Tour de Texas II

We were crazy enough to make the long 12 hour drive to Texas with a toddler. We just went to Houston and back this time with an hour stop in Dallas both ways, but we made the whole drive in one day. Ben did exceptionally well! We listened to a book on CD and the hum-drum sound of the man reading kept Ben very calm and gave us something to focus on too.

Ryan's brother Randy, his wife Rebecca and Ben's six crazy cousins (ages 12-3 years old) were all at Grammy and Papa Tom's house. Ben followed them all around like little ducklings in a row. Olivia was Ben's second mommy, insisting he give lots of "nose kisses" to which Ben (almost) always obliged. Valerie and Ben spent hours it seemed at the window or door looking at the dogs, 2 massive, black German shepherds. Ben learned the word "dog" and said it over and over again. He only liked the dogs when they were on the outside of the glass though. When they came in he gave a scream of terror I have never heard from him. I can't blame him, they are a bit taller than him and 10 times as long :)

We hung around the house creating chaos, checked out some parks, ate some good food, saw some faithful supporters, the Evans and Chamnessi (in Dallas on the way), and even went to the circus! Circus pictures are all on Aunt Becca's camera and they are just arriving back in North Carolina today, so I will post those later when she shares them.

While Ben did well while driving and played well with the cousins, he did not sleep very well at night. Ugh. The first night, Valerie woke Ben, but it didn't last long and both babies were back to sleep. The next three nights Ben was the only night time annoyance. He woke every hour for 5 hours one night, woke for the morning at 4am and refused to go back to sleep one night, etc. He napped fairly well, but just couldn't stay asleep at night. Our little family just doesn't like sharing a room ;) Hopefully, Uncle Randy, Aunt Becca and cousin Valerie will still love us!

Enjoy these snapshots of family fun.

Hanging out on the huge back porch in the sweltering heat and humidity.

Seats go fast with 13 people in one house - grab one when ya can.

Ryan and his brother. Once, Ben actually pointed to Randy and said dada and Ryan was standing right next to Ben!

Trying to keep up with the big kids.

Olivia getting some nose kisses.

We started to see some intense separation anxiety and jealousy. He gave a good scream when one of us left the room, but if it was on his own terms he would happily walk off with the cousins and leave us behind.

Valerie, an absolute doll. I love this pic of her.

It was so insanely hot at the park that the kids waited on the sidewalk for the sprinkler to spray them.

Not loving the lion, Grammy.

Kisses for Daddy.

Valerie and Ben watching the dogs. So sweet!

He was always a step behind all the other kids.

13 mouths is a lot of people to feed and it felt like there were people and kids everywhere. One night we even added 3 guests for dinner!

Remember: Our gender sonogram is tomorrow morning! I will certainly blog what we find out tomorrow.

16 Month Update

My baby seems so grown up these days as evidenced by the recent high chair video! He is a great little helper, but isn't very good with the follow through quite yet. He takes his shoes to his room, but sometimes they don't make it all the way and other times they are in very odd place but in his room at least. He follows directions like a pro, most of the time. He is a much better listener at home than in public it seems. Maybe he is keeping me from getting a big head from all my expert parenting skills. haha.

He is starting to really make sounds that are almost words. He does clearly say mama, mom, dada, out, uh oh and ball. He loves going outside and we constantly tell him "get out" when he is in our room, daddy's office or the laundry room. He is familiar with "out!" He doesn't play with balls that often, but when we walk past the big ball containers at Wal-Mart or Target he clearly says "ball" and doesn't understand why he can't play with them all. He says mama nonstop, but he doesn't quite get that he is calling my name. He knows he is talking about me, but when I answer him he just says mama again. It is a fun game we play. Occasionally my name is dadamama. He says that a lot too.

When asked what the cow and monkey say he can respond appropriately. It is funny to watch because he seems like he is working so hard to get the sounds out.

He is eating like a horse. Just a few weeks ago he started cutting another bottom tooth and went on a hunger strike. We were feeding him anything he would tolerate just to make sure he was getting some nutrients or at least something in his tummy. He is over that and making up for it! He is eating at least 5 times a day and usually more like 7 times. I can barely keep up. He eats all the time. I don't keep that much food in the house!

We are still not really doing anything with the potty yet. I am thinking about giving it a real try soon because he has started pulling on his diaper, pointing when he is wet and he goes straight to it when I ask him if he needs a diaper. Who knows.

We let him attempt water colors and he just doesn't get it, like crayons. He loves playing in it, but has no idea that he is making colored marks on the paper. But he thinks the paint brush sure is fun!

He has started blowing kisses a lot now. He gives the biggest bear hugs at bedtime and I can't get enough!

On the way out for a neighborhood walk.

Experimenting with water color. He loves playing with the brush and the water, but seems to have no clue that he can make marks on the paper. And when we demonstrate, he could care less that we are making beautiful art. He just wants to dip the brush in the water or colorful little circles (paint

Helping Daddy mow the lawn.

