It just gets better

I've got to start this one out with Ben. He has had an explosion of cuteness lately. He can count to 11 and he knows his colors, says his letters and he sings twinkle twinkle little star and repeats his favorite book passages to us.  The other day he looked at the icicles hanging from our roof and said "cute popsicles." At night after we put him down he will get up and knock at the door and when we open the door he passes us and hands us his binki and says "here you go" (I only give him is binki for naps and bedtime). He is in this habit of helping his cousin Mikayla to know what she can and cannot do-- "no touch that" or "turn that on Kalya…" My cute little demanding tyke is adorable!  Another cute thing is  I find cars and toys lined up all around the house and the places we go. Ben is very particular about this. One day I moved one out of line, while he wasn't looking to see if he would notice. When he looked back he saw the car out of line and quickly put it back.

 Another favorite activities of my little Benny is that he loves to walk around the house picking things up with the dinner tongs. Below is one of Ben's tong/clamp projects he worked hard and was able to de-petal the flowers Will gave me in less than an hour ;)

James is moving right along as well. He keeps pulling himself to a sitting position when he is in the bouncer-- I'm afraid he will roll himself right out of it. He still spits up like it's nobody's business- but apparently he is keeping some of it down-- his 4 months stats were 80 percent in height, 30 percent in weight and 33 percent in head percentile.  Ben was about 90 percent head percentile and 50 percent height at this point…  James doesn't mind tummy time and he doesn't care about water in his face. James is very smiley, in fact so much so that everyone refers to him as the smiley baby. He will smile even when he is upset if you smile at him.  He still sleeps in my bedroom in a play pen in the car seat because of his GERD.  His older brother also just acquired the skill of climbing into the crib. I am not quite comfortable with a toddler jumping on my baby yet -- so I keep him with Will and I.

 James started rice cereal at 4 1/2 months

 I'm not going to say out loud that little James is a favorite around family ;)

As far as Will and I are concerned we just tottle around with our kids thinking they are the cutest things we've every seen. We loved celebrating Christmas with them (even if Ben did start out the day with a tantrum).  This parenting stuff is totally our dreams come true!  Even though it means less sleep, more noise(crying) in the house and no time for the ski slopes.  Our home is filled with their sweet innocence and unconditional love. 

 Yes the crazy person behind us is a relative… distant… once removed… Or maybe he is our
brother-in-law Derik- I can't remember. 

Laughing

I have to take a minute today to say: He laughed.  Yesterday James laughed for the first time. I had forgotten how extraordinary it is to hear a little person laugh for the very first time ever. To know or hope that we will share a lifetime of laughing and smiling is the best feeling. I love James so much. He is three months old and he makes my heart melt.

Summer

ps This video is of James talking. I thought that it was too cute not to post :)

pps James does not have cold -- the cough is his routine- it's his way of getting rid of acid that comes up from his stomach and settles in his throat.

Family fun

 My little James is my constant companion. In every sense of the phrase. He is there as I sit at the computer with my work from 9-12 pm at night. He is by my side all day-- I wouldn't dare leave him alone with Ben. He doesn't need to be held as much as Ben did, but he does like to be where he can see me. In fact he is 2 1/2 months old now and his eyes follow me everywhere I go around the room. He smiles when prompted and I don't know how we did it but we have another baby with a dimple. His smile just makes me melt. He is starting to grab my arm and shirt. His coordination seems to be right on track.   He loves Ben, when he is not being attacked by Ben. He is my everything. I love him so much. I feel so lucky to be his mother. 

Speaking of luck, our "fighting" phase is over. Ben and I are friends again. In fact we're best buddies. If I have to go somewhere for a minute without Will I love to take Ben with me. My errands are so much more fun with my little buddy a part of them. Ben's favorite phrase right now is "mommy do it."  When Will and I are exiting the car-- "mommy do it" I have to take him out. When Ben wants to watch a video "mommy do it" I have to turn it on. When we are eating "mommy do it" I have to load his plate. Will wondered if I was getting tired of "doing everything" _ I told him not usually. Ben wants me- he seems to need me- I love that! We're entering our Christamas season and Ben is so cute about everything. We turned the Christmas lights on our tree tonight and Ben threw his arms in the air and gasped. When we were decorating last night, it was so cute I found some of the decorations in his bedroom on his shelf-- he had taken the liberty to decorate his own room. I'm really liking this toddler phase (minus the tantrums of course ;)

Will and I are finally breathing again. We are getting used to our work schedule and to life with two kids. For now our finances are stable and we like our ward. We're still very far from where we want to be -- Aka -- Will wants  a real career again and I want a mini van. -- You know one that fits more than two kids-- I am really enjoying the two we have and can't wait for more!

We'll I better sign off. I hope you're all well and know that we are well….

