CAN'T CATCH A BREAK

Look at the poor little guy : ( Isn't that just pitiful (aaaand just really gross).










Needless to say we cannot wait to see the allergist in a few weeks.

Today however, we saw an E.N.T. GREAT doctor. Loved him. As soon as we moved we got a referral from Ben's new physician to see one concerning sleep issues-snoring, restlessness, waking up screaming and sweaty, mouth breathing...list goes on and on. Plus he does not pronounce/say a lot of words correctly so we wanted his ears checked. Right ear did show a hearing problem NOT LOSS thankfully! He can't hear 2 out of 5 of the decibal ranges :( The Dr. believes it is from his eustacian tube being clogged/blocked from enlarged adenoids and always having congestion.

To make a long story not any longer, he is getting his adenoids removed (date to be scheduled soon). The Dr. says this may even reduce the amount of times he will be sick since it has been just about every month now since last September...no wonder the poor kid gets frustrated when you try to get him to repeat anything..he hears wa wwa waaa mostly.

On a better note, where did Connor go?

I CAN DO THIS!

Starting today, it is just me and two sick kids alone until Monday. Ben is in Texas on a "recruiting spree". Little Ben is not sleeping well because he is congested plus not to mention he is once again impossible to put down at night all over again since we converted his crib to a toddler bed. Oh, and since the half rail is an open invitation to get out of bed, he now feels the need to do this around six o-clock every morning! This morning it was 5:56 when we heard his little feet pitter pattering on the floor. Nice!














Connor is starting to sleep again thankfully but momma is now super behind on sleep and can hardly function. Here is the stunt man:


















Speaking of not functioning, I really like my new job and so far I have a lot of great co-workers. We are very understaffed however, so this is going to be a tough place to work. I just hope they don't think I am a ditz...with the uncomfortableness of being new and learning all the different charting system and medications with no sleep I have not been catching on as quickly as I would like.

We also had alumni weekend. Below are some pics of some of the gang that came back (more on shutterfly):










































It was great to see all the Alumni that came back this weekend. I am bummed though because I wanted to show off the boys and it was a little cold and drizzling when we had out games (plus they were sick) so they stayed back at our place with my mom. I was sad. Dayna my very good friend and her 2 kids and mom stayed at our place. (Great to see you again Dayna!)




























Thanks so much for coming to help mom!

WORKING AGAIN

Well, I start my new job tomorrow! I am very excited. However, these next few weeks will be rough for me and the kids because I have to work the shifts of my preceptor so a lot of them don't really suit our schedule...like tomorrow. It will be a 10 hour day for the kids in day care because Ben has a game...sad. I might make it a half day though. Oh, and since we have not decided on what second car to purchase yet, I also have to ride my bike in to work! Good thing it is a small town and I don't have to dress up for work!

The boys have done as expected with day care. Ben has started the whole crying thing when he gets dropped off. It is so sad he has never been like that, but he is at that age now and we did throw him right in it again. He also got two severe bites last week. Part of the class initiation I guess. Connor is doing okay with it too he still is picky about getting a bottle and some times takes it no problem and others times he fights it.

Nothing much else is going on. Just enjoying the much wanted and needed family time so I get lazy and don't get around to blogging.

LOSE LOSE SITUATION

I have been a stay at home mom for the past 4 months. To be honest they have been very hard months for me.
Why?
Showering: most days I do not get a shower. If I do there is no time to was my hair. If I wash my hair most of the time I do not even get to brush it out.
Eating: I love to eat. I never get to prepare anything delicious anymore. If I do, as soon as I sit to enjoy it one of the boys needs me.
Getting out: I am prone to cabin fever, while moving here has helped I still cannot jump in the car and go places. I tried 2 weeks ago to run errands with the the 2 boys and was a nervous wreck by the end. I also tried to go to the art fair alone with the boys and lost Ben...only for about 45 seconds but enough to make my stomach drop and heart stop beating.
I could carry on and on. I know these all sound like petty things and like I hate being a mom. I don't. I love it And it is actually getting a lot easier and fun now that we have had our little routine.

I have been very eager to get back to work and feel guilty about it. I have been waiting for my nursing license to be transferred to a Georgia license...which has suddenly happened 2 weeks earlier than expected. Luckily while my parents were here I did major day care investigating and got all that sorted out. So now the time has come for me to start work start work and have to leave the boys and I am so sad.

Today Ben and I brought Little Ben to let him slowly get acclimated and get nap time sorted out and I have been so sad and empty inside without my little sidekick...sure he is a hyper sidekick that never listens half the time but man do I miss him. He has only been there four hours so far and I have already called twice and I am about to call again in 30 mins (to see if he fell asleep or if I need to get him). They say he has not cried yet though so that makes it lots easier.

