Slippers and Sleep

First of all- here are the promised pictures of the ADORABLE slippers that my friend, Ruth, knit for Benj. Brian and I have a pair and now so does he!

Sleeping update- not much has changed. We've kind of gone back to our "normal." Normal for us somewhere between 3-6 times up each night. Anything less than that would be a first...and a miracle. We've had many nights up more than that and those are the nights that lead to cranky mornings and exhausting afternoons. We've settled back into normal though and we've learned how to handle and manage normal.

Brian's mom bought us a mobile and that thing has bought us several extra hours of sleep. It has 4 little stuffed animals that turn in a slow circle and lights the create this odd glow on the animal's faces. He loves it. It also plays music. I often find myself wondering what Bach, Beethoven and Mozart would say if they knew that some of their most famous compositions have been turned into lullabies and whimsical songs for children. Almost all of Ben's toys, CD's etc play something classical that has been re-done to suit a much younger audience. The best feature of the mobile- the remote control. Often times when it's 4:00 a.m. and Ben is awake cooing in the crib, we can sneak to the door and pick up the strategically placed remote, hit the button and not even have to go in the nursery. If he saw us, he would want to play, or be picked up, or fed. Now we hit the button and the lights go on, the animals start their circuitous march, the music starts playing and Benjamin is mesmerized. Thanks to Mom Roelofs for buying us some extra sleep.

CRC Baby

Not too much to say today except to show you pictures of Ben digesting this month's Banner.

He says

"no more Goodnight Moon.....bring on the Banner!"

Ode to Grand Rapids

There are several times a year I find myself thinking about and missing Grand Rapids.

- Today I miss Grand Rapids because of the weather. Yes...I can only say that for a few months of the year but today, it's true. I would never say I miss Michigan weather from about October- April. But- I loved Michigan summers. They were warm and green but cool enough to enjoy being outside at the beach or at a park. Maryland summers are too hot and humid. This week we seemed to skip spring and head straight to summer with temps in the upper 80s. During Maryland summers I step into the shower and start washing my hair that is still slightly damp from the day before. I've seriously considered a pageboy haircut just to get the hair up and off my neck. If I put it up while it's wet- it never dries. Neither does my towel- perpetually damp. That never happened in Michigan.

- Today I miss Grand Rapids because of the wonderful people I got to know while living there. My pastor and his wife stayed with us yesterday and we had a wonderful time catching up with them. Ruth is a fantastic knitter and knit Brian and I Calvin slippers before we moved to Maryland. She arrived yesterday with a matching tiny pair for Benjamin (will post pictures tomorrow) I miss having family members so close. I miss my church community at West Leonard CRC.

- I miss living in a smaller city. I used to think that the drive across town (15-20 minutes) from work to school was a long drive. Now I have to drive that far to get to the grocery store and drive almost an hour each way to get to church. Our closest church family lives 20 minutes away. It was nice to have that close sense of community around us. I miss Dutch bingo- the phenomenon of getting yourself in a conversation with another dutch person and finding out that you're either related or know the same people. Never fails.

- I miss the Bagel Beanery on 28th St. I miss breakfast with friends at Real Food Cafe and Wolfgangs. I miss Arnies :)

Anyway- a few musings and things that were running through my head this morning. Ben got a B last night....up about every two hours but went back to sleep quickly. With the warm weather it's hard to find things to do to keep us occupied inside. We tried to go on a walk yesterday but Ben was sweaty and crying, the dog was sweaty and panting and I was just sweaty. Yay for AC.

Benjamin's Workout Regimen

I was standing in line to check out at the grocery store yesterday and noticed that the front of many of the magazines read like this: Fit for summer! Blast belly fat for swimsuit season! and so on so forth. I hated looking at those things before and despise them even more now postpartum with my stretch marks and the dark line down my stomach that I can't seem to get rid of. Benjamin however took these tabloids seriously and has decided it's time to get rid of his thunder thighs in preparation for Maryland summer.

His new workout routine- crunches.

Not sit ups like 6th grade gym class with a partner holding your feet while you sit up with your arms butterflied behind your head....crunches. He grabs his feet and lifts his head as high as he can. Flop. Then up again. Then flop. He gets his ab workout just about anywhere- on the changing table, on the floor in his playgym, in the crib, on your lap... Ben is serious about swimsuit season.

Quick summary of last night... our dear friends from Grand Rapids, Neil and Ruth Jaspserse were in town staying with us. I was praying that he wouldn't be up screaming all night and keep them awake. Ben went down around 7:30 and slept until 10:30. Miracle. He ate and went back to sleep quickly and slept until 2:15! Another miracle. Then he was up at 4- for good......we just can't win.

Love-Hate

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend! I have a love-hate relationship with this time of year. Love it obviously because of the significance and awesomeness of the resurrection. It never gets old to sing about and celebrate Christ's great sacrifice for us and our redemption. I hate how much work there is.....Christmas and Easter are awesome but the busiest time of year for those who work in the church. I love it because it comes in the spring and things are blooming all around, and there are signs of new life. Spring is great.....allergies are not.

