20th of January but it'd just be nice to have a date that's more for sure.

Well, I just wanted to give an update since it's been so long. We did take Ben for his pictures a couple of weeks ago. I'll try to post his pictures this weekend. They came out great and he looks like such a little man! Until then! :)

Guess who's going to be a big brother?

I know it's been a really long time but I really can't believe that it's been 4 months! I was told that I should update my blog and I totally agree with that person! :)

We have some very exciting news to share. Ben is going to be a big brother! It's all a little weird right now to be honest. This baby was a TOTAL surprise! We're very happy about it but it's taken some getting used to. I found out 3 weeks ago and I am 9 weeks pregnant. I'm excited that Ben's going to be a big brother but sad that he's no longer going to be my only baby. I don't know. I think it's just a lot of mixed up feeling right now. I'm feeling very lucky that I'm feeling ok. I'm tired but other than that I'm doing great. No morning sickness like what I had with Ben. I'm really hoping that it will pass me by!

I think the other weird thing about this pregnancy is that we pretty much know when our baby's birthday will be. We're going to be having our baby at St. Marys and it'll be a c-section this time because I had a c-section with Ben and St. Mary's doesn't do a regular delivery after a c-section. That's fine with me because I love my midwife and St. Mary's. Anyway, it looks like the baby's birthday will be January 20th. We are very excited. I just think my mind is trying to catch up and realize that I really am pregnant! :)

Well, let me tell you some things that have been happening with Ben. In the last week, he's said some new words. He's been saying momma and dadda for a long time now. This week it started with uh oh, then turtle, kitty, bye bye, and up. It's so funny to hear him repeating the words we say. He is so close to walking but either doesn't have the motivation or confidence to do it on his own. He does, however, climb on everything! He climbed on top of our sofa almost onto the windowsill! It was a little scary and he can move fast!

Anyway, just wanted to give that quick update and our good news. Please keep Ben's cousin, Grayson, in your prayers. He is having seizures and his poor mom and dad are under a lot of stress and anxiety worrying about their little man. Please keep them in your thoughts as I will be doing.

Yet another snow day and Book Meme

So we had yet another snow day today. I am SO tired of snow days! This is our 9th one so far. We won't be getting out of school until June 19th and it's not even the end of February yet! Today was the worse for snow days so far. I was almost ready to leave and almost ready to pack Ben up. My daycare lady called and said that another one of her parents works at the high school and had been told that they were canceling school. They canceled so late that they had to send kids home. This was at 7:15 and I hadn't received a phone call from our calling tree. So I had to try to call people to make sure that this was actually true. Called our school secretary and she hadn't heard anything and I couldn't get a hold of our principal. So I decided that I had to go since I didn't know for sure that there wasn't school and I had a parent meeting at 8am. I get to my daycare and they came out of the door and said "There's no school." I was getting emotional and not knowing what to do. I brought Ben in and told them that I couldn't find out anything. I decided to just go to school and come back if it had been canceled.

I headed off to school. I got a bad feeling when I saw a lot of cars coming from the other direction. At that time in the morning, they are usually headed the way I was going. I got to my school, started taking out my bags when my principal pulled in. She told me that there wasn't any school and that she couldn't believe it either. I was so mad! There was no announcement on the t.v. before I left or on the radio. Poor planning on someone's part!

I went back and got Ben and then the day just got worse. It took me 45 minutes to go from my school to home and usually it takes me 15 minutes. I tried to get up the hill before our house and couldn't. I backed up which ended up making my car turn around and I ended up in a snow bank. That's scary enough when it's just you but when you have a baby in the car it's 10 times worse. A friend stopped to help me and I got my car back on the road. I headed in another direction to get home. It was so slippery at that point. Luckily, Ben fell asleep so I didn't have to worry about him crying. There were a couple of cars off the road and it was slow going.

