Ice Walking

Sounds adventurous, doesn't it? It's the new extreme sport for moms and tots - walking across frozen lakes! The boys and I hung out with Amy and Stew this week, and they live right next to Pontoosuc Lake, which of course is frozen over this time of year. People drive cars, trucks, snowmobiles, and four wheelers out there on the ice, as well as ice fish. We thought we would be brave and walk the kids out to the island in the middle and back. It was actually quite a walk! Amy and I both had a baby strapped to us along with dragging a toddler, and there were several inches of slushy snow atop the ice to sludge through. We made it, enjoyed the view, and were glad to be back on solid ground. There's probably about a foot of ice on the lake, but it's still pretty nerve-wracking to think that you are walking on top of a deep body of water with little kids in tow - especially when we could see the cracks in it as well as some of the holes left by the fishermen. We thoroughly tired the kids out that day and Eli conked out on the way home.

Sleigh Ride

Yesterday we went riding in a two-horse open sleigh! I bundled up the boys with long johns, snow suits, hats and gloves etc, and we drove up to the Adams Family Farm in Wilmington, VT where we took a ride through the snowy woods. Our sleigh was pulled by two HUGE draft horses. We stopped at a cabin in the woods for hot chocolate and some tunes from the old player piano, then loaded back up on the sleigh. Eli LOVED it and kept signing "more, more." Owen... not so much! As soon as we got out of the car and the cool breeze hit his face, he went HYSTERICAL. I think the other people on the sleigh were a little worried about riding with us =). I had to bury him completely under the blanket and stick his face under my sweater next to my skin to get him to calm down... and then he passed out. Probably exhausted from the hysteria. He was pretty good for the rest of the trip though!


It was a BEAUTIFUL day to be in Vermont. There is such a relaxing ambiance about Vermont... we love visiting there! We lucked out and got a "warm" day in the 30's, and it didn't snow on us. Our good friends the Woodwards came with us. It's hard to tell in the pictures, but their little baby Ashlyn is tucked inside Amy's jacket. Eli and Stew have become pretty inseparable little pals. We treated ourselves to some homemade maple fudge at the farm shop, then drove down to Benington, VT where we at dinner at a pizza place. The whole way home, Eli said "bye Amy, bye Dew (Stew)" over and over again (they were in a separate car).... He went to sleep easily last night at 7pm, but then woke up at midnight and threw a tantrum for the next couple of hours. He must have had too much fun!

Way-O

This is a story about a boy and his Way-os. Eli's most beloved possessions are "Mama Way-o" and "Daddy Way-o." Mama Way-o is a "Hupp-a Way-o" (humpback) and Daddy Way-o is just a way-o (though some scientists call him an Orca). Our family all got to meet the way-os over the holidays, and were subjected to endless chatter about way-o's. Eli will even pretend he sees them in various places, and will randomly point in the air and should, "oh, a way-o! A biiiiiig way-o." He has screamed "Oh Way-o!" in his sleep on more than one occasion. Way-o has even become an adjective. For example, a bowling ball was a "big mama way-o ball" and he often describes bites of his food as "big way-o." In fact, I have been able to get him to eat more food by describing every. single. bite. as a big way-o or big shark bite.

The way-o's go everywhere - in the bath, to the Dr.'s office, out in the snow, to church, on walks, to dig in the dirt, and even to bed. I find them in random places in the house too.


He also likes to zoom them up really close to his face, over and over and over and... well you get it - as if he is testing out his peripheral vision!


I recently bought Eli a stuffed Orca to cuddle with, and I thought he might explode with excitement when he saw it come out of the box. The stuffed Orca has been dubbed the "BIG Daddy Way-o." He's a little more cuddly, and now sleeps with Eli every night. Eli even has the Big Daddy Way-o "fold" his fins for family prayer every night.

