Oops! It's almost December!

It's been a wild month here!!

Aaron and I went to Atlanta in November for the National Youth Workers Convention. It was AWESOME!! We had so much fun, and didn't often feel like we were "working." If you're looking for new music, we really liked Fee, Matt Maher, Leeland, and Shane & Shane.

The boys are doing great. Ben did get that first haircut, and now really looks like a little boy. Not my baby anymore. He's learning to communicate more as well. He doesn't have the language ability that Drew had at this age, so he gets frustrated pretty easily. He has learned though to drag us across the house and bring us right to what he's asking for. Once you get there, then you can tell that the word he was saying over and over and over was really "pancake" or "cracker" even though it sounded nothing like it. He's trying really hard though and gets a new word every day.

Drew is continuing to wow us. He can tell you the first letter of words, tell you what other letters he hears, and will argue over letters that sound alike. He's trying to figure out the spelling thing too. He can also write a few letters. I thought he was learning it in school until I looked at his school calendar and realized they hadn't even gotten to some of the letters he can write yet! He has also had to learn the fine art of saying goodbye to friends. We recently had friends move away, and that included his best friend. He was very sad about this, though I don't think the reality has hit him yet.

What can I say?

The boys keep me busy!! I have no time to blog it seems.

Drew is in his 2nd month of preschool and just loves it, loves it, loves it. School is just the highlight of his week. It does make things hectic for me sometimes, but it's worth it.

And...Drew ate some french fries!!!! Those of you who know just how deeply we have struggled in the food department with him will appreciate that. He suggested it, and asked for them several times. It's a huge deal here.

Ben is...well, he's Ben. He's growing much too fast, is quite the talker. He is learning the finer art of tackling football-style. It's no wonder other kids his age are afraid of him. He takes Drew out with little effort sometimes! I'll have to get the video posted from this morning. He's bordering a first real haircut too. I agreed to get his sides and bangs trimmed, then we'll see from there. His curls are too precious to cut right now. It's ok that he's 16 months and still hasn't had a real haircut right???

Working cars and healing...

The truck is fixed!! Woohoo!!!! Aaron worked hard and got it done. Yay! My wipers are fixed too, and that horrible rattle in the rear sliding door? Gone! Sure makes driving nicer when there isn't something shaking behind your head.

Drew is doing much better. The cut gets smaller each day as it heals, and the glue has started to peel away a bit. He just loves showing off his battle wound to anyone who will listen to him though!!

Ahh...the joys of boys...

We had a super-duper fun morning!!

8am, kids are playing with daddy. I walk downstairs, ready to get them dressed. Put their clothes on, no problems. Drew goes running to get Aaron, slips, falls... (do you see where this is going???)...He meets the coffee table in a most intimate way with his eyebrow.

And 2 hours later we're in the ER because the gash through his eyebrow STILL hasn't stopped bleeding but has stopped enough for me to see that it's deep. And 1/2" long. He got dermabond because the dr felt it would be far more traumatic for him to get the stitches. Umm...it's almost a hard call. He was hysterical the whole time because it was scary to him.

Mom fixed it up right though. When we were discharged, I took him to Friendly's. All is now right with the world. LOL

The pitfalls of cars & motorcycles; another praise too

Gotta love how things work out. It was raining this morning as Aaron got ready for work, so I told him "No worries, take the van. I'm not going anywhere today anyhow." Well, except for one little problem we have with the van. The wipers quit working!!! Praise God, it stopped raining right as Aaron walked out the door, so he should make it to work without too much trouble.

Why not take the truck? Well, the brake lines are still busted. One kinda needs break lines. He's making it a priority now to fix that while he's off shift this week.

Aaron came home with the news last night that they have hired his replacement engineer! He has to train her, but then he'll move to first shift. So, hopefully within a month or so, we'll have a truly "normal" schedule. Bittersweet though, I really enjoy having him home 3-4 days each week. The boys do too. But they'll definitely grow to love having more consistent time with dad every day instead of a few stolen moments on the days he works.

The lazy blogger with a huge update...

