Attempting to be a Super Mom

Ben is usually up with Shawn and I until we go to bed and then he sleeps in until 9 or 10 in the mornings. This week he's decided that he's going to continue to go to bed when we do, but now he wants to get up bright and early too. It wouldn't be such a big deal if he didn't get up, ready to go for the day. The second he wakes up he's talking a mile a minute and tickling you to wake you up. At least he's taking real naps again. His vocabulary is starting to take off. His words of the week have been "Good girl," "me," "Cuckoo," and "up." I love hearing it all and waiting to see what the next thing he says or comes up with will be.

So, of course we watched Marley & Me today. Ben loves that movie more than anything else. For those of you who have seen it, know it's really sad. Ben decided for the first time today (he's seen this movie a million times and it's never effected him before) he couldn't watch on the sad parts. He came up and hugged me tight with his head turned away from the television. Then, when the movie ended, he did something else new. He started crying really hard. I asked what was wrong and he said something through sobs and tears that sounded like "me me." I asked if he wanted to watch it again and he said yes but continued crying. I turned it back on and he immediately quit crying and started laughing. I hate to let him watch it twice in one day because I would really prefer he doesn't watch that much T.V. but it's not the worst thing in the world.

Ok, so I'm pretty sure it's just hot everywhere right now. The AC in our car is pretty much ca put. There is a slow leak, so we are putting coolant in there every two weeks or so with the help of Shawn's parents and their friend Terry. Well last night it decided to run out, on our way home from Kansas City. Today was miserable. We had a few errands to run which were definitely cut short because of the heat. We went to Hy-vee which is about a block and a half away and by the time we got there, Ben was red and his hair was soaked with sweat. I felt terrible. I just thought we should maybe get some popcicles or something because of how hot it was. Shawn and Ben went to KC tonight to get the air fixed. I was a little worried about Ben riding all the way there in a hot car, but he did just fine and now we should hopefully be good through vacation. If we take our car, I think we'll be taking extra coolent with us. I'm not riding in a hot car from Table Rock...

Hope all the Dads out there had a great Father's Day. Ben and I enjoyed time with Shawn and family. Saturday we went to the company picnic for a little bit but it was raining pretty good and they were taking down the tables and whatnot so we left quickly. We decided to go to Topeka to take a card to my Dad. For those of you who don't know, he died last year and part of his ashes are in a wall in a cemetery in Topeka. We also picked up a card for Grandpa and dropped it by his house. When we got there, my aunt, uncle and two cousins were there. We all went out to dinner and to the cemetery and just talked. It was so nice to see them. My cousins are growing up so quickly. When I hugged my uncle goodbye, I didn't want to let go. It was just so nice to see them all again. I've really missed them. I missed my Grandpa too and I think we'll need to go by his house more often. Sunday, Ben and I got up early. We left Shawn at home to sleep in and we went to ...

So, Ben likes to eat the same things everyday for lunch. It's always either macaroni and cheese, spaghetti-os (either plain, with franks, or with meatballs), hot dogs and cheese, turkey and cheese, or turkey sandwiches. I'm tired of eating the same thing over and over again and decided to make my favorite that I haven't had in so long. Tortilla Jacks. I hope he'll like it and I'm not sure he will like the egg part because he's such a picky eater but we will see. I'm trying to find other quick easy things to feed him for lunch or dinner even. I'm on the prowl for peanut free, quick, and easy recipes to feed my boy.

Ben has decided lately that he is going to fight sleep as hard as possible whether it be nap time or bed time. Shawn and I have always been fairly lenient parents. We don't have a set bed time for him, he just kind of goes to bed when we do and takes a nap after lunch. I think we are going to have to get him on a real schedule now since he's fighting it so hard. Also, when it comes to bath time, I've decided that Ben is going to have to go from about every other day bathing to every day bathing. He's a stinky boy that likes to make a mess of himself. He hates the water on his head making it difficult to wash his hair, but I think this is something we are going to have to work on because we can't go through a meal now without food ending up in his hair. I noticed today that his tantrums are really becoming extreme. I can hear it now as my mother-in-law jokingly says "Not my grandson!" He's so quick to anger and he throws things and hits when ...

For the past few days I feel like I've been neglecting my duties as a mom. I've been extremely sick. I actually still am. I've really been trying to not let it keep me from my most important job, but it has. I've been supervising him and what not, but we haven't done anything. I haven't been cleaning, and I haven't been doing the normal activities with Ben I normally do like playing with cars, puzzles, or wrestling. What ever I have is terrible. I felt decent yesterday and then I feel crappy again today. I hope nobody else gets this.

Last night Shawn was working on homework in his office. Ben and I were getting ready for bed. Somewhere in the bedroom and I don't know where, Ben found an old peanut butter cup wrapper. I took it from him immediately, but I washed his hands and then tried to give him Benadryl. He wouldn't take it and spit it all back out on himself. I washed him up and went to get Shawn which sparked an argument. I think this peanut allergy has both Shawn and I on edge. We tried again to give Ben Benadryl and he took most of it but did spit quite a bit back out on himself. We bathed Ben and then he and I climbed into bed. I couldn't sleep for anything in the world after that. Shawn went back to homework and I watched The Nanny reruns that I had on the DVR. Today I've decided that we have way too much clutter in this house. I have no idea where Ben found that candy wrapper. We can't let this stuff keep happening and I've got some major work to do around here. The ...

So, we had time to go to the library. It was raining pretty heavily and of course we had to park a long way from the entrance. Finally we got inside, nice and soaked. Thankfully Ben was in his stroller, because it could have been much worse. We went in and I got a library card, then we went on our search for good books. Ben found so many books he liked and so did I. In the end, I made him put several books back. I figure we'll go back in the next week or so to swap out his books. I also learned that I should pick out my books first. He can only be quiet for so long and the children's section just isn't as quiet as the adult section. We really had a good time. I'm going to be sad when we have to leave here in about 30 to 45 minutes for me to go to work and I don't get to read any of his books to him.

So on my last post, I mentioned the possibilities of cooking curried rice. I chickened out and was lazy. Shawn wanted potato salad and the time got away from us, so instead we did store bought baked beans, potato salad, and macaroni salad. Today, I've decided it's past time for Ben's first trip to the library. I've never been to the library here in Lawrence. I looked into it last week, so I think today, if Shawn comes home for lunch soon, Ben and I will go after we take Shawn back to work. On Sunday, we went to Shawn's parent's house. We always have fun there. Shawn's parents and siblings are really neat and fun people. We enjoy all the time we have there. We went swimming and for some reason on Sunday (maybe because he hadn't really napped that day) Ben was scared of the pool. I put on sunscreen when we first went out, but I didn't reapply it and I got burn to a crisp. Thankfully Ben did not.