The Butler War Song

We are sad the Bulldogs lost the National Championship, but we are sure proud of them and had fun cheering them on!

See ya next year Dawgs!

Bag Of Toys

Samuel's new favorite thing to do...

...play with his Bouncy Seat toys. He gets so excited! And he can grab them with a good deal of accuracy, pull on them, and talk to them. Clever baby!

Peter Cottontail

Here comes Peter Cottontail...


Hopping down the bunny trail....


Hippity Hoppity Easter's on it's way!

Getting Better

Finally, we are feeling better.

We are able to snuggle once more.


And we can watch movies together for fun...rather than because we need to rest.


I am so glad we are finally feeing better!

The Neverending Story

Will it ever end?

Just when Jackson wakes up feeling better (by feeling better I mean only throwing up once, eating three bananas and some animal crackers, not taking any extra naps, and having a solid poop...never thought I'd be so excited about a solid poop)...


...Samuel wakes up sick. A couple bouts of diarrhea, a fever ranging from 100.5 - 101.4, not wanting to nurse...



This was my breaking point. I broke down in tears. I felt defeated. I felt worried and scared for my babies. I wondered how I was going to take care of TWO sick little ones at the same time. AND I had to go to church (I have a church job). I had to leave my two sick babies at home with my mother and sister. When I got to church, my alto section forgot to show up. I wasn't expecting that. I had no back up plan. Luckily, we were able to recruit someone to sing a solo instead. Again, I felt like a complete failure. And I was in tears. When I got home, Jackson threw up on me. And I was in tears. Then it was naptime. I wanted to sleep, but Samuel didn't want me to sleep. So I watched the basketball games. VCU defeated Kansas. I felt a little better. Then Kentucky took out North Carolina. I felt a lot better (unless UConn wins the entire thing, I am the winner of our pool). Then Jackson woke up and he felt better. And I felt better. Samuel never did feel better, but at the appearance of the aforementioned solid poop I felt like I had a grasp back on my life and could handle this.

I am so grateful to my mom, sister and Noel for their help over the past five days. I absolutely could not have done it without them. My mom got covered in vomit on more than one occasion. Holly comforted and entertained one child while I fed/cleaned up/changed/nurtured the other (thank goodness Samuel likes Army Wives and Jackson is content with Thomas on the iPhone Netflix).



I have done more laundry, cleaned up more puke and poop, and changed more sheets than I care to ever do again. I have learned to know when vomit is coming a good 5 seconds before it arrives, and can catch it in a towel with 95% accuracy. If you ask me, this is the rotavirus rearing it's ugly head. And it's ugly.

Now let's get Samuel well and get on with our lives!

Spiderman

Spider-Sam, Spider-Sam,
Does whatever a Spider-Sam can
Spins a web, any size,
Always happy, rarely cries.
Look out!
Here comes the Spider-Sam.

When Irish Eyes Are Smiling

Here's how we celebrated our Irish friends today:

We all slept until about 8:00 (a well-deserved sleep in after all the sickness we've had here). Upon waking, we dressed in our St Patrick's Day attire and took some happy snaps.





After my McCutie had breakfast, we headed to Kids Kingdom.


Jackson had fun playing in the big wooden castles. I was amazed at his climbing skills.






Samuel chose the park as a good place to take his morning snooze.



After lunch and a nap, Emily and Christian came over to look after Samuel while Jackson and I had a special "you and me" date. We went to the Build A Bear. Jackson took FOREVER to pick out which stuffed toy he wanted to build. We had to touch and look at them all. He finally became attached to a blue bear with peace signs on it. We recorded a special message to put inside the bear's paw. Then Jackson helped to stuff the bear. He chose several red hearts to put inside his bear (it was more like 6...he really enjoyed putting the hearts inside), and then it was stitched up. Next we gave the bear a bath and brushed his hair.


After the bear was sufficiently groomed, we looked through all the different outfits. Jackson wasn't really into the outfits. He was into the accessories. He picked out some sunglasses and a guitar (this was, might I add, all his doing...no prompts from me). Then we sat down at the computer to name our bear and print out his birth certificate.


I pointed to the bear and asked Jackson "Who is this". Jackson very matter-of-factly told me "Bear". So Bear it is. Meet...Bear.

And tonight when I tucked Jackson into bed and said goodnight, I had to say goodnight to Bear, too.

We ended our date with a stop by Auntie Anne's for Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Nuggets.

The smile on this boy's face says it all.

We headed home to get Samuel so we could go to Myles's baseball tryouts. Myles had some good catches and throws! It was very windy, but the sunshine felt so good.



And Samuel chose this time to take his evening nap.



We came home, had dinner and topped our St. Patty's Day off with a green bath.



Both boys were worn out and in bed asleep by 9:00 giving me the opportunity to write this blog post and watch a couple episodes of Lost. It was a great green day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Feeling Good

Now this is the smile of a 13 week old who is feeling better!

Sick Of Being Sick

Happy 3 Month Birthday to my beautiful boy, Samuel Wrye!

I love these month stickers. I know they are the "in thing" right now and I can definitely see why!

Well, the fourth trimester is officially over. And right on cue, Samuel knows he has hands and likes to stare at them, put them in his mouth, and swat at toys.

