Sick Bay

It has been a rough past couple of weeks in our house. We have been invaded by every germ known to man, I feel. We made it through the first half of the winter very healthy and it seems like someone (mostly Ben) has been sick more often than not since January.

Our weekend began with a bang on Thursday. Ben had a class at the Children's Museum and we then picked up daddy for lunch and to say goodbye before Dean headed to the airport for a race in Miami. They boys and I went home for a couple of hours and then Ben had soccer at 4:30 and we met up with Dean's family for dinner at 6:30 to celebrate Oma's 70th Birthday! Happy Birthday Oma!

Oma, Cousin Kevin, and Joey

We were all exhausted and crashed on Thursday night. I woke up at 5:00 a.m. on Friday to work and heard Ben crying at 5:10 a.m. I went in (to my bed) to find him covered in vomit. He had thrown up all over himself, his stuffed animals, my sheets, everything. Poor little baby! In my efforts to transfer him to the bathroom to get him in the bathtub, he left a trail of vomit, and ended up throwing up again...in the bathtub. I was beginning to suspect it was going to be a long, long day.

The vomiting did not last too long, fortunately, but was replaced by diarrhea, which is almost, but not quite, as unpleasant of a symptom. I originally assumed that Ben just had a virus, but by about noon he was holding onto his lower abdomen and crying about how bad his tummy hurt. He would not let me touch his belly and kept crying so I called the doctor and we headed in for a professional opinion.

We arrived to the doctor's office 10 minutes late, thanks to an accident by Ben right as we were getting in the car. Ben cried almost the whole way to the doctor's office (Joe, by the way, was his typical easy going self and just smiled and amused himself all day while I was in gastrointestinal hell). Oma ended up meeting us at the doctors office to help with Joey in case the doctor needed to do any diagnostic tests. Miraculously upon entering the doctors office, Ben was a new boy. He was suddenly perfectly fine. Why is that always the case? Not that I am complaining (too much), I was thrilled he was feeling better, but couldn't he have felt better 20 minutes earlier and saved me $25, a rushed trip to the doctor, and a visit to the only place on earth that has more germs right now than my own home?

We were relieved that Ben was going to survive, and headed home with doctors orders to watch movies and relax the remainder of the day. My mom ended up coming over on Friday night and spending the night, which was a rare treat, and I was once again reminded that my mom is not only a saint, but a psychic. Somehow she knew that I would need her...when Joey got sick at 7:30 that night!!! Poor little baby suddenly started screaming and crying, coughed several times like he was trying to vomit and had a humungous blow out diaper. He was almost inconsolable, which is so rare for him, and it was such a blessing to have my mom there. She took care of getting Ben to bed and I was able to hold Joe for the next 3.5 hours while he squirmed in my arms, cried in his sleep, and I literally could feel his little stomach spasming. It was heartbreaking! Mom, Joe, and I made our way to bed a little after 11:00 p.m.

Saturday was a new day and we all awoke to Ben feeling much better. He and nana "cheferd" (i.e. cooked) waffles and bacon for breakfast. Joey clearly did not feel well, but he was no longer screaming, just kind of looking pitiful and no where near his normal joyful self. My mom left right after my sister, Michelle, arrived. I joked that they were babysitting me! Michelle ended up spending the whole day with us, which was such a treat. We had a great day, despite Joe not feeling well. Ben looked out the window at one point and said "it looks like a great day to fly a kite." We ended up making kites and Ben and I went outside to fly them...rather unsuccesfully, but fun nonetheless! Uncle Clint even stopped by for a visit and played basketball and Wii with Ben, much to his delight.

Ben's Kite!

"Not much wind today!"

Peek a Boo Joe Joe!

Michelle ended up leaving about 7:00 p.m. last night. Joey was in bed by about 7:30 p.m. and Ben was down by 8:30 p.m. I gleefully climbed into my bed at 8:45 p.m. and snuggled in with my laptop to get some work done. Lights out was 11:30 p.m. and I slept like a baby!





