Worn out!

My sweet boys have worn me out today.  My second baby boy wakes me up early in the morning by kicking his mama over and over.  While it's so amazing to experience that, I kind of wish he'd wait until 8am.  Though his brother always has me awake at 7:15am every morning anyway, so what's the point?

Benjamin continued his pattern of orneriness and only napped half his regular time.  He was pretty needy while I was giving a piano lesson and really only wanted to sit with me and be read to afterward.  That is, until Daddy came home....then he decided to act like the cutest boy this side of the Mississippi and wrestled with him, laughed hysterically, and acted like a goofy.  He then ate a huge dinner (his appetite lately is making me think major growth spurt!) and spent the next hour or so entertaining himself happily with his toys. 

Ummm, hello??  Where was this boy all day??

Hmmmppphhh.

Don't worry though, he came back at bedtime.  He always wants me to sing songs about Jesus to him, but tonight when I put him in his crib afterward he was crying hysterically.  Crying "Mommy, mommy, mommy.....Jesus!"  I went back in and sang some more thinking he had finally fallen asleep.  But no....I left and he cried "Mommy, mommy, mommy......Jesus!" This time I knew he was tired and it would be best to let him cry for a few minutes so he could go to sleep.  And he did just that.  But not before he officially wore his mama out.

Thankfully, most days aren't like this and I can laugh about it all with Peter at the end of the day.  He may wear a mama out, but I love that boy more than words could ever say!  I'm so grateful that it's ME and not any other woman who gets to be the mama that he wears out.  It's a good life!

One of those mornings

The post title says it all.  If you're a mom or a dad you know what I mean.  One of those mornings.

It seems that if there is a boundary, it's being tested.  If there is something to be thrown, it is thrown.  If there is something to get into, it's already in progress.  If there's a fit to be thrown, might as well let the whole neighborhood hear it.  Yep, one of those mornings. 

I adore my son.  My heart could just burst sometimes when I look at him.  But, this morning, just for a split second (okay, maybe a few minutes) I wanted to close my eyes and open them without having to take care of another little life.  To not have to say the words "No, don't touch that," or "Benjamin, what did Mommy tell you?", or "what is the matter, why are you using your whining voice?", or "please stop throwing that block at mommy's head." 

All mom's have been there.  And I know that it's just one of those days.  Hopefully a good nap will do us both some good and while he's sleeping I will think of all the wonderful blessings Benjamin has brought to my life and how much I just want to squeeze him all day long.  And I might have a piece of cake and ask the Lord to give my an extra heap of patience the rest of this day :-)

First "professional" haircut

I finally decided to take Benjamin to get a real, "professional" haircut.  At least as professional as you get at Great Clips....because I'm not paying more than $10 for a haircut for him :-)

We took him Saturday after the afternoon at the Orchard.  We had let him nap in the car for 1 1/2 hours while I ran a few shopping errands.  We figured it was a good time to get his haircut since he might be a little more mellow after sleeping.

He sat right on the salon chair, with a booster, and they had a special kids cape that had marine life on it.  How perfect!  Benjamin loved the octopuses, sting rays, sharks, etc.  It was the perfect distraction.

 oh, he was so cute sitting on that chair

 I've never used the clippers on his hair, so he was nervous at first.  But she let him hold them and he calmed down once he saw them as a "toy"

the hair is getting shorter!

He did cry just a tiny bit toward the end when she was cutting the top.  I had to distract him by pointing out the animals on his cape, but overall he did excellent.  It was kind of sad to see him acting so grown up!

His few tears quickly faded when the lady picked him up and told him he could have not 1, but 2 lollipops!  He was in heaven.

 he was so excited

it wasn't until later that I realized the front part was a bit uneven so I have to fix that.  I think she just rushed a bit toward the end since he was crying a few tears.

We finished the Saturday by eating at Five Guys Burgers and Fries (YUM!) and headed home.  Benjamin got a bath and acted like a crazy man until we made him go to bed.

 what a goof!

this is his reaction to trying some of daddy's Fresca pop :-)

Can't believe my cute little boy had his first real haircut.  Stop growing up already!

Afternoon at the Orchard

I love Saturday mornings.  There's something so fun about a low key morning at home with my favorite boys, staying in your pajamas, eating a good breakfast.

