Proud Happy Mama

There is nothing better than experiencing your child's successes and celebrating them with a weekend of family, camping and wine tasting!

This past Friday Bennett's pre-school teacher came out to fill out his annual paperwork for his school program. Part of this annual check in is a cognitive standardized test. I had a lot of anxiety around the test because Bennett was battling a cold this last week and in an awful mood. As his wonderful teacher started in I was silently willing him to place the pegs in the holes and place the circle correctly in the puzzle... every task he took on like a champ and I wont lie, surprized his mommy a bit. The test determined that he is one smart 16 month old, scoring right on track and I was absolutely delighted. I am so proud of how far he has come.

He still has a little trouble communicating but has been using signlanguage and I am sure once he starts talking we wont be able to get him to stop. He signs the word "more" which to him means "I want that" or "I am really liking this" It is still really cute when he uses it frantically when he wants something. I am pretty convinced he says "doggie" and "dada". Leave it to Bennett to say "doggie" before "mama"...

So, with this good news keeping me beaming all day we set off to Astoria Oregon to the seafood & wine festival. We camped at Fort Stevens State Park with a ton of family. Bennett proudly boarded his first school bus to take from the park out to the festival where he charmed many people with his big smile and cute monkey backpack/leash :)

His Aunt Teri making him laugh... surprise, surprise...

Great family and wonderful wine... one of my favorite combos!

We had lots of outside time. He loves camping, we can not wait to spend the whole summer enjoying every second! He loves walks and meeting everyone... here he was chasing Grandma & Grandpa

He loves his bubble mower... he drove it back and forth over and over. I think his dad has him in training.

We love you buddy! We are so proud of how far you have come. If I could have glimpsed into the future a year ago I would have never dreamed this is where we would be, playing, camping, learning and loving every second.

Feliz Cumpleanos Alanzo!

This handsome little man turned cuatro anos today. Alanzo is our happy energetic little nephew. His mom's side is from Mexico and boy do they know how to celebrate a birthday! There was a clown, and FOUR pinatas with one that was just for the little guys like Bennett. We had some great food and enjoyed watching all the little kiddos play.

Joel even got in on the fun a bit, we are not really sure what this game is because it was in Spanish but Joel sure acted like he knew what was going on and had fun with it.

Happy Birthday Alanzo!

A new parenting low

When dreaming of becoming a parent there were two things I swore I would never do, the first being driving a minivan and the second... putting a leash on my child.

Bennett has started to hate any long periods of time in the stroller. He is so funny and social when he is toddling around that we usually just let him walk with us. We are heading to a seafood wine festival in Astoria Oregon this weekend and I just dont trust him in a big crowd. So I have broken a personal vow and lord give me strength to never buy a minivan!

Today when I set out to make the dreaded purchase I made a promise to myself that under no circumstances would I let anyone obtain photographic evidence of me using the cute little monkey backpack/leash... but I put it on him when we got home and I just could not help myself.

He cried when I took it off.... and sadly there was a little part of me that had a quick vision of him wearing a back pack walking down the driveway to school one day... I know its a stretch and I am just trying to put a positive spin the leash but still .... adorable!

Oh Bennett, Mono?! Really?!

We have lovingly been calling him our little lemon for a while... and once again he has not surprized us and has been diagnosed with Mono. This is actually great news becuase Bennett had some pretty scary tests lately and Mono was the unlikely best case scenario.

He had some screening done last week at his check up that showed he had an enlarged spleen. Although you don't absolutely need your spleen, which is what I was thinking at the time, it is important and worrisome that the spleen would enlarge. The doctors at Childrens and his local pediatrician did some tests and today we got the results that it is Mono. Other unlikely but super scary possiblities were blood diseases or Leukemia.

Thankfully he HAD the virus. It isnt active any longer and our pediatrician swore he is not contagious. There is no way to tell when he had it because kiddos this young rarely have symptoms. So, it gives us a definate answer to the enlarged spleen which is a sigh of relief for a once again VERY worried mama.

