A Face Only a Mother Could Love

And correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't that last picture look an awful lot like this:
Rocky Road, anybody?

Five Minutes For Mom

Recently, I've been petitioning some other moms for activities that will keep my Duo busy during these cold winter home-bound days and that will also give me a chance at accomplishing a load of laundry or loading the dishwasher. And while some CRAZY things like glue and glitter were mentioned {makes me shake in my slippers just thinking about it!} so were some more clean-up friendly ideas, like exploring with flash lights and making cereal necklaces. This week, however, I decided that we would try our hand with homemade play-doh. And let me tell you, it was such a hit, I regretted that we didn't try it earlier! Who would have thought that just a few ingredients from the pantry would buy me over 30 minutes of happy and occupied toddlers! Solid gold! So for those of you who suggested activities, Thank You! We are slowly working our way through most of your ideas! And for those of you who might have something different to offer, Please! We'd love to have some more...

Look at those profiles! I think it's the first time they've ever looked like each other!

Ben loved tearing it into pieces, putting them into the bowl, and then dumping them out.

Abe liked to SQUEEZE the dough!

A little taste here and there didn't hurt anything either :)

And for my fellow friends who are also currently in the trenches of toddler-hood, in case you're interested!

Here's the website I used for our play-doh recipe. We made Play-Doh #2 but there are lots of other recipes that might better accommodate what you have on hand.

And here are a few mommy tricks that have been helpful in keeping my little busy-bodies seated and happily playing! {Warm the play-doh in the microwave for a few seconds before they use it. Soft, warm play-doh was better received and easier for their little hands to manipulate~Introduce tools one at a time. When something gets old, remove it and replace it with another~Provide something to snack on while they play. It discourages munching on the dough.}

And lastly, our tools: A bowl, potato masher, Lego, Barbie brush, pastry cutter, small cookie cutter, piping tip, beater, and a small wooden dowel. Really anything would work though!
Happy play-doh'ing!

By George...

I think he's got it! Second night in a row of a seven hour stretch for the J-Man! Clap, clap, clap, clap!

The Color Purple

This past week, The Deuce tried their hand at coloring with Crayola TaDoodles {translation: extremely fat markers}. The results were...eh...well...delicious!

Confession: For a moment I contemplated taking them away because Ben absolutely would NOT stop licking them. However the thought of an additional five minutes of peace won me over and so the licking continued.

Bless you Crayola and your non-toxic quiet makers!

In the Land of Being One...

Goats drive taxi's and pigs catch a ride

Purses bulge with Hotwheels

Goldfish live in barns

And walruses like to drink from a bottle.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Also in the land of being one....

Go-ku=cookie {Abe}
Dane-du=thank you {Abe}
Bay-pe=baby {Abe}
Ceri=cereal {Ben}
Key-Ka=carrot {Ben}
Pie=dessert {Ben}
Schnaps=snacks {Ben}
Nigh=light {Ben}
Meow=cat {B&A}
Hep=Help {B&A}
Wah-wah=water {B&A}
Side=outside {B&A}

I can hardly wait to see what's to come in the land of being two!

One Month Old and An Update!

Our sweet Judah is one month old!

It's hard to believe that it's already been a month! Between the holidays, a steady stream of visitors, and having Jer home from work, I feel like I've lost all track of time {hence the LATE one month post}!

After five weeks, I wish I could say that things are leveling out some but I just can't! After many frustrating days and tearful talks with Jer, we've concluded that it most likely has to do with the constantly changing scenery at our house. I mean, just a quick rundown of our last few weeks will just about make anybody's head spin! Week One: The boys are snowed in, with the flu, in Chama, with Grandpa and Nana. My mom comes for a few days and then I'm at home by myself with Judah. The boys come home still under the weather. Jer gets sick. I think about changing my name and checking into a hotel. Week Two: Jer is at work, I'm flying solo with all three kiddos, it's Christmas, we have a million and one family get togethers and then everyone leaves. We're all sad because "it was over too fast." Week Three: My mom comes to cook, clean, and generally, just keep the boys occupied. It's wonderful but we all know it's a false sense of reality. She leaves. I cry. Week Four: Jer is home, we seriously begin a schedule with Judah, I'm sleeping until the cows come home, and the boys cry incessantly because all of the people who fed them cookies at their beck and call, are now gone.

