9 Months Old

Wow, nine months old, what a big boy! Benjamin is now 21.6 pounds (75%) and 28 inches long (over 50%). I sit in awe when I think of the little scrawny guy who was barely on the growth chart (under 15%) to this little rolly polly boy he is now. My favorite part of being Benjamin's mom is the way he looks at me, pure love, it really melts my heart.
Likes: Sitting on laps, being outside, jumper, food (all, except green beans), walks, Dayton, Mommy and Daddy, all people who will give him attention (as long as Mommy is in clear sight), baths, talking, Mommy's singing and funny songs, playing on the floor, rolling, crawling backwards, pulling up on anything that he can reach, playing in your crib, and turing on and off light switches.
Dislikes: Being ignored (how dare you walk in and out of a room without making a big tada of seeing him!), being put in his car seat (likes car rides, just the initial strap down makes him cry), green beans, big toys that he can't hold, and not doing things on his terms (he should really right a handbook).

Locks of Love

I have been torn on whether to cut my hair or not. I finally decided to take the plunge and cut it. I was so excited that it was long enough to donate to Locks of Love.

Mylicon Drops Recall

Body:​ Infan​t Gas-​Relie​f Drops​ Recal​led
Johns​on & Johns​on has recal​led 12,​000 bottl​es of Mylic​on Infan​t Dye-​Free Gas-​relie​f drops​ due to the possi​bilit​y that some bottl​es may conta​in metal​ fragm​ents.​ The recal​led drops​ come in one ounce​ plast​ic bottl​es and were sold over-​the-​count​er on or after​ Octob​er 5, 2008.​The lot numbe​rs of the drops​ are SMF00​7 and SMF00​8,​ and the numbe​rs can be found​ on the botto​m of the recal​led boxes​ or on the lower​ left side of the bottl​e'​s stick​er.​

Benjamin on the plane. He did a great! He loved looking out the window.


Benjamin and John at the Fort Worth Zoo. What a great beautiful zoo. We all had a great time.


Benjamin at the hotel. He loved looking out the window.


Benjamin working with his Daddy


Ben at the rodeo. He loved it! Well, he loved all the lights and noises.

Our trip went great, except at night. Ben is not a big fan of not being in his crib. He woke up about every 2-3 hours. It was like having a newborn again! The zoo was so much fun and well worth the money. The rodeo was fun, extremely long, too long, we almost missed our flight. John and I both agreed, we are glad we are home.

He is all mine ladies, all mine.

Green Beans

First hits the taste buds

Ick, hit the bitter buds

Down the hatch

No MORE!

Happy Halloween

SOLD!

Our house sold. Now we just have to find a place to live.

Walks

He usually loves walks, but for some reason he wasn't too thrilled this morning. Maybe because he couldn't move.

Bixby Pumpkin Patch

We went to Bixby Pumpkin today and what a wonderful place. If you haven't got your pumpkins yet I recommend going to Bixby. They had a petting zoo, pony rides, camel rides, tons and tons of pumpkins, and tons of fall paraphernalia . It was a wonderful place for kids. Ben really enjoyed watching all the kids.

8 Months...

and he speaks. Benjamin said Dada for the first time Thursday, waited a few days and said it five or six times Saturday.
Likes: Baths, taking his precious time while eating his bottle, rushing through each scrumptious bite of baby food, his exersaucer, walks, car rides, all animals, elmo, his mobile (still), moving across the floor (when no one is looking, I am still not for sure if he is army crawling or rolling across the room. If I walk into the room he stops and usually cries for me to get him.), clapping, jumper, an his best friend Dayton.
Dislikes: dirty diapers, big people applesauce, slow feeder's (Pick up the pace Dada!), being over stimulated, bright rooms while napping, being ignored, being woken up (HUGE No, No), and teething biscuits (he always ends up crying).

Whew!

I went to the doctor yesterday and everything is fine. The lump is a fat globular and has been there my whole life. There use to be more breast tissue there, but gravity, pregnancy and breast feeding has changed that and now I can feel the lump. Thank you for all the prayers, it really means a lot to us.