So, it's been a month. Man, I'm slow! In my defense, I was certain I had posted somewhere in the middle of August after the last update.

At the end of August, Jen's mom & dad came down for a visit. It was a nice, relaxing weekend! A few days after they left, the Alicea's came to town. The kids had an awesome time playing together. Ben still looks for all the kids when he wakes up in the morning.

The big news is that Drew has started preschool! Here's my proud schoolboy:



He absolutely loves school. He runs right into his classroom, has no problems at all with our leaving him there. I think he'd stay there an entire day if I let him. Ben is so sad when we drop Drew off though. His best friend is not there with him, and it crushes his little heart. He'll like it more though as he realizes he gets some mommy time all by himself after nap.

Ben had his 15 month checkup this week. He's doing great, weighing 25 pounds and measuring 31.5". No complaints or concerns from this visit!

This week also starts our busy season. The new Bible studies have started at church (Jen is involved in 2, Aaron in 1), plus we have our homegroup Bible study. Pair that with exercise class at church twice a week, preschool, and Jen doing childcare during the morning women's Bible study, and we're a busy group!! Aaron's job may soon change, giving him the opportunity to go to 1st shift finally! We'll miss having him home those 3-4 days a week we get now, but it will be great to have him here on a more consistent basis.

Fitness is coming!!

Today we anxiously await the arrival of our elliptical!! Now that we're pretty sure 2 kids is it, I'm really going to focus on losing this baby weight. It's an awesome machine, will post pics when it arrives.

Our goal: 30lbs combined lost by December 31st.

Vacation pictures!

Drew and mommy on the "bouncy thing"


This is what happens when Boy meets Automatic Van Door

Fashionista Allyssa

At the Pines






Ben believes Jenna's cake tastes best...after all, she is the birthday girl!

Showing Auntie Toni and Uncle Todd some love...

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N....in the summertime...

We had a blast!!!

We left last Saturday morning around 7:30am. Decided that straight up 95 (including through NY) sounded great. Umm....no. Got over the GW no problem, but then sat in heavy traffic almost all the way through NY and CT. Yuck!! We finally arrived though, and the festivities began.

Saturday night was our first taste of REAL pizza. Anyone who has lived in the NE and then tried to eat pizza elsewhere knows that you can't get real pizza anywhere else. Go south of Jersey and it is awful. But supplies are plentiful in CT, so we had our fill!

Sunday we went to Covenant for church, and then headed up to the Ginnow's for lunch, swimming, and an awesome visit. We miss you guys!!!

Monday was probably the highlight of the whole trip for Drew. We went with my parents and Allyssa to Lake Compounce. Drew got to go on the kiddie roller coaster, a few spinning rides, the log flume (my fearless boy!!), and his favorite...the kiddie drop tower. He seriously must have gone on about 15 times. It would finish and he'd run right back in line to go again. We even got Allyssa to go on the real roller coasters. She claims she was scared and hated it, but why was it she was whispering to me each time "Let's do that again Auntie!!!" Ben got his first band-aid worthy boo-boo as he kept falling and tearing up his knees. He got to go on a few rides too, and really loved it. I hope we have 2 roller-coaster loving boys because that will make amusement parks SO much fun with them!

Tuesday was another great day. We got to visit with GG. Hope that new faucet works great! Aaron finally got his Duchess for lunch. But, on the way out of there, Drew got a goose-egg courtesy of the automatic door on the van! He was standing too close to the van when the door opened and WHAM! he got it right on the forehead. Poor kid...Ben was not to be outdone though. That night he slammed HIS head on the kitchen sink while getting a bath and got a goose-egg of his own.

Wednesday was a stay-at-Nana's-and-relax day for the kids, while I got to run to the dr's (and no, wondering minds, I am NOT pregnant again!), visit with Sarah and Mallory, and run an errand. That night we got to hang with Dan and Jill (Drew's godparents). Drew feasted happily on pizza. Both boys were more than happy to torture their poor cat though, chasing him around and calling "Kitty, come here!" Jill, I sure hope your cat doesn't need therapy after my kids were there!!

Thursday was the day Aaron and I looked forward to...going up to the Pines!! We went to Pilgrim Pines in NH for the day, played in the lake and on the beach. Drew is my fish, and he just jumped right in. Couldn't wait to get in the water! Ben....well, I think he'd rather have a baby root canal than get in the water most of the time. And that sand? It's too close to water for him. Give him a sandbox anyday, but no beach! He eventually warmed up, and had fun when I would plunge him into the water from the dock. Because hey, at least mommy kept putting him back on a safe place! After some yummy ice cream and being fully exhausted, we headed to the Condap's for the night. We were able to celebrate Jenna's 2nd birthday with her! Had a relaxing evening with Jim and Erin. It's been too long guys, I hope we get to see you again soon!! Our door is always open for you!

Friday we took our time getting ready to head back to CT, enjoyed a little more time at the Pines before hitting the road. But once we got back, it was quick preparations to get over to the Johnson's. Drew decided that the "Cow Store" (aka Stew Leonards) was far more interesting than Uncle Todd's, so he got to hang out with Nana and Grandpa for the night. Ben came with us to visit Todd and Toni. He got great joy out of calling their two dogs "kitty" all night. Sure hope it doesn't confuse Patty and Odin! And, who knew steaks could be soooo good?

Saturday morning was off to NJ. It was time to party with Daniel for his 2nd birthday! It's amazing how quickly kids grow up, isn't it?? The kids had fun getting a ride from Papa in the tractor wagon. Funny how something so bumpy can make two little guys (Daniel and Ben) nearly fall asleep!

Too exhausted to drive home that night, we stayed over and headed for home this morning. Made it in just 4 1/2 hours. Not bad considering the traffic south of Philly held us up for 1/2 hour, plus we had to make a potty stop. Drew actually cheered though, when he saw the turn for our street. All of a sudden he was clapping and saying "Ben, we made it! We're home now!!!" That got Ben laughing and clapping too. I guess our boys missed home!

Once pictures are sorted out I'll put them up.

It's the end of July already??

Man, where did time go?? We leave for vacation this weekend. Yay!!! Can't wait to get away for awhile. Heading to CT, and then to the Pines.

The boys are doing great. Drew starts preschool in September, and is so excited about this idea. Ben is almost 14 months. Walking, running, speaking what seems to be Japanese (because it surely isn't English). He'll eat just about anything I give him, which is soooo awesome. Drew is super picky, so it's a nice change to have Ben eating everything in sight. The boys share a room now and it's helped get them both sleeping pretty much through the night. 3 1/2 years later, we are finally sleeping again!!! Woohoo!!!

Aaron's big news is that he bought a Harley last week. Pics at www.ludwignet.com/harley That's all this wife has to say about that...

Happy Birthday Benjamin!!!!

Our Ben turns 1 today!!

He's been walking for a couple weeks now, and loves to say "Wow Wow!" as he goes along. He eats pretty much anything in sight (which is a blessing and not so much all in one...like, when I really want to eat my dinner and he wants everything off my plate!). We have his checkup on Monday, so I'll post his latest stats then.

We had his party at Kurt & Jody's last Sunday. He was so dainty about eating his cake! Here's a few recent pics of our birthday boy and his big brother too!

Wow, it's been awhile!!

Just realized it's been a month since I posted. It's been a loooonnnngggg month! Ben had strep not once, but TWICE! And when he finished those antibiotics, he got a double ear infection. He's doing MUCH better now. It's great to finally have my happy, giggly baby back.

Drew is on to bigger and better things as well. He finally potty trained this past week. Took one day for #1, then a few days later he had #2 down too! A glorious day in our house now that there is only one kid in diapers. Woohoo!!!!!

Nicole and Allyssa came for a visit mid-April. We had so much fun, despite Ben starting up his second round of strep. We got to do some shopping, went to House of Bounce, and the zoo in DC.

Looking forward to Mother's Day this year. Aaron won't be working, and I'll get to spend a great day with my 3 favorite guys.

And for my mom, I hope you have a great birthday and Mother's Day all in one!! I'm really happy Nicole and Allyssa will be coming to spend it with you. We miss you!

Happy Easter!!!

I've update the picture of our family at the bottom to the picture from before church today.

We had an awesome Easter day. Emily and Lou came this morning to go to church with us, then we had a great dinner together. Naps all around after too, ful bellies!! We bundled up the kids and sent Drew on an egg hunt in the yard. Hard to believe it's April in VA given how COLD it was today! Brr....

Last week Monday we went to the zoo in DC. It was 80 degrees, sunny, and beautiful. The kids had so much fun. On Tuesday, it was another 80 degree day. We went out for ice cream, worked in the yard, and played with Drew's new Slip n Slide! He won it at an egg hunt our church held the Saturday before.

No further update on our van. Last we heard it would still be another week or 2. It's driving me nuts to not have our van back, but I guess if I want it really fixed right, I'll need to be patient.

Here's a few more recent pics of the boys.

At the zoo Monday

Peeps!

Bundled up to hunt eggs



Brotherly love

Before church

Ben and I were spared

We both have colds, and Ben got strep throat. Otherwise, no flu here. Yay! I can deal with colds.

It's just crazy in this house. I'm hoping by the end of the week we'll all be doing well so we can get back to normal life. It's been 2 weeks since we have been to playgroup or Bible study or even Sunday service, so Drew's getting antsy. He really enjoys going there to see friends, and has been begging me all day. Maybe if Ben and I are up to it on Thursday we can go in the morning for Bible study.

We went "area shopping" today. Man, it can really get a bit..umm...redneck around here! We drove about 20 minutes south and it was an enlightening experience. Sure wish we could afford the area we are in currently but it is WAY overpriced.

My least favorite part of the season...

Influenza.

So far, Aaron and Drew for sure have it. Aaron had it last week, Drew is still fighting it (on his 4th day of fever from it), and now it appears that Ben has it. We're just praying I avoid it because who's happy when mommy is sick? No one!!! But, I'm achy and tired. I'm hoping if the pediatrician will give Ben Tamiflu, they'll prescribe it for me too.

Aaron spoils me

He really does. I'm getting a Dyson!! Woohoo!!!!

Now, how pitiful does that make me? Am I a "housewife" or what? I'm actually super excited about a vacuum!

Jen's Public Declaration

Jen somehow forgot to mention that she was baptized this weekend. We decided to apply for membership to our new church - Community Christian Fellowship, and you have to be baptized as a believer. She was baptized as a baby but never as a believer. The church happened to be having baptisms that same day so we signed Jen up. I am so proud of her. She reaffirmed her faith in Jesus Christ and declared it to the church body.

Spring has sprung!

It was a beautiful 75 degrees here today, so we spent lots of time outside.

The morning started by going with the church playgroup to House of Bounce. It's a great place for little kids, with 3 huge inflatable jumping things, the kind you see at carnivals. One just to jump in, one with 2 huge slides, and a third with an obstacle course complete with "rock" walls. Drew loved it and can't wait to go back.

We came home for lunch, then headed to WallyWorld to get a patio set. Now that it's so nice, why not take advantage and eat outside more often?? Our deck is rarely in direct sunlight, so it's a great spot to be. Got that set up while the kids played, then had dinner.

The best part of the evening for me was when we were still outside, and I was at the bottom of our hill with Drew. Aaron was just getting Ben ready to go inside for a bath. I was getting up to head back up the hill when Drew said "Mommy, can we lay here for a minute just to watch the sky go by?" It was so incredibly cute and sweet, I couldn't say no. So we talked about the clouds and their shapes for a bit before heading in for his hose down. He was so filthy from playing outside all afternoon that the bathwater could have used a bath after!

Ben's 9 month checkup

We had his checkup this morning, and things went really well. He is now 22 lbs 5oz, 28 1/4". The dr was really impressed with how quickly Ben has gotten mobile (crawling since about 7 1/2 months) and warned me he may be an early walker based on his observations in the office. Overall, things look great, and he got the all clear to eat whatever he wants except for milk, peanut butter, shellfish, and honey. Ben is going to LOVE what that means for him!

I'm a bad blogger

I admit it. I really let too much time go in between! So, here's a montage of what's been going on.

Our real snow a few weeks back with a big snowman:

Ben is now 9 months old. He's quite the climber now too. He gets up the stairs faster than you can blink. And, don't let him catch you napping. This is what happens!

He drags the potty chair over to the couch now when he wants to get to something. He's just too much.

Drew will be going to preschool in the fall. Anyone want to help me potty train this kid? I told him he can't go unless he can use the potty every time, and he said "I'll use it every time when I'm there. At home I use pull-ups." I think we'll have to go cold-turkey.

Here's a few more pics of the boys. The kitchen door shot is how Drew entertains Ben alot lately. Ben sits at the door patiently waiting for Drew to ride his bike by, and then stands and goes nuts for him when he appears.

Also, here's pics of mommy and daddy with the boys. We managed to get a few in before church one day.

One last Drew funny...last night before bed, he insisted he needed to finish watching Blues Clues. So, Aaron told him to make sure the tv was off when it was done, and then come to bed. I checked after I heard him come upstairs, and he'd done it! He watched his last 10 minutes and came right up to bed. Now if he'll only listen so well as a teenager...

Hmm...mistaken weather forecast

We were told to expect about 1/4 - 1/2" of freezing rain today. What did we end up with? 6 inches of SNOW. Drew loved it, and got to build a genuine snowman with Aaron today.

But as for the weathermen...I think they need to check the computer models once again, or (and I know this is a crazy thought) look out the window to see the heavy snow before they say "It'll just be rain primarily today."

Ok, I realize this is VA and all but...

You want to know what they consider "close schools" worthy down here? Let me show you:

Isn't that crazy?? Now, this is actually snow, not ice. Just snow.

On the other hand, Drew loved it. He got to make a baby snowman. He loves, loves, loves to play in the snow and doesn't understand that what we get here is nothing. Ben got to go outside for a bit too, but he was not impressed with the cold.

We're back in VA!!

We had quite a visit up in CT! It was so great to get to see our family and friends. An update on the accident...no insurance and no license leads to this being handled by my insurance as an uninsured motorist case. Thankfully we have a great company (Travelers) and they are taking full care of us. We have a rental for the next few months most likely as parts for my van aren't readily available. The perks of having a brand new van I suppose....

The boys are doing great. They are both so happy to be back home. Drew turned 3 on January 30th, but is still insisting that he is 2 1/2. He hasn't "accepted" that he's getting older. Ben is now 8 months and crawling like a madman, as well as pulling up on anything he possibly can and cruising a bit too. I can't seem to leave him anywhere now! The boys are great friends and spend whole days entertaining each other. Ben loves to follow Drew everywhere, a habit I'm sure won't soon be dropped.

Here are a few pics that we had done while in CT:

A CT update

Well, we've been here for a week now, and it's been quite eventful! The drive up was smooth as it can be with a nearly-3-year old and a 7 month old.

However, we were here a mere 3 days when our 2 month old minivan was hit by a driver who ran a stop sign. That's the pic. Now it's just wait and see what happens with her insurance so I can get a rental and find out how long before I get my van back. Gotta say though, Praise God we were all safe, the kids are just fine. Toyotas really hold up well.

Hoping to still get a lot of visiting done while we're here anyhow. I've got to distract the boys, because especially Drew is missing his Daddy right now.

What a weekend!!

Never knew just how thankful we'd be to rent a big house til this past weekend. There were a total of 15 of us here celebrating New Year's together and what a party it was!!!

I think Kurt summed it up best when he said it felt like one of those movies where all the family is together and happy...one of those scenes that just doesn't seem real. That's how it was for us.

Thanks to Aaron for the awesome dinner. Those were some delicious stuffed pork chops!!

Sure wish I could post pics, but I never even turned on the camera. We were so caught up in enjoying our time together that it never occurred to me.