Spring!

Today we took a family road trip to Ennis, TX, which is well know for it's bluebonnet trails.  If you can't tell already, taking pictures of these guys is one of my favorite things to do and I was not going to miss the Texas tradition of bluebonnet pictures!  There are only a few years where I am going to be able to put them in a field dressed up and expect them to smile and I plan on taking full advantage of it!!!

We always take our monkey...the boys always smile for him and he is my test subject so I can start shooting as soon as the boys are ready!

Is he sweet or what?

I LOVE this picture of him!

Precious boy!

These 3 are going to be trouble one day!

Easter Eggs!

The boys and their Mia.  They LOVE LOVE LOVE her!

Meredith, Bryen and Maddie Claire

Maddie and her Nana

Picture Perfect!

It was a great day with our family and I hope to spend more weekends out in the fresh air enjoying quality time together!  When was the last time you stopped to smell the bluebonnets?

1 Year Old!

I planned for months for the perfect first birthday party for my boys.  Nothing so far with these two has gone as planned so why should their first birthday?

On Friday, their actual birthday, I was out running errands for their party the next day when my mom called me to tell me Blake was sick and had fever.  By the time I got home it was 103.2 and we were off to the doctor to get diagnosed with a double ear infection.  Later that night when we went to give Bennett a bath he felt warm and he was 101.4 and we were off to urgent care with him to find out he had nothing other than a virus.  Not quite how I wanted my babies to spend their first birthday, but it for sure made it one I won't forget!

Despite the fever, we decided to warn our friends of the "Hot Zone" that our house had become and still had a birthday bash!

Overall it was a great party and we got to spend some time with our family and friends which is a rare thing these days!  Now on to see what the next year has in store for us...each new phase is better than the last, so I can only imagine the memories we will make!

BIG NEWS!!

It's been awhile since I took some time to sit down and update everyone on what's been happening in the Warner house.  A lot of things have happened in the past month, but more on that in a minute.  The biggest news of all can't wait...BENNETT GOT HIS G-BUTTON OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We went to the surgeon's office Monday just to talk to him about getting his button out in May since the GI doctor didn't want to take it out yet, but when I walked in he was more than eager to remove it and who was I to argue with him!  Bennett has been doing great eating (his food and ours!) on his own and gaining weight and we haven't used his feeding button since the beginning of January.  He was ready and so were we!  We stopped by Jason's work and surprised him with Bennett's G-Button in a bag...a little strange maybe, but Jason couldn't wait to take it back for show and tell! 

Now to backtrack for a moment to catch you up on everything else...

A few weeks ago Bennett got his first hair cut and did great!  Blake got his third...that kid has a ton of hair!

Bennett also got a clean bill of health from the orthopedist.  He no longer has to wear his brace on his arm and he won't have to have surgery to release the tendons in his elbows!  He also has started weaning off his reflux medication, and hopefully in the next 2 weeks he will be off of it all together!

Blake is crawling everywhere, pulling up, and is into everything!  Baby gates are in our near future!  Bennett still isn't crawling.  He is doing better with his core strength and he is trying to go from sitting to his tummy, but he can reach so far and scoot that I don't think he sees the need to crawl.  Just like everything else with Bennett, he will do it when he is darn good and ready and when we least expect it.

Yesterday he got the 'thumbs up' on his eyes.  He doesn't need glasses and thankfully all that oxygen didn't affect his vision.

All in all everything is going well and we couldn't be more ecstatic with our boys growth and progress.  To say the least Bennett has been our little over achiever the last few months and exceeded all of our expectations!  Their first birthday is only 16 days away and I have been planning for months!  I can't wait to have a party with our family and friends to celebrate the first year of these little miracles!

More birthday pictures...I can't get enough!

They are loving blueberry oatmeal!

It always taste better messy!

My sweet Benneboo

Bennett and cousin Maddie...I think they will be best buds one day!

Birthday Pictures!!

What a perfect post for post 100!  Today we took pictures of the boys for their first birthday invites!  Blake learned to crawl full force a few days ago so that added a little more spice to the mix!

I love when they interact with each other!

There are always challenging moments when trying to get both of them to look cute!

The hats I made weren't such a big hit with the boys...

Then there was the cake...Bennett went for it first...

Then Blake decided it was ok to try it too...

...but he didn't like it and Bennett couldn't understand why...

"What's wrong bubby?"

"I didn't do it!"

"Ok, maybe I did!"

A brief update on the boys...Blake is a man on the move!  He is super busy and into EVERYTHING.  Baby proofing is a must in the very near future!  Bennett is doing great eating on his own!  We haven't used his feeding pump in 2 weeks and he gained weight (not much, but some) all by himself!  The nutritionist was very pleased with his progress and so are we!  We are still hopeful that his g-button can come out when we go for his doctor's visit in March.  Everyone keep their fingers crossed!

