date night...with sulli

We took Sulli to see Cirque:Jungle Fantasy on Wednesday night. He had never been to a live show before and we weren't sure how he was going to handle it. He did great. The show went from about 7:30-9:30. Around 9ish, he turned to me and said, "Mommy, I all done." I explained that the show wasn't over and he was a bit antsy, but overall did great. He was ooohing and ahhhing along with the rest of the audience. He waved to the performers and said "good job, good job" quite alot in response to their amazing acrobats! It ended up being a great night, but it started off a little crazy!

Our wonderful friends offered to watch baby Ben while we went to the show (let me rephrase that...they said "yes" when asked). We took dinner over to their house to eat with them before the show. When we arrived, Evan noticed that I had a tire that was going flat. So out on the driveway were Evan and Jason, fixing my tire quickly so that we would still have time to eat and get to the show on time. Poor Jason, got roped into a tire change after a long day at work. Then we leave a needy baby with them to boot! We arrived just in time to run up several flights of stairs to get to our seats. We made it with mere minutes to spare. I want to thank Jason, Andrea and boys for taking such good care of our baby and opening their home to us for dinner. And a big thanks to Jason for getting down and dirty with Evan!

This is Andrea and I before we sang on Easter morning at church. She is my new mic buddy. We are the same height which makes it a bit easier to share a microphone. We have recently realized that we are kindred spirits. Our friendship has formed all to easily and it is great! I adore her and am loving my time with her. She has 2 boys, one just older and one just younger than Sulli. They make for great playmates.

We took them to a play area yesterday while my oil was getting changed. They had a great time climbing and sliding. Getting them to pose for a picture was not happening though so here they are in action!

It is so great to have good friends. And even more wonderful to have friends who love God and who teach their children the same! We are surrounded by great people. Our cup runneth over...ok I am getting gushy. Just feeling very thankful for friendship today. Take time to let your friends know how much they are loved. You never know what might be going on in their life at the moment. It may make a huge difference. That is your challenge for the day! Chose to accept!

Sam I Am!

Sulli and I read Green Eggs and Ham for the first time last night before bed. This morning when I asked him what he wanted for breakfast, I gave him the option of green eggs and ham as a joke. Well, my mistake...that is what he had to have. So here is my attempt at green eggs. We substituted toast for the ham.

Lounging with Daddy

I came downstairs last night and all the boys were lounging on the floor. Sulli waits all day for his daddy to come home. And the minute that he walks through that door until the time that he goes to bed, he is playing with dad. My boys are so fortunate to have such a wonderful father. And I am blessed to have a husband who not only adores his children, but also his wife...right honey!!

HAPPY EASTER!

Sulli on the hunt for some eggs happened
upon a gold mine! This was the church egg
hunt after the Saturday night service. Nana
and Papa were there to take part too!



























Back at home, we had our own hunt after church on Sunday. Daddy got his favorite...PEEPS!
Pastor Jeff, read it and weep. A member of your congregation loves these little guys!
















Sulli was opening his eggs by "cracking" them on the side of a bowl. He is hilarious.

On the more serious side...He is Risen! It is so amazing how wonderful God was, is and continues to be. This was shown to my family in great detail yesterday. I am so thankful that my mom listened to God and followed His direction yesterday. I am so thankful that I have parents who are believers and continue to encourage and teach me.

The whole church congregation at yesterdays 10:30 service was able to see how God works miracles by protecting one of our own who was in a car accident right outside of the church parking lot. His hand is in everything. And He really does lead us...as long as we are willing to listen. Please open your hearts and listen.

Matiks!

Today I took Sulli to a gymnastics class to see what he would think about it. He is constantly standing on his head, attempting somersaults, jumping and just plain being a monkey. I thought that this would be an appropriate activity. He was very tenative at first. I wish that I had video of their first activity. The teacher had them jumping on a trampoline that was very long and skinny (40 feet long maybe). The kiddos jumped very high kicking out their legs, smiling all the way down the tramp. Sulli got on and walked with a very sulky saunter all the way down. And we didn't just do this once, oh no, he did this 4 times. In my head I am thinking "what a waste of time" and "I can't believe that he isn't just digging this". But towards the end of the class he started participating. He enjoyed the activities on the bars and playing in the foam cube pit. We might try it again. He lovingly talks about his class this morning calling it "matiks".

My Boys

Just took some cute pictures of the boys and had to share. Nothing big to report except that my baby is a smiling fool these days. I am so fortunate to be a mom. A mom who gets to spend so much time with her kiddos. I get overwhelmed and cranky at times with the chaos. But oh my, to be blessed with chaos. I just pray each day that God allows me the wisdom to maximize this time I have with them, to relish the hugs and kisses, to take the good with the bad and let the bad just roll off my shoulders. Not sure where all this came from...but I am just feeling very lucky to have these little guys in my life. Take time to kiss your kids today and let them know how much you love them.

