Bennett's Blessing

Bennett was blessed last Sunday at our church. He will be Baptized in the Episcopal church in the Spring. I worried that our church would be offended, but they seemed to understand. We found out in the hospital with Bennett that the church was finally calling a permenant minister, so we knew we needed to move quickly to have Gene, our interim pastor Bless him. We have gotten to know Gene very well in the last 3 years, and we wanted him to be a part. Unfortunately this meant that Mamie and Pops couldn't join us with the short notice. Then mom got a stomach virus and was unable to come. We were lucky to have Dad, Jarrett, Miriam, and Margaret with us. Miriam also took some pictures for us.

Here we are with the kids that wanted to come to the front. The girls have on their Nutcracker dresses because it was a special day. Bennett was a champ. Here he is getting annointed with oil. He was so calm and then stayed in the service and slept while the girls and I went to Sunday school.

Our church has a quilting group that has met for over 50 years; the longest running group in our church. They make a quilt for each new member fo the church. It is a beautiful white quilt with the Tree of Life pattern that is on the back wall in stained glass. His name and Blessing date are embroidered on the bottom.

We didn't have a big reception after the service. We will save that for the Baptism in the Spring. I did bring a Costco cake to share. You can't beat a Costco cake for taste or price. And it feeds 48 people! It was a beautiful morning so we served it on the playground. Here is Joiner enjoying her slice.

I forgot to get a good family picture of the 5 of us. This is the hazard of also working at the church. Oh, well. It was a special day.

Heeeeeere's Joiner....

We have always been really strict with our girls about sleeping. Not only do we always make them take naps, but they are not allowed to talk or play in their beds. I think there are many naps now that they just lay quietly and hold the animals in their bed, but I don't know for sure, because I don't hear them. The biggest rule of them all, though, is STAY IN YOUR BED. We drilled this in them when we were moving to big girl beds. They are not allowed to get out for any reason. I come get them when it is time to get up in the morning and after nap.

So this theory began to get tested as the girls have gotten older. They both potty trained at 21 months, but the overnite thing has taken a while. When Carly stopped wetting her trainers at night, she never needed to get up in the middle of the night. She went from going in her trainers to not; no transition. Well, Joiner took much longer to recognize that she needed to go potty at night. After she started waking up to go, we realized that she would not be able to go all night. This is completely understandable; it is 10-11 hours at a time. I certainly don't go that long. I told Joiner to call me when she needed to go and I would come get her. So 3-4 times a week, she would start yelling in the middle of the night and I would jerk awake and come get her, take her to the potty, and put her back in bed. I wasn't really bothered by the situation and Carly would sleep right through it. As I got more and more pregnant with Bennett, I realized there was a flaw. Andy. He claimed he never heard Joiner yelling. So, I knew I would be downstairs with Bennett at first and wouldn't hear Joiner. How traumatic that she would yell out and no one would come. So I started hitting him (literally) when I would go get her so he had some negative reinforcement and would wake up. It worked. While I was downstairs with newborn Bennett, he got her all but one time and I happened to hear the excessive calling.

Now, I am back upstairs and we realized a few weeks ago that Joiner has started waking up Carly with the calling. We also have had Bennett get a little restless when she is yelling. So to the girls' great delight, we decided that they could get up when they need to go potty and take themselves. Andy asked them to just come tell us that they are going so that we know what is happening. They were so thrilled.

The first night, I was sure that they would both be up minutes after we put them to bed, but apparently we threatened them enough with abusing the privilege that they went right to sleep. About 2am, we both hear the loud pop of their door (we have an old house) and the door slam against the wall as it is thrown open. Then we hear feet running down the hall to our room. Then in a VERY LOUD whisper/ yell Joiner whispers "I'm goin' potty." We both are laughing hysterically. I made the error of getting up to give her a kiss and take her back to bed. She looked at me horrified and told me to go back to bed.

The next night we told her that we would rather she come in and touch us gently and tell us quietly that she is going. It has worked great ever since:)

Flashback Friday

I was looking through pictures of the the girls' first ride in their stoller after posting the pictures of Bennett. Here they are in the jogging stroller for the first time.