Everyone slept well last night and we started our day at about 7:00 a.m....which is definitely sleeping in for me! Ben was feeling great, Joey seemed much better, and we settled in to eagerly await Deans return. We decided to avoid church and keep our germs to ourselves one more day...besides, I suspect church is where we picked up the germs in the first place and I didn't want to pick up any others...I need one week reprieve from this virus! Ben and I made welcome home signs and ended up making a lifesize "Ben" for him to color. It was a great morning and I loved watching how happy my boys were when Dean walked in the door just after noon. I expected Ben to be thrilled, but Joey's reaction was awesome. He was asleep when Dean got home, but Dean went in to get him when he woke up. Joey just stared at him and smiled. He has not stopped staring at him all afternoon and you can tell he just wants to be with his daddy.





Despite the germ invasion, we actually had a really good weekend. I said more than a few prayers to God to give me strength, patience, and a sense of humor this weekend. He delivered as always and I am grateful. He even sent me some angels to take care of me and the boys in the form of Oma, Nana, and Aunt Sissy. I love you all so much.

HAPPY EASTER

We had a great, but very busy Easter. Ben colored easter eggs on Thursday and was a little disturbed when I wanted to make them into deviled eggs on Saturday night ("Yuck! Those are disgusting!") All weekend Ben kept talking about the Easter Bunny coming and how excited he was. One random Ben quote from this weekend--on Saturday morning I opened the back door to let Jack out and a bird was chirping. Ben said "Oh, I hear a macaw!" Who says that?!

We decided to host the Easter meal this year, so I woke up at 6:00 a.m. on Sunday morning to prepare the roast and put everything in the crock pot. I also made breakfast and made sure the Easter Bunny had hidden eggs and brought baskets for the boys.

Ben woke up about 7:00 a.m. and got Dean out of bed and joyfully began searching for his eggs. He was thrilled to find that each egg had either candy or money inside and giggled everytime he found one. He was so funny when he finally discovered his and Joey's easter baskets. The Easter Bunny had left them on my desk with a note that said "Happy Easter Ben & Joey!" Ben yelled "oh my gosh, look what the Easter Bunny brought us....I have way more than Joey!" He was very excited about all of the loot in his basket, including several books, a magazine, Go Fish, Buzz Lightyear flip flops and sunglasses and the Bee Movie. He also liked Joey's Disney character bath toys, book, and rattles.

Joey woke up around 7:30 a.m. and was very confused by all the excitement...he was excited to eat his breakfast and could obviously care less about his basket!

I went to the 8:30 a.m. church service and the boys stayed home and got ready for our guests. I then came home and picked up Ben and he and I went back to church to teach Sunday School at the 10:30 a.m. service. There were 17 two and three year olds at Sunday School so it was a very busy service but the kids were really well behaved and we all had a great time.

Ben and I got home right before Oma arrived and shortly thereafter my parents, Mallory, and my grandma came too. We had a great lunch and Ben and Joey were spoiled with even more Easter goodies from their grandparents.

After lunch we enjoyed watching basketball together (Go Vols) and Nana, Ben, and Joey snuck away for a bit to play in Ben's room. For some reason, Ben started putting stickers all over everyone. Joey was not amused!

After Oma, Nana, Bampaw, Great-Grandma, and Mal-Mal left, we had a visit from the Chaplins before preparing for bed. Joey is now asleep and Dean, Ben, and I are watching the Bee Movie. What a wonderful day!

Joey's First Play Date

My friend Angela came over yesterday with her sister, Lisa, and Lisa's 9-week-old daughter Taylor. Joey and Taylor were obviously pretty oblivious of one another, but we pretended that they liked each other anyway and lay them both on Joey's playmat. Taylor loved the star that lit up and played music and stared intently at it while Joey tried to hold her hand! He is really into grabbing onto things now and Taylor's hand seemed as good as anything else to hold onto. It was pretty cute.

Unfortunately for Joey, Taylor did not show much interest in him, but she did think his big brother was pretty cool. Everytime Ben approached her, Taylor would stare at him and smile. Poor Joey. He already is losing girls to his big brother.

From the Mouth of Ben...

