Just like Daddy

Max and Ben both wore ties to church on Sunday. Max was so happy. He loves wearing a tie because he's just like daddy when he does. Now Ben is big enough to wear Max's former Sunday shirt and tie and he looks so handsome! Nona (Grandma Richards) sewed the bottom part of a onesie onto the bottom of the shirt so it snaps and stays tucked in. The blue tie came from aunt Sarah. Max's red tie matches one of JB's ties. I can't wait to match all the boys more!

Ben is such a spitter I'm amazed the tie wasn't ruined. It ended up in his mouth a few times, too. We always say we don't know how Ben is so big when it seems like he spits up a lot of his meals. Grandpa Richards calls him Ben Spitsupalot. I guess Max's name could be Max Runsfromdeer. Oh yes, the deer sightings continue at the Richards' house, and it's all he'll talk about for days.

Spring

I hear more cold weather is in the forecast and I'm bummed. I just love 60 degree weather. Yesterday I tried going on a walk for the first time since the surgery, and I made it all the way around the park like normal. Max loves the warmer weather, and loves his new shades for our walks.

Ben is all bundled still, even in the warming weather. Someone walking by us said, "Oh do you have twins?" Then they looked in the stroller.

I think Max really does think we named his younger brother Benihana instead of Benjamin. Someone asked him "What's your brother's name?" and he said, "Baby Benihana."

Recovery

I'm feeling much much better today. Instead of pain, I just feel sore in my lower tummy, like I've done too many sit-ups. I've only known that feeling probably once in my life -- the time I actually tried to do sit-ups. I was in a weight-lifting class in college with my sister. We convinced the teacher that since we were girls, we didn't have to do full push-ups like boys.

While recovering I thought besides other sitting down tasks, I'd work on sprucing up this blog. Instead, I spent my time on the Internet trying to find out if those costumed characters on Barney are child actors or little people. Couldn't find out. But I did learn that the guy in the Hip Hop Harry costume used to be Barney. No wonder Max loves those two shows so much. "When I say hip hop, you say Harry! Hip hop HARRY hip hop HARRY!"

So Grateful

Today I am feeling so grateful for the three men in my life -- one tall handsome man and two little handsome boys that is. I had surgery today to remove a large cyst on my ovary, and before I went into the OR I was just worried about my boys. I worried that something could happen to me or that I may not see my guys again for a while. But it was all worry for nothing. We are all home now, the cyst is gone, and the Dr said I should be fine. I just can't lift anything. I've been cheating and lifting my sweet chubby baby, but my darling Max is 35 pounds and that's too much for the next little while. Anyway I just love my family so much and am glad this wasn't anything like all those other scary things so many people have to go through. JB was right there the whole day near me minus the time he had to wait in the waiting room. My awesome mother-in-law and the rest of the family were wonderful watching the boys for us all day. I just wanted to kiss them all over when I saw them again! Ben is all squealy now as he finds his voice, and Max told me all about going to the slide with Aunt Suzanne.

Here are two pictures I took with my cell phone of my guys on the couch.

Ben's trying to eat Max's fingers.

And he succeeds!

Off to bed now. I'm a little sore, but some sleep and more pain meds should help. Plus I have the next two days off work to recover.

Strolling along

We love our Bob double jogging stroller. The boys do too. This spring weather has had one or both of us out everyday with them. We still bundle them up though. Ben wears the snowsuit that Uncle Jeff first gave Max. They get all snug and often one or both of them naps. We go around the park, with me trying to hustle along side JB’s long strides.

Here's Max getting bundled for a walk.

He looks a lot like my little sister Sarah. By the way the boys have another aunt Sarah, who is soon getting married to Joe. He'll be the second uncle Joe when he joins the family in May and we are very excited!

Speaking of the engaged Aunt Sarah, she gave us a cute blue sweater-outfit for Max that Ben now wears. The hat is perfect for our walks and outings, and we think it makes his eyes look so blue.

He's asleep now, thank goodness, in his bed. He really is going to be an easy-going child with his older brother around. Case in point, before I began this post I put Ben down to sleep in his bassinet. When I sat down here at the kitchen table, Max trooped on in there and woke him up. Ben hollered but went back to sleep. I sternly sat Max down and tried to talk to him about leaving Ben alone while he's sleeping. All Max did was try to change the subject. He kept interrupting me and telling me he needed a new shirt. He's caught on to my distraction technique I use on him when he's on the verge of a tantrum. He's smart and tricky, that toddler.

That wasn't Bambi

Max saw two deer in the backyard of Nona's house (Grandma Richards) and has been talking about it ever since. He does a play-by-play about how he first spotted them from the downstairs window, then he went upstairs onto the deck with Nona. But being outside while the deer were out there freaked him out. He told me later "they didn't hurt me or Baby Ben." I guess he thinks deer are animals that hurt. I'm glad he's protective.