16 week pregnancy update

This morning Ben and I braved my OB's office by ourselves. For the first time ever my doctor was called away to one delivery that turned into two deliveries. We were still lucky and only waited 30 minutes. I love that about my doctor's office. We generally get called back as soon as we sit down!

Ben sat like a big boy in the chair eating his snack while I talked to the nurse. I laid back for her to hear the heartbeat and Ben started to cry a bit. The doppler came on making all that weird noise and he started wimpering a bit. He quickly got it together and went back to eating his snack.

But then the doctor came in. I laid back and he opened up his mouth full of chewed animal cracker and held his mouth for a second waiting to give a huge scream. Thankfully, my doctor was super fast and I picked Ben up before the scream really came. There were lots of crocodile tears and a thrown animal cracker, but we survived!

Baby is doing perfectly well. The heartbeat was loud and strong. I didn't gain twice the weight even though my mom and sis were in town (and we are still eating all the ice cream they left)!

My gender sono is scheduled for July 19th. Now that my energy is back to mostly normal I am thinking there will be lots of rearranging and getting Ben's big boy room ready and setting up the nursery once we figure out if it is a boy or girl. I don't want to put it off until I am too big and too tired to care :)

We have thrown around a few names, but not decided on anything yet. Once we know the gender we will start working on picking a name. We loved being able to call Ben "Ben" when he was still in my tummy.

We leave Monday for our lloooonngg drive to Houston to visit Grammy & Papa Tom, Uncle Randy and Aunt Becca and all six crazy cousins! Keep us in your prayers during the drive.

I really shouldn't encourage this...

...but it is a pretty amazing feat. He did this all on his own. Then, I waited to catch him so I could get a video of it.

Videos

I forgot to add the videos.

Water Hose Discovery. Our neighbors were outside playing too so you really hear them in the background, but you can hear some Mama D and Aunt Can Can giggles and some occasional noises from Ben!



Bubbles and a Happy Dance

Mama D & Aunt Can Can Visit

My mom is crazy! She volunteered herself and my sister Candice to help us paint the entire "newer" side of our house. Pictures will follow (as in, once I get up and take them - tomorrow).

We did manage to squeeze in quite a bit of Ben fun. Enjoy the pictures!

Ben was a super-duper helper.

My mom and sis introduced Ben to the water hose! He now requests it each and every time we go outside.

This wasn't from their visit and it is horribly blurry, but so cute. Ben helped me vacuum! And he loves my mop. He doesn't know what is coming his way.

6 Years of Wedded Bliss

Just over a week ago we celebrated our sixth year of marriage. In six years we have lived in two different cities/states, Ryan earned a (marriage-testing) master of theology, we changed jobs, had our first child and are expecting another baby! I am tired just thinking about all of that.

When I look back over these six years, I feel like we are now really hitting our stride. We love each other of course, but we really like each other these days. Ryan loves his job which makes me more happy than I can explain. I love my job of mommy and all the ways I contribute at World Impact. I don't feel like I have to compromise either one which makes my life so wonderful. We have both really enjoyed being in a smaller town and really feel like this fits our lifestyle (ya know, the one where we are still in our 20s, but act like we are in our retired years). What I am trying to say is, I am married to the man of my dreams, living a wonderful life, sharing the gospel with the urban poor, raising a son that is more wonderful than I could have ever asked of God! And this isn't just the pregnancy hormones speaking, I really am living the best life! But oh how I can't wait for heaven...come Lord Jesus!

Back to the anniversary celebration...
My sister Trisha gave us a generous gift card to The Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant. We were supposed to go when we were in Houston for New Year's but Ryan ended up getting sick. The closest Melting Pot to Wichita is in Kansas City. My mom and sister Candice came to visit last week and kept Ben Monday night while we went to Kansas City, enjoyed a fabulous experience with fondue and stayed in a hotel which we hadn't done in about a year and a half. It was a lovely get-away and a great way to celebrate our birthday/anniversary!

Start drooling over these pictures...

We got to sit in this little 2-seater corner booth with a privacy curtain we could pull.

1st course - breads, veggies, apples and cheese. Fabulous
2nd course that came really soon - Salad/Lettuce Wraps

3rd course - the meat! Oh my gracious. We had perfectly seasoned lobster tail, pork loin, sushi-grade tuna, chicken, shrimp, dumplings. It is all presented raw and then you fondue it in this amazingly seasoned broth. So fun. And more veggies and fantastic mushrooms. All with seven different sauces for dipping.

4th course - As if we had any more room, we dove into the chocolate. We chose a cookies and cream chocolate fondue and we had strawberries, bananas, rice crispy treats, chocolate and vanilla marshmallows, brownies and cheesecake for dipping. Good thing I'm pregnant because I gained all my allowed pounds for the entire month in those two hours.