18 Month Update

My once tiny infant son (so he was never tiny, since he was born 9.1) is now a big littlw boy! He is full-on child; no longer infant, and quickly moving through toddler-hood. We don't have his 18-month check-up for a bit so I don't know his stats, but I'll tell you what I do know about this awesome little person I am so blessed to be 'mommy' to!

Ben is.....
Heavy. I know he is still in the 50%, but he is heavy and I can't carry him around as much.

Tall. He has been confused for a three (3!!!) year old, four times in the last couple weeks!

Smarter than I know. Every day I realize that he understands way more than I give him credit for. I need to take advantage of his understanding, pronto!

Trying to talk. He will repeat anything when he is in the right mood. Often he only says the first syllable, and I think it's pretty darn cute. Favorite phrases: "Awww Maaaaan" when something drops or falls. "Peepee." "Poopoo." "No cog! (dog)"

Super fun to play with. He laughs a lot and really loves to get in my face and make me laugh.

Polite. Please, thank you, hugs, kisses, sorry, and kissing boo-boos are mastered. Well, as much as can be mastered by a tot.

An outdoorsman. If we could be outside all day, every day, Ben would be in heaven. Unfortunately he is like a mosquito magnet, so our time is limited.

A preschooler! Just started preschool today. He did great! But he was super-cranky afterward, so I think he may have scimped on the nap a bit. That's ok though.

Teething! Can't wait for these 2nd molars to come through so we can go years before worrying about this again! (ha, well, for Ben anyway!)

Amazing! Seriously, I feel so blessed that God has trusted Erik and myself with a child as precious as Ben! He lights up our lives in ways we never saw coming!

What makes me angry

When I finally get around to blogging and for whatever reason, when I prss publish, not only does it not publish, but it erases it all. GRRRRRRR!

End rant.

In a nutshell I said I tried Pinterest again tonight and I was not nearly as overwhelmed as before and I like it.

End post.

When did vacationing became work?

I'll tell you when. It's not when I was pregnant the first time. It's not when I had a baby or when that baby turned 1. It's when that baby became a little boy.

We just came back from a family vacation with my in-laws and let me tell you... I was so happy we came home just in time for the weekend! We all needed time to rest!

Florida was fun and exciting, especially for Benjamin, but it was just not the most restful time of my life. Our little one doesn't ever sleep as well in a bed away from home. So after 7 nights of sharing a room with the guy, I was SO excited to sleep in my (our) own bed, in our own room!

I was so bad about taking pictures this time. It seemed as though every time I thought about my camera, my sister-in-law and my mother-in-law were both taking pictures and so I just kinda thought, "I'll just get copies of theirs!"

So when I get those pics, I'll share!

In other news, Benjamin is already working on his 2-year molars. So even though he is sleeping more soundly at night in his own bed, he is waking very early. His usual 7:00 a.m. bedtime has nosedived to ummm about 5:45, maybe 6:00. Lucky momma though, he is taking longer naps!

Also, Ben is 18 months now! So I'll be back soon with the 18-month update! :)

Ben's First Haircut

I started to title this "Ben's First Big Boy Haircut" but then I remembered... it's not a big boy cut! I absolutely, without a doubt, made sure the stylist knew that Ben could not lose ALL his curls with the first cut! So it is trimmed up to help with the tangle issue we were having, but it's not an all out boy cut.

I think it's cute.

My husband thinks it's too "Ellen DeGeneres." He's so wrong, but I like Ellen, so I'm OK with that description!

The cut went fairly well for a child that doesn't like to be told what to do. He started off on his own, then I held him after he tried to make a break for it. And the dum-dum pops... well, they saved the day!

Before



During



After

Pregnancy Comparisons

ETA: I know the formatting is off. I'll fix it at some point in the future but I'm posting anyway so I don't forget all my thoughts!!

I realize that is post will mean more to me (and maybe my mom) than anyone else, but I figured as long as I was logging the differences between my two pregnancies, I might as well make it public in case any other mommies or mommies-to-be find it interesting.

Here I sit, 12 weeks pregnant and this second pregnancy has already been much different than my first! Many will jump to the conclusion that I'm having a girl this time since I had a boy first, but only time will tell. I know my list will grow, so I will just copy and paste and add on new comparisons when I post future blog entries. Fun, fun! For me anyway!!

First Pregnancy
Sickness: Major nausea until 13 wks
Exhaustion: Tired but not too bad
Showing: About 18/19 weeks
Food Aversions: Oatmeal, vegetables
Cravings: Sweets
Daddy's Prediction: Boy. Definitely boy
Cahpped Lips: Not at all
Planning?: Unplanned
Gender: Boy
First Trimester Weight Gain: 3lbs

Second pregnancy
Sickness: On and off nausea til 10 weeks
Exhaustion: Utterly exhausted til 12 wks (I do have a toddler now though!)
Showing: Don't know if it's official, but I'm about there (12)
Food Aversions: None
Cravings: Fats and meat (but, yes I'm still vegetarian)
Daddy's Prediction: Girl (had a vision, will he be right!?)
Cahpped Lips: Severe.
Planning?: Planned and trying
Gender:???????
First Trimester Weight Gain: 5lbs

Blessed with good news!

Erik and I are excited to announce that we are expecting baby #2!! yay! Another child for us and a sibling for Benjamin, we are so blessed and so very happy!

It is for this reason that I have not been blogging much lately. Either I'm so exhausted that I am napping when Ben naps and retiring to bed shortly after Ben goes to sleep. Or I have a great idea to blog about and then I realize my hormones are on slight overdrive and I could not completely explain myself without disclosing the pregnancy!

I am due at the end of February and almost 12 weeks along. We only told family in the beginning and waited for our first ultrasound appointment, where we heard the glorious heartbeat, to tell our friends, friends of friends, etc! And that means that when some people asked me straight to my face if I was pregnant, I had to lie in order to keep the secret. I hate lying. I especially hate lying to close friends, so that kind of sucked. I am so happy that we have shared the news with all the world so that I can be free of lying, I can blog about topics like being mad at silly things, and I can share my pregnancy experience.

And because it's adorable...