Beautiful Spring Day

Today was absolutely beautiful weather so I felt bad when Ben was fussing during his naptime, only to find him sitting on his windowsill peering outside when I went in to tell him to stay in bed. So, I caved and let him come out from his quiet time after only a few minutes and we went outside. Of course, now I am paying for this since I am utterly exhausted after running around all morning, not resting at all, and spending four hours in the sunshine. But, we had a fun time enjoying this beautiful weather so that's what matters.

Here is Ben, Mr. Outdoors himself, enjoying a snack on his picnic table (as Barney mooches Goldfish pretzels in the background!).

Ben using his CAT excavator, a Christmas gift from Grandpa G and CC. Finally, it is nice enough to take it outside! Plus, he is starting to get the hang of it and can navigate it himself. Hours of enjoyment for a three year old boy :)

Nate's up from his nap! Here he is enjoying his snack while sitting on the garden bench I put together myself as Ben played. Are you impressed? I am. Ha ha! It really only had a few screws and snap together pieces but I am glad that I tackled it without having to bother Andrew for help. It's nice to have a bench to sit on when the kids are playing and it is a toybox under the seat so we can store all of our small outdoor toys in there. Perfect, multi-functional purchase :)

Barney loves spending hours in the fresh air. He especially loves finding oversized sticks to bring to me. Does he expect me to throw these for him? Probably! But instead he and Ben run around like Lord of the Flies together until one of them (aka Ben) gets knocked down!

Nate's done eating and is now exploring all of the toys, most of which we just today got out of the basement after being away all winter. Here he is taking his brother's wheels for a spin while Ben is occupied and does not notice :). Does this little guy look guilty or what? Caught red-handed by Mom with the camera!

Finally! Nate is beginning to show some interest in wanting to walk. He uses a sturdy wooden walker in the house but all we have for outside is this flimsy one, which Ben basically only used once he was able to walk on his own, as a push toy. Surprisingly, though, this one seems to work out great for Nate because if he uses it in the grass, it doesn't go quickly and Nate can "keep up." Hopefully soon he will start to walk!

And here is Nate again, this time using the little baby trike that we have. He was basically obsessed with this thing and sat on it most of the afternoon after discovering it. How cute does he look on his own little tricycle? Of course, he cannot move it on his own yet, but he loved when I pushed him on it (after learning that he has to hold on tight to the handlebars!).

The boys and their trikes. Ben is still yet to master the whole idea of pedaling but I think he is getting very close and will soon be off on his own.

And after a long afternoon of playing, it's time for another snack. Here are the boys relaxing together on the bench eating...and one final photo of Nate reminiscing about his day in the sunshine :).

Pregnancy Update - 12 weeks

Today was my 12 week OB check-up so the boys and I ventured out to Abington Hospital this morning for the big event of "seeing the new baby." Thank God for Easter lollipops when you have to have an internal exam with two little kids (im)patiently waiting! Ben was deadset on the fact that the baby was coming home with us today...and kept saying that he doesn't see a baby while we were looking at the ultrasound! "I don't see a baby there, Mommy"..."Where's that new baby, Mommy?"

Plus, Ben has now decided that he wants a "boy baby" (who, coincidentally he wants to name "Baby Nate!) because "Ben wants two brothers, three boys, four with Daddy, fiiive (as he says it) with Barno." Good grief, would I be outnumbered! So we will have to see how many times this changes since last week he wanted a "girl baby like Baby Brianna," his friends Tyler and Samantha's little sister :).

So, the appointment...

Things went pretty well. I am still very nauseous all day long, although not vomiting quite as often. My diabetes has been running on the low side and I have had several low blood sugar attacks in the past week or so, so after reviewing my log, the doctor has given me the ok to add an additional snack into my day, which would allow me to eat a few more carbs than I am eating now. So, that was good! I have to monitor it closely and cut back as soon as I see any adverse reactions or high glucose levels.

