OUCH...

I wrote a newspaper article once about how ER visits go up when things get icy.  Well yesterday I decided to test this theory.  "Why not?" I thought? I was dressed up to go to the Temple for the first time since Ben was born and it was our anniversary-- a great time for experimentation. So here's the story as it played out…

Will was getting ready inside and I was all ready.  We were in a hurry to get babes to the babysitter and I thought I'd clean the car off of the ice and snow that had accumulated through the night.  In my high heeled boots no less. I had just finished the last window on the car and decided to jump from a snowy part of the driveway to an icy part (where I went wrong in my thinking… we'll never know ;). It didn't take longer than a split second to find myself on the ground.  I was struggling to breath and praying that my neighbor across the street had not seen and would not look over. I tried to pull myself up but experienced intense pain and dizziness when I tried. I could see that my only option was to wait. Wait for Will to figure out I was gone.  I kept one eye on my neighbor (who never did see me) and one on the ice in front of me-- trying to concentrate on not fainting. Finally when Will did come (a few minutes later), he saw that I couldn't move and started running to me. I told him not to run (we didn't need two hospital trips…) he slowed his pace and made it to me. He helped me up and we slowly made our way to the door. By the time we made it inside I about lost conciseness and Will carried me to the couch where I asked for a bowl and quick. I emptied some of my mornings breakfast into the bowl and laid there glad that it was over…we sort of, kind of like the beginning of the end.

The only time I shed some tears during the entire experience was when Ben was placed in my arms.  Trying to imagine how to take care of him without the ability to drive or walk. Once I got to the doctors office however, the outlook was a little less grim.  I won't be able to drive for 6 weeks but I can walk.  I have what is called a stable ankle fracture. Basically it is on the bone that does not bear my weight. So with the help of the boot I can waddle (with a little pain) while holding Ben.

Speaking of Ben his latest and greatest is screaming. He screams to get his way and loves to be held while walking and bouncing. He is also more squirmy than ever. I can't wait to see this kid grow up and become the person he is to be...

Ben's first Christmas! 

Will and his brothers all happened to wear green this particular day…. fun huh :)

Mr. Elephant

It happened one day. Our little tiny boy became a bigger tiny boy.  You want to know how I know, I'll tell you. He now has a favorite toy!!! Mr. Elephant. I set up his little mobile/play boppy one day and attached a blue elephant to the mobile along with several other toys. But none of the other toys even mattered, his hand and eyes seemed to only connect with Mr. Elephant. And so it was our littly tiny boy became an even bigger tiny boy.  As a side story to the main Elephant story, this morning I awoke and discovered Mr. Elephant had gone missing. After a feverish search of the premises he was located in my mothers music room. After careful deduction I realized that it had been kidnapped by a kid. Riley, my four-year old niece. I haven't convicted the lassie yet, but mark my words her mother will get a phone call from me shortly.

Next and final entry for this blogpost is my little man had his first visit to Insta care. After about 6 hours on and off of crying dad (aka grandpa Clarke) prematurely diagnosed Ben with pnemonia-- citing a "wheezing" sound in Benji as the culprit to his guess. Will was out of town so I begged my father to accompany me to the hospital and I quickly fed Ben, and changed him to prepare him for a trip to the ER, but not without completey falling apart first. My tears streamed onto his little body as I prepared him for the trip. I was worried sick that Ben had a life threatening illness. After our visit to Instacare we discovered the "wheeze" was Ben's way of telling us he had an ear infection and was not happy about it. We went home with a prescription for amoxicillin and a lot calmer mother.  The end.

This is how mad Ben was when he found out Mr. Elephant had been STOLEN!

I was pretty mad too….

Will thought all the talk of Mr. Elephant was a little over the top.

Benji's Two Month Stats

Drum roll please…………. Our baby is the 95 percentile in head size (up from 14 percent-- I know weird), he is a 68 percentile in height and 45 percentile in weight. Ben weighs 11.12 pounds and is 23.5 inches tall. Some of the questions I asked my doctor were about eye color, sleeping and his flaky skin. I will proceed with stories attached to the questions.

Eye color. We all know eye color is about stats. How many genes you throw into a pool that are dominant versus recessive. Well for those of you who know Will and his family you also know that all 11 kids and one parent have brown eyes (Sarah has green/brown).  I think those are some pretty dominant genes. So I thought "it just isn't possible for Ben to have any color but brown." Fluke of flukes-- it was confirmed yesterday by our doctor that Ben has blue eyes.  In fact currently they aren't just blue they are the exact lighter blue on the inside and a dark blue line on the outside  -- that mine are. We have twiner eyes. I would take a picture and post it to show you but the little buzzard is sleeping. Watch for the picture later.

Next his sleeping. I admit it. I admit it. I was jealous/bugged/confused when I found out a baby two weeks older than Ben and another four-month-old is sleeping through the night and had been doing such for a month and a half (Will's cousin's babies- Spencer and Tyler).  Spencer's doctor told them babies could sleep through the night at 10 pounds. So worried about my horrible mothering techniques, I asked my doctor. Well let me tell you, he is my kind of guy.  He said babies can sleep through the night at 12 pounds and somewhere around four months.  I have a month and a half to redeem myself! Three days this week Ben has slept 6 hours in a row.

Lastly, Ben has really flaky skin. I thought it was just normal baby peeling until earlier this week when it only seemed to be getting worse. And it sent me over the top Tuesday morning when my baby had three huge gashes from his nails on his forehead. His nails were not even that long! The doctor explained he was scratching his head because it itches. Ben has eczema (a little known fact -- Will also has some eczema -- AKA skin allergy).  The doctor thinks Ben inherited Will's tendency for eczema (which is totally treatable and not a big deal just a little more lotion in the morning). So Will gave Ben a type of skin rash and I gave him blue eyes-- I'm going to be the favorite parent for sure (just kidding!).  Look on the bright side Ben and Will can share skin cream ;)

                                              My nieces/nephews are soooo cute with Ben

            Here are Ben's second cousins Tegan, Eli, and Ben all born within a few weeks/months

                   My brother, Peter who we have not seen in over a year, had a layover flight in SLC.

                                            Christmastime with my little family is WONDERFUL!

                                        Here are a few of Ben's brown-eyed uncles and aunts!