Ear Infection

My Benny was not quite himself over the weekend. The doctor said Friday that he had a little fluid in his ear, but to watch for signs of an ear infection. Sure enough, he was a little fussy and withdrawn over the weekend, then had trouble eating and sleeping yesterday. So wonderful cousin Carol got us an appointment this morning, and Jonathan took him to the doctor. They said it was pretty bad, and noted that he must be a happy baby to have been in a good mood at all. He is such an angel baby! Despite his feeling bad, he played and laughed with his brother this morning, then giggled at me when I tried to put him down for his morning nap (not really that funny ;) - what a little trooper! He seems to feel better already, thankfully. Now we're just hoping for no reactions to the penicillin - hopefully he's not allergic like his daddy.

Here's a picture of poor Benny with sweet Jack on Sunday.

Yuck to ear infections - hope it goes away quickly! Also, this is a good opportunity to reiterate how wonderful cousin Carol is - how lucky we are to have her! Not only does she help us score a quick appointment with Dr. D. when we need it, but she answers all of our (my) questions and eases my mind when I am worried over some health ailment or another. I can't imagine what a nervous wreck I would be if I wasn't able to quickly get her advice when needed. Yet another blessing in our lives :)

Holiday Fun #3

We had a great Christmas, with our immediate families, as well as extended family and friends. Once again, I wish I'd gotten more pictures, such as the boys exchanging gifts with Mads & Chloe, and Jackson & Charlie. I also wish I'd taken more of them in action - it feels like I have such grand ideas of photos to take, and then never get around to it. Maybe that will be my new year's resolution - more and better picture-taking.

Here are a few of the boys in front of the tree, idea courtesy of Pinterest (still addicted, in case you were wondering).

And our Christmas photo shoot with Giggles photography :)

What a merry, merry Christmas we had!

Holiday Fun #2

Christmas fun continued with Lauren's birthday dinner at Shogun's, a hibachi-style Japanese restaurant in Tyler. We've been going there for La's birthday for probably a decade now, and she just turned 22. The boys had their 9-month check-up with the doctor that afternoon, and we left just after the appointment. Everyone was there except Ryan (he had to work, boo) and both sets of my grandparents made it this year. I am hoping that my parents took better pictures and can send those to me, since we only took a couple. The boys did GREAT, considering they'd been in the car a couple of hours and were in a new place. They were taking it all in, watching the fire and cooking and visiting different family members, although Gigi & Auntin Erin hogged them most of the dinner. :)

We did get one picture of Jack looking at Connor - he was sitting across from us with his Poppy and giggling at Connor. SO cute! He's really starting to take an interest in other kids and laughed at Connor a few times over the weekend. I wish we'd taken more, especially with their grandparents & great-grandparents. I am constantly lamenting my lack of pictures; surely I'll improve at this eventually.

The boys also met their Carroll grandparents for the first time that night. Ben later fell asleep while great-Grandma Barbara rocked him to sleep and Jack reached for great-Grandad Wayne! My Benny was so ready for bed that night.

Christmas Eve was low-key; my parents' church that we usually go to midnight service didn't have any Christmas Eve family (earlier) services, and since we couldn't exactly wake the babies to go to church, we skipped it this year. It was a nice relaxing day at the house, though, and the boys got lots of QT in with their grandparents. Jack discovered a new game with Gigi, as she made a toy drive around and crash  - he was losing it laughing! They also got to watch some cooking in the kitchen and had fun splashing in the bath before bedtime. We watched some Christmas movies (love) and had a small family dinner that night with mom & dad, and Lauren & Kris, since both Erin & Ryan were celebrating with Travis' & Katie's families, respectively. It was yummy lasagna, and yes, there was some leftover for Ryan. :)

Christmas morning was such fun! The boys had just finished opening their gifts from us when their cousins arrived, then we got to do the family Christmas with presents, etc. Connor was so much fun opening his gifts! I hope I have plenty of energy in a couple of years, because it will be Connor x2. My little Benny & Jackie had a lot of fun ripping paper and patting boxes. They were interested in a few of the toys, too, and would reach for them if they were taken away to make room for the next gift! They enjoyed spending time with their aunts & uncles, and Ben took an interest in fencing. In the collage below, note the look of wonderment on Ben's face - he had twisted to follow a gift Jonathan moved aside and wanted it back! You'll also see Ben fencing with Kris, Ben eating paper, and the boys banging on a new toy.

