Monday, December 3, 2007
Gratitude
My very talented sister-in-law took this beautiful photo of Benson on Thanksgiving. Although Thanksgiving is over, the season of gratitude continues. I am so grateful for family: a wonderful husband, a darling little boy, awesome brothers, mothers, and in-laws, and for all the friends that are considered family in my mind too! Thanks for all the love and support I receive so abundantly!
Whoops!
We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'll post pictures later!
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Constrution Updates
This picture shows the newly framed 2x4 wall that Phil built to replace the inner brick wall. The Pink stuff is a thin type of R5 insulation that serves as a vapor barrier too. He rewired the bedrooms completely, and then we installed the regular R13 insulation that you can see on the right hand side. Getting the insulation in has improved our home's ability to keep a more constant temperature, and it has been wonderful! Let's hope for lower heating bills this winter!
Halloween Preview
If you notice the walls in the background, you will see what walls look like underneath wood panelling when exposed. We tore down the wood panelling, and since then, Phil took down all of the dry wall in order to insulate and wire. Fun, fun!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Close-ups
Sunday Graham Crackers
He needed to wash the graham cracker down with some water, but this picture also shows his reaction to the flash of Grandpa's awesome Canon SLR camera. He didn't like it.
He's concentrating really hard on what to do next in his cracker adventure. The tongue must help him think. . . just like his mama.
Look at that graham cracker film on everything. He's cute with it, though!
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Stats
delinquent
He is super motivated to action whenever he sees a glass full of water- he pretty much goes crazy trying to get it. When we give him the glass, two things happen: He actually does swallow some, as well as drowning the front of his outfit. He also fills the glass so full of floaties that you really can't share with him. Maybe he does that on purpose so he can have it all to himself. One way or the other, he is growing and changing so much that everyday is an adventure! It's awesome!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Motherly Musings on Monday
* My little boy is adorable
*A schedule/routine is important to get anything done
*If the kitchen is messy, the whole house is messy
*If the kitchen is clean, the whole house might be clean
*If the whole house is clean, mommy is smiling
*Mopping is an important part of the week
*Showering is an important part of the day
*Dirty diapers accumulate fast unless you throw them outside right away
*Spiders are bad
*Construction can kind of drive you crazy (but that's okay, of course)
*Losing weight is tricky
*Chocolate is not tricky
*A good book can make you have a little vacation
*Too many good books makes for messy kitchen, house, etc.
*Blog posts without pictures are kind of boring
*My little boy is singing to me right now, in a tired, please-give-me-a-bottle-and-a-nap kind of way
If anyone has any great ideas on how to get it all done, everyday, please let me know. In the meantime, I'll keep counting my blessings.
Friday, September 14, 2007
7 months
A little Benson update: He is what I'd call "officially" sitting up, although pretty wobbly, and he ate pears today. . . and he didn't throw up! Yea!
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Sleepy Boys
Saturday, September 1, 2007
More Exercise
More tummy time practice on the Boppy! He cried at first, but then Phil and I started making crazy faces and noises to entertain him, and he forgot that he was unhappy, and held his head and chest up great!
Although Benson hangs out in the bouncy seat a little bit everyday, he has never, except once, actually played with or even really noticed those hanging toys. Today he was staring at them, and his hands cooperated! He first grabbed the toy with one hand, then he brought the other one up to help,
Friday, August 31, 2007
Muscle Mass Man
Although this might look like any normal baby pose, (besides the crazy eyes) this was one of the best days yet. Benson is behind on his gross motor skills, like holding his head up at all in tummy time, and we had an Occupational Therapist come to our house on Monday to test him, and see what was up. He said his neck, shoulders and lower back muscles are too weak, and we need to strengthen them. When we put him on his tummy on Monday, he wouldn't lift his head at all. The therapist showed me some simple exercises to do with Benson to prop his head up so he could at least get some practice, and so we've been working on them all week. Now, just 5 days later, he was in this position on our Boppy pillow! It truly is miraculous!
These two pictures show what he usually does when you put him on his tummy, basically acts like a two month old or so. . . But now he can lift up his head! How darn exciting! The Boppy helps a lot because he is already off the ground a bit.
Even though he obviously doesn't love being right on his stomach and doing his little exercises, if we prop his arms underneath him like this picture shows, he will lift up his head, and turn and look all around!
So, in 5 days his muscles must have strengthened at least some to be able to do what he could not even get close to for the past 6 1/2 months! Way to grow, buddy!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Ceilings!
Monday, August 27, 2007
The Bouncy Seat Narcotic
Lately, however, we are thinking it is more like a drug, because Benson will stay happy in it longer than anything else. Is this normal? During the last half hour of a three lesson stretch last week he even fell asleep. With a six year old playing a lovely rendition of Jingle Bells. Only a drug could do that. So, we are trying to lower the Bouncy Seat time, and try to get the "happy times" to last longer doing other things.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Grow Baby, Grow!
He's pretty much always smiling. . .
. . .unless he's busy playing.
I think Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is playing into our little boy's life right now. Maslow said that if a person's basic needs are not being met, they won't be able to develop into any higher level of being. Two weeks ago, right before Benson turned six months, I looked at him and said, "Buddy, you are one scrawny dude!" We went to weigh him, and he weighed in at 13 lbs 12 oz. He was 13 lbs 2 oz at his 4 month appointment. Needless to say, he hadn't grown enough. I think I possibly only make skim milk or something, because he seemed to eat constantly, but somehow hadn't grown much. We started supplementing every other feeding with formula, and in a week's time his development has exploded. He is SO much more alert and happy, and is babbling constantly now, as well as rolling over. When we went back to the doctor a week later, he weighed in at a whopping 15 lbs 2 oz, or at the 8% for his age group. He will have to do some catch up in the developmental department, but we are so grateful that he seems to be thriving!
Construction Zone