{baby bryn}

It was too cute not to post.

Same with this one... If it weren't for the onesie, she'd have a little bum crack hangin' out. ha!Bryn sat like this for 30 minutes...and didn't break her concentration watching "Baby Einstein."

*Notice her hair...she's actually growing some!*

{fall finery}

My cute little kids in their fall finery.
They all coordinated in re-runs!

Brynley, wearing Bailey's dress.

Benson, wearing Gavin's (cousin) clothes.
(And of course, he's waiting for food.)

Bailey, wearing her dress from last year.

(Guh Leseberg made these dresses about 5 years apart, but they couldn't have coordinated better!)

{he's baaaaaaaaack}

I made this cake for the Sock Hop's Cake Walk, but ended up not taking it (I realized I couldn't bake and frost and maneuver a cake and a double stroller into the school by myself all before naptime)

...But it didn't last long at home...

...and I caught Benson sneaking bites, more than once..

To be extra sneaky, he'd put the used fork back in the drawer so I wouldn't 'find' the evidence in the sink. Three weeks ago I couldn't get him to eat anything all day, and now I can't get him to stop eating EVERYTHING ALL DAY LONG! (Here's a typical breakfast lately: 2 bowls of Rice Chex, 1 yogurt drink, 1 cup of OJ, 1 bowl of Goldfish, 1 banana, and 4 chicken nuggets.) Eating this much at every meal pretty much means he eats nonstop, except when he's into trouble. After months of a sick, subdued little guy, I'm reeling over my new and improved vivacious two year old. He's constantly getting into everything (usually the pantry or candy jar) and driving his sisters nuts. He's also become very talkative and speaks much more clearly, except when he has his lie-on-the-floor-scream-my-lungs-out-hit-or-throw-anything-in-sight fits. Which are also more frequent now. But really, even though Benson's quite the handful now, I'm so happy he's recovered from his surgery and from a summer of sickness to be a happy, healthy, hungry boy.

{sock hop}

Today was Keith Elementary's Sock Hop.

It's a carnival with a 50's theme, and the kids get to dress up for school (which is their only chance, since they can't dress up for Halloween) and for the carnival in their best 50's attire...which meant, Bailey needed something to wear. After a little Internet research and pep talk from Guh L, I decided to make Bailey a skirt (and matching hairbow, of course)...

It turned out so cute!

It was so fun and easy to make...

...that I had to make Brynley a matching one.

Which turned out so cute, so...

...I made one for our little neighbor, Kaitlynn.

Bailey and Kolten (Kaitlynn's brother) hammin' it up at the Sock Hop.

Bailey had lots of fun...waiting in long lines with Kolten to play games, get treats, have their faces painted, and sharing cupcakes Kolten won at the Cake Walk. Brynley was so good and so content to 'people watch' in her stroller or my arms.

*Benson was a little crusty from having his Flu Shot, so he stayed home with Brandon.*

{laughing 'til you get pushed over}

She's on the move!

Brynley is now our little steam roller and rolls to get everywhere, except when she tries to crawl. But just like her sister, she is stuck in reverse...which can be a little bit of a problem.

Here's Brynley laughing hysterically over Bailey and I throwing a balloon. Here's Benson getting jealous and asking to knock her over, saying "Pleeease" as if that will make it okay. STINKER!

{post op}

After about 45 minutes of surgery, and 45 more minutes of screaming in recovery, Benson settled down and settled into his hospital room. He was very groggy, tired, and pretty sore, but still wanted to play with the cool new toy from Guh and Papa. The 24 hours in the hospital for Benson were good to get him hydrated (through IV) and eating. He started eating and drinking right away in the hospital, just had a hard time getting comfortable. Brandon stayed the night with him in the hospital and didn't get much sleep. Meanwhile, the girls and I stayed the night at Guh Wallace's house (close to the hospital) and didn't get much sleep either, and ended up in the ER Clinic in the early morning hours. Bailey had been suffering from the Flu all week, and it had settled in her chest, and couldn't stop coughing. After a breathing treatment and some medicine, (which took 1.5 HOURS to fill!), we headed home to see "The Goon." Guh and Papa had picked Brandon and Benson from the hospital and brought them back to our house. We all rested for awhile...

It was the next day (Saturday) that was the worst. Benson wouldn't eat or drink anything or take his medicine. He had a hard time sleeping, and was totally lethargic. He started shaking from not eating. We tried everything. Finally I resorted to squirting juice in his mouth through a syringe. **GUH WALLACE TO THE RESCUE!** She brought Benson a variety of slushies, aka: "Blue Drinks," for Benson to drink. And we bribed, threatened (another IV), and encouraged him to drink. It worked. And for the next week, we made morning (and afternoon, and evening) trips to Sonic to get slushies and anything else he would nibble on (ice cream, fries, etc). And we resulted to bribery (matchbox cars) to get him to take his medicine.

Sights like these were few and far between the last week. The poor guy was so hungry and would try to eat, but it would hurt. We gave him whatever, whenever (like these pictures of him stealing Guh W. food). He's gone from 30lbs to 26lbs in 10 days! He's so scrappy and skinny looking, it makes me so sad and worried. He is slowly but surely getting better every day, and eating more everyday. Today has been a great day because he has eaten normal food with us and at meal times!

{pre-op}

Last Thursday, October 1, we took Benson to have his tonsils, adenoids, and ear tubes removed after a summer and spring full of sickness. It was pretty scary to think of him undergoing surgery again, but we were soon distracted...

The nurses brought a cool wagon for Benson to ride in and a little cocktail of Vercet to help relax him. I wheeled Benson around the Pre Op and before long the Vercet was working. I heard him giggling and looked back to see him smiling and swaying, barely able to sit up. He was laughing hysterically and we had to carry him to the bed. He was talking, but making no sense, and LAUGHING about everything. It was the funniest thing, and helped us all relax. Best of all, it relaxed and sedated Benz enough, that they didn't have to take him away kicking and screaming.

*Will post video later*

Some of us waited more patiently than others.

sight word queen!

Look closely and read her crown.

Bailey came off the bus wearing this crown a couple of weeks ago. She was dubbed the "Sight Word Queen" (for the day) of her Kindergarten class. Which meant, she could read all the 'sight words' that they are working on. (Yes! Endless hours of Sight Word Bingo this summer paid off!)

Bailey was the first girl in her class to get such an 'honor.' She was so proud (and so were we!)! She didn't take off the crown until bedtime, even wearing it to a wedding reception, so she could show everyone! Way to go, Bay!