Ben cracks me up on a daily basis and I thought I would share a random sampling of some of his funnier comments just this week. Enjoy! --While listening to me sing along to the Backyardigans theme song: "Mom, can you please stop singing? You're freaking me out." --While engaging in a heated sock war with me on Saturday afternoon, said in a very menacing voice: "Do you want some of this? Do you want ALL of it?!" --Upon hearing that Oma was going to come watch he and Joey while Dean and I attended a dinner, "Yes! That means I get to do whatever I want. My Oma never tells me no!" --This one is really random and I don't have any clue what it means, but it is classic Ben nonetheless. This one was said today while showing me an easter egg that he received at school and also showing me his forearm: "See how skinny I am Mom? Skinny people really like eggs." What a goober! That kids makes me laugh so hard. He can be driving me insane one minute and the next minute bust out with something totally off the wall that stops me in my tracks and cracks me up. He may be my high maintenance boy, but he brings so much laughter and happiness to my life. The good times definitely by far outweigh the bad when Ben is around.

The Real UT?

Here you go, Uncle Craig. This one is just for you...though these aren't the greatest pictures, I wanted to post proof that Ben does, indeed, support "the real UT" and not just University of Texas (Hook 'em Horns...We Love Ethan!). These pictures were taken on Friday afternoon after Ben came home from school...where he proudly wore the UT jersey Uncle Craig gave him for Christmas.

We love you Uncle Craig!

Is it time for the Easter Egg Hunt?

Our annual community Easter Egg Hunt was held today at our neighborhood park. I made the monumental mistake of telling Ben about it last night and he woke up at 7:00 a.m. this morning asking "is it time for the easter egg hunt yet?" I think we must have heard that question asked maybe 312 times the remainder of the morning. The actual event started at 1:00 p.m. and it got to the point where we were counting down time in Scooby Doo minutes, as in "5 more Scooby Doo (movies) until we can go on the easter egg hunt, 4 more Scooby Doos, etc." I was ready to lose my mind by the time we actually headed out the door.

Though the skys were gray and ominous, the rain held off and the easter egg hunt was a huge success. There were hundreds of people and they had the park divided into different age groups. We were in the 2-3 year old area and Ben cleaned up! Every egg had something inside, whether it be a piece of candy or a piece of paper indicating that a prize had been won. Ben won 3 prizes and was able to redeem them at a special area after the egg hunt. He won 2 little stuffed animals and a kalediscope. Very cool.

Joey seemed a bit overwhelmed by all of the activity. He was thoroughly confused as to why we took him out of his perfectly warm and cozy carseat to put him in the baby bjorn so I could carry him around the park. He basically looked miserable the entire 10 minutes we were outside, so I took him back to the car while Dean and Ben redeemed their prize eggs. Promptly upon being replaced in his carseat he started laughing and talking as if to say "wow, that was great mom! Let's do it again."

The best part of the day was that Daddy was home all day long. Yeah! We made a Target run after the egg hunt and then came home and all watched a movie together. We then headed out for an early dinner at Macaroni Grill. It was wonderful and the boys were on their very best behavior. We even managed to avoid a meltdown when we returned home to discover that somehow Jack the wonder dog had OPENED each and every egg that Ben had collected at the hunt and eaten the candy out of them. Ben was not amused, but quickly recovered and said, "that's okay, we can have another easter egg hunt tomorrow!" Hmmmm. Perhaps I will need to go buy some candy and stage an egg hunt in our own yard.

What a wonderful day!

Such a tease

The weather today was incredible for Indiana in March. The temperature soared to about 60 degrees and the sun was shining with just a few whispy clouds in a brilliant blue sky. It was the kind of day that forced you outdoors and Ben, Joey, and I were happy to oblige nature's call. Joey took about a 2.5 hour nap and only awoke then because Ben and I were making as much noise as we possibly could to arouse him...we were ready to go! While Joe slept, Ben and I busied ourselves doing pudding painting. As a former fat kid, I loved pudding painting in school! Ben thought I was crazy to suggest that he actually play with his pudding and eat with his fingers, but soon he got into it and had a blast. He kept saying "that was a really good idea mom!"