Oh, big news! Ben started crawling Christmas afternoon. Travis got it on camera, how cool is that? We'll share that when we get it. Jack followed him the next afternoon, but neither of them seem in a rush to repeat. Here's a picture of Ben when he started crawling - he looked so proud of himself!

The cousins:

We took a group family picture, and I'll add that as soon as we get a copy from Travis. It came and went too fast, but I'd have to say best Christmas ever!

Holiday Fun #1

"It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes, or bags."

I love The Grinch, and I love that line from it - Christmas means so much more. Over the next couple of posts (I'm posting a little at a time because there's so much holiday fun to cover!) there will be several of the boys opening their packages, boxes, and bags, because this was their first Christmas and it was such fun shopping and watching them unwrap their gifts. But of course there's so much more, and lots that I wasn't able to capture on film. We have so many fun Christmas traditions to look forward to as the boys get older, like a midnight church service, making cookies for Santa, etc. etc. This year the only ones we incorporated were La's birthday dinner at Shoguns with the entire Irvin family + grandparents, the Angel tree, our Christmas eve pajamas, and giving the boys 3 gifts each, with a Santa stocking. I love that last one, since Jesus received 3 gifts on the night of his birth - that gives it meaning and also helps us to not go overboard. It would be soooooo easy to go overboard - what is it about parents wanting to give their children everything?

So I'll start with our Hanukkah/Christmas celebration with Honey & Papa 12/20, the first night of Hanukkah. I'm disappointed we missed out on Hanukkah with the whole Solomon family, but we will look forward to next year!

Richard & Susie (aka Papa & Honey) came over the Tuesday night before Christmas for dinner & holiday fun. :) Katie & Guy (aka Tia Katie & Uncle Guy) came over the day after Christmas. The boys got all kinds of fun and QT in with their Solomon family. Now, Ben & Jack had some experience with tearing paper, as they had gotten into Dad's magazines a couple of weeks ago. They're pretty good at it, too. But this was their first experience with gift opening - what fun! Overall impressions:

• Ben thinks eating paper is kind of neat
• Jack worked on perfecting his pincer grasp with small pieces of wrapping paper
• Both boys may be percussionists - beating on boxes can be more fun than the gift itself!
• Waving the paper around can also be more fun than the gift itself
• Ben is so used to pictures now that he sometimes anticipates the flash and squints his eyes :)

Ben: Mmmm

Jack - intense concentration

Jack: Tia Katie, what gives? I was playing with that :)

      

Ben: No more flash photography, please

Tia Katie & Uncle Guy

And this is only the beginning! Lots of fun family time, and so many new, fun toys to play with! Ben & Jack are well-loved by their entire family. :)

Solomon Family Fun

This is behind, but if you can't tell, I'm going through some of our more recent pics. These are from  Thanksgiving weekend, when Ben & Jack spent lots of quality time with the Solomon fam. They love their grandparents & great-grandparents, obviously, and they adore their Tia Katie & Uncle Guy. They also love and have fun with their (great!) great-aunt Andi, (great!) great-uncle Mark, and (also great!) cousins Lauren & Leslie. I think I've mentioned before how much the boys love Lauren and just grin away at her. Anyway, a few candids below for your viewing pleasure.

3/4 of a year

Today my babies are 9 months old - 3/4 of a year already! They make my heart sing - what joy they bring us! I tell them every day how lucky I am that God made me their mama.

Here is their 9 month picture with their elephants:

And a 9 month photo collage:

So I guess I should blog more - so many stories to go with these photos! Here's the short version, from the top left, working around:

• Ben is pretty proud of his amazing ability to get on all fours and rock back and forth. 
• Jack gives us so many squinty-eyed, closed mouth smiles - it's so cute! 
• Jack loves to lean around to see who's coming around the corner, or might lean down to see around a toy/his crib/etc to see us. And Ben is wearing footie pajamas! Milestone :)
• Jack at play :)
• Ben entranced with Mom's iPhone
• All smiles at dinner - they love to entertain each other when they're eating!
• Sweet Jack up close
• Ben, post-bath grins!
• Can you tell we're teething? They were also watching Baby Einstein - they love the neptune's oceans video!

Sitting with Santa

Our first Christmas with the boys! I am so excited. So many traditions, such a special time of year with family and friends, as we celebrate the birth of Jesus. This is my favorite time of year; all the decorations and lights (can we just do twinkle lights year round?), shopping and wrapping, service to others, the cold weather, Christmas Eve service, and extra time with family - love it all!

