a planner for a planner...

 It is a little late in the year to be looking for a planner, but if you are I have loved my Erin Condren Life Planner.  I have loved the colors and how you can personalize your cover with a photo of your sweet ones or pick a design.

I found it a great place to keep with up To-Do's that I would have never put in my calendar on my iPhone.  I love how it divides the day up into morning/afternoon/night with plenty of space to jot down other notes.  It comes with a handy plastic zip sleeve in back for storing invitations, etc.  Also comes with tons of stickers to make your life easier.  And to my nurse friends....there is also a monthly calendar to help visualize shifts, etc.

I believe the calendar is on sale now...so if you want to try it now is the time!

wakey wakey...

This weekend I've had the hardest time waking up despite sleeping in {after 8} on Saturday morning.  I've started my days with coffee and keep finding myself sipping iced coffee in the afternoons to get me through till bedtime.  I am hoping to find the courage to join a gym this week and gain some good ole natural endorphins to wake me up!  However, that means leaving my kiddos in the nursery...ugh:(

Congrats...

My sister-in-law Whitney just got engaged!  We are so happy for her and her new fiance Jon.  Isn't this pic of the proposal cute or what?  Cheers to dress shopping and planning a beautiful wedding.  Yay for family weddings!

do you Zoku?

The Easter Bunny brought me a new Zoku Freezer Pop maker.  Ethan and I have had the best time making homemade Popsicles.  If you were the type that made your own baby food...I bet you'll love this.  

First of all...they are healthy.  Our first pop was made entirely of blackberries, blueberries, and bananas with a splash of juice.  Second of all...it is really fun and will be perfect for summer!  

I would suggest getting the "cookbook" for the zoku maker.  It has a huge variety of pop recipes...even some for adult beverages.  I would also suggest getting the larger zoku maker where you can make 3 pops at time.  That way you can freeze the extra pops and save time.  

Ethan loves cooking so this a fun way to get him into kitchen to make healthy treats.  I must admit...I'm kinda addicted too!  You can get the accessories kit to give your pops faces, etc.  We are just getting the hang of it and haven't tried this yet.  Thanks Mum...we love it!  

Ethan helping with the pureeing

You can add whole fruit pieces to each pop like bananas

or lemon slices

watch it freeze before your eyes

and enjoy!  Lemonade pop....yummy!

Mr. Bennett at 2 months...

My sweet Bennett is 2 months old already.  We acquired his nickname "Mr. Bennett" on his second day of life in the hospital.  I'm not sure if it was me or our nurse who called him that first.  

Bennett, at 2 months you are growing so quickly before my eyes.  You were 73 percentile for weight and 75 percentile for length at your 2 month check up.  You are wearing 3 months sizes, but not for long!  You love to coo and I am predicting you will be a "chatty" baby.  Your smiles are the biggest in the morning.  You will be fussing and I will start to talk to you and you turn your pout into a smile and bat those eyes at me.   We both stop:  you smile and I laugh!  Melts my heart.  

You had your first "perfect" stretch of sleeping from 10p to 6a at 6 weeks.  You are trying soooo hard to find your thumb to suck on.  I am encouraging your pacifier until you find that thumb!  

Ethan calls you Bennett Stone and loves to kiss your head and give you tickles.  You track him with your eyes all the time.  You love to be strolled along side him while he rides his tricycle.  I must say you love to be strolled around!  You seem happiest outside and spend a lot of time outside to be so little!  

Your eyes sure do look like they might be blue...but who knows!  Your hair is starting to grow in a little lighter in the front as well.  I think you look like mommy as a baby, and Daddy thinks you look like him as a baby!  

 8 week chair photos

I think you look like me, and Daddy thinks you look like him!   

you finally got that bird!  

Lucky...

How lucky am I to share my days with these two sweet things!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Easter Recap...

Easter has come and gone but I wanted to share a little bit of our Easter Weekend.  We celebrated on Saturday night with friends in the neighborhood with an Easter Egg Hunt in the dark with flashlights.  This was right down a little boy's alley!  Just as the hunt was about to kick off, Ethan was playing with another little boy and chased a ball right into a mud pit!  He was soaked down to his underwear!  We rushed home to change him and made it back just in time to collect 10,000 jellybeans in eggs!

