Messes that are Allowed!

There are times I allow Benjamin to get away with things when I need to get some things done. For instance, when I need a few minutes to get ready and the only thing to keep him occupied is to allow him to find every ball of yarn that I own (yes, I actually do have yarn and I actually do crochet at times....), allow him to unravel it and string it all over our bedroom furniture. Does it create a dreadful mess? Most definitely. But to steal 20 minutes to take a shower, it's most definitely worth it.

The picture below doesn't do justice to what all he did. The yarn was wrapped all around our room. Wonder how long this is going to take me to put back together? Yikes.



















Benjamin wanted me to take his picture with a penny he found on the floor. Okay, kid. He makes me laugh.

Mommy McKinney Mornings

As you've probably noticed, I'm on a "rhyming, poem" kick phase....

Here's an example of what I wake up to most mornings:

I wake up to Ben saying "Mamma, it's wake up time"
and begrudgingly out of bed I slowly will climb.

Some mornings in bed he'll greet me so sweet
he'll say "hey mamma guess what? I love you" as our eyes meet

As I start his breakfast, faint babblings I start to hear
of my precious daughter trying to talk in her room very near

I'm not a morning person, I really like to sleep
I'm not grouchy though, in the mornings i'm actually pretty sweet

But if it were up to me, everyone would sleep until 10 o'clock
then we'd hop in the car and head for iced coffee right up the block

Around 7:30 is when our mornings usually start
but i'm not complaining because these kids have my heart.

Frozen Smiles

I'm actually not sure what has happened to me. My entire life I've loved the summer heat and the summer sun. However, as of this winter, I have a new favorite season. Winter. Yes, I'm diggin' the winter. I keep hearing everyone say how tired they are of all the cold and I would be lying if I were to agree with them. I love the warm fires in the fireplace, cozy flannel pj's, and a tasty cup of sleepytime tea. I love snuggling in the bed with our warm comforter. And most of all, I love my favorite blanket that I've had for over 20 years - it's really warm so it only comes out at winter time. If it were up to me I'd say stay as long as you'd like Mr. Winter. Just one of the many small things in life that makes me happy.

A Tale of Two....Tongues

For the last several days Savannah has started sticking her tongue out of the right side of her mouth. It seems to stay in that position most of the day. It's really cute. Had to take a picture of it. Also, this is what her hair looks like when it's wet.... REALLY curly! When it's dry, it's straight as a board!

















Benjamin is now into making me take his picture while doing silly things. Here's his latest. "Mamma, take my picture of my tongue". And here it is......

Happy Birthday Nancy!

Last Thursday night we celebrated one of our dear friend's 45th birthday at Wine Cat Bistro. Love that place. This bistro displays a lot of Richard's art (our artist friend) and plays Frank Sinatra music. Can't get better than that. You know it's a good party if I grab the microphone and start belting out Sinatra tunes! Seemed like a great idea at the time, but now that I found out David has it on video, not so much. Sorry customers....couldn't help myself. Good times! Happy birthday my sweet friend.

All the girls












David and the birthday girl












Nancy and Richard

Valentine's 2010

We had a great time on Valentine's day. The kids woke up to their Valentine's surprises and then Savannah and I headed off to church. Since Benjamin has had a pretty bad runny nose we decided to keep him home that day. Later that evening David and I got out and had dinner with some of our favorite people at our favorite restaurant. Very nice day indeed!

Valentine's presents!














Nancy, Richard, David, Kelly at Cafe Italia.

Savannah's Bath Poem

I have a favorite bath toy that I see every night,
it shows up in my bath tub, much to my delight!

The moment I see it my grasp is it's fate,
it stays in my grip and is my little playmate.

Through washings, teeth brushings, and drying off galore,
I will hold on to you until mommy says no more.

You are my favorite bath toy, for I know that's right,
until tomorrow my beloved shovel, good night.

Playing in the Snow Part II

On day 2 of the snow we decided to build a snowman. Okay, so don't laugh. The snowman is kind of puny, I know. It had to be done quickly because Miss Savannah wasn't haven't anything to do with being outside. Have you ever tried to do anything with a screaming baby? Yeah, it'll make you want to pull your hair out! Anyway, we did get to try several different looks with our wimpy little snowman. Here's some shots of him.

Mr. Cowboy





















Mr. Pimp














Baylor Bear Hat





















Mr. Dignified





















Mr. Crazy Cheetah














This last picture is from later in the day. Benjamin wanted me to take a picture of him drinking his juice. Alright buddy, here you go!

It's BIG Pretty! Part I of Playing in the Snow

We woke up Thursday morning to a beautiful blanket of snow. Benjamin was super excited and couldn't wait to go outside to play in it. Since he had school that morning we had to make it quick. So we got all bundled up and journeyed outside. Benjamin made a couple of snowballs and threw them, then about 4 or 5 minutes later he said "it's chilly I want to go inside". No exaggeration, we were only out there for 5 minutes tops! Silly kid. As we were in the car that morning on the way to school the flakes were coming down hard and were HUGE! Benjamin's response to the big flakes? "Mamma, it's BIG PRETTY!" I couldn't agree with you more kiddo.

No Answers

The appointment this morning didn't give us any answers. After giving Benjamin a thorough check, the doctor claims that he looks perfectly healthy. He's baffled by what's going on. He said if it happens again, which I have this gut feeling it most certainly will, he'll do more tests. My gut is telling me it's drainage but the doctor told me it's not. I know I'm no doctor but it just seems like that would be the logical answer. He's had a runny nose on and off for the past couple of weeks so why couldn't it be? I love our pediatrician but I'm starting to think a second opinion might be in order.

Come on 8:30am!