Whew! No wonder none of us can't get a grip! It's truly been nuts!

But even though our day to day routine has been a little out of sorts, a few things have {thankfully} gone off without a hitch! The first of which is nursing. I have to say that this has been the first and foremost of my concerns and something that I have spent much time in prayer about. After a pretty negative experience with the boys that ended in me pumping for 14 months, I wasn't sure how things were going to work out this time. I also was a little concerned about being tied-up with long feedings and how that would mix with two very active toddlers. However, things are going amazingly well! Judah is quite the quick and efficient eater and he's gaining like a Thanksgiving turkey {9 lbs. 10 oz!}! As for the boys, well this is the most trouble they've managed while I've been otherwise predisposed...Side note: Although Ben was very snugly wedged in that horse and desperately calling out, "Hep! Hep! Hep me!" he LOVED having his picture taken when he knew he looked so silly!
Another thing that has been going extremely well is how sweet the boys have been with Judah. Although at times they crowd him {and me when I'm trying to change a diaper, feed or burp him} there hasn't been any problems to speak of. They really love to give him his paci and wipe his mouth when he spits up and they both seem just generally interested in his care and how they can help take care of their brother. It's rather sweet! However sweet though, they are still two little boys who crash about and toss toys and are just unaware of their toddler strength. So needless to say, little Judah doesn't spend much time on the floor unattended. We recently bought him a bouncer that fits on the counter so I don't have to worry about the boys "caring too much" for Judah while I cook dinner or fold a load of laundry :)
We've also had great success with our playroom. With it being finished a week before Christmas, we've had little time to do anything with it but clean up the construction mess and move the boys' toys into it. They love to go out there and play and make a huge mess though! And the best part? When they're done, we can just close the door and pretend the mess doesn't exist! Hoo-rah!

As for works in progress, we've got a few of those items as well. The first and most important being our third-born's sleeping schedule. Although he is starting to give me longer stretches at night {sometimes 4 1/2 hours!}, I am beginning to think he still has his days and nights mixed up. It is beyond impossible to keep our guy awake after his daytime feedings! I change his diaper, strip him down, suck his nose, mess with him and he will still fall asleep right after! Then the night comes and he wants to party after his 3 am feeding! Imagine that!! So our little night owl has landed himself a permanent spot in his own room and in his own crib. Oddly enough, I think it's inconvenient only for me. I really liked having him so close to the bed in our room. It was nice to not have to leave my warm covers to feed and change him! A luxury I certainly did not have with the boys :) On the upside, though, Judah's been taking all of his naps in his crib, with virtually no fussing! Yay! And, much to my surprise, B&A's noise level doesn't seem to bother him, and his nighttime crying hasn't bothered them either. Thank the Lord!Another thing we've been working on is that we started Judah in cloth diapers but in a completely different system than the boys. I wasn't sure how things were going to work out with two different styles of diapers for our kiddos but it's proved to be just great. We were able to start J in cloth at 4 weeks {as opposed to 4 months with The Deuce} and they are so easy and fit him wonderfully! Plus the different systems make it to where I don't have to think about which diapers belong to which kid, especially late at night when my brain is mush. It's been quite an adjustment with all three babes in cloth, though. Mostly because the quantity of newborn diapers that we are going through now requires daily laundry and folding {as opposed to every 2-3 days before}. It's not a deal breaker but when the days already require so much, it sometimes feels a little daunting and Pampers don't look half bad :)
Our last project is Judah's room, which we set up this past weekend. I was surprised how quickly things came together but it might also be the new "Sarah with three kids" decision making that helped move things along. While it's rather simple, it's clean and cute and most importantly...finished...an attribute that is rare in our house these days! I'm still on the prowl for some finishing touches though, and suggestions are welcome!

So in a nutshell this is how things have been going and what we've been up to recently. I can't believe how long and probably boring this post must be but every time I sit down to work on it I can never get it finished and just end up adding more and more to it! So, before I think of something else or someone wakes up from their nap...I will post it!

Until next time!

Benjamin and Daddy 1.0