Nap Prayer

I wanted something to say to signal to Benjamin that it was time to take a nap and thought it would be nice if it was a prayer too.  So here's what I came up with.  I printed it out and matted it in the colors of his room.
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Dear Jesus,

It’s time to nap, please help me rest,

So that I’m always at my best.

And when I wake, dear Lord I pray,

You bless and guide me through the day.

Amen.

Christmas Time...

Joe and I truly count our families as huge blessings.  It was so wonderful to see so much of them for the 2 weeks of Christmas.  We played games, laughed, ate way too much and just hung out :)  I always find it entertaining that both of our families have the tradition of waiting on the stairs Christmas morning.  No one can go down until everyone is on the stairs and ready.  Then when the parents have prepped the living room and say go we race down the stairs.

Benjamin did well travelling and hanging out for the most part.  He did better the more I kept an eye on his sleep and eating schedule making sure to accomodate his needs before he got too frusterated.  He's such a good sleeper whether it's home or either grandparents' place.  I'm pretty blessed to have my first child sleep so well. (I'm sure it's mainly his personality but I did try to do "sleep training" from the very beginning.  I read, or rather, skimmed, the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child which helped give me direction)  We did midnight Mass this year but since Benjamin sleeps from about 7:30pm to 7am getting up in the middle of the night sorta threw him a little.  I didn't do well with it myself though because I hoped he would just stay asleep the whole time but instead he woke up halfway through and got hungry/tired and we had to head home quickly after Mass.  Being a new mom I feel like every experience in a learning experience.

I tried to let Benjamin open gifts when he could which was pretty entertaining.  He's got a good grip, be it on hair, necklaces or gift wrap :)

So far so good...

We went to see the Pediatric Urologist on Friday last week and got some good news.  Since it appears that the connection between Benjamin's navel and bladder has healed up from the outside (navel) then we'll continue to wait and let it close up.  He'll be on a low dose antibiotic til January when we have an ultrasound to be sure that it has healed up at both ends and there's nothing stuck in between.  I have a feeling that at that point all will be fine, but should it not be healed like the doctor wants then we'll proceed with surgery at that time. :(  Keep those prayers up if you can, they NEVER hurt!

Got to spend some time at my parents' house this weekend- what a joy!  I missed my brothers, but as usual the house was crazy with people anyway.  My cousins' car wouldn't start so we had her, her husband and 13 month old M. on Friday night.  Then another cousin came with my uncle showing up the next day along with open house guests all Saturday afternoon.  My parents are such an inspiration in the "more the merrier," "let us know what you need" kind of ministry.  Their example of patience is why I have any that I do now and the fact that I desire to have more.



so peaceful





On a different note- Ben slept through the night on Friday night- from 8pm to 6:30am!!!  Too bad I was downstairs highlighting my hair with my mom til 2am... so I got a good 4 hours instead of the 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep that Ben got.  I hope he'll do that again sometime soon, I hope it's not just an "at Grandma's house" sort of thing.

What a way to spend the Day...

I caught this act a couple of weeks ago.  He's NEVER this calm unless he's either about to sleep or just coming out of sleep.  I caught him doing mental telepathy with the Hippo and Monkey connected to his swing.  What would life be like if this was your job... to stare at your toys all day...

Week Update

Quick notes from the past week:

- Thank you to anyone who sent sympathy cards to me or my family, it means alot to know that people care so much!

Picture courtesy of Joe's mom



- Ben dropped a night feeding this past week (well, for a few nights at least).  I can't tell you how different I feel when I've only gotten up once in the night!

- We enjoyed some of Joe's homemade beer last night with his family, it turned out pretty well!  The brand is Ben's Best :)  This first attempt was an American Pale Ale.

-Ben got his 2 month shots last week- I didn't like it very much.  There's something about sitting there watching someone put a large needle with chemicals into your child.  It seems so unnecessary at that moment.  I know it's important so I do it, but it stinks.

- I did pilates 4 out of the 5 mornings this week and walked 3 days - credit to my cousin Theresa for inspiring me to get my Pilates DVD out... I heart Denise Austin!

- Got to spend some good time with some girlfriends.  I can't believe how lucky I am to have such great women around me who are also striving to be good wives and mothers.  More on this topic later...

I'm finishing up my chocolate mini wheats and going to bed now.  I have to fast from now on for some scans I have to have done in the morning... probably a good thing after eating my way through the weekend :) 

Big Squash or Big Baby?



it was so sunny and warm!



Fall is here!  Or at least that's what we're supposed to think since it's October.  It was so warm this weekend I had a hard time believing that last year on Joe's bday we sat outside with friends wearing winter coats, gloves, hats and blankets listening to music. 

This weekend we sweated it out at Tanners Apple Orchard with some of Joe's coworkers.  It was nice to meet and spend time with them.  One of them has a 1 year old daughter, so crazy to think what Benjamin will be like in a whole year!  I think the whole world thought it would be great to go to Tanners that day so we didn't get to do much.  Also, since we have a 2 month old there's not much we can do with him but show him pumpkins... which we did :)

soon he will be trying
to eat this

On a side note Ben went to bed at 9pm last night and didn't get up to eat til 4:15... I woke up by myself (which was freaky, I've woken to him crying since he was born) and when I gathered my thoughts I realized that he'd been sleeping for a LOOOONG time!  He then went back to sleep around 5:30 and didn't get up til 8:30.  I felt like a whole new person this morning!  I put him to bed at 9pm again tonight in hopes that the same thing will happen...  with more sleep I'll be holding myself to getting more things accomplished- next up: consistent exercise!!!