"School" Daze

Mr. Benjamin started "school" last week. He is in a Mother's Day Out program two days a week. So far (at the end of week two) he has done amazingly well. Ben is not one to adapt to change very well, but he went in like a champ and seems to really enjoy his time at school. Already I am hearing him sing songs that I know he is learning there! Here's a few pictures from his first day:

Ben was really excited about going to school, but you can tell by his expression, he's not exactly sure!!

Getting ready to walk in!

Inside his new classroom, still unsure!

Riley Grace Update

Today I am 33 weeks and 5 days pregnant with Riley. This morning I had an ultrasound and an appointment with my doctor's Nurse Practitioner, Stephanie. I am overjoyed to report that Miss Riley looks absolutely fantastic and that all her measurements, etc are exactly where they are suppose to be. At this point she is head down, weighs 4 pounds and 14 ounces (the 55^th percentile) and looks great. She also appears to have big brothers pretty lips (and actually looks a lot like he did in ultrasound pictures). At this exact same point in my pregnancy with Benjamin he weighed 4 pounds and 14 ounces also. Stephanie's best guess of when I might deliver Riley is during my 38^th week, which is October 2^nd through the 8^th. I have another visit in two weeks and then I begin my weekly visits! Here we go I guess!!!

Thank you so much for all your prayers and kind thoughts. We greatly appreciate each of you! I will do my best to keep updating our progress here!!

Baby Girl Update

I wanted to give an update on mine and Riley's progress. Over the past three to four weeks I have been having very painful contractions in the evenings that come and go, but stop after I get completely still. I shared this news with my doctor this past Wednesday when I went in for my check-up and she was a bit concerned. It turns out I was already dilated 1cm. (which apparently isn't uncommon for a second pregnancy) at 31 weeks and 4 days. I have an ultrasound coming up in less that two weeks where they can get a better look at what's going on. The doctor says that everything looks alright, but that doesn't mean things can't change very quickly. At this point, if there were enough contractions to send me to the hospital they would do everything they can to stop labor until I pass 34 weeks (which is Labor Day weekend). Beyond Labor Day (no pun intended), she is alright with the baby being delivered. Really all this doesn't mean anything because Miss Riley is going to come whenever it is "her time". The main thing we learned for all this is that I need to take it easy for the next two weeks. After the ultrasound, hopefully we'll know more about what's going on and have a better idea of when to truly expect our precious arrival!! I'll post more information as I have it.

Adventures in Potty Training

Well, we survived... sorta! We decided to try the famous "3 Day Potty Training" method that was recommended to me by several moms. Friday morning we got up and started the day by throwing all the diapers away and moving to "big boy underwear". Ben had a few accidents before lunchtime, but by noon he was not only telling me he needed to go, but making it to the potty and "keeping his underwear dry". If I have learned anything about parenting, anything that seems too simple is probably not over yet! Jason came home from work early that day and once Daddy was here to distract from the process accidents began to happen sporadically. Late Friday afternoon I started getting a tickle in my throat and a headache (more to come on that). Friday night he went to bed, we tried underwear, woke him up an hour after going to be and got him to go potty, put him back down, but he still had a rough night with a few accidents. All in all, Friday was a pretty successful day, especially for the very first day.... then came Saturday.

Saturday was an absolute disaster. I woke up feeling like absolute poo. I had some sort of upper-respiratory infection. Needless to say, I was not quite as ready to go on Saturday morning. By Ben's naptime (early afternoon) he had been through twice as many pairs of underwear in half the time of Friday's events. We put him down for a nap and in an attempt to feel a bit better I got in the bathtub while Jason ran to the store. I had been out of the tub for no more than two minutes and a three foot tall critter appeared in the bathroom doorway (talk about sending a pregnant woman into labor). The little monkey learned how to climb out of his crib on day two of potty training. (Mind you, I had just ordered a second crib for the baby four days earlier.) So, as you can imagine, Saturday continued in the downward spiral that was already in motion. I had no energy to run Ben to the potty and felt completely drained. By bedtime Saturday night I was having painful contractions that were bad enough we were timing them and I had to lay in bed completely still to get them to stop. Talk about drama!!