We didn't have any plans for Saturday so we were trying to find something to do.  It was supposed to rain late in the afternoon so that scratched some ideas, but Peter found a fun little Orchard in Salem that was having a little Festival.  So we got ready super fast, packed a quick lunch for the road, and headed out.

There was fun little fall cutouts, mini-tractors, a petting zoo, tractor hay rides, a corn maze, and a pumpkin patch.  It was the perfect setting for an almost 20 month old.  He loooved it.  Of course, you know I took a million pictures so feel free to scan through quickly, I know there's a lot.

 our cute little tractor driver

 he is obsessed with tractors and was so excited to see a big one up close!

 Yeee Haw!

 a mighty handsome cowboy if I do say so myself

 enjoying his ride on the mini tractors

 he had so much fun riding on all the tractors and he loved that they were all different colors

(notice the rocks in his hands that he had picked up in the first minute we were there, and pretty much refused to part with the whole time!  He loves rocks!)

 posing with the little pumpkin he chose

 petting the sheep in the petting zoo

 Benjamin looks stunned but he was just so mesmerized by the tractor on the hayride

 what a cute little almost 20 month old boy!

 adorable!

 dancing with daddy to the music

 me and my precious boy

 the much beloved tractor hay ride

 climbing the hay in the middle of the corn maze

 a very cool slide in the middle of the maze

 Benjamin LOVED this slide and made Peter take him again and again and again

 he was a happy boy

 Father and son walking through the corn maze

 I am a lucky lady

 I kind of adore him

 Benjamin was excited that the pigs had woke up, the 3rd (or was it the 4th?) time we went to the petting zoo

 we were listening to music when Benjamin saw the tractor come back.  He ran as fast as he could across the field and stood right next to the teenage guy who was driving.  When the guy started to walk away because his shift was over, Benjamin was confused and took after him.  It was hilarious!  Eventually Benjamin quit following him and decided to just get on the tractor himself.

 I think Peter and I determined that we were doomed to have to take yet another ride on the tractor, and so we did.  He looooved it.

 He just sat next to Peter in the front and stared at the tractor the whole time

riding another older tractor

It only started raining about the last 5-10 minutes we were there, and it wasn't coming down too hard.  We were there nearly 2 hours and stopped by their store to get some apples, apple cider and some apple cider donuts.  Fresh apple cider donuts?  YUMMY.  It was a fun afternoon spent enjoying the first day of October.

Benjamin was wiped.  He talked for about 5 minutes in the van afterward, grabbed Floppy and almost fell asleep mid-sentence with Floppy in his mouth. It was pretty cute.  He had a great time and has been talking about it since.

Our Friday

Friday morning I had my monthly dr. appt for baby boy #2.  I still can't believe I'm having another boy!  All is healthy and good so I'm feeling especially grateful.  We spent some time running errands, playing outside and then I babysat a friend 2 month old baby boy for 1 1/2 hours so she could go to a dr. appt.  Benjamin wasn't too sure about baby Xander at first, but he warmed up to him pretty quick.  One thing is for sure, I am going to have my work cut out for me to make sure Benjamin doesn't either sit on his baby brother or throw toys on his head :-)

I know I'm biased, but is he not SO cute?

We had leftover stir-fry for dinner then headed out for a quick walk before it got dark.  Benjamin, of course, insisted on enjoying the last of the blackberries in the neighborhood across the street.  And by blackberries, I do mean, 60 of them.  That is how many he inhaled.  He kept eating and saying "send some more", "come on Mommy", "send some more."  I think Peter ate a handful and I think I had about 6.  He sure enjoyed them though.

We came home and I (not so subtly) suggested that Peter mow the front yard really quick.  He (happily) obliged.....he even had a cute little helper to make the work a bit quicker :-)

Totally random sidenote to Anita:  Sorry he's wearing Jack's coat.....I just saw it was left here from when you came to visit this summer.  He really wanted to wear the train coat :-)

After Ben went to bed, we made an apple crumb pie (i.e. bought it at Wal-Mart and put it in the oven) and watched The King's Speech.

I thought it was a pretty good movie....nothing super suspenseful or engaging, but good overall.  I love Friday's that end with a date-night-in with my hubby.