Breakthrough?

So last night as we were getting the babies ready for bed what I'll call a mini-breakthrough occurred. I've said here many times that B hates to be on his belly. And as soon as he lands there he instantly rolls to his back. And it is a very rare thing to see him roll onto his belly and pick up his head and push up on his arms. But he did that last night. Over 10 times. In a row. And every time he did we all stopped and cheered and clapped (even K)! And of course he'd clap & cheer too. And then roll onto his belly and stay there a sec (and honestly I swear he was almost army crawling for a sec too). It was a little surreal. And I hope it wasn't a fluke. I also found him on his belly this morning in his crib. I'm calling it a breakthrough. Yay Bennett!!!

Bad & Good

I am too exhausted to write a proper play-by-play of everyone's weekend. The time change (and back) as well as a MOUNTAIN of our laundry is wearing me out, so I'll summarize instead -

Our weekend . . .
The Bad: I had to go back to work today. That means we didn't hit any big bucks in Vegas.
The Good: We had an AWESOME time with our friends Nick & Jodi. We ate at some awesome restaurants, had fun playing some gambling games, hung out in posh places and got a little sun. Good times all around.

Us at Ghostbar at The Palms (thanks to Heather & Jeff and her sister September!!)


B & K's weekend . . .
The Bad: They were a little freaked out by the petting zoo. And it was close to 90 degrees here -- way too hot for this early in "Spring".
The Good: They had an awesome time with Nana & Papa and their dog Archie (Tabasco's best buddy).

At our house & the Columbus Zoo

Ding!!

Wanna get away?

We are -- and I.cannot.wait!! We have chosen to cash in on the pain & suffering that has been Tim's work travel schedule for the past year and we booked 2 free Southwest flights to Vegas. And we also decided to cash in on the (I assume) crazy amount of money Tim & his friend Nick spent gambling out in Vegas the last time they went -- we have been receiving notices for multiple "free" nights at very nice casino/hotels for the past two years. So we're flying out to Vegas to spend the weekend with our friends -- woo-hoo! The guys will be throwing away money - er, gambling - and the girls will hopefully be sunning & relaxing. Nana & Papa W are coming to hang with B & K & T until Tuesday.

So there won't be a weekend update from me until next week. And it may not be much. The weather is supposed to be warmer in the O-H than the N-V, but we'll deal. I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!!

Letting the Dog Out

Does this look like the face of a killer to you?

Yeah, I didn't think so. You would never know it, but Tabasco is quite the hunter. We've been his parents for four years now -- we adopted him from a shelter in Naperville, IL called ADOPT on April 11, 2005. When we lived in IL we had a decent sized yard and lived in a subdivision that was a little bit "out of the way" (and now houses a hideous Super Wal-Mart in the backyard, which is the #1 reason we moved, but I digress). The area we live in now is a bit more urban. Still technically a suburb, but the houses are older and close together and we can walk to the park, library and shopping in a matter of minutes. Our backyard is tiny compared to IL, but there is enough room for Tabasco to get into trouble. A lot of trouble as a matter of fact.

We have squirrels everywhere. I mean EVERYWHERE! They are fast, they can jump high and they climb onto everything. Tabasco's first capture was a squirrel -- he caught it the first fall we lived in our house. He thought it was one of his furry squeaky toys come to life and he caught it in our backyard. Thank GOD Tim was home and could take care of it.

The following spring we had a family of possums move in under our low deck off the back of our house. Tabasco LOVED to scratch at the deck trying to get to them. Good times. One night he greeted us a the back door with one of the possum babies. Possums are known to "play dead" so once we told Tabasco a MILLION times to drop it he finally did and when Tim went back out to dispose of it it was no where to be found. Turns out it crawled back to its home under our deck (or one of its peeps took it back) and died there. A week later -- when it started to get warmer -- we had the most horrid smell coming from under our deck. Yeah, not fun. We had to spread lyme through the cracks to get rid of the smell in time for our big Memorial Day party that year.

Which leads up to Tabasco's most recent prey. We've always had a bunny rabbit or two in our backyard. They are pretty quick, though, and sort of blend into the grass, so often by the time Tabasco would see it the bunny was on its way out of our yard through the breaks in our fence. The other night I was upstairs getting ready for bed and Tim was with Tabasco for his before bedtime jaunt outside. It was taking them a LONG time to come upstairs, but I didn't think much of it. Turns out, Tabasco caught himself that bunny rabbit (although Tim thinks maybe some other animal -- like a neighborhood cat - caught it first and just left it in our backyard). Needless to say it was not a pretty site and I am SOOOOO thankful Tim was home to take care of it because I may have never let Tabasco back in the house (or left my house through the back door again). YUCK and EWE!!!!