Fast forward nearly 5 years and here is Joiner pushing her little brother in his first stroller. Where does the time go?

Group shot

Carly taking her turn

Sweet Bennett just along for the ride

As I was taking pictures, Joiner was leaning against me and wanted her picture taken. Great shot!

City Slickers

Andy took last week as vacation. He planned to take this week with the specific purpose of going hiking at Hanging Rock and camping with the girls. The weather was perfect; a little cool and beautiful. The leaves were supposed to be at their peak last weekend. The plan was for all 5 of us to go hiking in the morning. Grumpa would come after work and I would take his truck and go to Eden and hang with mom (with Bennett) and the camping crew would come there on Saturday morning.

So we made reservations at Pilot mountain because Hanging Rock was full for Friday night. Then Wednesday night Carly wakes up with a raging fever. So when she wasn't better by Thursday, we realized that the trip was off. Well, not to be outdone, Andy decided that he was still camping, even if it is in our backyard. So he pitched the tent, grilled the planned burgers, and even made S'mores on the Big Green Egg. Joiner and he slept outside and I had sicky and Bennett in the house with me. Unfortunatly it was cold that night, so Andy and Joiner were cold that morning. And unfortunately for me, Carly was up coughing and crying all night and even sweet Bennett was tossing and turning. I don't know who got less sleep. I do know that Andy and Joiner had a lot of fun, though. I think Joiner thought the purpose was to talk all night, but she finally went to sleep and did well.

Getting our S'mores ready for the grillThe tent. If you have been to our backyard, you are probably wondering where the grass is. Here it is!

The girls took a long time finding their sticks

Ready for the hot marshmallows

Joiner with her S'more

Carly wanted hers really melted

Bennett and I were outside too.

Belle wanted a taste

Yum!

Gooey marshmallow

Joiner on for a second helping

Getting every last piece of marshmallow

Next time we will have to go camping for real, but this was a fun way for the weekend not to be lost!

Two Months Old

It happened again...this precious baby is getting older on me. I am a little late this month, but the pictures are just as cute. Bennett is still so sweet and happy. He has started sleeping through the night the last two weeks and I am hoping it holds out. He laughs with us in that little breathy way that baby's have. He loves watching his sisters and playing with them or having them read to him. He has started reaching for toys on his mat and he is definitely enjoying the fact that he can make his fist go into his mouth when he wants it.

At his two month Drs. appointment he weighed 11lbs 11oz (53%), 23 inch (30th) and his head was 15.5in (27%.) So we think he is just perfect!

Here is our sweet boy
This is as close as I can get to his really happy smile. Still loves to look at the camera with a blank stare, so I have to be fast!

Woohoo! I am two months old!

Carly was home sick durnig our photo shoot, so she wanted to be a part.

Ahh...I am so cute! This is actually Bennett really happy!

I want to eat him up!

I dot out the numbers and the girls take turns tracing the "2" so it is just right.

I watch Bennett pull up his fists to put them in his mouth and then when he gets it he just starts to grin; so proud of himself. I love this stage when you can just watch them.

Love you, sweet boy!

First Ride

Most people need a new double stroller when they have more kids. I needed a single stroller as I never had one and the girls haven't used a stroller since they were 2. Mamie and Pops got us this great lightweight stroller and I decided yesterday was the day to try it out. I have a really nice double jogging stroller that is too nice to not use. I will just stuff toys and snacks in the other side when I run with Bennett. He can't go in that stroller until he is 3 months old, so I can only walk with him and run when someone else is home.

So in the cool morning air, Bennett and I went out in our new stroller. I chose to use this one instead of the click one as I feel like he is in the car seat all the time. I know that is the nature of these 3rd kids, but I stil hate it for him. He acted like he really liked moving around and seeing out the front. Check out the cute raccoon hat!

Thanks Mamie and Pops!

Seriously....

Yes, this is a picture of my blind dog in a cone. She had a hot spot on her foot that she wouldn't leave alone. Because she is blind, she relies on her hearing to get around. So now, with the cone, her hearing is messed up and she is truly bumping into everything. Oh, well!