Unfortunately, the 3 month celebrations were a bit overshadowed by Samuel's recent illness. On Sunday he developed a fever and lost his appetite. We headed over to the Urgent Care where he had a chest x-ray. It came back clear. It appears Samuel just has a good ol' case of the flu. Poor little thing...watery eyes, goopy eyes, runny nose, sneezes and coughs, and he just isn't himself. After a LONG Sunday night of refusing to nurse (it was long because I was in PAIN and was pumping up a storm...he slept), he began to nurse again on Monday morning. He still isn't back to his norm - only eating on one side every two hours or so (through the night as well so our long stretches have temporarily ceased) - and it takes a good ten minutes of crying before he decides he is actually ready to get down to business. Our super efficient feedings have become marathon battles, and our 8 hour stretches of sleep have reverted back to the newborn days. His fever is gone and he looks better today than yesterday. I hope this rate of improvement continues.

So, Samuel, we'll celebrate later, Roo. I love you so much and am glad that you are here! I love your smiles and your little voice. You already make me laugh daily, and I enjoy watching your personality develop. You are our little blessing!

Mirror Mirror On The Wall

16 Weeks Old

We have had a good week here in the Bennett household. Jackson continues to grow and make us laugh. Some of the highlights of this week are:

Jackson's new favorite activity: standing! He loves it! Wants to do it all the time! His little legs are so strong. He can hold on to our fingers and just stand there. And when he gets tired he just plops down.


Jackson's other favorite new activity: looking at the baby in the mirror. Keeps him entertained for hours... well, ok... at least 30 minutes.


Jackson also took his first bath in the big boy bath tub. He seems to have outgrown his little baby tub... too long... his legs hang over the edge!


Daddy and Jackson also had some one on one time while Mommy was teaching. I came out to check on them and caught them watching TV together.


Jackson still likes to put EVERYTHING in his mouth. Last night we put him to bed awake and unswaddled. 15 minutes later when I went to check on him he was asleep with his thumb in his mouth. And he slept for 10 hours straight!

Also, much to my delight he has laid off the screaming/squealing thing and has gone back to precious coos. While David was off gigging this weekend, Jackson and I watched So You Think You Can Dance America. He watched the first dance in awe and when the judges started talking so did Jackson. I think it reminded him of Nana and Bapa's voices. Here is the little video I took of it:


Big week next week: Jackson has a doctor's appointment on Monday, Mommy's birthday is on Friday, and the little man turns 4 months old!!

I Can See Clearly Now My High Chair's Here

We have survived 15 weeks! It has gone so fast and Jackson grows every day. He has developed quite the little personality. He likes to play with the baby in the mirror and just smiles and talks all the time. He still likes to scream and squeal and is so close to a laugh I think it will come anyday.

I managed to get Jackson to take a nap by himself one afternoon while I started dinner. He looked so sweet.


And we took out the newborn accessory in his carseat. We were testing it out and discovered Jackson liked to fly... while in his carseat...


And the biggest addition this week: a new high chair. It is a high/low chair as it has adjustable height and 3 recline positions. He finally gets to eat at the table with us. While we eat, he plays with his spoon and toys. He enjoys watching us eat and studies us eating and the food with such intent. Here he is testing out his new high chair:



Tomorrow Jackson's friend Julian and his parents Bianca and Jon are coming over for dinner. We look forward to a playdate (both adults and kids)... No videos this week - we were very busy!

Tootsie Roll

Jackson's 14th week of life was filled with fun and firsts. He is still in his 0000 PJs though. He found his little feet... it started with just looking... "What the hell are these?" ...and progressed to grabbing them. He looks at them a lot and he has discovered that they reach the end of his baby bath and if he straightens his legs he can touch. This results in a lot of splashing. Also, he has discovered his voice. Loudly. Squealing in delight and screaming for the fun of it... daddy thinks it is cute and mommy did the first day. Now I am just confused... he starts screaming in the other room and I go running for fear he is hurt only to find him happily "talking" to his toys. He has discovered "the baby" in the mirror - and if he smiles that baby will smile back. We are also in search of a high chair (mommy would prefer a high/low chair) as Jackson is no longer content to sit in his bouncer while we eat. He would rather watch us eat. And he has spoons of his own with which to play. He is very good in getting them into his mouth. If you hold a spoon out to him he will concentrate very hard and reach his hand up and take hold of it from you! But the most exciting thing this week is his rolling! He rolled three times last week, but I couldn't manage to get it on camera. This time I was ready. I think it startles his every time he manages to roll... he looks at us like "Woah...what was that? I was on my tummy now I'm on my back????" I discovered my video editing tools so enjoy this homemade Old Skool video...



Some other worthwhile moments of the week:
Jackson's new favorite position in which to watch TV...


New ways to wear the bib and play with Daddy...


And the post nap happy baby:


The little guy actually went down for a nap this morning by himself in his cradle. Hopefully this is the start of the morning nap taking place in his room by himself. I still like taking his afternoon nap with him :) We have a strict bedtime routine, but are moving towards a stricter daytime routing as well. Things are carefully planned nowadays as daddy officially started University last week!