Of course we had to visit Santa as part of our Christmas tradition - at Northpark, where else? (You'd think they paid me for advertising, as often as NP comes up in this blog.)  I went a couple of weeks ago to get a ticket at 9:00 (when they start giving out tickets), but was running late, and OH my goodness what a line. Needless to say, I turned right around. The timing was important, because it had to be a day when Jonathan could go in to work a little late, and he usually has early morning overseas calls. So fast forward a week later (I was pretty upset and worried that we'd have to stand in line for a couple of hours by this point) and Jonathan went at 8:00 to stand in line for a ticket. He was #3! So I went in at 11:00, met Jenn & her girls, and was actually 2nd in line. Woo-hoo!

There was a tv crew filming that morning, and Santa was running about 20 minutes late. But no worries, because Ben & Jack are little troopers and just looked around at all the kids while we waited in line. I'm pretty sure they were filmed while they sat with Santa (because the camera guy was crowding me) but in the hustle & bustle I didn't have time to ask what station/time/etc. I wouldn't say it was a great experience, and because they were running behind I felt as if we were rushed. But we did get a couple of cute pictures of the boys in Santa's lap. Ben was chill, just checking out Santa's beard. Jack was less than enthused about the whole thing, and did start to cry after craning his head around to take in Santa. Luckily, it was quick and we got him back in the stroller asap.

 

Maddie & Chloe also took a great picture! I was so glad Jenn went with me - I was worried about the wait in line just in case the boys got upset - but all 4 did great. When we left NP, Maddie gave Ben & Jack kisses. Sweet Maddie looked up at me and told me that Jack was pushing her away (he was - I guess he wasn't feeling social after the Santa encounter), so she kissed his head instead. Ben happily accepted a kiss on the cheek and a pat. :) Kicking myself for not getting a picture of the four of them - I will soon! I did include a couple of the girls with the boys below, though.

Jack, Ben, & Chloe holding hands

Jenn, Mads, & Jack

To my boys...

My Dad used to tell me that the greatest thing he ever did for me was marry my mother. Boys, that's the exact way I feel about your Dad. He is the best gift I could ever give you :) I always knew that Jonathan would be a wonderful father, but it has been such a blessing to watch him with you and see how really involved he is. He has been hands-on from day one. Now, he would probably say that's because he had no choice, as there were two of you! But I have also heard him say "Thank goodness there's two so we don't argue over who gets to hold them at night." :)

Changing diapers, wiping up baby spit-up/vomit/etc, feeding you bottles and cereal, washing bottles, even giving your after-bath massage - your dad does it all. He also rocks you before bed, rocks you back to sleep if you wake up, and gives you lots of hugs and kisses. I have never seen him get frustrated, even when you wake up wanting to play at midnight and refuse to go right back to sleep. :)

The best part is seeing how in love he is with his babies - in his words, he is smitten. He can't wait to get home at night to see you and love on you. I think he is your favorite playmate, too, as I'm pretty sure you save your biggest smiles for him. I can't wait to see my boys grow up and become best friends with their dad.

Children are a heritage from the Lord, entrusted to us parents but belonging to God. Years ago, we participated in a nearly married bible study and studied Debinski's Excellent Marriage book, which touches on parenting. According to Debinski, there are seven biblical principles that guide us as parents:

1. Teach (Deuteronomy 6:7): Your dad will lead by example and teach you to become men. He is patient and wise, and will nurture your faith. He says he'll be the parent who will help you with your science homework, too ;)
2. Train (Proverbs 22:6): By example, your dad will show you how to treat others with kindness, and impart values and morals throughout your life. He is a good man, a wonderful spouse, and an amazing father.
3. Provide (2 Corinthians 12:14): Your dad is an excellent provider, and works hard to support his family. He will listen to you, be involved in your lives, encourage you, and ensure you have a solid support group to provide emotional and spiritual guidance.
4. Nurture (Ephesians 6:4): By following the scriptures, your dad will teach you right from wrong, and will maintain a loving, caring relationship with his boys.
5. Control (1 Timothy 3:4): Although discipline may not be one of his better strengths (!), I know your dad will be consistent and involved in your lives.
6. Love (Titus 2:4): Easy! He loves you so much, and that love just continues to grow. By showing kindness to one another, helping one another, spending time together, and filling the home with laughter, you will always know love.
7. Discipline (Proverbs 3:11-12): Your dad likes to joke that this is not his strong suit. But we know that loving parents correct their children and provide guidance. Your dad will show wisdom in his discipline (his last name is Solomon, after all!) and will help you to learn right from wrong.

You are two very lucky little boys to have your Dad, and I am especially lucky to have all three of you!