After Joey awoke, Benny and I packed up our picnic lunch (which really became a car lunch) and headed to the Zoo. We love the zoo and had not been since last fall. Several other families had the same idea to visit the animals on such a beautiful day, but the crowds were still light and the animals seemed to be enjoying the sunshine as much as we were. Joey was awake for much of the Zoo. One of the walruses seemed to take a liking to Joe and kept swimming up to the glass right in front of the stroller like he was trying to check him out! It was pretty funny. Ben was most looking forward to visiting the sharks. He said "I will touch a shark and I won't give up." Despite several minutes harrassing the heck out of the poor sharks, Ben failed in his attempt to touch a shark, but had fun trying so that is all that matters!

We pretty much sprinted through the zoo. Ben was so excited to see all of the animals and rather than enjoy the moment and focus on the animal in front of us, he was off and running toward the next exhibit. He is so my son! He really did enjoy introducing Joey to the animals and was a very sweet big brother, as usual.

After the zoo we headed home and after a short pit stop to feed Joey, Ben hopped on his bike and we walked/biked to the park. Much like the zoo, Ben did his best tornado impersonation through the entire park. He managed to check out every piece of equipment, barely stopping to slide, swing, or jump before he was off to the next thing. We certainly got a lot of exercise today and both boys are crashed in bed now and I am right behind them. It was a really wonderful day, but I fear the warm weather was just a tease. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain all day and the temperatures are back in the 30s for the weekend. BOOOO.

Bathing Beauty

Joey loves his baths. I don't often get to take pictures of him in the bathtub as I am usually the one giving the bath and oftentimes there is no other adult in the house to man the camera. I asked Dean to document bathtime the other night, however, because Joey was smiling and loving life and I decided I must have documentation to share his bathing bliss.

You can also tell from the pictures that his umbilical hernia is getting much better...it originally was about the size of a quarter and stuck out about an inch from his belly. It has improved so much in the last few days that it is starting to resemble a normal belly button. Yeah!

You can also see that Joe Joe doesn't miss any meals...gotta love that big round belly. Why does it look so sweet on him and so not cute on me?

Happy 3 Months Birthday Joey!

It is hard to believe that Joey is already 3 months old. I cannot believe how fast time is flying. I have had to pack away some clothes that are too small, we have graduated to size 2 diapers, and are even starting to settle into an eat/sleep routine. Joey is rapidly becoming a baby and no longer is a newborn. It makes my heart hurt to see him grow so fast! As if that isn't bad enough, my heart absolutely weeps at how old my Benny Boo is. Ben is such a big boy. A friend was over for dinner last week and commented on how old he looked and what a handsome boy he is. You can really look at him now and see what he will look like as a man and that kills me. He tells me he is my big boy and Joey is my baby when I slip and call him (Ben) my baby, to which I respond that both boys will always be my babies...and then I cry. My poor boys, they are going to have to get used to dealing with an emotional basketcase for a mother.

Ben continues to be an excellent big brother and helper. He has, however, evidently just recently realized that there is a baby in our house as evidenced by the "regressive" behaviors he has exhibited lately. He has been having accidents again and has been sucking his thumb...this one is particularly odd as he never was a thumb sucker. Oh well.

Joey continues to be the easiest baby on the planet. He is so laid back and easygoing...except not so much today. Today is a little nutty in our house. Ben woke up vomiting last night and, though he is feeling better now, it was a rough morning. Joey has been very high maintenance (for him) today and has resisted all efforts at taking a nap and wants to be rocked and nursed at all times. I am convinced he is going through a growth spurt as he doesn't seem to be satisfied after feedings and I swear he is going to suck his little thumb off soon. I picked him up a bit ago and asked him " who do you think you are? you are supposed to be my easy boy, mommy is tired." He responded with an enormous gummy grin and I treated him with more milk. I'm such a sucker!

All in all life is good and I continue to count my blessings. Ben told me this morning that I am a "nice mommy and I make sick people feel all better." What more could I ask for?

Ben's shark face....perhaps not the best choice of photo to share right after I talk about how handsome he is?!?