Updates

We had an realtor come over on Friday. A woman that John use to work with who now works as a realtor for McGraw offered to sell our house cutting her commission to 2%. We immediately took her up on her generous offer. We have found a house in Prattwood that we really want and are hoping everything falls into place time wise and money wise.

We went to the fair on Friday too. Ben seemed to really enjoy it. I got free entrance tickets from my teacher, thank you Dr. Peabody. We got to use all our money on fair food. Mmmmm DELICIOUS! Has anyone tried an Indian Taco? It is probably now my favorite. I also tried fried pickles. Not my favorite, but interesting. Ben liked the petting zoo. I do believe he will be an animal lover.

I got a call from my doctor on Thursday. After going over the radiologist report he decided he would refer me to a breast surgeon. I have a consult on Wednesday. I try not to think about the 'what ifs'. Luckily, I have a lot to keep me busy and distract me.

On September 17

A few days before Hayley's wedding I found a lump in my breast. My first thought was that it was a blocked milk duct. When I woke up the next morning with the lump still there with no pain, I knew it wasn't a blocked milk duct (Milk Dud as Jenny calls them). I called the doctor, they couldn't get me in until Monday. I go and see Dr Parham, one of my all time favorite doctors. He could definitely feel a lump. I was right, it was not a blocked milk duct. He said he wasn't too concerned but would like me to go and get an ultrasound. Good. I would like that peace of mind. I go to schedule an appointment, they could get me in the following Monday. I guess I don't have much say so on when, and hope the wait doesn't give me ulcers. So, the following Monday I go to have an ultrasound. During the ultrasound I try desperately to "read" the ultrasound with no prevail. She stops, says she wants to go and show the Radiologist to see if he would also like a Mammogram. She is gone for maybe two minutes. She's found something that looks suspicious that must be why she had to go and consult with the Radiologist. I can feel the tears building in my eyes. She comes back in and says, "No, he doesn't want a mammogram. And he would also like me to tell you, he doesn't really see anything." Ahhhh, a sigh of relief, until I get to my car. Doesn't see anything? Anything at all? Nothing suspicious? There is something there I can feel it, John can feel it, Dr Parham can feel it, the tech can feel it. Now I wait. The rest of Monday passes, Tuesday passes, Wednesday morning passes, afternoon is passing, I decide to call the doctor. I then wait for a call back. 4:30 I get a call back from the nurse. "Well, the reports says he didn't really see anything." Yeah, I know I got that part. "It does say the fibers are showing...I will have Dr Parham go over that after he signs off on the report. More than likely he will set you up with a breast surgeon. Dr Parham will be in tomorrow." Thanks Jan. I now feel I know less.
I do know I am scared. Every abnormality, I have felt tired lately, my hormones seem out of wack, is this a sign? Its now Thursday 11:00 AM, and I still wait for that promised phone call more than likely to be set up for another appointment to yet wait some more.
Keep me in your prayers.

Little Socks

I was doing laundry last week and I noticed this sock, way too little for John and I, but way too big for Ben. It was perfect size for Wyatt or Cooper. Hmmmm....one must have snuck into our bag last weekend during our visit. Wait a minute, here's the match. And, I have already done laundry once since our visit to Blanchard. Where did these little socks come from. I go and ask John, "Did you wear these?" "Yeah, I thought you got new socks." "Did you notice they were a little small and the heel of the sock hit you right in the middle of your foot?" "Yeah, I though they were just a different type of ankle sock." I later remembered Cooper had left a pair of socks at our house last January. They sat on top of our dresser for months so I would remember to take them to my Mom and Dad's. They never made it.

