jingle bells,jingle bells, jingle all the way...

The tree is up in the living room and the stockings are up on the railing (We learned the hard way that we can't hang them from the mantle. Ben is lucky he doesn't have a scar on his head from pulling the weighted stocking holder down on his head last year.) I have to admit that I'm not ready to put the decorations up on the tree just yet. Not because I'm not ready for the festivities but simply because I doubt with Ben they'll stay on the tree for more than a few minutes. He likes hiding behind the tree and laying underneath it and looking up at the lights. I just have to remind myself that, while curiosity may have gotten the better of the cat, it's a good thing in little people. Even if it makes the big people crazy, right? And boy is Ben curious. I love watching him try to figure things out. He gets this funny look on his face as he cocks his head to the side while he's looking at something. You can practically see the gears turning in his head as he watches something to see how it works. I have a feeling he's going to be like his Uncle Geoffrey, taking things apart and putting them back together just to see how they work. I'd better start hiding the radios now...

nap shmap

A milestone appears to be upon us that I am none too thrilled about. Ben has refused to nap for the last three days. The down side of this is that I don't get a break in the afternoon anymore. The (slight) up side is that he does appear to be going to bed earlier. Not sure what I think of this trade-off just yet. I rather liked that two to three hour break that he was giving me. I knew it would end eventually, the napping that is, but I was hoping it would last at least a little longer. I suppose I should be grateful that I got two years out of him. By eighteen months I could not have paid Noah to take a nap. Aahhh, the excitement that is my life...

nasal epiphony...

I've decided I know the genetic origins of Liam's nose. I was sitting here trying to convince him to burp after his last feeding and was enjoying staring at his sweet little old man face. In looking at his nose I realized that it looked awfully familiar. I knew it wasn't my nose and it wasn't Tony's nose. I looked and looked and looked and then it came to me...he's got Grammy Myrna's (Tony's Mom) nose. Interesting what comes out when you roll the genetic dice...

mama's boy my butt...

So I now have proof that, while Ben does indeed love me(he just said so), he likes being with Daddy way more. Tony has been home on paternity leave since I had Liam. Ben has gotten used to having him here and getting to go to lots of places with Daddy. So used to it in fact, that when Tony tried to leave to go to Lowe's a minute ago Ben literally fell off the kitchen chair to get down and go with Daddy. He picked himself up off the floor, said he was "okay,okay", blew me a kiss, told me "love you" and ran to Daddy. I am somewhat beside myself. I laughed, I cried, I'm overwhelmed at how wonderful my husband and my kids are. I feel unbelievably blessed that my boys have a Daddy who is so involved and hands-on with them. How lucky we all are to have each other...

hard to believe...

It's hard to believe that Benjamin is two years old already. I'm not sure where the last two years have gone and why they had to go by so quickly. Having Liam makes it all the more obvious that my baby isn't really a baby anymore. I wish I could slow the clock down so that I don't miss out on anything. He's learning so fast and becoming more and more his own person everyday. I miss him being a tiny baby, but I can't begin to describe how I'm looking forward to watching him go through every phase and grow up into a man...

just as i suspected...

I was afraid that this would happen. At least it has only been a week rather than a month since I've posted something. Hopefully we'll all settle into a nice routine and I'll actually be able to accomplish something with my days other than intake and output...

the runt of the litter...

Little Liam is finally here!!! All along I was so convinced that he was going to be this monstrous baby. Turns out he was 7lbs. 9oz. and only 18 inches long. Out of all three of my guys he's the runt of the litter. Noah was happy to see that Liam has a full head of dark hair just like he did when he was born. It looks like it will be straight just like Noah's too. Liam is doing really well and I'm managing pretty well without having to take any narcotics. If all goes well this afternoon we may even be able to go home tonight. Here's to hoping we're able to. It's nice that someone else cooks it but hospital food is far from my favorite fare on earth. Maybe my Dad will bring me some authentic pizza when he flies into town this afternoon...

will i have the time???

I bought a scrapbook today to start for Liam. I'm wondering if it will ever get done. Will I actually have the time to sit down and accomplish something with this scrapbook before Liam is in high school? I sure hope so. It will be an interesting experiment having two children in diapers. (Many prayers that Ben potty trains sometime in the near future...) There's a seven year gap between Noah and Ben so I had a built in Mommy's Little Helper. I have a feeling Ben is going to be a built in Mommy's Little Hellion...as I type he's trying to climb on top of his Cozy Coupe, guess it doesn't bode well for the scrapboook after all...

he's a keeper...

As I type this, Tony is picking up Outback Curbside Takeaway for me. Oh how I love that man. Mmmm...I can practically smell the steak now...that steak will taste all the sweeter cause I get to eat it sitting with my hubby...

Lord, grant me patience...

I wish I could say that I am a patient person. Sadly, that's not one of the gifts that God has granted me. I know I need to be patient and that this Friday will be here before I know it...but knowing and doing are two separate things. I woke up this morning with the worst stiff neck that I've had in a long time. I have officially moved from counting days to counting hours. I find myself looking at the clock far more often than I should. A watched pot never boils, right? I have the common sense to not want Liam to get here sooner, I just want it to be Friday already. Just to look my baby in the eyes and hold him in my arms...such bliss. I always knew I wanted to be a Mommy, but I never realized how much until my kids were actually here...

Ninety-eight and a half hours to go...just in case anyone was wondering...

just because the timer has popped doesn't mean the turkey is done...

Oh the frustration. We went in to the hospital this morning for an amniocentesis to check Liam's lung maturity. We were all set for having the c-section today but the results of the first test came back as "transitional" which means neither yes nor no. We waited ever so impatiently for another forty minutes for the results of the second test only to find out that Liam just isn't quite ready to leave the comfort of the womb. We're back on for the original plan with the c-section scheduled for this Friday, September 4th. It was positively heartbreaking thinking that I was going to be holding my baby this afternoon and instead be told that he's not quite ready. Many prayers that Liam will be a patient little boy and wait until his scheduled arrival on Friday since we now know that his lungs are not quite ready. I've been contracting semi-regularly for the last week and a half and he dropped this past Monday. He's definitely thinking about coming out and I was more than ready to let him until we found out today that he isn't really ready yet. Hopefully he'll have the sense to stay in until Friday. Needless to say I'll be sitting on my tush for the next five days as much as my guys will let me.

My sweet silly little boy being himself. I guess goofiness and a love of laughter are hereditary...thank God!

oh the enthusiasm...

heaven help us...jen's a blogger...

At least it's not the Brooklyn Bridge, right? It seems like the rest of the world has a blog so I jumped on the blogging bandwagon and here I am typing my first post. It will be interesting to see if I'm able to even keep one up since I'll have another little human relying on me here shortly. Here's to hoping I have nothing more interesting to post than cute pictures and crazy poop stories...