I am measuring slightly larger than my due date, although the original ultrasound at 8 weeks is the most accurate so my date does not change. Result: I will need to have monthly ultrasounds to closely monitor my diabetes and make sure the baby is not getting too big. I am measuring about 1 week ahead of where I should be at this point, but this could also even out. The good news is that I get to have monthly ultrasounds AND there is a higher chance that we will be able to find out the gender of the baby a few weeks earlier than expected, during one of these routine ultrasounds. Here is today's ultrasound. No wonder Ben couldn't figure it out - ha ha!

Other than that, everything looked good: baby's heartbeat was strong, my blood pressure was low (no wonder I am freezing all day long!) and I am at a -2lb. weight loss for the first trimester, thanks to illness and dieting. I will be scheduling my first GD monitoring ultrasound in the next two or so weeks, so I will update with any additional news.

Easter 2009

Well, I've certainly felt better than I did this past weekend for Easter. I really was having a rough weekend so I wasn't my usual festive, camera-happy self :). Fortunately, my good friend Julia Spencer of More Precious Than Photography was taking family photos at church so we got some taken to preserve our memories for the day.

My parents visited us for the weekend so here are our photos, both with them and also alone. Hope everyone had a happy Easter!

3-Year Pediatrician Appointment

This week Ben had his three year check-up at the pediatrician. He was Mr. Social, chatting with all of the nurses and showing everyone who entered our room his dump truck underpants (haha!). Luckily, Ben doesn't need any shots until he is 4 so he did not have to have any this time around. His current stats are:

Height: 3'3" (75th percentile)
Weight: 33 lbs. (50th percentile)

His eye sight is great, his behavioral and social demeanor is normal, and he now will need to see a dentist since he is three years old. Of course, Ben is convinced that the dentist will also use a Matchbox Cars toothbrush and Disney Cars toothpaste in his office when he goes for his appointment :)

Our only outcome of the visit is that we are going to have him evaluated again by the Montgomery County Early Intervention Learning Center for his articulation (pronunciation) of sounds. The doctor gave him the highest accolades for his actual vocabulary, saying he knew several words that some four year olds do not know, and was impressed with his frequency of speech since he was such a late talker, hence the reason we had him evaluated last year. He actually seemed bored going through her standard flashcards since he knew every single one of them without a second thought - numbers, letters, shapes, colors, pictures, opposites, etc. But, many of his sounds are still mispronounced and he is quite difficult to understand for that reason, so she wants us to get him evaluated. To qualify for services, he would need to test at a 25% delayed level, which she is not sure he actually is, but it is worth it to just have the evaluation done to see for certain. If he does prove to have a delay, the private classes will help him articulate his sounds and form the proper combination of sounds for those that give him difficulty. Of course this is a free service through the county so my message has not been returned yet, but last year we were able to set up an in-home evaluation soon after I heard back from them. I will keep everyone posted on our progress.

Easter Egg Hunt

Today we went to our church's Easter egg hunt. Boy, was it windy out but the kids seemed to have a good time regardless. At least it was not as cold as it was last year, so that helped a lot. Here are some photos of the boys gathering some eggs.

We went with good friends Tyler and Samantha and their family...
After the hunt: opening up the loot! Nate preferred the plastic eggs while Ben dug right into one of the chocolate eggs :)

Babysitter Treats

Our babysitter Alyssa is coming tonight and Ben always likes to make a special treat for dessert when the sitter is here. So, with Easter approaching we opted for two very simple treats: Pillsbury bunny cookies and jelly bean bark. My friend had told me about the bark and since Ben is obsessed with "jellies" I knew he'd love it. Basically, you melt chcolate, spread with jelly beans, let cool and break into pieces. Yum! Plus, both of these are incredibly easy since I'm not really in the mood for cooking or baking lately since I've been feeling so ill.

Both boys had fun making our treats. Here's Ben, smiling ear to ear with his empty cookie box (while they baked).

And making our jelly bean bark. We had only green, orange or purple chocolate wafers in the house so Ben chose green. Very Easter-ish, wouldn't you say?