So yeah, for the most part Tabasco is a great dog and we live in the "city". I shutter to think of what he would do if we actually had some land!!

So What's New?

I guess it has been a while (again) since I have updated on all that is B & K. I have pretty much given up on the baby book thing (even though I have two really cute ones), so this blog is basically my record of B&K events.

We had the state's program called "Help Me Grow" out to evaluate the B-K Special (as my mgr likes to call them) yesterday. They qualified for an evaluation at birth based on their prematurity, but we decided to stick with the follow-up appointments through the NICU instead. At the last developmental assessment their therapists suggested reaching out to HMG now that we may be looking at a period of time of PT with Bennett -- why not let the state pay for some of it, right? So when I set this up I asked them to evaluate Kendyll, too, because I figured we might as well kill two birds with one big rock. We had two nice ladies come over yesterday while Lauren & I answered their questions about what all B&K can do and say and eat and sleep and blah blah blah. It was nice to have them come to our home because B&K were much more comfortable and "in their element", so I feel they could be scored more accurately (vs. when we have to go to the hospital for the other developmental appointment). We won't get the reports until next week and I will have a follow-up meeting with their coordinator then, but the good news is they don't think Kendyll will qualify at all -- she rocked it with her assessment. And the only thing they foresee Bennett qualifying for is the issues we already know about -- gross motor skills because the dude is too laid back to get a move on. He is super vocal (even showing them how he "barks" like Tabasco when someone is at the door) and he also put on his mad charm and cuteness skills. So of course that is all "unofficial", but still good news none-the-less, especially since they were evaluated based on their actual age of 14 months (not their corrected age of 12 months). They do this so that more kids CAN qualify for the services if needed, but as you all know I rarely think of B&K as preemies or take into account their corrected age, so that made me feel pretty good (hopefully I don't eat my words once I see this report).

And speaking of B-dude, we FINALLY have his PT all squared away and he will be starting that next week (while Tim & I are in Vegas no less . . . more to come on that later). He'll get to go to his first session with L and I am sure they will have a rocking good time. We have really been trying to bulk up B-man . . . while most parents are concerned about not giving their children refined sugar and processed meat, we've been feeding B&K corndogs, sausage wrapped in pancakes and REAL chocolate pudding made with whole milk. MMMMMMMMM as Bennett likes to say. While we have started to see some increased frustration from Bennett as far as his inability to move (you'd think that would motivate him, right?) he is still a very happy little dude. You can get him to smile at the drop of a feather (even through one of his "fake" crying episodes). He still LOVES the jumperoo (thanks again to Sam & Will for lending it to us!) and I'm pretty sure he is going to fly right out of that thing one day. I'm thinking we may need to invest in an "old school" walker next -- I'm curious to see how he'd move and I'm pretty confident that with this PT he really won't crawl but will move right to walking (even though I know it is a systematic process of sitting to crawling to pulling-up to walking). We'll see . . . He LOVES to make things go around -- i.e. wheels on cars, buses, little people airplanes and he loves to make the propeller on this little helicopter he got from his friend's birthday party go around & around. So cute!

Kendyll is still Miss Diva. She is soooo funny -- I really need to upload some new videos. She will stand without holding on to anything for a few seconds (i.e. until she realizes she isn't holding on to something) and she is getting much better at walking with her push toys (instead of looking like she's been in some sort of freak accident -- she has a funny way of dragging her one leg, but she is getting better at this). She still hasn't quite figured out how to turn around with it, though. She gets SUPER pissed when she runs into the wall or some other object and can't continue to walk. She loves to hum & sing . . . .she always seems to be singing. She still hates to sit still, although on Sunday we popped in a Baby Crack DVD and she actually stayed put in one spot, eyes glued to the TV for over 20 minutes. It is a Christmas miracle. She is quite the champ at crawling up stairs and now we need to work on getting back down. She is starting to branch out her vocabulary as well, although she isn't as vocal as Bennett (she has places to go & people to see). This weekend when my mom & brother were here my mom said "hi" and Kendyll said "hi-ya" right back. Very cute. In addition to her "taking" or stealing skills, she is also learning to give. The other night I had put a comb in my mouth while I was getting her dressed. She reached for it and pulled it out of my mouth and then immediately tried to put it back. She did this 3 or 4 times. Smart girlie.

I am still amazed at how easy the transition from formula to cold milk and from bottles to sippy cups has been. Again, another Christmas miracle! We have a variety of sippy cups, too (i.e. hard spout, soft spout, handles, no handles) and they really do well with all -- except for the ones with straws. Now we're working on gesturing or signalling when they want milk or juice and trying to garner some recognition to the sippy cup. It is about time for these kiddos to put two & two together. They are LOVING bathtime and I've pretty much moved to giving them baths at the same time. They don't really get much time to play -- pretty much get cleaned & get out -- but they love to pull at each other's hair and splash so much it looks like I had a bath after.