It reminds me of when he met the Jazz Bear. We tried to get a cute picture, instead he's screaming and pushing that poor mascot away. He was almost a year old then. Last fall he went with JB to a Jazz game and loved seeing Bear -- for days he told me, "I went to game with daddy and saw bear and bear sprayed. He sprayed momma!" Silly string that is. Now this new deer experience has replaced his other animal encounter I guess.

Speaking of protecting Baby Ben, Max freaks out when I vacuum. He runs to the couch, tucks in his feet, and chatters at me -- "Don't vacuum me! Don't vacuum Baby Ben! Don't vacuum my toys!"

Baby in the hallway

My Benji-boy is getting so big, if he gets really mad or really excited, I fear he might kick and wiggle enough to knock himself out of his bassinet. But we don't have a place to put him yet, b/c we are constraining our curious older child to the crib until he climbs out. So far, no climbing, and we thank our lucky stars. But in the meantime, we are thinking it's time to get Ben (aka snort'n'snuffaluffagus) out of our room.

The goal is to have the boys share to make them become Best Friends Forever. To start the transition, we wheeled our sleeping baby beauty into the hallway Friday night. He slept a long time and therefore so did we. But Saturday night he somehow ended up right next to me again. This momma missed peeking over the bassinet's edge in the wee hours and seeing those eyes like a raccoon staring up at me. Next week's goal: get tough.

Raindrops on roses

In honor of my friend’s blog listing things that are sassy and sass-less, here's a quick list of my own.

Hot: "The Office." Not Hot: The writer's strike that delayed new episodes of "The Office." Long live Jam!

Hot: Spider Solitaire. Not Hot: My losing record in the darn game.

Hot: Jelly Bellies as a potty-training reward. Not Hot: A toddler who refuses to be potty-trained.

Hot: Eating Jelly Bellies as a reward for changing a big toddler’s diapers.

Hot: JB’s cooking. Lasagna, choc chip cookies, breakfast burritos, chili verde, and pizza come to mind.

Hot: American Idol, Biggest Loser, Celebrity Apprentice, America's Next Top Model, Food Network, Eli Stone, Take Home Chef, Jon and Kate Plus 8, Jane Austen on Masterpiece, Hip Hop Harry, Big Comfy Couch.

Not Hot: Wow I watch a lot of TV.
Those last two shows are Max's favs by the way. I think I now know more about Hip Hop Harry than anybody in the whole world, besides JB and Max.

Hot: My new red shoes. Not Hot: My slow connection that won't upload a picture of my new red shoes.

Not Hot: Daylight Saving Time. Good night!

Benihana and the elf

Now that I've emailed a few friends to tell them about the blog, I feel pressure to post something!

Ben is now in 6-9 month clothing, at three months old. We've taken to calling him Chubby, but should stop b/c Max thinks that's his name. He hollared at me the other day, "Chubby touched my leg!" He also thinks Ben's alias is Benihana.

Funny things 2 1/2 year old Max has said recently:





"When I'm bigger, I want to be Daddy."


"When I'm a baby, I want to sleep in Ben's Bassinet."



Poor confused toddler.

But he mainly talks about being bigger. He'll hear a helicopter, run to the window or look up in the sky and say, "When I'm bigger, I want to ride that." When he's bigger he also wants to ride or drive a garbage truck, backhoe, daddy's subaru, mommy's subaru, airplanes, busses and Trax.

He also has ears of an elf -- Wednesdays he doesn't nap as long because it's garbage day, and he can hear that truck miles away. He yells from his crib, "Hear that sound?" He always says "Hear that sound?" about helicopters too. His life has been changed forever because of the new Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, because now Lifeflight goes over our house more often.

Here he his with one of his favorite friends, his cousin Emily. She's two in April, and they sound like half a dozen children when they are together. He's huge by the way -- 95th percentile for height.

Pinewood Derby

I was playing around with fonts, colors and all this blog crazineses and ignoring some noise in the background. It wasn't until JB was holding Ben inches from my face when I realized the noise was my baby, and he wasn't happy about his empty tummy.

Last week we had a great time at the Elders Quorum Pinewood Derby, despite the fact that our truck didn't win. It had a good run until Max tossed it in his excitement and jammed the wheels. With two sons, many more pinewood derbys are in our future.

By the way this is the only picture that finally posted after 45 minutes of trying. My Internet connection at home is quite slow. Hopefully more will be coming soon.

We did it

We've finally joined the world of blogging. I think it's because a) we think our kids are so cute we'd like to show them off and b) we hope to share our funniness with everybody at once. We'll see how this goes!

To practice, here are some of the latest pictures of our boys.