I have a love-hate relationship with this weekend for other reasons as well. The weather was beautiful. We had family in town. We got a lot done around the house.

Benjamin.....didn't make for an easy weekend. He is MISERABLE. Poor little dude. First of all, he was constipated for the first part of the weekend. He hadn't pooped in almost 5 days and I could tell he was really uncomfortable. I fed him an entire jar of baby prunes on Friday then immediately went to Costco to buy the next size up diapers in preparation for what I thought would be a massive blowout. Nothing. No poops. He finally cleared the system yesterday (several times) and seems to be ok now.

He's also in pain from his teeth. Benjamin is happy. During the day he never really cries unless he is really hungry or really tired but this weekend, Ben was screaming....and screaming.....and screaming. It was obvious what was wrong and it was obvious he was in a lot of pain. Each night this weekend got progressively worse and worse. Last night, I think I was awake more than I was asleep. Longest stretch of uninterrupted sleep last night was about 90 minutes. Longest stretch this whole weekend- less than 2 hours. I know most of my postings are positive saying that being a parent is fantastic...and it is.... but I won't blow sunshine up your you know whats and pretend that it's all fun and games all the time. Parenting is hard. Right now....it's very hard. We're feeling quite defeated in our house right now. Defeated because of lack of sleep, defeated because poor Benjamin is in pain and we have exhausted all options trying to help him. Hoping that Ben returns to his happy, screeching self soon.

Precious Moments

First of all- sorry to everyone who either fell for the April Fools joke or who choked/sputtered before realizing it was a prank :) No we are not pregnant again.....no we are not planning to get pregnant anytime in the near future. Ben will get an Anneke someday (what we would have named him if he was a girl) but we told him he has to sleep through the night and be potty-trained first. That's good motivation for him :)

Our church had our Maundy Thursday service last night. We don't have a service on Good Friday, just on M.Thursday. I got home late and was quite exhausted after a crazy day. Despite being ready to collapse on the floor with exhaustion, I found myself in a somewhat wound up state. Have you ever experienced that? You're so tired you're overly energetic? Cleaning the house or organizing closets like a sleep crazed zombie? That was me. Ben started squawking around 10:30 and since it wasn't time to eat yet, Brian went in to settle him down, give him his num-nummers (pacifier), rest Albus on his shoulder and Lovey in the crook of his arm and shhhh him back to sleep. I walked over to the nursery door and watched the nightly, sometimes hourly ritual when Brian motioned for me to come in. We moved the rocking chair right near the crib so at least we can sit down and not have to bend over the crib constantly. He got up and let me sit down and gently placed my hand on Ben's chest. CALM. Here was this incredibly warm little body rhythmically moving up and down, breathing steadily and peacefully. Precious moment. All was right with the world and was just as it should be. This perfect little person contentedly deep in sleep. I will miss this. I'll miss watching his little body in his animal jammies sleeping in a crib that is still to big for him with his arms in the "touchdown" position. But....you can't halt progress. It's exciting to see Ben grow but still....sad to think that there won't be moments exactly like this forever. There will be plenty of precious moments, but not this moment.

And on that note...nap time is officially over. I hear cooing and thumping coming from the crib upstairs. Have a wonderful Easter weekend everyone!

5 Months Old!

Ben is veeeery excited today! Today we can officially announce the impending arrival of his sibling later this year!!!!!

Yeeeeah.....check your calendars today people :) Happy April 1st :)

Yesterday Benjamin hit the 5 month mark! Several times throughout the day I found myself thinking "5 months ago I was doing this....." and reliving his birth. Of course since I was in labor forever (or what seemed like forever), most of the day I was remembering labor, labor, still more labor, botched epidural, more labor, push, push, push, BEN!!! I was looking at his feet and legs as he jumped in his jumper remembering the feeling of him kicking me and kicking me so hard that my water broke. Now he jumps and kicks so hard he can almost break daddy's water when he's on his lap :)

It's hard to believe he's already 5 months old. I can't remember what life was like without him around. It's hard to believe how much he's changed in 5 months. It's hard to believe I haven't slept a full night in 5 months.

Speaking of changes....a new one has developed that we're not too fond of in our household. The "Adios Tigers" incident last week seems to be a new skill that Ben is honing. Today we are on what Brian and I have now labeled "Poop Watch." Turns out it wasn't just the bananas....Ben is just no longer clearing his system daily....now it's every 3 days. Too bad he's gone through probably an entire box of wipes, two outfits and a changing table pad in the process of discovering this. So today is day 3...and we are on poop watch. Half joking around, I considered fashioning him an outfit out of a plastic bag that he'll wear until the deed is done. It didn't work because he was too fascinated with the crinkling sound and was trying to eat the bag. My dear friend is coming over to watch him for a few hours today.....and I'm PRAYING that she doesn't have to deal with the mess. She's 39 weeks pregnant and I fear that would send her into labor.

So anyway- we had a sleepless night last night with lots of teething pain. Today we're on poop watch. Today is Maundy Thursday and starts a crazy weekend for me. Unfortunately I found out at the doctor yesterday that I have a sinus infection that has caused an ear infection as well. Crazy in our house right now. More to come!