Benson Boys: September 2009

Monday, September 28, 2009

Come Together. Celebrate with Will.

Sunday we came together to help Will celebrate his 6th birthday. Will is probably the biggest 6 year old Beatles' Fan you'll ever meet!

A very sweaty Braden & Ethan. . .Braden is so proud of his missing tooth.

Braden chasing bubbles.

Silvia & Mason

The Cake! Great job, Heather!

Mason was able to enjoy the Bounce Around while the big kids ate their cake and watched Will open his gifts.

Mason loves this gorilla statue in the Arbuckle's yard. We think he thinks it's a dog, and always points to it and makes the dog "woof, woof" sound.

Vampire teeth from the goodie bag.

Black Hawk Up

During Braden's football game on Saturday, this Black Hawk was landing in the corner of the field as part of the PSU game day festivities. Blake said it perfectly, "these kids can get distracted by a butterfly, I can't wait to see how they respond to a helicopter!" They, including most of the coaches, stopped in their tracks and stared in the air as the helicopter flew over and landed SEVERAL times! Somehow during all of the helicopter excitement, Braden still managed several touchdowns and did a great job grabbing the other teams flags. He definitely knows what's going on this year!

After the game we all walked over to get a closer look.

At the game, Braden wanted to get tattooed and punked out in time to be a Bleacher Creature.

His hair is so blonde, the red hairspray looks a little pink!

Braden with his good friends and fellow Bleacher Creatures, Grace & Mattie Wixson.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Flag Football is Back

Braden had his game face on for Flag Football on Saturday. Coach Blake had both boys, snacks and drinks packed on the stroller and headed to the game. Mom headed to Branson. A good friend our ours, Ethan, was on Braden's team, so his mom, Joanna, didn't mind hanging out with Mason during the game.

Blake got these great pictures of Mason falling asleep during his lunch. Guess the football game wore him out!

The Tooth Fairy Came to Town

When I picked Braden up from school on Friday he was soooooooo proud at how loose his tooth was. Apparently he and his good friend, Tyler, had spent the entire day pushing and prodding until their little teeth were bleeding and then enjoyed the drama of BLOOD. No matter what kind of bump or scrape he gets, the first question is always "is it bleeding?"

Blake and I both offered to pull it but he wanted none of that! So I finally put a little orajel, and a tissue so he could get a better grip and sat with him until he got it out! We stuck a q-tip in to stop the bleeding!

When I was pregnant with Braden I got a goody bag at some baby event, that had a nice letter from a local pediatric dentist and a hand-made tiny pillow with a small pocket to put a tooth in. We got this little pillow out and taped his tooth to a piece of paper and stuck it in the pocket. The tooth fairy (Blake) generously left $1.

Braden was so proud of this dollar, he took it for show & tell today.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Our Mason

You wouldn't know it here, but he had just spent and hour and a half with Daddy at QuickCare. Once again on Sunday morning, he had an upset tummy and during his afternoon nap vomitted all over his crib. We bathed him, then Blake took him to QuickCare and I took Braden to his friend's birthday party. Just a virus, is what the doctor said. We are relieved and frustrated. He's had this on and off for 2 weeks now. But he got a good night's sleep and was much better this morning.

We also had to put all of the stools up that Braden uses to wash his hands and brush his teeth, because Mason thinks he should be able to do this, too. Saturday night, he climbed/fell out of the bath tub while I was gone getting a towel, no major injuries but lots of tears, then after bath he fell off the stool trying to brush his teeth like Braden. This one resulted in a goose egg right between his eyes. Which of course left a bruise.

Mason is 15 months and talking up a storm. He will try to say almost anything you say to him and encourage him to say. These are words he uses to communicate with, some more clear than others

Dada
Mamma
Bubba (sometimes Braden)
shoe
go
outside
dog, ruff ruff
cat, meow
bird, tweet tweet
duck, cack cack
bye bye
bottle
bink
eat
bite
no no
mine
bath
done (when he's done eating)
walk (when we are going for a stroller walk)
Night night
light
hot, burn
snack

He wakes up between 6 & 6:30, takes a bottle (hopefully soon sippy cup) of milk, then likes to sit at Braden's table and eat toast while Braden eats his breakfast. He wants to do ANYTHING that Braden is doing. Mason is eating all table food now, and his favorites are slided turkey & ham, chicken, sweet potato, apples and grapes. He also loves toast and cheerios. He drinks a ton of milk, although right now we are trying Lactose Free, apple juice and water. He also loves yogurt, ice cream and popsicles.

For the most part he has lunch around 11:30 and takes about a 2 hour nap after lunch. A snack of graham crackers or gold fish when he wakes up, and dinner at 5:30.

He's ready for a bottle by 7 but rarely drinks the whole thing before he says "night night" meaning he's ready to go to bed! He seldom wakes up during the night, except for a bad dream, but goes right back to sleep.

Mason has hit that "I want it and I want it now" stage, and there are a lot of tears when we don't know exactly what it is he wants, but he's also a lot of fun. He loves to ride horsey on Blake's back and "wrestle" with Braden and Daddy! He loves to dance and loves to be tickled and tickle our bellies anytime we're changing clothes!

Weekend Fun

Sunday afternoon at our friend Ethan's party. It was Transformer themed, and the invite said he was "Transforming into 5" so Braden asked all week, "is it time for Ethan to Transform into 5 yet?"

Fun in the backyard on Saturday. Notice they are both carrying a big stick! Mason and this toy golf club and Braden with his foam, wooden-looking bat.

Mason gets a ride to go find the ball Braden hit over the fence.

We've gotten several green peppers out of the garden but this was our first red pepper!

A few images leftover from Labor Day. This is what happened when Blake got to read stories.

Where's Mason? I was still in the kitchen and Blake peeked around the corner because he could hear Mason but couldn't see him. I left the door open because he likes to push the button that turns the light on and off, I didn't realize he was so interested in getting INSIDE for a closer look at the light.

Blake with Amiee and Mason. They are 3 weeks apart, but I promise Amiee is at least 8 pounds heavier. She would take about 10 steps at a time but hasn't quite mastered walking yet. She's a little top heavy for her tiny feet.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Once in a lifetime experience

Blake and I had the once in a lifetime experience over this LOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGG holiday weekend to have the grand experience of surviving 6 children, basically 3 sets of twins. Braden & Chloe 5, Hannah 4, Brooke almost 4, Amiee & Mason 15 months.

We had the reinforcement of one more adult, my sister, Chelsea, but the ratio of 3 adults vs 6 kids wasn't exactly fair. It was a lot of fun, but literally a marathon of baths, laundry, meals, diapers, wiping tears, art time, and refereeing.

It was great if we took them on two at a time, Blake took Chloe and Braden fishing, and nap time was good, at least 3 of them would nap after lunch. Needless to say, we are still exhausted!

Story time before bed the first night

Braden, Chloe, Brooke & Hannah at the Little Balkan's Days Fun Run. Blake registered them beforehand, so the 4 oldest got to run in a race. They loved it, and even got a ribbon at the end.