I spoke with the pediatrician's office on Saturday about Benjamin. I'm supposed to call them at 8:30am to schedule a time to bring him into the office today. It's 7:45 and the clock is slowly ticking by. Like I said in my previous blog....that time can't come fast enough. Thankfully he didn't get sick yesterday morning or this morning. P.S. Thanks to you all who have told me you're praying. The power of prayer...I truly believe in it.

Return of the Early Morning Monster

We're up again at 5am this morning with Benjamin throwing up. The doctor's office doesn't open until 9am and that time can't come fast enough. What in the world is going on?

Foreshadowing

Last night I went bowling with some friends from church. I got in kind of late and as I was in the kitchen I noticed dusty handprints all over our trash compactor. I didn't think much of it (our guest bathroom is very near it so I actually just thought it was dust left over from having it remodeled two weeks ago). Boy was I wrong! As I was getting ready for bed David informs me that after Benjamin went to bed last night he got up and found the baby powder in his room. That kid had a ball with the powder. It was EVERYWHERE! All over the floor, all in his bed, all over his rocker, and some how even made it all the way up to the top of his dresser. Oh, and of course, he was covered in it as well. I told David this morning that it was foreshadowing for all the powder outside we woke up to this morning!

The Invisible Man

This is a conversation Benjamin and I had the other day as we were playing in the living room. While playing Benjamin suddenly stops and points at something on the other side of the room and says "see that man looking at us?"

Me: There's a man looking at us?

Benjamin: Yeah, he's right over there.

Me: There's a man looking at us, are you sure?

Benjamin: Yeah, he's looking at us

I very nervously ask: Is he smiling at us?

Benjamin: No, he's just looking at us.

Me: Is he still there?

Benjamin: Yep.

Me: Why don't you go over there and give him a hug?

He then walks over to the other side of the room and starts to give whatever he sees a hug. Then he says "oh, he went away, he's not here anymore".

Me: Where did he go?

Benjamin: I don't know, he went away.

Talk about making the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. I don't believe in that kind of stuff but it did get to me. My next thought was, oh dear, Savannah was on that side of the house napping and I felt this incredible urge to check on her. Sadly, I was actually scared to go by myself, so silly me took my little 2 year old with me. For some reason I felt protected with him with me. Do I really think that Ben could do anything? Well, no, but at least I wasn't alone and if this invisible man came back at least Benjamin would see him, right?

The imagination of a 2 year old. Benjamin was perfectly fine with it and silly Kelly got completely creeped out. I can't help but to laugh at myself.

It's Not Over Yet - "Mamma I'm gonna spill"

Our poor little Ben. He got sick again this morning. That now makes 3 times in less than 2 weeks. It's very odd. After he was sick on Friday morning he was fine the rest of the day and all day yesterday. Then he wakes up this morning and "spills" as he calls it. He also says "my belly hates me". Might be time for a call to the pediatrician tomorrow because something just doesn't seem right about it all. Another thing that I'm finding odd is that it only happens early in the morning. We've been so blessed that our children really never get sick. But as of lately I guess we're making up for it.

So Savannah's first official word (besides ma ma ma and da da da) is duck. Well, more like "duh". She hasn't figured out how to put the "ck" on the end of it yet. That was Benjamin's first word as well. Every time we walk by a picture or she sees one on TV she'll start saying "duh, duh, duh". Okay, so maybe it's not officially a word if she's not completely saying it, but I'll take it!

The picture of Benjamin below is from the other night at dinner. He was trying to make cookies stick to his face. The picture doesn't capture how comical it was but we had a good laugh from it!

Ear Infections, RSV, and Stomach Virus

For the past few days Savannah has had a runny nose and horrible cough. You can hear the fluid in her lungs even when she breathes. I took her to our pediatrician yesterday and it turns out she has RSV and 2 ear infections. Poor thing. RSV is going around at our church so I'm assuming that's where she got it. I weaned her one week ago and what a coincidence that she gets sick shortly thereafter. Bad timing right? Man, that's frustrating. I can't help but to blame myself for her getting sick. I keep thinking if I wouldn't have weaned her she would still be getting my antibodies and wouldn't have gotten sick. So, I've picked back up with nursing once a day. Yes, even after a week I amazingly still had milk.

Then there's poor Benjamin. At 4 o'clock this morning he wakes up with another stomach virus. That's twice in less than 2 weeks. Is that even possible? Maybe it's something he's eating or maybe it's a virus? Not sure but I sure hate that for him.

Mr. Smarty Pants

We've been working with Benjamin on learning his letters, how they sound, and words that start with the letter. He's picking them up quickly. He can even pick out his name and the word "dog" and spell them both. I was so proud to hear from his Mother's Day Out teacher today that she was quite impressed. She said that today they started working with some letters and she couldn't believe that he recognized so many of them and was able to tell her what sound each one makes. He even went a step further and told her words that started with each letter. So proud of my little guy. But seriously, who isn't proud of their little buddies? Honestly, we've had some help - there's a video called "Letter Factory" by Leap Frog. (Thanks Laura for giving it to us). It's amazing and Benjamin absolutely loves it!

This afternoon as I was taking a few pictures Benjamin begged me to PLEASE take a picture of "me and my cars". So here you go, this was his pose!

Tom Jones Concert

We had an AMAZING time at the Tom Jones concert on Sunday night. Nancy and I were the only 2 people that actually stood, danced, clapped, and sang during almost the entire show! Obnoxious? Yep, but we didn't care one bit! Tom appreciated it. Nancy and Richard are 2 dear friends of ours and Richard is an amazing artist. Richard painted a couple of portraits of Tom and he signed them for him. Super nice guy!

Nancy with Tom Jones after the show. Go Nancy! ;)

















Richard, Nancy, Kelly, David before the show.