Eli listens to music with whale sounds in order to go to sleep at night, and his favorite movie is "Free Willy" - he likes to watch it while cuddling with one or more way-os. He also still likes the Planet Earth Documentary - Shallow Seas with the whales on it. He also has two books about whales that are pretty advanced, but he loves to hear me read all the scientific info about the whales, and look at the pictures. He can say "Huppa Way-o" (humpback), "Miggie Way-o" (minke), "Eeka" (Orca) and "No Way-o" (Narwal). He can idenfiy all the other species by pointing them out when asked, and can make the "pfffft" sound of a whale blowing water from his blow hole, as well as imitate the humpback whale song. He also knows what the dorsal fins, pectoral fins, and tail flukes are. Here is a pic of the Orca mailbox in my parents' neighborhood - which Eli had to walk to every. single. day!


Grandpa showed Eli whale and shark pictures on the computer that he Googled - so now Eli requests that activity every time he sees me at the computer.


Today we watched endless whale videos on YouTube. Here is one from Free Willey, complete with the Michael Jackson song. You gotta love it!



You gotta admit, it's pretty inspiring (even if computer generated) to see that whale go flying over the kid's head on his way to freedom. It's funny that Eli loves whales so much, because they were a passion of mine when I was in middle school. I thought I wanted to be a Marine Biologist for a while - maybe he will carry on the dream. His little toddler obsession cracks me up, but I am tickled that he is so in love with one of God's most beautiful creatures. May we all have such an enthusiastic appreciation for the gift of our world!

And for fun - the gorgeous humpback whale footage from Planet Earth - fast forward to 1:20 and just watch the first couple of minutes....

Checkups

The Morning after we got back (after Brad dug us out of the driveway) the kids both had their checkups. Eli's 2 year and Owen's 2 month (though he was 11 weeks). Eli weighs in at 27 pounds and is 3 foot 1 ... he's 90th percentile for height and 25th for weight so his Benson "tall and skinny" genes have kicked in. His language is really taking off right now too, which is so helpful for communication, and also provides some big laughs. For instance, his friend Stew has a Teradactyl Dinosaur that Eli thinks is a bat... only he calls it a "butt." We all crack up laughing when he goes on and on about the "Biiiig butt," and he laughs along with us not really knowing what's so funny.


Owen was nearly 17 pounds and 25 1/2 inches; putting him "off the charts" for weight and height. That means he grew 2 inches and gained 4 pounds while we were gone!!! He is the size of an average 5 1/2 month old they said. That didn't shock me since he's in 6-9 month clothes already. He has gotten such a cute personality the last few weeks and is very interactive and fun. He has seemed very aware of his surroundings even since he was born, but now he has the most award-winning grins and giggles we've ever seen. He is all smiles when he first wakes up in the morning, and wiggles his entire body with joy just to be awake and alive - it's such a nice start to the day. We just love having this little cheery guy around!


It's a good thing I learned how to use wraps when Eli was a baby. With him, it was just for fun. With Owen, it's a necessary skill because he NEEDS to be held and Eli NEEDS to be fed/played with etc and sometimes those things conflict. The other day I had Owen on my back for about 40 minutes while I put dinner in the crockpot, made Eli's lunch and ran downstairs to put the laundry in... it was great. He was happy as a clam and fell asleep... instead of squawking at me from the floor as I ran here and there trying to get things done =).


My "binkie boys." Eli quit taking binkies before he was one... but suddenly they are interesting again. I wonder why.... =)

We're BAAaaack!

We made it back safely to Pittsfield, though it was a little jarring to go from this:



To This:


Luckily we've at least had some pretty skies in spite of the biting cold, icy walkways and seriously messy driveway. Our cars were frozen in and Brad had to take a sick day on Monday just to chop them out. The driveway never got paved, nor did the walkway TO the driveway from our place, so it's a slippery walk downhill to even get to the cars. I won' t be going many places alone until there is some serious thawing - probably May around here, lol. Eli likes to talk about snow - or "hnow" as he calls it (pronounced huh-no), but doesn't like to walk in it at all. A good "hnow-ball" now and then can make him smile though!