In a few weeks I will be going back to work 1 to 2 days a week at a surgical center.  I'm so fortunate that I have been able to stay home with the boys for this long, but I'm ready for a little time out of the house...not too much though!  I'm spoiled to getting to see every moment of their life and I don't want to miss too much!  We have some wonderful nannies that the boys love and I trust so now is as good as time as any!

All in all our little family is doing great and we are loving watching our boys grow even though it is too fast!

On his own...

Bennett is officially eating on his own...at least for the next 2 weeks!  After he ate all of his bottles by himself on Christmas we thought it might be time to give him a shot and the nutritionist gave us the 'go ahead' on Friday.

I must admit that I thought it would be no big deal since I didn't stress too much over what he ate before, but boy was I wrong.  The first bottle I fed him after we decided to put the pump away had to be one of my most stressful moments in the past month.  I tried everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, to get him to eat.  I started with his normal formula in his normal bottle, then proceeded to Blake's formula (tastes better) in a sippy cup (he LOVES sippy cups), when he was done with that I put Blake's formula in a bottle, when that didn't work I went to my formula stock closet (I think I have 1 of every formula ever made) and got out a new formula that is vanilla flavored...it tasted great to me, similar to a vanilla slim fast.  He like it at first, but after a few sips out of the bottle he was done with it.  Then I had the bright idea to give him some on a spoon.  He would eat it off the spoon, but we still had 4 ounces left and that would have taken forever and it was messy since it was so thin.  Next, I added oatmeal to the formula to thicken it and fed the rest to him off the spoon.  He willingly ate it, but was understandably a little grouchy in the end.  All of this took place in about 20 minutes. To say the least I was a crazy woman and when Jason came out from putting Blake to bed he wondered why the kitchen had exploded.

Yesterday I stayed away and my mom and Jason fed Bennett.  He did great and was only 3 ounces short of what he had been eating.  He didn't eat all of his bottle in one sitting, he ate about every 2.5 hours, but he got it done. 

Today he has done well, not as good as yesterday, but still keeping up.  Currently he is behind 7 ounces and I'm thinking he will wake up in a hour or so for another 3 or 4 ounces, and then fingers crossed he will sleep through the night!

My little man is such a strong guy and our hope is that he can have his button out for his first birthday!  I know he can do it if I will just relax!

Boy's First Christmas

December has been a busy month to say the least, but it has been one of the most fun!  The boys are meeting more milestones and that is one of my most favorite things.  There is nothing better than watching a child learn or discover something for the first time!  Blake is so close to crawling and Bennett can now sit on his own!  On Christmas day Bennett gave us the best gift of all...he ate all of his bottles on his own for the very first time!  He hasn't done it since then, but now we know he can do it...it's just a matter of if he wants to!  The boys are 'talking' and interacting with each other more, it's great to watch them carry on a conversation.


Some interesting adventures this month include trying to find a new nanny.  The interview process has been interesting.  We interviewed 3 people.  One had a language barrier and made the boys scream, one was perfect but wasn't available for very many hours, and the other was an interesting caracter that I wouldn't leave the dogs with.  We offered the job to the perfect nanny eventhough she didn't have as many hours as we would like and then she called to say her car was broken and she didn't know when she would be able to get it fixed.  I think this is a sign that I need to put my big girl pants on and figure out how to take both boys out at the same time.  They are getting much better when we take them out and I am starting to think that I can do it with some extra planning.  Guess we will find out when Jason goes back to work!

Blake got his second hair cut just this week.  He was starting to get mistaken for a girl so we thought it was time!

We have been working on getting the boys to sleep through the night and we have been fairly successful.  Bennett is totally my child and likes to sleep in and Blake takes after Jason and usually is up at 5am for a bottle and if we are lucky he goes back to sleep.  There has been some crying through the night and it makes you feel like a terrible parent, but I am a much better parent during the day when I have slept the majority of the night!  They will thank me when they are older!

Opening presents on Christmas morning!

Christmas with cousin Maddie

Opening presents with his Mia

Mickey is Bennett's favorite TV show...he watches everytime he eats his bottles and now he has a Mickey of his own...He really only likes to chew on his ears!

9 months old!

How cute are they??

Here are a few 8 month picts since I forgot to post them

8 months old!

Poppy teaching Blake to crawl

 

We made 1st Christmas ornamates with the boys feet prints!

Tonight as we look forward to 2012, I must admit that I am anxious to see what the new year holds for our family.  2011 has many memories that I never want to forget and a few that I wish could.  It has been the hardest, most emotional year of my life, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.  My hope for the new year is that our family stays healthly, I'm able to become more of the parent that I aspire to be, and that we enjoy the simple things in life!