The other way I went there was one more hill to go up. Wouldn't you know that there was a bus stuck on the hill? Do ya think they should have called school off earlier?? I do!! I managed to get up the hill but barely. I was burning rubber trying to get up and not hit the bus at the same time. I was so glad when I got home and so furious with our school district. I know other teachers who travel more than 30 minutes and were already on their way to school. It was just really bad planning.

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All right onto a happier topic. My cousin, Linda, did a fun little book meme thing. So I thought I would do it. I'm in a silly mood now. Must be lack of sleep!
This is from Eat, Pray, Love by Elizbeth Gilbert.

" Our whole business therefore in this life," wrote Saint Augustine, rather Yogically, "is to restore to health the eye of the heart whereby God may be seen."

I just thougt this was such a nice quote and a reflection of how we can grow mentally and spiritually.

I'll post Ben's 43 weeks pictures tomorrow. It's gone by so fast!!

Photobucket Survey

I thought that this would be fun and it was!

1. Your Age


2. A place you would like to travel to


3. My favorite place: Home


4. My favorite food


5. Your favorite animal


6. Favorite color


7. Where I was born: Lewiston


8. The town in which I live


9. The name of your pets
Jack

Zoe

Classy


10. Your nickname


11. Your middle name


12. Your last name


13. Bad Habit of Yours

Yay!

I am so excited! I won the contest over at MamaBlogga for the "Me Time" piece I wrote. Now granted the winner was picked at random so it wasn't because of my fabulous writing :) but I won a $30 amazon.com gift card! Things have been so tight money wise so I am really excited about the idea of being able to spend $30 on myself. I love reading what other people have written and other blogs. If you do too, check out the other entries from the writing contest.

Me. Me. Me! by Shawn
Dear God, Why Me? by Megan Toney
I’ll take care of me, one way or the other by Daisy
Me Time by Jill
I’m a person, not a calculator by Tracy
Simple Things by Ursula
Just Like Brigitte Bardot by Mama Zen
Work IS My Time for Myself by Believer in Balance
What Time is It? by Mommy Zabs
Me-Time Is All in My Head by Marta Pelrine-Bacon
Searching For My “Me Time” by Amanda
Who Are We Kidding? by mumple
Me Time by Lisa
I Need Some Me Time! by Lynnae
My Time on the Throne by Candace (Mama Mia)
Did Wonder Woman Ever Cry? by Julie Arduini
Me Time! by Joleene Libby
Me, myself and I by Deb - Mom of 3 Girls
Don’t Just Do Something - Sit There! by phyllis
My “me time:is what I make of it by MomOnTheGo
Me Time for Moms by Jordan (MamaBlogga )

Ben and I had another snow day together. At this rate, I'll be going to school until July! It was nice though to have today. Ben has come down with a cough and it has kept him (and me!) up for the past 2 nights. He has just been miserable during the night, the poor little guy. I'm hoping that tonight is better for his cough. If not, I'm going to take him to the doctor's. But today gave us some time to relax and catch up on things. It was just a nice day. But I'm still praying for no more snow days! :)

What I've Learned

My little boy is now 9 months old. Did you notice I said boy, not baby? He no longer seems like a baby. He looks and plays like a little boy. It is amazing to me that this 21 pound little boy is the same 6 pounds 3 ounces baby I held in my arms on the day he was born. He has grown so quickly and I've learned so many things as a mom. Here are just a few of the things that I have learned as a mom.

* Your heart has a capacity to love such as you have never known.

* You will start to worry about what school they will go to even though they have 5 more years to go until they enter kindergarten.

* Poop stains. Enough said.

* Remotes and phones make great toys or at least that's what baby will think.

* They say the fastest animal on the earth is a cheetah. Yeah, right! The fastest animal is a baby who is going after something they want!

* Cheerios can somehow make it into a baby's diaper and you will never figure out how they made their way there.

* At first you are excited about the teeth they are getting in. Then you remember that you are still nursing. Do you see where I'm going with this?