And because this entry isn't quite long enough, here are some pictures -

MMMMM, chocolate pudding

B says "do these curls make me look sexy" (yes, he has officially inherited my curly hair . . . no wonder everyone thinks he is the girl & Kendyll the boy. Poor kids):

Bennett playing with his favorite toy:

Kendyll's BIG eyes:

B & K playing with one of the new toys from Uncle Mark (notice B's smooth move taking K's hand off it . . . he does this to me & Tim, too):

Happy Birthday!!

A very happy birthday today to my brother, Uncle Mark!! He & Grandma Angie took a drive down to see us today and Tim grilled up some AWESOME burgers for us to celebrate. And bonus for B&K -- Uncle Mark brought them gifts!! (I'll try to snap some pictures of them playing soon). We had a nice visit.



We missed Grandpa Mike, though. He was feeling under the weather again last week and had the pleasure of spending the weekend in the hospital (I'm being sarcastic here). While he is feeling better and has already endured a slew of tests last week, this afternoon he was transferred to the nicer, newer hospital he spent some time in earlier this year. He'll go through a few more tests tomorrow and hopefully will be home soon after. We're sending our love & prayers your way Dad!

Little LeBron

What-up peeps!? I may be a skinny white dude who can't crawl or walk yet, but someday I am going to be HUGE. Look out LeBron!

One Year, Two Months

aka 14 Months old!!

Happy Birthday to B&K. They spent this rainy day playing . . . their new favorite past time is playing with the newspaper. Kendyll is taking after big brother Tabasco -- she likes to eat the paper. Yuck.

Hmmm, I have to ponder a bit what is new with B&K. Kendyll has become quite proficient with climbing the stairs. She spent the weekend going up & up them at Nana & Papa's house (she hasn't quite mastered the going down part). Bennett is getting stronger and doing much better with standing on his legs. We're still on the wait list for PT, but we're trying to make the most of the exercises while we wait. Hey, how cool would it be if we didn't need it by the time we were able to actually get in, huh? :-)

Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa Z for the little frogs . . . they came from PBK and match their chairs -- so cute!

B & K after the photo shoot (which I didn't really get a good picture at . . . nearly impossible these days). They are both looking at Tim through the window . . . he was outside taking out the trash.

All these toys and they got the most joy today out of the newspaper.

Adventures in Road Tripping (aka Happy Easter!)

We loaded everyone into two cars on Friday to make the trek North for the holiday weekend. After two years of making everyone come to us for holidays it seemed like the right thing to do (although every time we take B&K somewhere we realize how much easier it is just to say home, but I digress). It was SOOO nice to see everyone. We were able to spend a little time with Grandma Z & Uncle Mark on Saturday (as well as get a tour of Aunt Anna Marie & Uncle Jim's new house -- very nice!) -- Grandpa Z was fishing, but we saw him for a bit on Sunday. Sat. night Tim & I were able to sneak away for a little bit to visit some of his high school friends at a local bar (we drank all night and our total tab -- including appetizers -- came to $31. I LOVE that place!). Thanks to Nana & Papa W. for hosting us & planning a delicious Easter meal. It was wonderful to see everone -- including Aunt Nanci & Uncle Ted up from Florida -- but it was a short dinner for us as we needed to get on the road to head back home.

The car ride to & from was hell. I had the car with B&K on the way there -- I was super excited because Tim gave me the honor of driving his new toy and it has a kick-ass sound system, which included songs he loaded on the car's hard drive (yeah!), our i-pod and XM. But instead I had the pleasure of listening to K scream at the top of her lungs the entire way there. I tried to hand her toys from the driver's seat, but she just kept throwing them on the floor (and then B, of course, would start screaming because he wanted a new toy, too). So I spent a lot of time singing "The Wheels on the Bus" and screaming right along with B&K. Tim was stuck with our car-sick dog, so I guess that wasn't too much better. Same routine on the way home, except we switched cars and the dog didn't puke for me. Good times.

I didn't really get a chance to snap any good pictures. Here are a few of B&K looking through their Easter baskets:



Papa snapped this one of the four of us after church:



And here is my attempt to get a picture of B&K before they changed into their "comfy clothes":

Pay it Forward Arrived!!

A HUGE thank you to Monica for my Pay It Forward gift!! It arrived today, just in time to display for the holiday!!





