One of the great joys of childhood -- throwing leaves into the air:
They're all gone now, of course. We're back into our fabulous six month winter here in KC! That's right, folks. Six months. Just try to tell me anything different!
Things are just trucking on, trucking on. I have been treading water since getting back from Utah trying to get back on top of things and trying to sneak in any little sleep I can (which is not very much. Moms of babies, unite!)
The older kids are doing great in school and continue to be a big help.
Here are KJ and Olivia reading Benson some jokes (jokes are the very air we breathe around these parts. I can not believe how many Olivia retains!):
I'm sure he found them very amusing.
I held the Double B off until November 19th to put up the Christmas tree -- which was a pretty good effort on my part! I like the tree, and all, but there IS a little thing I like to call Thanksgiving. So we compromise and have a Christmas tree surrounded by Thanksgiving decorations. And that totally works for us!
The kids love, love, love to help their Daddy set it up. Here they are testing the star. I have weird children.
You may be thinking to yourself "Self, why does Katelyn not appear to be wearing any pants?" And the answer to that would be, Katelyn simply does not stay dressed for any occasion. She is a serial nudist. We're just excited she embraces the need for underwear now! That took us years to accomplish that feat.
Thanksgiving came. I love Thanksgiving. It is really climbing up the ranks of Marie Favorite Holidays. The Double B took pity on my poor miserable soul and actually made MOST of the food for our feast! (Side story: I had tweaked my jaw on a Starburst I'd "borrowed" from the primary closet on Sunday and had been miserable ever since -- a jaw that throbbed and wouldn't shut right and a stellar headache. In my sleep deprived state of mind, I had diagnosed myself with many tragic diseases that obviously meant death was imminent, but I am getting better, so apparently I'm NOT dying and the Lord just feels super serious about the primary birthday treats. I shall never sneak a stray Starburst again! Okay, back to the story.) So that was super romantic, and he did a great job, too. He is so good at letting the kids help him in the kitchen, and Olivia loves nothing more then being his sous chef. This year she made the ham rolls! She did awesome. I had a great internal battle about whether to rearrange her placing of the ham rolls so it would look fancy, but then I decided to just let her do her thing. Presentation is pretty important, so this one was a nail biter for me! I'm glad I let her make it her own way of beautiful.
The Double B's favorite nephew and his cute family moved to Nebraska a few months ago, and they came down to spend the holiday with us. We were so glad they did! We had a marvelous time building Legos and laughing and eating. It is amazing what a difference it makes to have family on holidays. It just makes everything BETTER. We loved, loved having them!
They have a little baby just a month younger then Benson, and they were cute together. This is hilarious -- while laying next to each other, Bens got a hold of little buddy's hand and just started chomping away on it! He loves to suck on things and chew, and apparently his friends hand was even better then his! Baby E totally didn't mind, too, which I thought was funny. It was just danged cute. 
I am so thankful we had them with us. It made all the difference in the world. The kids wanted to try Black Friday again, so I took them out for a couple hours Friday night, which they loved. They just want to be part of it, which I think is cute. Black Friday makes me really, really homesick for my Mom. I was probably feeling a longing for home more on Friday then on Thursday, ha ha! I am thankful that I have a great Mom and a great family to miss!
Friday night I'd laid Benson on the ground to go grab a diaper after putting kids to bed, and when I came back up, he was on his tummy! I couldn't figure that out, since he hasn't seemed super close to rolling. But Katelyn was up and about in the kitchen, so I figure she had helped him. She was VERY sure she did NOT help him, so I just tucked that away to keep an eye out for and reminded myself not to leave him on the bed or anything anymore. Then, Saturday night, after games with the Tates, he rolled over during scriptures! Like he'd been doing it for ages and it was totally no big deal. He did it several more times, and it was so fun for all of us to see him do it and for the kids to cheer him on! I got a cute little video of it and lots of pictures of his second official rollover. What a guy.
Benson is giving me a run for my money. He went from being a pretty easy baby to a pretty hard baby -- not sure what flipped the switch. He is happy if he has your undivided attention, but is very fussy most of the time. He has also become a terrible sleeper. Last night I got about three hours of sleep total -- all deeply interrupted, a few minutes at a time -- and that is not uncommon. It's pretty much killing me. Ugh. He is doing a very, very convincing job of convincing me that he is our last child, ha ha! The Lord is going to have to intervene if He wants something different. Exhausting. My ability to cope is just way lower then normal. Waah! Poor Marie. I never knew I could feel such love and affection for sleep. So thank you, Benson. You have taught me to love the very idea of something I've never day dreamed about before! I've even dreamed a few times that I'm sleeping. In my dream.
I should be analyzed.
These are the moments where I really, really miss "Grandpa". If I don't get to live close to my parents again one day, I'm gonna be mad. But it sure would be convenient if we lived close to them now! :) Then I could just say "Gee, Dad, I think he just really needs you to work your magic on him!" Then I might drop the news "Be back in a week." Or something along those lines.
In conclusion, he's our baby boy so we love him even if he's a pill. He's a cutie and very squishy. At his four month check-up, he was 19 pounds and 26 inches! He is in the 97th percentile for weight, the 98th percentile for height, and the 99th percentile for his head, ha ha!
Katelyn has made it her life mission to fill my phone with selfies. I love them. All. Seems like there is a gem or two waiting for me every night!
Life is good.
1 comment:
I wish I lived next door. I would love to give him lots of undivided attention and let you take naps every day! I feel your pain. Bransen was a TERRIBLE sleeper from day one. After a month I was able to get one night with about five hours straight because Tim was up late studying and used some milk I had pumped to feed him. We were all pretty surprised at how much happier and more energetic I was the next day. Five hours in my mind is not enough sleep but that night it did wonders! It's amazing what a little sleep deprivation can do to your perspective and what is enough sleep! Hang in there.
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