persistance

ben and i went to target again today. (yes supertarget is our favorite place to go)

well ... ben went looking for the dog food. i am not joking. as soon as we got in the store he told me he needed to find the dog food.

apparently he feels that if he keeps reminding me that eventually i'll get tired of saying no.

i'm so torn on this. i don't want a dog. i don't want to clean up after it. i don't want to go outside picking up poop. i don't want to have to get up at night to let it out. i just finally got alex to sleep somewhat decent hours!!!

however, i want ben to have a dog. i want to see how he showers it with unconditional love. i want to see his face light up when he sees that this little creature is his ... FOR REAL! i want to hear the name that he comes up with for his VERY OWN dog! (as obnoxious as i'm sure it will be) i want to see them both grow to be the best of friends.

*sigh*

i wonder if there is a dog out there that doesn't shed, poop, or bark.

p.s. don't anybody suggest a cat.

in the meantime i have decided that sending them outside to play with ellie, the golden retriever from next door will have to do.

p.s. for those who care -- i have changed my options so you don't need to be registered to leave comments. i didn't know i had it set that way :) ha ha :)

ben's other passion

so apparently when i typed the last post i forgot about the other love of ben's life. dogs. actually, any animal. but mostly dogs. ben REALLY wants a puppy. all summer long he would stop and pick up dandelions. he would blow them and make his wish out loud "i wish i had a dog."

we have yet to give in :)

yesterday, he and i went to target together. near the baby aisle there was a sale display for dog food. so ben says "MOM ... (yes this is in caps because he is not quiet) ... WE NEED TO GET FOOD FOR MY DOG!"

I ignored him.

"MOM ... MY DOG NEEDS FOOD!!"

ya ... ok ben ...

by now he is holding a bag of dog food.

"MOM ... WE NEED TO BUY THIS!!!"

"ben, we don't have a dog."

"but MOM I WANT A DOG"

"ok ben ... but we don't have one right now"

"BUT MOM...MY DOG THAT I'M GOING TO GET IS GOING TO NEED FOOD"

"ok ben .. then when we get a dog we'll get food."

"BUT MOM THEY WILL BE OUT OF IT"

"no ben ... i don't think they will ... come on ... let's go get a starbucks."

"okay."

thankfully ben likes starbucks. thankfully there were not too many people that walked by giggling at us. at some point i know we are going to have to give in. maybe it will be once i win that same lottery that is going to give me a house to hold all of my baby clothes. then the dog can have it's own wing.

ben's passion

the last few times i've gone to take pictures off of the camera i've found a few random ones that don't seem familiar. it isn't like me to set up ninja turtles, pirates, and army men in fun scenarios and snap some quick shots.

the pictures are always random. there are always a few of toys. and a few of drew making strange faces in strange positions. and rarely any of ben.

WHICH led me to the culprit. ben is our little photographer. any camera that he finds becomes an instant interest. his subject always changes. and he always gives quite an interesting point of view. he even throws in the occasional finger on the side of the screen as his little artistic 3 yr old touch.

at first i figured i would delete each of these pictures from our stash. but i've decided to keep them because at this rate i'm thinking maybe someday he'll turn this little passion into something real and then they'll be worth something.

marriage plans

ben: i want to marry katie.

drew: ben, you don't want to marry her.

ben: yes i do.

drew: but ben you have to really really really really really really love someone to marry them.

ben: well i do like her.

drew: but when you are older you will have a lot of friends to choose from.

ben: but i like katie.

drew: well fine then. do what you want. but you are going to be missing out.

ben: well ... fine. maybe i'll marry someone else after katie.

our new diet plan

so ... as mentioned in a previous post ... stacey and i are looking into joining the Y.
3 pregnancies in 2 years has done a number on our bodies.
we think that the Y by itself would not do the job. so i'm happy to tell you we think we have the other perfect solution.

i am hesitant to share ... this could be the next nutri system ... but ... i'm sure you're all wondering.
so i'll tell.