And to those who "won" my Pay It Forward . . . I'm still mulling over what I am going to make, but I am determined to get it out before the start of summer. :)

Chomp (for real this time)

I have mentioned here more than a few times that Kendyll can be a bit of a thief. Ok, that is an understatement. Basically any time Bennett (or me or Tim) picks up something - whatever it is - she immediately struts over, grabs it out of our hands and starts playing with it herself. It is one of her sweet, endearing qualities -- I like to think she just wants to make sure the toy or object is safe before someone else tries to use it. :-) If we are not around, Bennett will often take whatever it is back (and screaming ensues - ironically by both parities involved). Or if I (or Tim) witness the take-down we will grab whatever super-rad-must-have-it-item away from K and give it back to B, listen to K scream at the top of her lungs (something she does quite often and that I need to get on tape) and then hand her something new, all while she is still eyeing whatever B has. Fun times.

Well B-dude has learned a new form of self-defense -- biting. I've seen him lunge after her (and us) a few times with his mouth open, but I foolishly thought that was his way of giving kisses. Ha. Remember my post about a week ago with the cell phones? Yeah, that was our first biting episode. Then one day last week he left HUGE red teeth marks on Kendyll's arm (over what I don't even remember). I tried to snap a picture of it, but miss on-the-go wouldn't sit still long enough for me to snap it (she's too busy trying to grab the camera out of my hands - ha!). Bennett has also bit Tim's finger so hard it broke the skin. Yeah. . . So right now we're in the "no bite" and redirect mode. I'd love any tips if you have them. On the one hand he is just trying to defend something wrong that is happening to him (i.e. stealing) but I don't think the right answer is to put teeth marks on your sister. *sigh*

Toys

Tim has a new "toy". It is a 2009 Infiniti G37 (or the "G-unit" as I like to call it). It is very similar to a car that I checked out when it was my turn to look into new vehicles in 2007 (we like to lease around here) . . . but alas the looming 2-for-1 pregnancy and fear of the unknown led us to a bit larger vehicle. Tim's new car is fun and sexy and I am soooooo jealous (my bitchen red Pacifica - which you can see in the background in the one picture - is like a Nova compared to this car!). Here are a few pics for us all to drool over . . .

What? Monday again??

Yeah, that is how I feel . . . how can it be Monday again already??

Let's see . . . what is new?? Papa Sam came to town for a work conference last Wednesday. Tim was in Nashvegas for work, so Papa treated me & B & K out to dinner. Fun times! Thursday I stayed up WAAAAAY too late waiting for Tim to get home (his flight was big-time delayed due to tornadoes in Nashville) and I somehow got suckered into watching the ER farewell stuff. I haven't really watched that show in a couple of years and watching the finale made me feel really, really old. I'm pretty sure it premiered when I was in college -- geesh that was a long time ago!!

Friday Lauren took B&K to COSI. They are a bit little/young for it, but they still had a blast (photo evidence below). Thanks Lauren!! Can I just say once again how much she rocks?? :)

Saturday was a busy, busy day. The awesome plaza by our house throws an "April Fool's" pancake breakfast every year. It is free (!!) and so so good. Last year it was one of our first "outings" with B&K and this year we were even more excited because like me, pancakes are B&K's favorite food group. They snacked on a powered donut from the "Goodie Shop" while we waited in line to get in and then chowed down on pancakes & syrup (yes, we loaded them up with sugar galore). It was a little cold and the line was a bit long, so by the time we got into the tent serving the pancakes B&K were BEYOND ready to eat, but it was still fun. Then I had big lunch plans, too. My good friend and former boss-lady Vicki came to town and we had lunch with the group we used to support. It was super yummy and so great to catch up with everyone. Thanks guys!!

Saturday night my mom, her twin sister (Aunt Anna Marie) and their younger sister (Aunt Regina, in town from Georgia) came down to hang with B&K. We saw this as a great opportunity to get out and Tim & I headed to dinner and then out on the town with friends. Very fun. And thanks mom & aunts for helping out!! Yesterday we basically spent the day lounging and doing a few chores & errands. Nothing too exciting.

Ok, this is getting long enough. Watch for updates this week about Tim's new toy (read: car) and Bennett's new trick (read: biting).

B & K at COSI:

I won! I won!!

If you haven't been over to check out the new Multiples & More blog you gotta go check it out!! They are having awesome guest posts on the blog and even more fun they are doing some awesome give-aways! And I won this one!! And if you love handmade stuff, be sure to look around further on that etsy site! The prize is very timely . . . first given my lengthy entry earlier this week over my love of bags and also because this is my 200th post!! Super cool!

Thanks Lani & Amanda -- you have made my week! :-)

This is how we do bath night

Ha! Seriously, I think B&K's first real words are going to be "Tabasco, no lick!!!" since we seem to say it about 700 million times a night. They do love each other . . . tonight Basco was rolling around playing with one of his toys and Bennett was belly-laughing so hard I thought he was going to pee his pants (tee-hee).