Benny turns 1...and as a bonus gets hives!

Before we get into the 1st birthday stuff a quick back track to the week prior to Ben's Bday. We took a  trip down to KC to hang out with Tom, Halley, and Grayson. My parents went to the KU basketball game Saturday so we hung out in Lawrence that morning and then spent the rest of the day at Tom and Halley's. Easton had a blast seeing all the Jayhawks (and Papa French even got him a stuffed Jayhawk that he now takes with him everywhere) and Ben had a ball playing with Grayson and crawling around like a mad man at their house (and even enjoyed a quick snack of cat food when no one was looking). It was a blast and I can't wait for the weather to get nicer so we can take more of these trips and really dig into the fun family events that KC has to offer. 

Me and my love...RCJH

Mr Vanna White showcasing all the Jayhawk items at the student union

Nana French couldn't resist this Jayhawk hat for Benny

Cutest nephew ever!!!! And a pretty good looking sis in law as well :) 

Swarmed by baby boys! LOVE IT! 

Best friends...holding hands and watching KU Basketball! 

Grayson very amused by Easton

Family shot on KU's campus

Wed. Ben turned 1 years old! ONE! I can't even put into words how fast this year went. I can't believe that I am a mother of two boys and they are 1 and 3 1/2! It doesn't seem possible but at the same time I can't really remember a time when I wasn't someones mommy. Although Easton taught me what it meant to be a mom, Ben has elaborated on that and taught me new things about motherhood and unconditional love. First and foremost hearts can hold an incredible amount of love. I remember being pregnant with him and worrying that I couldn't possibly love someone as much as I love Easton. Would I not be as good of a mother to him as I was to Easton bc of this? Literally the second I held him I knew that those fears were silly. I loved him just as much and it wasn't hard at all to give him all that I gave Easton and still continue to give Easton the same. Having a second child I figured I would worry less and feel more confident that I had this whole mom thing down......WRONG! In my experience with Ben I have learned that none of that rang true :) I worried just as much....if not more bc Ben's personality is the polar opposite of Eastons. Not only is Easton my sensitive and cautious child, but he also never was curious or tried to get into everything, he had no desire to be independent and mobile etc. Ben wanted to crawl as soon as he could, he literally waits for people to not watch him so he can dive into anything and everything (cat food, toilets, trashcans, climbing anything he can......you name it). He acted differently when getting sick, teething, getting ear infections etc. Everything I thought I had figured out due to Easton I had to re-figure out based on Ben....so there was no decrease in worrying going on in this household. Ben still refuses to sleep through the night on a regular basis. We did have a great routine down and then winter hit and so did colds, coughs, the flu, ear infections, and most recently allergic reaction to amoxicillin causing hives. The poor kid can't catch a break lately thus the sleep schedule went out the door. He also just doesn't need as much sleep as Easton does apparently. Easton sleeps 12 hours a night plus 2-3 hour naps daily. With Ben its a great nap day if its an hour long. There are a lot of late night rock sessions in the glider going on in this household still. I have to say last night as I was up rocking him and staring at his beautiful face I was happy to be holding him and having that quiet moment alone with him. Yes its been 12 months since Ive had a solid nights sleep consistently, but I have this beautiful baby boy who just wants to snuggle up to me and love on me and for that I am eternally grateful. So many people come up to us asking about our boys ages etc and the first thing they always say is "enjoy this time it goes so fast" or "I remember wanting my kids to grow up so that I could sleep and they could do things themselves...now they don't want to hang out with me or read before bed or spend time with their parents and I wish I had those moments I wished away back" these are the reality checks that I try to keep with me in the moments when I feel the exhaustion taking over, or the "mom mom mom mom mom" "can you do this...can you help me with this" at the same time Ben is needing something and I just wish I had 8 arms to do everything....this time will pass and I will miss it.