Everyone's been asking how our trip went, and all I can say is It. Was. Awesome. It was SOOOOO wonderful to be with family for six whole weeks - first with Brad's parents in Utah then with mine in AZ. It was nice to have so many extra loving hands to help with the kids. I am finally feeling "normal" again (well, a modified normal anyway!) and more up to the challenge of mothering two very little ones. I really think I had some of the "mama blues" this time around, though for me it manifested more as crankiness. While I'm still running around crazy all day taking care of things, I don't feel like I'm hanging out on the edge of sanity anymore, lol. So THANK YOU THANK YOU Moms and Dads and siblings for helping make this transition so much easier for us. I'm feeling positive again and finding joy on a daily basis with my little fellows.

It was sad to leave our UT family ....


But the AZ leg of our trip was sunny and warm. It was in the mid to upper 70's most of the time, and we were HOT =). I had to go buy some flip flops from Old Navy just to survive, lol. We made it to the zoo which may have been the hi-light of the trip for Eli. He excitedly made the signs for every single animal we saw (he got the zoo Signing Time video for Christmas so it was fresh and new for him). We also fed the "guts" (ducks) a bunch of times, and walked to the odd killer-whale mailbox in my parents' neighborhood. I always thought it seemed out of place, but now with Eli's love affair with whales, it was nice to have it there.

Eli even seemed to trade me in for a while and started calling my mom "Ma-ma." He had to start and end the day with her in her bed. They would cuddle with the dogs, eat cheerios, and watch cartoons. If my mom didn't get up early enough, Eli would bang on her door until she let him in! He also buddied up with "Ba-Ba" (grandpa) and sat at the computer with him almost every night to look at whales and sharks online. He seems to know he is the apple of their eyes and milks it for all it's worth - he got SPOILED for sure. I'm thinking, Hey! My parents NEVER made a habit of bringing me little toys home from the store every time they went, or let me go to Peter Piper Pizza every week and buy tokens for rides, etc and yet they do it for Eli - I guess it's true that grandparenthood is for spoiling =). Even Owen got attached to cuddling with dogs in the bed on this trip.

And remember my Four in the Bed post? Well here is picture proof... It's gotten a little better since we've been back. The boys both at least start the night in their own beds... but inevitably we wake up like this in the morning... and usualy I'm the one sandwiched between the kids.


So good-bye blue skies and warm weather for a time... we love you AZ!


We love you too, UT!

2008 Reads

I was inspired by my friend Bridget's blog entry with her 2008 book review. I could not believe that one person, let alone a busy mother who works part time and traveled AND had a baby during the summer, could read 65 books in a year! It prompted me to think over and count up what I read last year. And though it would take me about 8 years to catch up to Bridget's 2008 reading list, I was actually pleasantly surprised that I had finished 8 whole books last year... 7 of which were read AFTER we moved in June... so maybe if i hadn't been preoccupied with all the moving stuff there could feasibly have been 6 or 7 more on the list =). Anyway, I do not promise any insightful or thought-provoking reviews... but here is what I read last year:


Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

I know, I know this one is old news. I wouldn't say I LOVED it, but I liked it enough to continue with the series. I haven't read fiction in a while, so it was a nice break. It kept my mind off my lonliness right after we moved! I think it's the highschool romance that bothers me - never was a fan of those. Plus Bella just seemed kind of pathetic through the entire thing. I actually liked her portrayal in the recent movie better than I liked her in the book. But still, a fun story. Hopefully I can read the last two books this year before our next move.


Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer


This one had me rolling my eyes about every other page with the whole teenage "my boyfriend is gone and my life is over" thing. Plus I was kind of ticked at Bella for obviously using Jacob, and I felt bad for him. It was also kind of weird to me how the story went on and on, then all of a sudden some quick adventure at the end and it was over. So, not my favorite story ever but like I said, I'm hooked enough that I need to get my hands on the next one, lol!



