How Much is that Doggy in the Window?

We are absolutely in love with this weather!

The next three to six months reinforce our decision to rent a 75 year-old house in bad condition...we love the neighborhood, and we love it all the more when we can enjoy walks and adventures together.

If I could pay the 350-400K price tag and if the owner would turn loose of it in the first place, I'd buy the house...warts and all.

Yesterday was a long day...Benjamin didn't nap at MDO, or at home for that matter, so by the time I made it home, Jenny was at her wit's end.

I took Benjamin strolling through the shops and then on to the grocery store. We both enjoyed being out. He's saying "Hi" and "Bye" to everything and everyone.

I like to have never pried him away from this window...

Tuesday was Ben's day for School pictures. We'll see how they turn out. I'm planning on spending the weekend taking his picture, so I am really not too concerned with the school pics. Still, it was a first.

Those of you who know Jenny at all understand the penguin reference. It's his lunchbox. And yes, it has his name on it. Thank you Pippi, Grammy, and the nice people at The Toggery.

This past weekend we sent Ben to his grandparents for Thursday night so we could go to the movies and to dinner. Then I was out on a retreat all weekend, so I tied my record (three times I've done this) for three nights without seeing the guy. It was awful.

So, still making up for lost time, we had lunch together Monday. We never know what or when he'll eat, and is weight is so low that whatever works is okay with us. So, he's eating sesame breadsticks and feeling quite proud of himself...

Bath time has been interesting lately. Some days we can't get him out, other days he just stands there and cries while we bathe him.

This was one of the happier times...

Daddy must have said something REALLY FUNNY!!!

The Saturday forecast for Central Arkansas is 53/71 and full sun. Enjoy your weekend! We'll be taking pics and posting them soon.

And GO HOGS, GO!

Pray for this Family

The Sullivans

I randomly came across this story last night after seeing a post on Kelly Stamp's twitter.

A young mother losing her life is certainly close to home for us. I cannot imagine the grief that will follow for this husband and their infant daughter.

TB

September 12, 2009

Saturday was September 12. September 12, 2009.

Eighteen months. Our son is eighteen months old. Now we realize what all of these older people have been saying for the last five hundred and forty-seven days. They grow up fast.

Benjamin is still shy of 27 pounds. But he's sailed past the 33 inch mark. His head is in the 60th percentile for circumference, which is a nice place to land after hovering below the 25th percentile for the first few months of life. Pinhead.

Most people, at this point in their child's life, list all of the cool things their kid can do. I, on the other hand, would rather describe, in detail, a day in the life of Benjamin John, 18 Month-Old Boy Geinus.

7 AM: Begin waking up. Somedays I just lay there and chatter about brilliant things like the weather, the shapes the shadows make on my wall, and turtles. Other days I bang, kick, and yell Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da until someone - preferably Da Da - comes and gets me out of bed.

7:15: I'm in my high chair. Some mornings I've fed the dogs with Mommy or Da Da's help. Other mornings I'm too concerned about Wall Street to mess with details of the canine persuasion. So I drink my milk, eat my Eggo, and - if it's raining outside and I see that my playtime is going to be inhibited - rub syrup or butter in my hair.

7:30: We're in the living room and watching the Today Show. Kate Gosselin and the Duggar family are highly irritating. As is Willard Scott. Turn on Jack's Big Music Show.

7:45: Exhausted from dancing to Jack's Songs, sit on floor to play trains.

8:00: See Da Da heading for the shower half-dressed. Notice belly button. Lift my own shirt and walk around going "B...B...B..." Lift up Mommy's shirt to make sure she has one, too.

8:30 Begin morning reading. "Reading" pictures and calling out "Woof" for dog, "Ball," "Eat," "Baby," and giving kisses to said pictures as necessary.

9:00: Mommy asks me if I'm ready to go night-night. I grab both bunnies, wedge one in-between my ear and my raised arm, hold other bunny in raised hand, put passy in mouth with opposite hand, grab milk, then head to bed. Sometimes I read until I fall asleep.

11:00: Up for lunch. Depending on what I'm having, declare, "Hot Hot Hot" before touching food. Repeat "Eat" "Eat" throughout lunch.

11:30: Out for errands. Sometimes we go to the park. I put my own arms through my car seat straps, and I can turn on my DVD player all by myself.

At the park, I climb the steps, go down the slide, play in the playhouses, and pedal the cars by myself.

1:30: Back home. Spend afternoon opening and closing all manner of drawers, cabinets, and doors. Hide milk, keys, cell phones, and other necessities in unusual spaces. Laugh when Mommy and Da Da wander around looking for them.

2:00: Time to laugh at the dogs. Annabelle usually provokes Bailey, and I start chanting, "Go, Go, Go, Go." Chase ensues. Fall on the floor laughing.