* Baby food stains are AWFUL to get out. How can this be? They're just vegatables and fruits!!

* If you have something, the baby wants it.

* No matter how tired, irritated, or grumpy you are, when you look at his face, your heart will melt and you will fall in love all over again.

* Seeing your husband with his son makes you love him all over again and appreciate him in a new light.

* It is amazing how fast a cat will run when a baby boy is going after him.

* Rice cereal tastes really awful.

* Poop can shoot out at you at amazing speeds!

* If your baby is a boy, eventually they will pee on themselves, you or on the family cat!

* A baby passing gas is much louder than you could imagine.

* Wet kisses are one of the best treats ever!

* Anything that can be put in a baby's mouth, will be put in a baby's mouth!

* The baby will be in their winter jacket, strapped into the car seat and you are ready to leave the house to go to work. Then you will smell that smell that tells you what the smile on his face was really all about!

* Grammies and Aunties are around to save your sanity!

* You will worry over sniffles, coughs and anything else you don't think is normal.

* Leaving the baby for the first time is brutal!

* Toys have the ability to multiply and take over your house!

* Burp clothes are a neccesity!!

* Seeing your baby crawl for the first time is one of the most exciting times.

* Eventually your excitement over the crawling turns to regret as you realize that the baby can now get into almost everything!

* The baby will leak out of his diaper at the worst possible time imaginable.

* One of the best sounds in the world is that of your baby's laughter.

* You will never be able to imagine your life without them and that is a good thing.


I still have a lot to learn but those are just a few that I've learned so far. We took Ben to Kiddie Kandids to have his 9 month pictures taken. I think they came out really great. Hope you like them.

Me Time!

In the last 6 months, I have discovered a love of reading other blogs. I have found so many great tips and advice through doing this. One thing that I thought sounded fun was a writing contest over on MamaBlogga group writing project The writing contest this time is "Me Time!" So here goes my first try at a writing contest.

"Me time" has taken on a whole new meaning since I became a mom. My "me time" occurs after my 9 month son has gone to bed. After he is nursed and rocked, he finally surrendors to sleep and it's mommy's time. "Me time" before motherhood would have been me reading a book without interruption. These days it is not so simple! Here is what my "me time" looks like now. The baby has gone to bed. He's sleeping on my bed right next to me as I play on the computer. I look at one blog and then another. Oh, no. My heart stops. The baby is starting to stir!! May day! May day! Houston, we have a problem. Me time has been interuppted! Quickly I put my hand on his back to quiet him. Phew!! Disaster averted! My heart slows down and I go back to relaxing. Do some research on the internet on such important topics as "How to get poop stains out of baby clothes" and "Do solids really make poop look like THAT?!?" Then the baby starts to stir again. The hand goes back on his back but this time to no avail. We're sorry to interupt your regularly scheduled me time due to an important nursing conference. Please be patient until we are back on schedule. That's right. My son, the comfort nurser, will not be appeased with a hand on the back and a shh, shh, shh. He wants to nurse. We nurse for a little while and then down he goes again. "Sigh. It's just you and me again." The me being me and the you being my laptop. There is silence once more other than the pitter patter of the keyboard. And so our night goes on like this. Mommy me time, baby time, mommy me time, baby time. Finally, Mommy's eyes can no longer stay open for the me time without propping them up with toothpicks or hooking some Dunkin' Donuts coffee through an I.V. I finally cave into sleep and look forward to my next brief and interrupted "me time."

*About the author-This "me time" piece was written by a first time mommy who is at this moment having a hard time keeping her eyes open during an actual "me time." She wouldn't trade her interuppted "me time" which includes snuggling with her little man for all the uninteruppted me time in the world.

Hope you enjoyed my silly little writing. I had fun doing it and hope to do it again.

Long time, no write!