We couldn't love our little lemon more, and we are happy he is "healthy" once again :)

Mommy for your Birthday I got you... Sunshine!

What a fabulous Birthday weekend! I didnt think I would be able to celebrate my birthday with air conditioning and sunscreen... but we did.

Joel and I took our very first night away on Saturday to the Quinalt Beach Casino in Ocean Shores. I was VERY happily surprized to find out that my wonderful husband booked me a ninety minute massage and facial. We had a great night of dinner, lots of wine drinking and gambling, which is always more fun when you are winning and we were. We had such a great time that after sleeping in a bit this morning I asked for advil for my birthday. We sure had a nice ocean view that helped cure our hangovers.

Today I was anxious to go pick up Bennett that had stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Jones. After a quick smile and hug Bennett was back to playing in the sunshine on their backdeck... I definately think he had fun this weekend. Grandma made me a fabulous birthday dinner and we enjoyed a relaxing day playing in the sun.

This week also brought one of my favorite firsts.... SHORTS! Bennett had never worn shorts before and I am not sure if he could be more precious in them!

He even got to ride the mower with Grandpa

Saying Good night to Grandma & Grandpa

We drug him away after a fun game of chase in the yard with Grandma

Thank you everyone for all the Birthday wishes and a Great Birthday weekend!

A great day!

I know everyone loves their little ones all the time... but there are definately days that I feel extra lucky to have our little guy... and all I can think about is how proud I am of him. Today was like most days, busy busy, but at the end of the day I look back and just think about how blessed we are.

We started off the day with a trip to Childrens Hospital in Seattle for a routine check-up. Today I decided that instead on carting him around in the stroller, which usually is very frustrating for Bennett, I was going to just let him go. He greeted everybody, child, adult, patient or doctor with a HUGE grin and squeal. He has become so social recently and I cant help but laugh when he just struts on up to a stranger looks at them with a huge grin and pats them on the leg. He is definately lacking a comfort zone and jumps right in to see how close he can get. Here he is getting to know this very adorable little lady... She was kinda nervous but Bennett was really sweet with her.

We then spent a couple hours at the Seattle Aquarium with one of his favorite ladies in the world, Hadley Block... Wow are these two a pair!!! They raced around screaming and touching everything... they darted for every open door and ran up to every other kid in the place to say hello. There is apparently a "one finger rule" when touching the water life... this was clearly a problem with these two that see their world through grabbing everything... needless to say, their mommies were kept VERY busy chasing them and protecting them from everything! Hadley is so very close to becoming a big sister at any moment. We cant wait for him to get here!

He loved the jellyfish tunnel...

Just taking it all in... he is so curious...

We ended the day with a walk around the yard. Bennett has learned to throw the ball for the doggie which has made them an even closer team. He follows the doggie everywhere and they both love every minute of it.

Our little family is so much more than I could have dreamed of... We can not wait for this Summer! We are going to have so much fun!!!

Our Lil' Swimmer

Water has always been a little scary for us. When Bennett had his trach we had to be really careful even in the bath... swimming was kinda out of the question. Since his surgery a couple weeks ago when the Dr. closed up his trach hole to make a pretty little scar... we have officially been cleared for swimming!!

We took him for his first swim in Grandma & Grandpa Jones hot tub. Bennett and I were having so much fun that the other cousins had to join in...

He loves trying new things and seems quite fearless at times. It is so fun to see his smiles for something so simple. We didnt even think this was something we would be able to do this summer. Definately celebrating the small things this Spring!

We will have to be really careful this summer because I am pretty sure Bennett would have dove in by himself

I think he would have stayed in there all day...

We spent a lot of the time trying to teach him that he shouldnt be drinking from the big water foutain. He thought it was pretty funny and I couldn't help but laugh a little...

How to train these dragons...