Hayley's Wedding

My best friend Hayley got married this past weekend. I have been teasing her about her shot-gun wedding. She called me 5 weeks ago to tell me she and Doug had decided to get married while her little brother was on military leave. Between her traveling with work, Doug travels with work, and Dylan being home for 1 month before his next assignment in Germany for three years, it was hectic! If anyone could plan a fantastic wedding in 5 weeks it would be Hayley. The wedding was beautiful. My brother Jonathan did the ceremony and did a wonderful job as usual. Hayley made a gorgeous bride. They did the wedding and reception at her Mom's house (where I had my reception). It looked like a fairy tale wedding. There was only one small gliche which was during the vows, my son letting out a huge belch. He truly is a boy. Congratulations to Doug and Hayley Orr!

Cooking

I have tried a few new things and thought I would pass them on. I am not a huge fan of boxed meals but have tried a few due to some great coupons! Wanchai Ferry, an Asian cuisine meal kit was the first kit I tried. I must say, quite delicious. It took about thirty minutes to make. I only had to add chicken, water, oil, and bell peppers. It was inexpensive, about $3 with a coupon. I would give it 5 stars for a kit meal and 3 stars for a meal in general.
The next I tried was a Macaroni Meal kit. These must have made an impression on me, we have now tried 3 different kinds, Chicken Alfredo, Chicken Marsala, and Basil Chicken. All three needed the typical add ins, chicken, oil or butter, and water. They all took about 30 minutes to cook and were fairly easy. The alfredo was way too creamy for John and I's taste, the marsala was our favorite and made me feel like a 5 star chef, and the basil was delicious but was a bit too spicy (not in a hot way) for me. I rate them as follows Alfredo 3 stars, Marsala 5 stars, Basil 4 stars.
A great website for recipes is www.allrecipes.com. It rates all the recipes and gives helpful hints.

7 Months

Likes: Baths, Dayton, John getting him out of bed, car rides, applesauce, bananas, being outside, books, his sippy cup, tags on anything, little dogs, hugs and kisses.
Dislikes: being cold, teething, nasal aspirators, seeing his bottle and not getting it...immediately, being patient and being ignored.

Ugh...I had caffeine

I don't know why I drink caffeine. Whenever I do, I always get worked up about something. This time, school. I am taking a math internet class. Mistake #1. I am having trouble managing my time, baby, nap time, study physiology, clean house, cook dinner, grocery shop, get house ready to sell, get online do an excessive amount of math homework. I really thought this would be an easy A class. I get online today to get this weeks assignments, three sections of homework to do, roughly 60 problems, and a quiz to complete my Monday at midnight. What!?! The class week is from Sunday to Saturday, I have been doing one section a day and it takes me about an hour to an hour and a half. This means I have five hours of math to do by tomorrow at midnight. So, instead of doing it, I blog about not being able to do it. Not really, I have been trying to do it for the last hour and my mind is fried. I wrote the instructor an email as to why we have so much to do in such a short period of time. Internet classes are not for me, neither is math.
I am really enjoying my Physiology class ("enjoying" is probably a bit extreme). I am just ready to not be in school spending money and am ready to be a nurse making money. I have to tell myself constantly why I went back to school.
Ben has been wonderful. He is really funny. I went to go get him up from his nap and snuck in quietly to see what he was doing. He was talking away and had his legs propped up on his little aquarium toy. He still has quite the temper (I guess that is something that doesn't just go away). He attempted his first crawl on Saturday. Watch out Dayton! You will be his first target. I got a MAAAAA out of him other day. Does that count as Mama?

The loyalist

You Are 6: The Loyalist

I took a "test" and this is what it said about my personality. I found it quite interesting. You have strong relationships and are intensely loyal. People find you easy to love and care for. You like your world to be stable and secure, no surprises. You're cautious. You prefer your inner circle to the outside world. At Your Best: You are courageous, a positive thinker, and expressive. You can take on the world. At Your Worst: You are secretly insecure - which makes you sarcastic, cold, and argumentative. Your Fixation: Doubt Your Primary Fear: Abandonment Your Primary Desire: Security and support Other Number 6's: Mel Gibson, Woody Allen, Jay Leno, Marilyn Monroe, and Julia Roberts.

What Number Are You?