The bark is still hardening but both boys had a cookie for a treat after lunch. I think they are enjoying them, wouldn't you agree?

Note: Poll Added

We have added a poll to our blog as a fun way to see what gender everyone thinks Baby #3 will be from now until we find out in June sometime. So cast your vote! And no worries, this is completely anonymous :). We have mixed opinions ourselves, some days thinking one thing and some days the opposite, and contrary to the change in blog background recently - I needed something lighter so my pregnancy countdown font would show up and I love pink - we don't have any feelings towards whether we will have a girl or a boy...yet. We'd be happy with either and are just excited for the 20 week ultrasound since the suspense is killing us :).

Happy voting!

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

Andrew was in Alabama on business this week and brought home a kite for the kids as a souvenir. Today it was perfect flying weather so we all went outside when Andrew got home from work to fly the kite. What fun, both kids loved watching it and Ben even held it for a while. Of course it's a Disney Cars kite so Ben loved watching Lightening McQueen and Sally flying high above his head!

Nate's First Haircut

So, I have been feeling really icky lately from the pregnancy and have basically been staying indoors. Today is a beautiful day and I had prior appointments to get Nate's first official haircut and to also bring the boys for photos for their 1 and 3 year shots. So, after getting peer pressure from Andrew that I should get these picures done before the boys turn another year older and the haircut before Nate develops any more of a shag hairdo :), I decided to completely overexert myself this morning and head out for a half-day outing with the kids. Nate missed both naps and the photographer was fairly busy. But, we packed lots of snacks and we all held up fairly well until our 1:45p.m. lunch. Amazing, considering this was a party of two young kids and a very ill pregnant lady - lol! On top of everything, the haircut was a success, the photos turned out great and the weather is beautiful. Very good day, which I have not had in a few weeks!

Here's Nate at Cookie Cutters in Philadelphia in his little green car seat. He watched Baby Noah, one of his favorite Baby Einstein flicks.

Not too sure about this strange lady spraying his head with water...



Ok, lady, do what you'd like but just let me watch my show!

Warming up to the steering wheel and the horn on the car. What a mellow guy Nate is!

And the finished product! Nate was still a little weirded out by this whole experience so we didn't get any of his usual smiles, but at least he sat still the entire time and barely fussed at all. Doesn't he look so much older with short hair??

March 2009 Professional Photos

After the separation anxiety fiasco at Valentine's Day (hint: my shoulder was cropped out of every photo involving Nate!), I was nervous to take Nate back for photos since I didn't want a repeat performance. But, we needed to get his one year photos and Ben was also due for his three year photos so I decided to take the plunge. What a change from last time! Nate fussed for a few minutes but our photographer was wonderful and really played with my little guy and made him comfortable. Within a few minutes, he was crawling all over the place, laughing with the photographer and being his usual smiley self. Ben was also in a really good photo-taking mood so overall I was very pleased with the results.

Our one minor problem this morning was that when I went to put Ben's dress shoes on that I had just tried on him two weeks ago, they were so small they couldn't even be forced on his feet for a few minutes of picture-taking. It was a futile effort and since we were already running late for the haircut (did I mention that I overexerted myself by overbooking our schedule?), there was no time for new shoes. So, he had to wear his sneakers and I had the photographer either not get his feet or crop this shoes out of any photo in which they were visible. Looks like we will be shoe shopping before Easter next weekend! Seems as if our three year old is going through a growth spurt all of a sudden since he was in the same size for a year and now his feet are growing so rapidly!

Brotherly love...


I chose this one for my together shot of the boys. Nate isn't quite as smiley as usual (maybe because he was getting squeezed a little too hard by his big brother!) but I liked it the best of all of them. It's hard to get two little kids to cooperate at the same time!

Nate's one year old!

This one is one of our favorites. We now own a large sepia one for our bedroom to match the one I splurged on for Ben's one year photos as well :)

Another favorite...

Ben's three now!

My favorite Ben shot from the day. What a ham!