The Vaccine Book by Dr. Robert Sears

Loved it. Finally what seems like an unbiased, but comprehensive and informative source on vaccines. It goes into each one - ingredients and how it's made, possible side effects, possible controversy, as well as incidence and risks of the diseases they prevent. And it's well organized and EASY to read. A must read for any parent whether you vax, don't vax, or do an alternative schedule.




Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood by Jim and Charles Fay

I found a lot of helpful information in here, but didn't love it as I have heard many people do. Just goes to show that individual parenting styles can't always fit 100% into some perfect method. Though it's touted as the answer for birth to age six, I really can't personally see using many of the techniques until at least age 5 (like the energy drain etc) ... but it could just be my style or it could be my toddler's development and level of comprehension. It takes a pretty authoritative view which is not necessarily bad, but I tend to lean a lot more towards attachment based philosophies. I think it could have used a lot more specific advice and ideas on logical consequences for kids under 3. It mentions removing them from the situation or re-directing them - well duh I figured that one out all by myself =). Still it at least got me thinking and evaluating my parenting style more and made me realize that I need a little bit more strategy in my approach to toddlerhood... I just have to figure out what that is! One thing that I have incorporated is the suggestion to give power-craving toddlers choices in everything you can think of (not "do you want to get dressed" but "which shirt do you want to wear" etc). It really does wonders for Eli... no more battles with food. It's not "do you want to eat" it's "which bite do you want" and "do you want a shark bite or a whale bite" lol. It helps the little guys feel like they have some control in their lives, and they aren't fighting you over everything (eg. not "do you want a bath" but "which toy do you want to take to your bath"). See, thinking of choices is fun! =)


Pushed by Jennifer Block

Two of my good friends have posted excellent and thoughtful reviews of this book. You can read Liz's or Bridget's for intelligent thoughts about it. I'll say this - LOVED it. My favorite book of 2008 - a MUST READ for any woman who has birthed/plans to give birth whether you want medicated or natural, hospital or home. Finally, a well-researched, fact based look at modern birth options. Even a man could read this, lol. Ladies, birth is the final frontier of women's rights here! It has been totally ignored and for the most part is controlled by people other than YOU. Lets take back our bodies and our births, gals!


Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin

A fabulous birth preparation book by the leading midwife in America. Also a favorite and MUST read for any woman - whether you plan to have your first or your fifth! The first half is full of inspiring birth stories, written by the women who had them. The second half is a wonderful guide to prepare you for a healthy and fulfilling birth.... miles and miles above the "What to Expect" type books.






Baby Catcher by Peggy Vincent

An interesting tale of a midwife's career from her days as a student nurse in a hospital when women were strapped down against their will and knocked unconcious for delivery, to her days as a home birth attending midwife, to attending deliveries in a large hospital. It's told from her perspective and reads like an adventure! Lots of exciting and inspiring birth stories (as well as a few sad). A great read if you like to read about birth, and gives a bit of a historical perspective and a look at the evolution of birth in the US.




Hypnobirthing: The Mongan Method by Marie F. Mongan

Explains the hypnobirthing method of relaxation and visualisation during childbirth. I thought there were some great ideas and tools in here, but didn't really use them for my birth. It would have helped me to take the class. I felt more comfortable with some of the Bradley Method that I practiced with Eli, mostly because it was familiar. I might re-visit the idea of hypnobirthing in the future if I'm able to attend a class. If you are self-motivated and have a partner would would be avaialble and willing to practice the techniques in here, I think it has the potential to be very helpful for natural birth, or even just for the beginning of your birth if you are planning on pain meds. Pretty easy to read, and also seems like it would be great for relaxation in general.


So there you have it... my 2008 reads! Anyone else love or hate any of the above? I'm sure most of you have out-read me this past year, so mostly this post is to inspire myself to keep trying to expand my tired brain =).