The Easter Bunny of course brought Ethan his prized bubble gum.   He also brought him is first pair of scissors.  We had some Edward Scissor hands going on for about a week afterwards.  If there was paper ...it was shredded!  Bennett got his first pair driving mocs (shoes) and some baby legs {little leg warmers for babies}.  We then had brunch with David's side of the family and dinner with my mom and dad.  We were tired of doing the bunny hop at the end of the day and passed out amongst the hundreds of Reeses peanut butter eggs that the bunny brought!

 cute hat from Aunt Whitney!

cutting

playing after brunch

dying eggs!

hanging with Nana

so big...

I've always heard when you bring home your second child your first one seems big and older immediately. It is so true.  However, over the last few weeks Ethan has really lived up to being a big brother.  

It started with chewing gum.  He has had a fascination with gum for months.  We told him he could have gum when he was 5 years old.  He would see David toss his gum in the trash and Ethan would try to sneak it out of the trash to chew it.  Yuck...I know.  Then we caught him putting gum in his pocket from Kinko's....my little 5 finger lifter has started early.  So...the Easter bunny brought him a golden egg this year with sugar free gum.  He did great with it.  He immediately looks 10 years old chewing gum.  Kinda funny.

Over the weekend he had his first "throw up."  This was my first kids puke experience that wasn't baby spit up.  It came out of no where after bedtime stories.  He looked at me confused when it started.  I told him, "it's called throw up honey, just let it out."  And he did.  He seemed a little scared, but he never cried.  He later said, " I spit up like Bennett!"  Such a strong boy:)

I've mentioned in the past how he LOVES reading.  His room always looks like a library exploded with books everywhere.  He has now decided he puts himself down for a nap.  He picks out his own books and "reads" out loud to himself.  It is really cute to watch on his video monitor.  He just makes up stories as he goes loosely based on what he remembers us reading to him.  

When did my baby get so big?

bits of Bennett...

Its been too long since I've posted any photos of Bennett...and oh my how fast he is growing!  I didn't think those chubby cheeks could get any chubbier, but they have!  I've been so busy standing in my pantry and the isles of the grocery stores {yes, stores}, so blogging has fallen to the bottom of the list.  

Many people have emailed and called about going dairy and soy free.  Thanks for all your thoughts and advice.  Blogging about it has put me in touch with someone who has been the biggest help.  By day 6 of starting the "diet" I noticed a difference in Bennett's crying and skin.  His little ear lobes went from crusted over to clear and his complexion cleared up.  Things seem to be improving but I must admit....Easter weekend was tough.  All of the chocolate I couldn't eat and eating out was mission impossible.  I noticed the next 3 days were tough on Bennett.  I'm learning what I can eat...what I can't.  I did try to give Bennett the nutramagen formula a few times to help get "good" milk into his little body sooner.  Mr. Man refused to drink any more than an ounce of it.  They say a good 3 weeks...so I'm curious what week 3 will bring. 

Mr. Bennett has the sweetest smiles and cutest pouty lip.  Ethan can't hold him enough or give him enough tickles.  I love how Bennett wakes up for feedings at night without crying....just little coos.  Ethan also is the first to be alarmed if Bennett is upset and no one is responding quick enough!  

Here are a few photos from the past few weeks...

smiles at 4 weeks

Ethan listening to Bennett's heart with my stethoscope

mr blue eyes

"I don't eat very much:)"

Our first "great" morning after sleeping through the night!!!!

5 week chair photo

6 week chair photo

7 week chair photo

video...then what?

I consider myself a pretty decently organized person.  However, it took me a good two years to figure out that I cannot keep up with printing photos and placing them into labeled albums.  It was too expensive and time consuming.  I finally came to be okay with backing my photos up to SmugMug where they are organized and safe.  I have traded in my photo albums to making a book on iPhoto for each year of the boys life for their birthday...much easier to display on the coffee table too!

But when it comes videos, I have them everywhere:  YouTube, on my computer, iPhone, and a slew on our digital video camera.  I have no idea where to store them where they are safe and easy to upload to, watch, and share.  The videos are precious clips of Ethan and Bennett.  I could breathe a deep sigh of relief if I knew I had them in one safe place.

Does anyone recommend a website?  I prefer online to an external hard drive...because they too can get broken, lost, or stolen.  And while I'm at it....a new video camera.  I just dropped my flip video camera 4 inches and totally broke it and lost all the video of Bennett's first days at home.  Urrgghhh.  Any advice is welcome:)

the bunny hop...

I hope your Easter Weekend is full of gratitude and grace....family and friends....and cute little Easter basket fill full of goodies.  I can't help but to think back to my own Easters as little girl.  Running in my Maw-Maw's yard after eggs in some frilly dress surrounded my all my cousins.  Now I'm off to make memories with my own little boys:)