Hat Day

What a beautiful day!  These three maniacs are all currently napping (yes, at once!!)...but make no mistake, we took full advantage of the sunshine this morning.

What to do, what to do?

Ben is teething.  Bad.  Natalie has been in a funk for the past 2 days that we can't quite figure out (she is also getting brand new molars, so maybe that's it).  We were supposed to have a play date this morning, which we rescheduled because I wondered yesterday if Nat wasn't getting sick.  When she woke up no worse this morning, and her tantruming was making me kind of crazy, I knew we needed to get out of the house.

The weather was a little on the chilly side, so we elected to head to Krohn Conservatory for the Butterfly Show (or exhibit?).  In any case, it's a giant room filled with all sorts of flowers and butterflies all over, free to land on you as they wish.

she was so careful with the butterflies

(as opposed to last year when she brutally attacked one with the card)

the spot that looks like a hole in my shirt is a butterfly...Natalie was so excited that it landed on me

If you have way more patience than a 2 year old, and basically just hang out in one place for a few minutes, the butterflies will just land on you.  Ben was the perfect target....until one landed on him and his pudgy hand nearly mauled it before I could stop him.  Luckily, it flew away unscathed, but probably scarred for life.

Here Ben, look at this one!

all sizes and colors

we kept "catching" the boring brown ones

Because there really is only so much to do at the Butterfly Show, the novelty soon wore off and then we had just driven a fairly long way for not so long of a stay.  A quick reassessment of the weather proved that it had warmed up nicely and the sun was out.  I packed snacks and jackets in the event that this happened, so we loaded into the car and drove a few minutes across town to the zoo!

the tulips were all still blooming as part of Zoo Blooms

tulips of ALL colors

Nat requested milk, but was then drawn to this "juice" in a lion bottle.  We were having fun and she was being good, so I figured "why not?"  It ended up being the cause of a pretty rough situation, but at the time she was in 2 year old heaven.

Nat was mesmerized by the flamingos.  I actually think they are gross, and was haunted by a bad memory of being newly pregnant with Ben and nearly losing it at the flamingo exhibit at the Phoenix Zoo (hey, those things really stink!), and was trying to hurry her along.  She could not be swayed.

please tell me this is not the most handsome boy you've ever seen

oh, that hair!  She's been better lately about letting me put a barrette in it, but not today.

Natalie loves this elephant statue

In fact, playing here delayed us a few minutes in getting to the bathroom and car...

Remember the juice in the lion bottle?  I didn't think about it at the time, but all that sugar probably upset Nat's tummy a little and she ended up having a poopy accident on our way out.  We planned to hit the bathroom before we got in the car to go home, but she didn't make it.  She said she had to go, but gave no indication of urgency or that she had an accident, so when I yanked her pants down in the bathroom, we made a giant mess.  Ben was screaming with hunger and Nat was ticked that I threw away her underwear.  Thank the lord for wipes and extra clothes in the car...

We had such a fun day of exploring and adventures!

Smoky Mountain Relay

Last weekend, Eric and I got to have a weekend away without kids...and with the company of 10 teammates for the Smoky Mountain Relay.  I ran a 15K back in March, but besides that, this was my first post-Ben race.  I was excited and nervous, and am really thrilled to be back "racing."

"What is the Smoky Mountain Relay?" you might be asking yourself.  It is a 212-mile race through the Smoky Mountains in North Carolina.  We started on Friday morning at 9:00, and ran continuously until we finished around 5:00pm on Saturday.  A team of 12 people runs the 212 miles, with each person running 3 legs of varying distances and difficulties.  It is crazy hard and so much fun!

It was cold and raining when the race started...

during my first run it started to rain so hard that I couldn't open my eyes all the way for fear my contacts would wash out.  As if the van wouldn't have smelled bad enough after 3 runs and no showers, starting off with soaking wet gear was not good...

by Saturday morning, the rain passed and it was absolutely beautiful!

Eric trucking up the mountain on his last leg

the course was made up of regular roads, gravel, and trails

Sample of a leg map and directions

(thank goodness for the inventor of the GPS watch!)

we survived all 3 of our runs

the race ended at the Nantahala Outdoor Center...on my list of places to revisit

Nat and Ben had a vacation of their own, spent on "sleepover" at Mimi's house.  It was our first, second, and third nights away from Ben.  We were all 4 worn out Sunday afternoon and have been playing a bit of catch-up ever since.

Ben: 6 months

Holy moly, Ben is SIX months old.  For his half birthday, Ben got two new pearly white teeth.  His first and second teeth came through on the bottom...finally!  His poor swollen gums have been causing loads of grief for several days, so we were so excited this morning to see the sharp tops poking through.

Ben also got to try carrots for the first time for dinner.  Yum!

I know you'll be shocked to learn that Ben is a good eater.  His solid foods include:

• rice
• oatmeal
• barley
• bananas
• apples
• pears
• squash
• sweet potatoes
• carrots

I almost hate to say this out loud, but sleep is going much better.  Though still not a great napper (taking only a couple of cat naps a day), Ben has been up only 1-2 times per night (mostly only 1) for the past week!

Also, he is pushing up onto his knees with some real motivation now.  You know what that means?  Crawling is on the horizon!

Here are some pictures from our day...

one week

one month

two months

three months

four months

five months

 six months

chow time!

Baby smiles and laughs are so genuine.  Ben smiles with his whole body.

we like to wear hats during play time, and today was Ben's turn 

to wear the birthday headband.

check me out on all fours!

I love a chubby baby hand

I just love the side by side comparison of these two.  I know they're going to be best buddies

once Ben is on the move.  The fact that they're the same size cracks me up...

obviously Ben still looks like a baby, and Jack is looking more and more like a kid all the time.

New Take on a Classic

Nat has been learning the words to lots of songs lately, mostly kid songs: I'm a Little Teapot, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Row Row Row Your Boat....some just fun songs: Indiana Fight Song, Mickey Mouse Club House theme song....some made up: The Cups The Cups....and some catchy (and questionable?) songs from the radio: Call Me Maybe.

While the words are not always spot on, her delivery has all the entertainment value of the biggest broadway star.  Her viewing audience (Ben) is always delighted with the performances.  See for yourself.

Let's Go Fly a Kite

Natalie looks at me like I've lost my mind no fewer than 8 times a day, and today was no exception when we determined that it was warm enough and windy enough to break out her brand new kite.  It was then that I began to sing the soundtrack to "Mary Poppins" loud and often.  Here's our half pint hanging on to that kite for dear life.

24 hours ago things were not so peachy around our house.  Just before we were set to head to Jack's birthday party, Natalie spiked a 101 fever and was down for the count.  Ben and I headed out and Eric stayed home with the sick kid.  A few doses of tylenol and some R & R on the couch watching about two dozen episodes of Mickey Mouse Club House and she was right as rain.  We stayed in jammies a little longer than usual this morning to make sure we were all recovered: