Anniversary Trip - the big SIX

Even though our anniversary isn't until next weekend (which is already packed with other activities), my Dad and Diane graciously watched our two oldest last weekend so we (and Ben) could take a trip to Jamestown. Loved Jamestown. Can't wait to take the boys when they get older. It was a great trip. Here are some pics:

WeightWatchers through Time

I have recently jumped on the bandwagon and joined Weight Watchers. Half way through week 2, I can say that I am pretty happy with it. I have so many friends and family who are using the program, I thought I would give it a try. It wasn't until I mentioned it to my Dad that I learned that I am the third generation of people in my family (if you count both sides) who have tried WW.

1960's-ish: Apparently, sometime during my Dad's childhood, his Mom (my Meemaw) joined WW. Dad said she had a lot of success and slimmed down quite a bit. However, WW at the time required you to eat liver every week. Liver was the wonder-food of the time, but I am going to guess that wasn't a big selling point.

1996: Fast forward to my high school graduation. My aunt comes out to visit and asks if we have any plain lettuce she can munch on because it is 0 points. My thought was, "Yum, yum - I am never doing that program."

2009: Present day. My cousin tells me that he is on WW and has lost a whole Josh. Or rather, the weight he has lost is almost as much as Josh weighs. David (let me know if you don't want me to use your real name) becomes my personal hero. He happens to be eating a hamburger at a family BBQ at the time. This changes my perception and I decide to take a look.

Wish me luck.

Bodysnatcher

Just so you don't worry too much, we have not found a replacement body for any of us growing in the basement or in a greenhouse. There, now you can read this post without worrying. But, we might as well have, because we are beginning to think that Ben is not our child. We have a couple of reasons for thinking this:

1) He wakes up happy. Now, I realize that perhaps that is true for most babies, but not for ours. Josh used to go from sleeping to screaming in 0.0 seconds. Not an exaggeration. Michael used to take a few minutes to rev up to a full scream after his nap - and I thought that was both normal and a relief from the Josh years. Ben, on the other hand, will often wake up and lie there squirming with glee until you come and get him. After our first two, this almost seems abnormal.

2) He sleeps through the night sometimes. Last night he slept from 9:30p to 7a. Un.be.liev.able. Josh never slept through the night on his own. He didn't sleep through the night until we let him cry it out at 9 months. In fact, some nights Jason would get up about every 10 minutes to put the pacifier back in Josh's mouth. Also not an exaggeration. I have very few memories of Josh's first year - it is a gray, hazy period in my mind. (Although, I think I have repressed some of it and had PTSD.) Michael also woke up frequently until 6 months when we let him cry it out. I have some memories of Michael as a baby, but still feel like their are large gaps. I may actually remember Ben's infancy with fondness.

Firsts for our last

Last week Ben had a couple firsts. After a few uncharacteristically fussy nights, a tooth broke through. Yep, 3 1/2 months and he has a tooth. I was so surprised that I pulled out Josh and Michael's baby books to see if I should have expected this. Nope, they both got their first tooth at 6+ months. Yikes. Naturally, this would happen with the one child I am breastfeeding.

Then, on Saturday night, Jason's wish came true. He even mentioned in the hospital that he wanted to do this. Finally, I caved. Ben's first haircut. I love crazy baby hair. My kids have all been born with lots of hair in just a few places. I think Ben looks like a little Kewpie doll. But, eczema got the better of me and I got tired of his hair looking super-greasy with Aquaphor.

Before:

After:
Jason does a good job and Ben was pretty still for a little guy. He didn't get at all upset and he still looks like my little baby.

Family Fun Friday

Last Friday we had lots and lots of family fun. It was a long day, but the kids loved it. First, we had the cousins over for most of the day. After feeding them, we went outside to play with water balls. I LOVE these balls. I found them at Walmart - you soak them in water and throw them. They are kind of like reusable water balloons. Everybody gets drenched in water but without the mess to pick up. Jason was skeptical when I first bought them, but he came to see the light. Someday he will learn that all my ideas are good ideas and stop arguing with me.

Josh and Parker really went at it and were completely soaked to the point that they were shivering with cold. Parker even picked the bucket up and dumped it on his head a couple of times.
So, what do you do with four kids who are wet already? You send them back on the deck with spray bottles of colored water and a sand table filled with shaving cream.
Duh.
At which point we had to throw all four kids in the bath. We also discovered that if you spray very blonde hair with red water, the hair turns red. Fortunately, if you are using Crayola products, it washes right out. Josh kept asking Parker to turn his hair blue, but that trick doesn't work on brunettes.

After Aunt Megan and the kids left, Nana showed up. She and I headed up to my cousin's bridal shower (seen here with her cute sisters at her sides).
To back up a little timewise, my mom had injured herself earlier in the day and was in quite a bit of pain. She either:

A) saved a child from an oncoming Metro bus

B) was to trying to escape from the Mafia

or

C) fell down walking.

Regardless of which story was true, after the bridal shower we ended up going to the ER and it was such a pleasant experience that we stayed until 3 am. She had broken the radial head of her right arm and sprained her wrist and left ankle. Nothing horribly serious, but very painful. In any case, I don't have any pictures of this because I think it would be cruel and unusual punishment to take anyone's picture at 3 am.

Random

--Michael told us the other day that he is "hot for chicken nuggets."

--Ben and I have a mutual admiration society going on. We both think the other is absolutely fascinating and spend time just trying to make the other smile or laugh.

--Whenever Jason cuts the boys hair really, really short they remind me of extras on a film about Auschwitz.

--Although I am so proud of Josh for learning how to read, listening to him work his way through 14 pages of Dr. Seuss is enough to make me suggest taking a break and playing MarioKart.

--Fox always comes in fine during American Idol (not a fan), but rarely during House (huge fan).

--I can't decide if we don't have enough bookshelves or if we just have too many books.