I think I just need to accept that I am not good at keeping up with my blog. I try. I really do but things just seem to get too busy. I don't know how good my excuse holds up considering we've had 5 snow days in 3 weeks but that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

I wanted to post some pictures of when Chris was here for Christmas. I miss him so much. I know he probably doesn't believe that but it's true. When you get used to having someone there, you kind of take it for granted that they'll always be in your daily life. We really miss Chris but know that he is doing great in Florida. I'm really proud of how much he's grown. Ben can't wait to see his uncle again soon. He loved seeing him!

Ben is crawling everywhere! It seems he is constantly into everything. I'm always saying, "No, Ben, no." We now have to close the doors when we're upstairs because he tries to go out the door. He always wants to be moving. He's furniture walking too now. He's got a lot of bumps lately because of it. He's pretty tough though most of the time. He'll fall and then get right back up. He has a lot of toys to play with but wouldn't you know that the things he most likes to play with are not toys! He loves the remotes, phones and magazines. He LOVES anything paper!!! He is so quick and can get into so much trouble so quickly!!! Yesterday I was folding laundry in the living room. I guess I must have been in my own little world and not paying attention. Ben had taken the cheerio box and turned it upside down. There were cheerios all over the carpet! He was just as happy as could be. It was so funny to see him sitting on the rug eating cheerios. You could have left him there all day and he would have been content.







































I came down the same day from taking a shower and saw the cutest thing. Ben was curled up with his daddy fast asleep. Ben doesn't fall asleep easily so I was impressed that he had fallen asleep with his daddy. I just had to take a picture.








































I've been doing some things that I am very proud of!! I haven't exercised in a long time. Really since before I was pregnant. I decided to start up again around the new year. I've been unhappy with the weight I had gained before I became pregnant. I know it might not be noticeable to some people but I'm not happy with it. The other thing is that I haven't been eating healthy at all since Ben was born and I hate that! I found a website that I really loved called spark people. It's really helped me gain some motivation to eat healthy and lose weight. I've been exercising for about 3 weeks now. I'm really getting into now and enjoying it. I hate it if I go a day without doing it. I can't go to a gym because it's just too hard with Ben and he's too little for me to feel ok with leaving him at a gym daycare. So I've been using exercise dvds. Some of them are ones I've had and some I've been renting through Netflix. I love getting them through Netflix! It's fun to get a dvd that you have no idea what it's going to be like and just try it out. If I don't like it, I just send it back once I'm done. It's a lot better then taking a risk buying a dvd that I might not like. I figure if I do like one, I can always go out and buy it. It's nice having that time to myself to exercise. I usually go up to my room and exercise for at least 30 minutes. It gives me some time away. So far I've lost 6 pounds. I'm hoping to keep it up. One more pound and I'm going to reward myself with a piece of clothing from Steve and Barry's. Who knew getting fit could be fun? :)

I wanted to ask everyone to keep my family in your thoughts. Jason's job has taken a turn for worse. It's not what we thought it was supposed to be. We thought we were going to essentially have salary with commission for a month. We were expecting a check last week and never got one. Jason then found out from his boss that the salary was for only 1 week. Now he is on straight commission and with the economy right now, it is not going well. Right now, we are living just on my income. We are trying to make ends meet but it's getting harder and harder. It was a real blow to us when we found out this job was not going to work out. We've been dealing with bad luck from Jason's job for the last 18 months. We are trying to keep our chins up but it's hard when you keep feeling like you keep getting beat down. I started talking to God last night. I've talked to him a lot in the last 2 years asking him for help. I actually thanked him last night for this opportunity to become stronger. I am trying to look at it that way. Other wise I'm afraid that this will break me. So please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Jason is looking for another job and we are fortunate that my mom and Sue live with us. They have been so incredible and have helped us out so much. I will never be able to repay them for it. I'm not writing all of these to get sympathy. It just gets so tiring not telling anyone and I just feel I need to reach out to people for emotional support. Thanks for listening.