Shot through the heart!

Yesterday, Sulli and I took baby Ben to the doctor for his 2 month appointment. He is doing great as we expected. He weighs 11 lbs. 13 ounces and is 24 inches long. He is in the 50th percentile for weight and 90th for height. These are the same percentiles he was in at his 2 week weigh in. Now...compared to his brother??? Sulli at his 2 month appointment was 14 pounds 13 ounces. A whole 3 pounds more!!! And Sulli was 24 and 5/8 inches long. So length is pretty close. I have a string bean on my hands this time. I think I got a bit more Strand pumped into Ben.

Then came the dreaded time for the shots. I remember with Sulli that I held him on my lap and cried the whole time it was happening and for a while afterwards. This time, I didn't want that to happen because I don't want Sulli to be scared and traumatized. So I layed Ben down and walked away to sit with Sulli out of sight of the "pokers". It just ripped my heart out though when that little scream happened. Poor buddy! He quieted down fairly quickly though. He had some fussy times yesterday which I was attributing to the shots but seems to be doing just fine this morning.

I don't think that it will ever be easy to be with your kiddos and watch them get shots. Will forever pull my heart strings!

Sweet Boy!

Sulli wanted to hold his baby so I placed Ben on his lap. I quickly went to grab the camera for this photo op and returned to find Sulli trying to nurse Ben. At poor Ben's expense, I was laughing and taking pictures as he was being smothered against Sulli's chest. So funny! And so cute!

Day with Mom

I dropped Ben off at Mimi and Bumpa's this morning and Sulli and I headed off. I was excited about a few hours alone with my little man. Granted, it was only a trip to Costco for mom's eye appointment and some shopping, but I was looking forward to being able to just focus on Sulli for a bit. He was very well behaved during my appointment and enjoyed a sucker while shopping (my new found favorite distractor during shopping trips). We then went to visit Daddy at his office and found out that he had locked his keys in his truck. So our quick visit turned into lunch while waiting for the locksmith. Found out that we had free locksmith services through Geico (thank you God!). Ben had a good morning/afternoon at the grandparents. I arrived to pick him up and Bumpa had him sleeping sweetly on the ottoman on his changing pad. Too cute.

Later that afternoon and into the evening, my sweet Sulli turned into a tiny terror. But the time Evan arrived home at 9pm, I was in tears. It was just a long day full of "I want, I want, I want", "NO, NO, NO", crying, growling, waking the baby, scaring the baby, screaming at mom, more crying.........

You get the picture. I had just had it. I was done. I had one of those evenings. Now that my rant is over, I love my children dearly. I also love when my husband walks in the door as well.

Sometastic!

I just love the vocabulary of a two year old. Sulli says and does some darn cute stuff. We were driving in the car the other day and I pointed out some horses that were running. Sulli's response was "Mom, that's sometastic!" That is my word for the week...my life is sometastic! I hope that you have a sometastic day.

Doctor, Doctor!

I had my first check up since the delivery yesterday with Dr. Kelly Suidzinski. I still am just amazed that you give birth to a child, a fairly traumatic event. You walk out the doors of the hospital and they don't want to see you for at least 6 weeks. Are you sure? Do you know what I just did? Do you understand what just happened down there? And you really don't want to see me for 6 weeks? Crazy! But I survived and so does everyone else I guess. But just to put all of your minds at ease, I'm fine...the check-up went well. Now for the decision of contraception! Evan isn't going to let me pull the abstinance card any more.

This was only the second time for me to meet Dr. Kelly. The first meeting was in the delivery room. My doctor is battling cancer and was undergoing intense treatment during the time that I had Ben. Dr. Kelly was the one on call. She is great though and I will be transferring to her care as I don't think that my doctor will be returning. As a side note, keep Brenda Williams in your prayers. She is a strong lady but has been fighting a terrible battle for 14 years. Anyways, got a picture of Ben with the woman who caught him coming out of the chutes!

Girl Time

I had the chance to spend some time with some very important girls this weekend. Tracy, Kate, April, and I met up at Java downtown for some much needed chatting. It is so nice to be able to talk about anything and everything with these gals. And laugh...oh do we laugh! Our connection to eachother starting with our small group that meets on Thursday nights. But our connections now go way past that. We were missing two of our small group gals at this outing. Tosha had some last minute family arrive. And our sweet Danielle is representing our small group abroad as she teaches in Ecuador.

TWO MONTHS!

My little Baby Benny is eight weeks old tomorrow. I cannot believe how fast time flies. I can...but I can't. He is such a wonderful baby. Crabby at night but truly a pretty happy boy. He is doing lots of smiling when you baby talk to him. He also is starting to coo and goo right along with you. Sulli was taking a nap today so while we had some alone time I captured some of his funny faces.

He had enough of the paparazzi action and put an end to my picture taking. Such a popular little guy. He must get tired of all the attention! No more Mommy-talk to the hand!