I have very much enjoyed seeing Bennett in these adorable pajamas he got from the Easter Bunny. They are from the movie "How to Train a Dragon" and although we haven't seen the movie yet I am pretty sure Bennett is a fan.

We spent the day with all the Jones family at Grandma & Grandpas for our new cousin-to-be, Violet Scott's, Baby shower. The shower was in Boise so we were able to use Skype to be part of it. What a fun day with family... can't wait for many more days on the back deck this summer.

Flying with the help of his cape... and Daddy...

Reece borrowed Bennetts cape and got in on the fun a bit...

Sweet lil' Evie, laughing at those silly boys!

Is It Spring Time Yet?!

 Bennett and I spent the morning at the Farmers Market in Olympia and walking around at the park on the waterfront. Bennett loved the market but spent a little bit too much time "seeing with his hands" and therefore I spent a little too much time chasing him and replacing items on shelves. We then fit in a quick walk at the park before the rain came in and Bennett loved chasing the crows...

A few new things this week... His favorite is his new big boy front facing car seat. He definitely thinks car rides are way more fun and that going in reverse is hilarious. He actually busts out in giggles every time I put the car in reverse and look over my shoulder to back up.

He has been into EVERYTHING lately. We have chosen not to baby proof too much (or just ha vent gotten around to it yet) and instead we have been attempting the "No, that is not Bennett's" and redirecting his endless energy at something else. So far it has added a few more frustrating moments to my day like yesterday when he dumped the full dog water bowl over his head or this morning when he handed me a piece of our wedding china from the hutch.

This is how I usually find him and he definitely knows that he shouldn't be in there, but has the look of "oh mama, I just couldn't help myself"... did I mention, I LOVE that belly sticking out of pajamas!

Not to speak too soon, but Bennett has been saying "dada" He only does it when Joel isn't around but it is a clear "dada" so either he is thinking about his daddy a lot or he just thinks it is a funny sound, we will see.

Bennett's 2nd Easter... What a difference a year makes!

What a great Easter weekend... I am sure this feeling will continue to hit me on special days for a while but it is so hard to not think of how far we have come in the last year.

Last Year...
Bennett's First Easter

Last Easter Bennett was 4 months old and had been home from the hospital with a trach for 4 days. We ended up back in the hospital the day after Easter with complications. We had such a wonderful day last year, just enjoying having him home and being around family. There wasn't one ounce of me that felt like we weren't past the hard part. I really felt a sense of relief to have him home and working up his health.

This year I can't even explain how lucky we feel, He was running around enjoying family like I couldn't have dreamed possible last year at this time... what lucky parents we are to have such a little joy in our lives!

Bennett and I were rained in this week but tried the boots out anyway...This is what he wanted to wear on Easter. When he first got these boots, I couldn't imagine our boy being big enough to wear them... oh has our little man grown!

Bennett and the Easter Bunny were busy this weekend... on Saturday we went down to his Grandma & Grandpa's in Chehalis, even though they weren't home. We stayed the night there with his Auntie Katie and Uncle Marty and played all evening with his best buddy and cousin Reece. They are both on the move and they sure had fun running around in the basement.

Here they are conspiring an escape

And Bennett trying to sneak in on Reece's dinner

Sunday we went up for a visit with Grandma & Grandpa Olsen and all the Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. The weather cooperated just long enough for Bennett to participate in his very first Easter egg hunt. We loved watching all the boys play so great together. Hunter and Alanzo are definately busy boys and Bennett seems to be facinated with them and just tries to keep up.

Such a good little egg scavenger...

Daddy and Grandpa Steve helping me find eggs
Playing dress up in the toy closet
Even though I am not ready for my little boy to be playing cowboys, it was a little too cute...
In true Jones family tradition, we took advantage of the holiday and let Bennett wear his pajamas all day, nothing better than a Sunday in Pajamas!

Every time I look at him in those Pajamas I can't help but smile and feel like the luckiest mommy in the world.