My Dotty

In early October 2004, my sister Aubrey and I made a "girls only" road trip to Utah to see my friend Julie's first baby. It was the first time I'd ever driven the entire 12 hours by myself. While up there, we stayed with my in-laws in Morgan. Their Shi-tzu Lizzie had just had her second litter of puppies (Shi-Poms because they were mixed with a pomeranian). Brad and I had just moved to Surprise, AZ in August, he had started medical school, we had two cats, and weren't in the market for a dog... but I fell in love with this little dark brindled pup named Dotty. Brad's sister Heidi had named her for the white dot on the tip of her dark tail. She was so sweet and cuddly already, even though only a few weeks old. Too young for me to take home, we waited a few more weeks for her to wean. Then we drove all the way to ST. George, UT (about 8 hours) to pick her up from Brad's grandparents who drove her down there to his aunt and uncle's home. She was my 24th birthday gift...

Dotty immediately became our "baby." From cute t-shirts, to designer puppy diapers that my mom sewed, we adored her. She slept in our bed and we learned patience in potty training. I think she literally paved the way for us as parents, lol. She was super smart, and stubborn at the same time. She learned to sit, roll over and dance. She got to the point that she would roll and roll and roll if she even thought you would give her a treat or a handout. She loved us so much that she had terrible seperation anxiety and would chew up carpet, baseboards and furniture while we were gone. She even had the odd habit of dunking her face in her food and her water bowl over and over when she'd hear us come up the drive. When she was six months old, we brought home her blonde sister Daisy (full sister but from the next litter) for Brad's 26th birthday. She and Daisy were inseperable, which really helped her anxiety. Dotty and Daisy made countless trips to Tucson and Utah with us... Daisy always got nervous and threw up but Dotty was a natural traveler.

When Eli was born, of course the poor babies got kicked out of our bed and took a step down on the priority list. But Dotty especially never let got of being "the baby." She would inevitably end up on our laps if we were holding or rocking Eli, and often even when I was nursing him. She thought the nursing pillow was her bed. She and Daisy both were often found by his side. One of the toughest things though was the barking - Dotty liked to bark at anyone or anything that might go by our window. She and Daisy would sit on the chair and watch out the window for anything that moved. It was frutrating because she always seemed to find something to bark at as soon as I got Eli down for a nap.

We had Dotty for nearly 4 years and Daisy for 3 1/2 when we found out we'd be moving to Pittsfield. It was difficult to find housing that took pets, and with two moves coming up in a year and another baby on the way we thought it would be best to find the dogs a new home. We gave them to a wonderful family we'd known since living in Surprise who went to church with us and the husband to school with Brad (he was doing residency in Phoenix so they didn't have to move). The dogs fit in well there and loved their kids..... I know they had a good home with them but I have missed them (mostly my Dotty) still the same.

Sadly, this weekend while visiting Surprise, we found out from our friends that Dotty was killed a few months ago. She had a bad habit of racing out the front door whenever she got the chance (she did this at our house too) and one unfortunate day she was hit by a car after escaping. Their hearts were broken having to go through that, and I have to say so was mine when I heard. I cried halfway back to Tucson. I had been dreaming of Dotty and fantasizing that I could have her back, and now she's really gone...and I'm just now starting to grieve. It makes me feel really bad that she was probably so confused about why I suddenly gave her away one day. At least it is comforting to know she was so loved in her new home. Thankfully my parents saved all the old pictures I had emailed over time so I was able to find a few pics of her to post, though I wish I had some of her as a puppy. It makes me bawl again just looking at them.... I Love you and miss you Dotty Dots!!!!







**These are all baby pictures of Eli, since Owen never met the dogs.

Family Pictures

My sister in law Ashley took our family pictures while we were in Utah. She's just getting started with photography, but I think she did an awesome job! Thanks so much Ash! And thanks to Skyler for freezing his hands off throwing snowballs so Eli would look at the camera =).

It's a long slideshow, it was hard narrowing down my favorites... Eli is two years and Owen two months in these pictures. Brad and I are 20-somethings!