for the past week or so we have been devouring oreos. we're talking mass quantities of sandwich cookies in very short amounts of time. we're talking a pack of oreos in our house never lasts longer than oh ... 24 hours. and all oreos are consumed with the youngest 3 members of our household sleeping :) shhhhh!!!

i don't have any set results yet. however ... so far we've found it to be the most enjoyable diet ever. we're hoping that the weight will soon start to fall off.
we'll let ya know when it happens!

until then ... grab a pack and join us. you'll be glad you did!

sweet (and rather salty) kisses

well.. our house has been blessed with yet another cold bug. it seems like this winter one of us has had it at any given time. right now i am the only healthy one (and i'm guessing that won't last long).
i've decided that having sick kids is rather bitter sweet. when they are sick there are 3 things they love to do.

they love to snuggle.
they love hugs.
they love kisses.

now, normally all 3 of those things are things that i love. crazy and busy boys don't stop often for snuggles and kisses. so when they do stop i take all i can get. they remind me why i do what i do and i can't get enough of them. however ... boogers and barky coughs make those kisses and snuggles suddenly lose a lot of their appeal :)
i want so bad to give them out freely .. but all i can think of is that it will only be days before all of these germs turn on me and then we're all gonna be in rough shape!
i suppose that's part of being a mom though:)
so for now i'll continue to accept their sweet (and salty) kisses. i think sometimes my snuggles offer something medicine can't.
by next week ... my guess is that i'll either be home sick ... or if everyone else is still sick ... i may be on vacation.

Irresistable

Drew: "You are my best friend."

Ben: "You are my best friend."

Drew: "You are my friend."

Ben: "You are my friend."

Drew: "You can't resist me. "

money can buy happiness

anyone who says money doesn't buy happiness has not met alex. alex is our little puzzle. he has been the most challenging of our 3 babies. we're STILL working on figuring him out. if we would've been our first i would've questioned if i really understood this whole parenting thing. since he was really little he has not liked sleep and has seemed almost uncomfortable with just existing. well ... we have slowly put the pieces together to make a happier alex. after MANY doctor visits and sleepless nights we think we are finally getting it. he is on prevacid which helps his tummy. he is on singulair which helps with his cough and his wheeziness. and finally ... after much suggestion ... we have been taking him to the chiropractor. all of these pieces together have helped him (and us) actually sleep. they have also made him happier and more content when he is awake.

HOWEVER ... our copays alone are as follows ... prevacid is $60 a month. singulair is $30 a month. the chiropractor is giving us a deal and charging $15 a time. but, we have been going about 2 times a week. and if we remove or reduce any of the 3 he is back to his old self.

SO ... although it does not come cheap. we're finding that money can actually buy happiness and it is entirely worth it to us!

simple, happy kids

what is it about peanut butter & jelly that kids love SO much? i enjoy it every now and then. but, my kids would eat it for every meal, every day if given the choice. it is even an option for hot lunch everyday at school. for the first few weeks i'd ask drew what he chose to have and pb&j was his answer! so much for trying new things! i thought at some point they'd get sick of it. but they haven't yet.

SO ... i won't complain because it does make my life easy. lunch is very predictable and runs to target are very specific.

and i can truly say i know what makes my kids happy. as long as we have JIF creamy peanut butter, Smuckers squeezable grape jelly, and wonder bread in our cupboards - my kids will be happy.

our busy summer

aren't they cute?! the first is a picture from the summer and the 2nd is one we just took!

all 4 of these little guys live within 4 houses of ours!! it was a busy summer here (or should i say a busy winter ;)... te he he ) they are seated in chronological order with dylan on the far left being the oldest. he was born on father's day. oliver and blake are in the middle and then alex is on the right. he was the last on july 5th. SO...all within 3 weeks! it was fun to get them together today to see how they have changed in 6 months! (i guess almost 7). it's sad how little we see our neighbors now that it is cold out and everyone stays inside so much! i'm excited for when it warms up and we can get these little guys out to play with each other! they are going to have so much fun!

and until then ... what would we do without blogs, right?! :) ha ha:)