2:30: Repeat Naptime Procedure. See entry: 9:00 AM

4:30: Up from afternoon nap, and usually irritated at something Al Roker said earlier that morning. Stand at the door and fuss until Da Da arrives...sometime between now and 5:00.

5:00: Feed dogs. Spill kibble on floor. Pick up each morsel by hand and transfer to appropriate bowl. All the while declaring, "Eat." "Eat." "Eat."

5:30: Mommy or Da Da or both are usully cooking. I sit in my high chair nibbling on cheezits or yougurt pronouncing observable steam to be "Hot Hot Hot."

6:30: Wheel of Fortune being DVR-ed. Bath time. Walk around half-naked proclaiming "Baa" "Baa" "Baa" and spend next fifteen to twenty minutes throwing water-soaked toys across the bathroom.

7:00: Wheel of Fortune Playback. This is serious fun. Yell "YEA!!!" over and over and clap every time the wheel spins or the people on TV clap. Da Da usually solves the puzzles before Mommy.

7:30: Starting to get cranky. Begin wandering the house proclaiming, "Buh-ee..." "Buh-ee..." until someone finds my bunnies, hidden somewhere, sometime between 4:30 and now.

7:45: Brush my own teeth, clapping when I've finished, and head for the bed. Sometimes I like to be rocked, but never for more than 3-5 minutes. Always listen to music and take at least three books to bed.

10:00: They think I'm alseep, but I always know they're there. They sneak in every night, turn off my music, and turn off my lamp. Sometimes Bailey or Annabelle sneaks in, too, just to make sure I'm okay. Mommy straightens me in the bed, and makes sure passy and both bunnies are within reach. She covers me with my blankets, kisses her hand, and puts her hand on my head. Daddy is taller, and can lean lower into the crib. He kisses my head. Or my arm. Or both. Every night. It's the best part of my day.

So Much to Say, So Much to Say, So Much to Say, So Much to Say

Well, it's been a couple of weeks since we've last posted.

There hasn't been a lot happening, but I feel like I have a lot to say today.

Jenny has been having sewing machine issues. She got her grandmother's sewing machine before she passed away, and then decided to take lessons this summer. The machine never would work, then my grandmother gave Jenny her machine, and it needed a tune-up. When we took it in for servicing, we found a trade-in model that was an incredible deal, so Jenny now has a fantastic machine that sews and does embroidery. She has already made Ben two outfits. I'll have to post pictures of those later.

The weather last week was perfect, and September arrived, which meant, of course, we had to get out all of our fall decorations.

And now, it's 91 degrees and we're wondering, as we do every year, what we were thinking. But, I walk into our living room and see our mantle, and know that cooler days are near. (The glass Jack-o-lantern in the mirror is Jenny's favorite piece, though we have to keep it up high these days).

I like it too, but only because the back of it is just plain and I can spin it around after Halloween...you can't have a face on a pumpkin visible after October 31. That's the rule. And if it's plain it is allowed to remain until sometime after Thanksgiving lunch. At which time you replace it with Department 56 Villages. That's another rule.

This past Saturday...ahhh...we were looking forward to it for so long. The start of another Razorback Football season. We had originally planned to watch it at home on PPV, but some friends from church asked us to go with them. Row 7. Forty-five yard-line. Um, yeah, we said yes.

It rained that morning and we were a little worried that the weather would keep us home after all. We took Ben to Chick-Fil-A, not even thinking that the hundred thousand or so crazies tailgating at War Memorial would need a place to duck in out of the rain. Let's just say we were lost in a sea of red...and we loved it.

You can't see it, but his shirt has a Razorback in Pads on the front, and says "Hold on Hogs, I'm Comin..." I love his stance in this picture. Seriously...sock feet in jeans on a rainy day...we might as well not even have another kid...it couldn't possibly be as cute as this one.

So the rains stopped, the clouds lifted, and off we went to the game.

Do I look drugged in this picture? A little woozy? If so, it might have something to do with the Stomach Flu from Hades which struck me during the third quarter. We had to leave and miss the end of the game. Fortunately, it was over by about 2 AM for me. Unfortunately, it started at about 4 PM the next day for my lovely wife. Fortunately, Ben was taken away to the grandparents to (hopefully) stay bug-free.

Last winter, at a shop in Jonesboro that is entirely too expensive, we found this outfit at 75% off.

He's grown so much we were worried that it might not work. But it does. And yes, that's a little boy kicking a football on the front. And yes, I want to shrink down our son and put him in my pocket and take him to work with me every single day.

So, that's about it for now. We're still alive. Ben's still adorable. Jenny's still beautiful (and down like 8 pounds over the last three weeks...I'm told she's to be rewarded with "Hot Jeans" when she hits her goal pre-baby weight. I wonder if they're anything like Hot Pants...

And for those of you who recognize the blog title, I say...Open up my head and let me out, little baby.