Enviromentalist

Yes...that's right.Enviromentalist.  We made homemade bird feeders and the kids LOVED it!!  Well actually, Presley loved eating the bird seed, Haisley was scooping the peanut butter out of the jar by the handful, Lyndell was eating a banana popsicle, Benton was chilling out with Crystal, and Hutch was getting any morsale of anything that happened to be within reach.  I couldn't find any pinecones in the yard, so I resorted to sweetgum balls.  All in all, we had fun!

The kids got to pick where they wanted to hang their birdfeeders.

Haisley Lately

Our little Haisley has turned into a big girl lately!  Her potty training accidents are few and far between these days.  I know that since I just wrote that, she'll probably have five accidents tomorrow!!  She is even going in public these days!  Matter of fact, we weren't even in the door good at TJ Maxx today and she started yelling, "Poop, I need to poop."  Of course you do Haisley, of course.  So off we go!  We walk through the bathroom door, Benton in tow, and in a split second Haisley is laying on her belly asking someone in the bathroom stall, "Whatcha doin, pooping?"  All I could do was laugh.  We are still waking up wet from time to time, but I don't consider that an accident.  (Maybe I should???) 

I really can't get over how much and how well she is talking.  I mean, she is talking in full sentences that Mark and I can understand.  Pretty incredible how she is changed in the last year.  She is about as moody as a child can be.  She fusses all the time, especially when she doesn't get her way.  I'm not going to lie, disciplining consistently is exhausting.  We love our sweet baby more than we can say with words.  She is teaching her mommy how to be patient!

This is Haisley in a jacket that was mine when I was little.

We have been overhauling our yard.  She hasn't skipped a beat!

Giving Benton some love.  I said, "Haisley, don't touch his head, he has a soft spot."  Can you see how well she obeyed???

Her baby brother adores her!

Benton at 5 Months

Benton is five months!! He has the sweetest disposition. I am seriously in love with that baby! With the exception of when he is tired, he is a happy camper. 

Some updates on my precious happy baby
Sleeping:  Tonight was night one of crying it out.  It went ok.  He cried about thirty minutes.  I went in a few times during that to give him his paci and calm him down.  He eventually went to sleep on his own.  It broke my heart.  I hate hearing my babies cry.  We are still not on a napping schedule.  We'll get there!  He is up all night long.  Benton has a tired mommy and daddy. 

Teeth:  No teeth yet.  He gnaws on everything and is drooling up a storm. 

Size:  I don't have a definite size and weight, but he is big.  He is very long, and I'm guessing weighs about 16 pounds.  He is in 6-9 month clothes.  We just switched to size three diapers. 

Eating:  The boy loves to eat.  He eats every 3 hours.  We haven't started solids yet.  Dr. Carter told us not to rush it.  It makes my life easier for sure! 

Tricks:  Benton is starting to put a lot more weight on his legs and is definately not happy sitting in your lap.  He LOVES his activitiy, and starting to like his jumparoo too.  We are working on sitting up.  He is getting better at it.  He coos and talks up a storm. 

Benton is so sweet.  His smiles come so easily and make my heart melt!  We love you more than you could ever know sweet Benton boy. 

Some pictures of his month. 

 

 

 

 

 

Update on HGB

Sweet little Haisley Grace has been up to a lot since I last wrote about her.  I wanted to write a few things down so I won't forget!
~She is constantly saying, "Mean."  Everybody is mean.  We really don't know where she picked it up, maybe school?  Anyways, it is a terrible habit.  We made such a big deal about her saying it initially, so now I think she says it for attention. 
~She says, "I Love you" now without being told first.  Talking about melting your heart.
~When she is trouble, she either goes to time out or gets a spanking depending on the offense.  We always explain to her why she is in trouble and at the end of the discipline we tell her that we love her.  Now, when she is in trouble, she wants to skip the discipline part, and she starts yelling, "I love you, I love you too."  Out. Of. Control.
~She can consistantly count to 14
~She knows most of her colors (most of the time)
~She can pretty much carry on a full converstaion with you
~Anytime that she sees someone that she finds odd looking, she runs behind me and starts saying, "I'm not scared anymore now."
~She loves any type of carb.
~She is doing excellent with potty training
~She is very defiant. 
~She does NOT want to share her toys with sweet Benton
~She only gets her paci at nap and nighttime

Birmingham Trip

 

Mark had to go to a conference/school in Birmingham this week. The kids and I were not planning on going for the whole week, but Mark forgot his CPAP, so off we went.  The kids and I had a blast.  We stayed in a suite and had a delicious breakfast every morning.  The first morning, I tried going to Homegoods and Target, but got lost.  We ended up getting lost and driving around for an hour. The next day we went to the Birmingham Zoo.  We had the place to ourselves.  Haisley loved running around yelling that the animals were stinky.  Benton just hung out in the stroller.  I think he enjoyed the fresh air! 

 

Haisley at the lion exhibit.  The whole time she said, "I'm not scared anymore now."  In Haisley language that is code for "I'm scared." 

 

 

 

 

This is Benton's first zoo trip.  I wanted to document it a bit more than I did, but it was a 2:1 ratio of children to mommy and Haisley was wide open. 

 

 

It seems as though Haisley's favorite activity at the zoo is eating.  She ate the entire time at the Montgomery zoo, and the Birmingham Zoo was no exception.  In the picture below, she is thoroughly enjoying a cheese cracker. 

 

Benton looked thrilled, didn't he??

The next day we went to the McWane Center.  Haisley LOVED it.  I thought it was pretty cool myself.  Her favorite part was the bubble station. 



Playing in the water station. 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's Haisley on TV.  She loved that!

 

 

Haisley enjoyed decorating Benton with stickers.  We had to have something to pass the time in the hotel room.  

Benton is 4 Months Old

Ok, so I know that for every one of Haisley's monthly updates I talked about time flying.  I didn't have a clue.  Until life is busy with two little ones, you really can't understand how quickly time goes by.  With that said, my sweet, precious, happy Benton is a third of a year old.  I often look at him and see him reaching for things, rolling over, giggling at his sister, and I think, goodness, he is doing a lot for a newborn.  Then I quickly remember that my sweet baby isn't a newborn anymore.  He is growing by leaps and bounds.  He started rolling from his back to his tummy about two weeks ago. 

Some things I want to remember about my Benton Boy:
He giggles often
Grabs for things and pulls them to his mouth
Still likes his paci, but doesn't have near of the addiction that Haisley did/does
Has started sleeping without his swaddle, and does great
Still is rocked to sleep
No consistent naps
Kicks his legs up and rolls to one side
Plays with his feet
Anytime eye contact is made, he smiles the most precious gummy smile!
Squeals and coos quite a bit
So so happy if he isn't tired or hungry.  You might be thinking, well isn't every baby.  No, this is not the case with every baby.  Just ask Haisley.
Loves playing on his activity mat. 
Adores his sister.
Wearing size 2 diapers
Mostly 6 month clothes
Has a very loud cry
Is over the bouncy seat.  We'll probably progress to the jumperoo in a couple of weeks
Such an easy baby. 

Stats:
Head Circumference:  16.3 Inches ~50%
Weight: 14 lbs 2 oz ~25%
Length:  25.6 in~ 75%
Weight for Length:  25%

My sweet Benton.  You are so so loved!  You are so precious, sweet, and you already make us laugh.  We are so in love with your cute little self!