Love,

Summer

James' Blessing

SO many things have happened that I am sure I will forget to mention even half of them in the past month. BUt what is worse is-- Ben says and does cute things daily. And unless I blog everyday or follow the little tike around with a recorder I'm going to miss talking about 98 percent of it. For example we told him it was time for prayer tonight and he proceeded to sit down and conduct his very own prayer without any prompting. He blessed me and Will and James. He is so cute. On top of the cute has also come a whole lot of crazy. He unfortunately has really had a hard time adjusting to our moving and James' birth and a new ward all at the same time. He has been skipping most of his weekly naps and has only fallen asleep in his own bed a couple times since moving to Centerville almost a month ago. Tired and confused the poor child has taken me to the end of my rope more than a few times in the past few months. Honestly I've felt like a bad mom- like "why is he doing this? am I not giving him enough attention?"  I think the worst is over though. He seems to be crying only five minutes at his bedroom door instead of 1 hr before he falls asleep there in front of the door. Speaking of doors I better be knocking on a wood one right now ;)

Today was James' baby blessing. It went off without a hitch!  Which is great because Ben's blessing was traumatic enough to count for four baby blessings. (Ben cried all through the blessing, I made my sister cry that day, and ran around like a crazy lady trying to make everyone in the family happy O and Ben got a cold from the whole event).  Today I decided to take it easy and guess what...people were still happy without me having to talk to them… I assigned out everything for the luncheon but the BBQ pork. We had the lunch at my brothers place which we set up the day before and the best part was James was awake and quiet through the entire blessing! This little man is becoming a very needed calm stability for me in a world that seems just out of control right now. Part of that could be that he was in my arms for 72 hours straight two weeks ago because he caught RSV and I was not about to miss out on any symptom going south so he and I stayed together and didn't leave the house for three days. His fever finally let out after the third day- I was so happy to see him smile and wiggle lots again! As a side note-- James has made Ben a little jealous at times and one of those particularly crazy toddler days where Ben refused to nap- he adorned James face with five separate scratches-- I was furious about it until two hours later when Ben just fell asleep in my arms exhausted…then I felt bad the poor kid was trying to tell me he was tired the whole time!

Now to the details of our lives. Will got a job at Fed Ex. He works nights 1-6 am in the morning… I am also holding down a stay at home writing job. So I work nights too. 9-12pm. I average about 3-5 hours of sleep -- I'm hoping now that James is older and Ben is calming down I can work during the day more to give myself more sleep at night. I have to admit to being very discouraged about Will's career right now-- I'm sure he is too. He doesn't seem to be getting interviews even though he has done a lot of volunteering, shadowing, and applications. The residency angle seems sometimes hopeless and I just don't really know where to go from here or how to encourage Will-- I feel like my advice has not necessarily been any better or more helpful than other's advice… We sold my condo and it's left a little hole in my heart-- we couldn't afford it but it had been my home for the past six years. We now live in a old apartment in Centerville- it's a little ghetto but the right size and place for us for now. Well I better get going. I've got to read my scriptures so I can get down to sleep before too late!  Sunday is my only day off ;)

Ben went tricker treating with Braden and Rachel (ya gotta love her face :)

James was Tigger for Halloween

We spent the weekend at Amy's family cabin-- it was fun!

One month Birthday!

Let's start out with little James, since he is the newest news in the family. James is one month old today. He has gained more than a pound since his birth and has already managed to catch a cold (from Ben of course). It's been nerve racking to watch my little newborn go from a runny nose to a hacking cough. I have Will listening to his lungs every other day to make sure they are still clear- and so far so good. He has been a great baby. He only fusses when he is hungry or tired and his fussers are just miniature. He loves baths and unlike his older brother he doesn't mind getting his face wet. If I had to guess who he looks like-- right now I'd say he looks like his dad and his dad's brothers. Ben seems to look more like a Clarke on the other hand. James takes well to Ben's dramatic hugs and constant desire to load him down with toys. He has only been scratched once so far by Ben and besides a few rough tugs here and there from Ben- the two boys seem to get a long great!  James' sleep schedule is pretty newborn like- up every two or three hours. His cry is cute and soft. And his long flowing brown hair is getting lighter everyday. I think we have another toe head on our hands but we'll see.

Ben had his two year old birthday a few weeks ago and it was great! We decided on a monkey theme and went to work. We played games had a monkey cake and then the kids played in the sand box after their treat. Ben loved the balloons and the handful of cousins and friends who showed up to celebrate. As for two year milestones-- Ben speaks in sentences now and is fond of screaming and hitting if he doesn't get his way. I have to say though I appreciate that the "tantrums" are generally short lived- Ben seems to be very even tempered. He is also very happy 98 % of the time. His eating habits are still a little barbarian -- aka he throws his food off the table when he is done. However, he is a great eater and loves fruits and vegetables. 