Ben is the most loving, affectionate, smiley boy. He has taught me to be more laid back, take things in stride, and to stop being so "busy" and just BE! He isn't afraid to be vocal if he isn't getting the attention he wants and there are times I have to stop myself and realize that the dishes can get done later, my phone needs to be put away, and laundry can sit for another day. With my part-time schedule now I am able to get a lot of the "Chores" done before picking the boys up from Mary Pat's so its all about them once we get home. Watching him and Easton together brings me such joy (even when Easton is complaint that Ben is getting into his things...."Mom can you put Ben over there"). They are so sweet to each other. People always ask if having 2 is so much harder than 1. I don't really know how to answer that. Its more rewarding that's for sure. Watching them love each other in the way only siblings can is incredible. Yes 2 is more work...but harder? Im not sure. Ben is definitely more hands on than Easton was so I am lucky in the sense that Easton is a great help and I trust him to follow rules and listen when I need him to. There are definitely hard stages that you go through with #2 that you also went through with #1 but you forgot about. Currently we are in the standing up in our crib crying bc we don't want to sleep stage which is something that I know Easton went through for a couple weeks as well...especially when he was teething. I completely blocked it out of my memory until I glanced at the monitor and saw Ben doing it and FLASHBACK I was reminded that Easton also went through this phase. Yet again another reminder that it goes fast so just breathe and do the best you can. I think just being a mom is hard in the most amazing way so regardless of the number of kids you just hang on tight and enjoy the ride. A quote that gets to the heart of what I feel is "They know me in a way no one ever has. They open me to things I never knew existed. They drive me to insanity and push me to my depths. They are the beat of my heart, the pulse of my veins, and the energy in my soul. They are my kids"

Wed was Benny's big day. Tuesday night he got up crying and I could not calm him down. This is unusual. Usually I rock him for 5 min and he is back to sleep. He kept itching the back of his neck so I turned on the light and what I saw was horrible. Hives head to toe. I raced to our room show Brian. We knew it was most likely from his ear infection meds. Brian's dad and both my parents are allergic to penicillin (which is what is in amoxicillin). The pediatrician said to obviously quit giving it to him and she would see us Thursday for his 12 month check up. I got him Aveeno oatmeal baths to help with the itching and kept him as cool as possible since heat aggravates it more. He looked terrible and was so uncomfortable. I literally had a melt down while giving him a bath the night of his birthday. Both Brian and I were in tears bc he looked so awful. The good thing was that it wasn't affecting his breathing and he had no signs of it being viral (no temp, no runny nose or cough etc) so we knew it was just a matter of getting the medicine out of his system. Seriously only my little Benny would break out in hives on his 1st birthday. His 12 month appointment went great. He finally got his MMR (measles vaccine) and chicken pox so I can breathe a sigh of relief with that since there has been outbreaks in Omaha recently. Other than him looking like a spotted dinosaur he was right where he was supposed to be developmentally and on the grown chart.
Height: 2'5.5'' (35%) Weight: 18lbs 10oz (11%) and Head size 88%.
He's still our little peanut but if you saw this kid put away the food at any given meal you would never think he'd be such a small fry. This child LOVES to eat table food. Ive yet to give him something he didn't fully devour. Most nights he finishes whats left from Eastons plate as well :)

hives on our bday

no outbreak is going to keep us out of trouble

telling me all about how it feels to be 1 year old 

We celebrated his birthday on Saturday with close friends and family. The theme was "Frogs, Snails, and Puppy dog tails...that's what little boys are made of" I felt it was quite fitting as this child is ALL BOY! He has no fear and just wants in on all the action. The second Easton and Brian are wrestling in the playroom Ben comes crawling like mad towards them and gets right into the mix of things. I see a lot of ER visits in our future :) 

Thanks for coming to my Paw-ty guys! Enjoy your puppy chow goody bags

Thankfully his hives were calmed down by the party

Brian's handy work....he didn't trust my knife skills to attempt this

Snail sandwiches

Baby boys everywhere (Evan and Grayson)

Trayci getting her Grayson fix....they were inseparable! 

Scotty, Evan, Trevor, and Benny

Benjamin didn't disappoint with the cake smash. Easton really didn't get into the smashing of the cake so we were thrilled when Ben dived right in...literally

Easton helping blow out the candles (and by helping I mean just doing it himself)

SUGAR!!!!!!!

Hes not messing around....both hands 

forget using our hands lets just dive in

My precious boy

Ending the night opening gifts and hanging with family!

Special thanks to all those who stopped by to wish Ben a happy birthday and a special shout out to my brother, sis in law, and little Grayson for making the drive to be here for him. It means the world to us that you were here! I know I say this every blog but I seriously can't count my blessings enough. We have the most incredible family who love to be involved in our children's lives and we have some incredible friends who we consider family. Thank each and every person who came to Benjamin's party or wished him a happy birthday. I still can't believe that the year is over.  Cant wait to see what adventures he has in store for us for year 2! God Bless XOXOXOXO