Sunday morning we were woken up by Ben (who climbed out of his bed on his own). We spent Sunday continuing potty training, which for some reason just came back to Ben like no big deal. No accidents, no problems. We converted his bed into a toddler bed and it was like he literally grew up in 24 hours. No diapers... no crib. By Sunday night all was quiet on the Evans front. Ben was using the potty like a pro, contractions stopped, I sounded terrible, but felt better and our three days of terror was over.

It's funny, all the transitions in Ben's life that I worry about so much go over like no big deal. I was so worried about moving him into a "big boy bed" and he did it all on his own with no problems. Why he had to do it on the same weekend as potty training, I guess God was ripping the band-aid off for me.

I only have one picture from the weekend of terror that I plan to put on here, but if I don't at least I have documented our 'exciting' weekend!!

Here is our weekend summed up in one picture!

Here SHE is!!

Since Miss Thang didn’t cooperate at the ultrasound at my doctor’s office (we’ll just say she was being modest), my doctor recommended using one of the “fun” ultrasound places to find out for sure…. so we got all kinds of neat pictures and video!!  And we can say with certainty that we have a baby girl on the way. We still haven’t made a final decision on her name, but as soon as we do, I’ll be sure to share!!!  Thank you for all the prayers and love during this pregnancy!

And a baby makes four!

As I posted before, we are expecting a baby in October!  I am already 20 weeks pregnant, which is crazy.  It has gone by so quickly.  I was horribly sick for the first 16 weeks or so, but it seems to be better now.  Now, I’m just exhausted, but I think that’s par for the course with a two year old.

Here’s some of my progress….

March 27, 2010 – only 11 weeks pregnant

 

May 8, 2010 – 17 weeks pregnant

The crazy thing is that I am SO much larger SO much sooner than I was with Ben.  I know, I know, that’s the way it is, but it’s a bit shocking when you are the one growing!!!

Here’s some to compare from my pregnancy with Ben…

October 20, 2007 – 20 weeks pregnant with Ben
(See what I mean?)

I need to take a picture this weekend.  I guess it is true… on the second baby… you just don’t have the time you did with the first one!!!

We went last Wednesday to find out the baby’s gender and the baby did not cooperate!  The ultrasound tech says she is fairly positive that the baby is a GIRL, but not to paint the walls pink yet!  So, my doctor’s suggestion was to go to one of the “fun” ultrasound places and get them to take a look.  We go on June 11th to hopefully get a better peek… I’ll keep you posted!!!  We did get the best news, that the baby is 100% healthy and looks great!  Which, of course, makes me so very happy!!!

Where do I begin?

It has been so long since I blogged, that I’m not even sure what to update on!

I guess I will start by saying Benjamin will be 27 months old next week and boy can we say we are in “the terrible twos”!  He is absolutely so much fun, but a complete hand-full all at the same time.  He keeps us laughing so much, it’s hard to even compile everything he comes up with these days.

I never even posted pictures of his second birthday party… So here we go…

 

He was so tired after all the fun at his party that he almost fell asleep in the bouncer with Daddy…We also shared our baby news with everyone on Ben’s birthday.  It was quite difficult to keep secret so long, but we were excited to share with everyone on the same occasion!! Ben had a great party thanks to all our wonderful family and friends!  Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate!

On Ben’s actual birthday, I took him to Chuck E. Cheese for a Mommy & Ben date.   We had a great time!!

We have also been to pick strawberries a couple times at a local farm.    I actually took my camera to one of the outings.  Ben picked a few strawberries… ate a few right on the spot… but enjoyed running through the vines more!

Morgan, Melissa, Ben and Momma

One of the funniest things that is so “Ben” right now is that he wants to take something to bed with him every night and nap and something in the car with him every time we leave.  Usually it’s just a toy or stuffed animal, but other times the request is a little complicated.  On different occasions he has asked to take the dog to bed with him and even the television, but the most unique request is our couch pillows.  He has started sleeping with one of our couch pillows most nights.  That may not seem that odd, but our pillows are a canvas-like material that can’t feel good on his face all night… but it’s not worth the battle, so he sleeps with our couch pillows!!!

Ben is also still in swimming lessons once a week.  He started when he was 13 months old and it is actually starting to pay off.  I took him to the neighborhood pool this weekend and he had a blast floating, climbing out of the pool (on the side in the deep end), jumping in, kicking, blowing bubbles, etc.  It’s nice to see it’s actually sticking!!

That catches us up on Benjamin just a little bit..