As for the entire clan-- we're in the midst of changes. We think we will need to be moved out of my Bountiful condo in a week-- and we still don't have a place to live. I know crazy. If we don't find a place we'll stow away at my parents for a month or two. Will may have found a part time job- more on that later. And I am still working from home. I think I worry too much that all this moving and changing is going to scar my little ones-- but really I think it's doing more of a number on me. Keep tuned cause it's going to be  a bumpy ride. I believe it will all turn out in the end though ;)

James Wallace

There I was. It was 4 o clock in the morning and the first one hit. I thought it was just another Braxton Hicks, but then 10 mins later another one came. This time I tried getting up to relieve the pain but no relief came. It couldn't be-- I was a week before my due date. I was so excited but I didn't want to convince myself I was in labor if I wasn't so I waited through another hour of consistent contractions before I woke up Dad and asked him if he wanted a Sept. 7th baby. He said yes and I told him to get back to sleep, while I went in to finish some projects for work. Five mins later Will joined me and said he couldn't sleep. He read his scriptures and then took Ben for a bike ride when he woke up. The house was buzzing. I don't know how he did it but Ben even seemed to sense his little brother was on his way-- he was soooo hyper!

I called my friend up from her downstairs apartment to coach me on some hypo birthing because I was determined not to freak out once the contractions got real bad. I was planning on going into the hospital at hour 12 of my labor--- so I had some hours before I would go to the hospital. My sister in law mentioned things might go faster this time so I told her to pick up Ben in the morning, instead of the afternoon like I had planned. Will and I then drove to Salt Lake City for errands and to be closer to LDS hospital in case the labor pains intensified. (I've learned that with Ben I am to watch intensity and not my contraction times as much, because they tend to be all over the board no matter where I am in my labor period). Once we got to Salt Lake City my contractions stretched from 10 to 20 mins apart and barely hurt. I was applying more breathing techniques-- but come on! It couldn't make that much of a difference right?! We wandered the SLC cemetery and then Smiths marketplace for three hours. And then waited on the other side of the conference center. By this time my mom and dad called and said get to the hospital. I said no I'm not in pain and they said they didn't care I should go. So being the obedient daughter that I am at 4 pm I went to the hospital. On the way in I told Will I wanted to stop by the bathroom to splash water in my eyes so I look like I had been crying. I was way to jovial to be in the hospital. I cracked jokes at the check in desk (very different from the screams and tensing I was doing with Ben at this point in the process last time). We were put in a room and I was thinking-- they would send me home. But come to find out I was at a 5.5 and well into active labor. I was admitted and almost said no to the epideral but thought better of it cause I had not "trained" to go natural. Four hours later our little bundle of joy was born. The doctor who had been in the middle of a family party was in the delivery room literally less than five minutes.  I pushed three times and out came James. He was born at 9:41 pm and was 8 lbs and 20.5 inches long. He has been a doll!  He didn't nurse as well as Ben the first few days but seems to have caught up in his skill set the last few days. He sleeps like a newborn and hugs like one too.  I love him more than I thought possible. Having two kids is proving to be double the fun and double the tears-- O I mean adventure.

In popping range

My poor neglected blog!  I have so much to tell and if I don't tell it --- it will pass by as if it never happened-- not even a memory because it will be forgotten if I do not write it. I don't know where to start so I'll just start with Ben. I could start with a list of things he's broken in the last 48 hours or I could start with the fact that he is able to identify some letters and some numbers. His colors are a little shady but they are slowly emerging. He broke a neighbors planter and his grandma Blackhurst's frame in the past two days. Of course he was in "time out" for both shenanigans but I have no idea if he fully understands the time out concept yet. We'll keep at it. His sentences are starting to include anywhere from two to four words-- his favorite phrases right now are "open door," "come on," "lights on," "amen" and of course "NO."  I smile from the inside out every time he talks right now because it is so new to me to have a child actually be able to articulate his wants to me. It's great!  Other developmental steps are front rolls, jumping, and screaming like a girl whenever he sees water on the ground and waiting for me to walk him around it.

On to James. I'm just about to pop. I'm a little over a week away from my due date-- and I'm getting so excited (and uncomfortable). I keep telling myself I'm OK to wait but I feel like I'm less nervous about this birth and more just plain ready to have him in my arms. My nesting has broken out into full swing and I'm buying supplies, organizing and preparing meals like it's nobody's elses business. Every time I run into a friend or stranger in the store they want to know how close I am to delivery-- I'm really showing right now.

To end I'll continue the saga of our lives-- things haven't got a whole lot less dramatic around here but I feel like we're managing our stress better. We're moving out of our condo sometime this month (hopefully after little man is born). I have been pretty busy working from home on writing/PR projects for the company Go Au Pair. I hope I can keep it up and have two kids all the while-- things will be crazy I'm sure for the next couple months. Will is helping out a lot with Ben and looking for jobs all the while. We've had a few interviews and don't know if it will produce results but are hopeful. I can't imagine the day when our expenses are less than our income--- O the feeling ;)  I have to say though it's been great to be able to have savings pad our path all this time... or we would be sad sad dudes. We're just about to the end of the savings pad so we're praying for miracles in the next little while :)  Well I'm thinking that's the latest. I'm happy to have such a great family. I'm more grateful for Will everyday and love being a mother.  So although we have our downs we have a lot more ups!