Tomorrow I am bringing both the boys while I go take care of paperwork. I want to cry just thinking about it.

So now I am getting what I have been looking forward to, freedom, a break from the kids, get to work again ... and I am super sad. So here's to my boys and all the fun we have had:

WE HAD A SUPER WEEKEND!

We did Savannah Friday. My parents left yesterday; sadly and today after church we had a picnic in the park and just got to hang out as a family which is more and more common these days!!!

Savannah with the family:




































Tonight will be interesting, we had to convert Ben's crib to a toddler bed today finally. He has been able to climb out but only when he fights you for nap time or the few times he does not go down at night easily is when he would do it so we just avoided the whole situation by taking him out...well Saturday morning my mom came down with Ben saying she awoke because she heard him yelling gibberish and realized it was not coming from his room, rather at the top of the stairs! I guess he put two and two together and realized "hey, why wait until my parents get up to get me, I will just do them a favor and help myself." This kid is scary independent.

An art festival at GSU:


















At a cookout, her are just half of the kids from our new group of friends!

UH OH...HIVES!

This could be the sign of a possible strawberry allergy. Cannot quite blame the strawberry yet but pretty sure. He has been eating them for ages but this just started up yesterday and has happened 3 times, all after consuming the delicious red ripe strawberries. Ben is off of his allergy medication so who knows, maybe he is now super sensitive to stuff. SAD :(

CONNOR 4 MONTH CHECK-UP

Connor is looking great according to the new doctor we have. He also thinks that since he is so healthy and sleeping so well that he does not need rice cereal until he is 6 months old. He does not like to start it for the wrong reasons he says. That is fine with me.

Connor is weighing in at 18.2 pounds - he has doubled his birth weight in 4 months, you are supposed to by 6 and he is exactly 26 inches long both are in the upper 90th percentile. Look out Booter, Big Non is going to be eating you for breakfast soon! Connor's favorite activities are blowing bubbles, eating his fists, smiling at his brother, laughing when he is tickled, grabbing things and rolling over. Non-so-favorite things are formula, sleeping on his back and getting too tired.

Connor at 4 months:














Ben at 4 months:














Shutterfly has more very out of order pictures from hanging out this past week with my parents. Tomorrow's agenda: Savannah!!

BEACH TRIP!!

Today we jumped in the car and headed to Tybee Island. It is nice to be only one hour and twenty minutes from the beach! ... and it is nice to have your parents here to help!

HAPPY EASTER!!!

I think everyone enjoyed nice weather for Easter not just us here in the south! What a beautiful day :)

Friday night we went to a high school soccer game and Ben played with some friends.














Saturday Ben played and played more around our complex. He loves to collect rocks in he pocket and then drop then down the sewer and here them go "ker-plunk". We timed it just right (for him/wrong for me) to be outside when the sprinklers were on. Get a load of those pictures on shutterfly!



































My parents arrived on Sat evening just in time for dinner...of course Ben fell asleep on the way so we ended up grabbing Mellow Mushroom and eating at home.

Easter Sunday we made it to the 8:30 service, then grabbed a quick breakfast snack at Dunkin' Donuts to hold us over until our little family cook-out we had. Then we walked (5 minutes) to Sweetheart Circle on the campus of GSU for play and a photo session for Connor. He did so great as you can see in the pictures on shutterfly.

CONNOR 4 MONTHS OLD!

Can you believe it, he is already 4 months old. Where has time gone?

Connor has his 4 month appointment next week and with a new doctor...little excited, little nervous but we have heard nothing but great things about him (plus Ben and I used to coach his kids when we were in college here years ago. The doc had 3 boys).

Connor is up to a whole lot these days. He loves to look around, especially at what his brother is doing and he loves it when his brother plays with him. He is able to hold his head up very well and able to roll over both ways. That, I am not too excited about because now he wakes up more at night because he has rolled over onto his back and will only sleep on his belly (...a big no no, I know). He loves to hear himself coo and caa and does it all the time especially when getting sleepy and look out when he does because he does not like to miss his naps. If he does he will get very grumpy and scream a lot (Sam had the pleasure of seeing this every day when he was here). Now we have more of a routine so it does not happen as much, thankfully. Daddy has also discovered how to make him laugh...of course boring old mom can never get him too. He does have issues with being sensitive (gassy) to EVERYTHING that I eat and he will go for a week without having a BM and get uncomfortable so I have to stimulate him to go. This will be my #1 topic of discussion with the new doctor. Good news is that his umbilical hernia has resolved itself! All in all he is a great happy little guy!






















































I will post stats after his appointment on Wednesday this upcoming week.

Check sutterfly for action shots of the boys!