Today I was in a difficult mood. I try not to get that way a lot because who enjoys that? But sometimes it happens, right? Where you just feel out of whack and it's everything you can do to not crawl back into bed and just start over? Those days where your hair looks AWESOME but you feel terrible? Not sickly but just ... moody blah. You know what I mean? That was my day today. And I hate moping. I hate brooding and being a Debbie Downer. So today Benjamin and I went outside while the sun wasn't fully up and the shade was still in our yard, and we had a "picnic" snack {low-fat cinnamon graham crackers are uh-mazing... and I'm getting used to drinking lemon water now}.
I think we spent about an hour in the lovely cool of the day {um 75 degrees is perfection}, just laying on the quilt, eating graham crackers and singing a few songs together {Benjamin is learning how to sing "The Lord is my Shepherd" since that has been his latest memory verse - oh, a cute little side note. We had a devo at a friend's house on Sunday night and the song 'Jesus Loves Me' was suggested to sing at the bonfire, and while the adults were talking about who should lead it, sweet Benjamin steps forward and starts us all off. I am one proud mama!}. Benjamin got up and played with Zoe some and started picking the pomegranate buds off of the low branches of our tree {meh, it's okay... it doesn't really produce good fruit anyway} and feeding them to Zoe. It was just really nice.
And even though I felt my moody self swing back later on in the day, at least I took some time to go outside with Benjamin and get some fresh air and make some memories with him. That's the way I see it, anyway! I am ever aware {and reminded} that I am not a perfect person... but I am trying to do what I can at any rate. The rest of this week is about to get busy with packing for the Lectures. Oh boy!
Today was a very good day, I'd say. I had a lot of fun with my Benjamin! We broke out the Window Markers for the first time and drew all over one of the big windows in our family room! Benjamin had a BLAST!
He got a lot on the window, but he also got a lot on his hands too! That's how it usually turns out after Bible class too! We like to color pictures in Bible class and sometimes I let him use markers and it is messy!
This face is called the "Biggie" face. When we say "Where's my biggie?" or "Give me a biggie" this is what we get. For your information, a "Biggie" is the same as an eskimo kiss, but we say "biggiebiggiebiggie" when we rub noses and Benjamin thinks it is so funny! It has become part of our bedtime routine. We say prayers, give nightnight kisses, and then nightnight biggies.
I recommend these window markers for any of you who have kids and live somewhere where you will bake if you step outside during the day, or for rainy days! As long as you can keep them off the walls... ha! It kept Benjamin happy, and that made me beyond happy!
And while we are on the subject of Happy! day 21 - a song that you listen to when you're happy
Easy! Fireflies by Owl City. I love Owl City! It's weird because I am really not into Synth stuff but I really like Owl City! It is just so much fun! This is even my ringtone!
{By the way, the title of this post is a reference to "I Love Lucy". Is anyone else here a gigantic Lucy fan??}
So many days this week have felt like Saturday, but today was the real deal, and it also felt like Saturday. This week was a really, really good one in terms of seeing friends and family and spending time together.
Thursday, we had taken Benjamin over to our friends' house to visit with their animals. I took a few pictures and wanted to share with you because it was a lot of fun!
Benjamin saw cows but they wouldn't let us close enough for a real good look.
The dog however enjoyed Benjamin's attention.
He also saw a horse...
...and wasn't too thrilled about being on his back.
While Benjamin loves dogs, he wasn't too thrilled about being licked all over.
He REALLY liked to help with the vegetables...
Benjamin picked this squash by himself!
Mommy got a few shots of some pretty butterflies...
Soon Benjamin broke out in itchy hives...
So we all headed inside.
It was very fun and I really enjoyed it! So did Benjamin!
--------
Today's "30 Days of Music" Category is: day 16 - a song that you used to love but now hate
I had a hard time really choosing this one, but then I remembered one song that I just do not like: Uncle Kracer's "Follow Me". I used to like this song when it was really popular way back when, but then I realized what the lyrics meant and I decided it really was not a good song. It's pretty much about a guy and a gal having an affair.
P.S. - What kind of name is "Uncle Kracker" anyway? ha!
I am constantly reminded how blessed I am by having friends like you all! Thank you for all of your encouragement and kind words on my post yesterday. I really needed to get all of that out {although that's not even half of it, if you can imagine}. Yesterday was not a bad day, though I did have a few meltdowns, but that's okay. It's okay to have those days.
Thank you, all of my friends, for being so thoughtful and kind to me. I truly am blessed.
Today is a better day! We slept in til 9 today, and it still was not hot out when we went on our walk this morning! The weather has been so pleasant lately, and we have been really thankful for the break from the sweltering heat.
Yesterday Benjamin ended up getting a gigantic goose egg on his head from falling down the stairs head-first into the corner of the banister. We only have three steps on either side of our family room so we don't really think much of it. Any fall he takes is relatively short and not a big deal, but this time it was a big deal! Hubby was saying he bruised his eye but then I looked up and saw this SECOND HEAD growing out of his forehead, and I nearly passed out!! Of course he won't let us put ice on anything so it just swells up as big as it wants. I was very surprised that he didn't bust his head open, but I am thankful because that would have been a lot of blood, and I probably would have passed out for real.
Another thing Benjamin has been doing lately is fighting naps. He refuses to nap. He will sit in his crib and talk and yell but he will not for the life of him lay down and take a nap. Usually though in the afternoon we will force him to take a nap because really, an un-napped baby can sometimes get a little too cranky. This happened yesterday, and Benjamin had already had a rough day! I got him up from his nap around 6 and took him outside. He was still cranky. But I got a few pictures of him since I haven't really been taking any lately {and I know that's why you all come here in the first place ha!}
You can still see the tears under his eye from where he threw a fit when I put his shirt on him... Mr. Grumpy Diaper.
But he's cute when he's grumpy, don't you think? Of course, sometimes his attitude is really not cute and he gets in trouble for that. But really, don't you love his little self?
You're about to see one of the reasons the child has a new lump on his head every week. I'm going to start calling him Lumpy. It's appropriate.
It's because we let him do things like this. He loves to climb. He loves to have his own adventures. And we encourage him to learn and explore. Unfortunately with that comes a lot of accidents. Can you tell that we are very laid-back in our parenting? One thing we are not laid-back in is discipline though. I think Benjamin can confirm that one. ha!
Anyway, moving on...
today's 30 Days of Music category is:
day 05 - a song that reminds you of someone
This was a hard one to choose because there are so many that do remind me of someone. I finally decided on this one:
The Fox - Nicklecreek
It reminds me of two people actually. The story behind it explains both so I'll just tell you that.
Two MSOP Lectures ago we stayed with our friends Autumn & Matt and their baby Alethia. Autumn and I were going to a store and well Benjamin was not enjoying his carseat. Suddenly Autumn decided to play this particular song, and immediately Benjamin stopped crying. We thought, oh he wanted to hear music! But the next song came on and he started crying again! We played this one over, and he stopped!
And from then on, and I think even now {we haven't tried in a while} he will stop crying when he hears this song! So this song reminds me of my son, and it also reminds me of my Kindred Spirit, Autumn, whom I love and adore. I could go on and on about Autumn, but instead, I'll go ahead and give you the video.
Today {ah well yesterday, I suppose! - Saturday!} was wonderful. We went to a fellowship at one of the members' at our congregation's house. They have such beautiful property. There were so many wonderful people there and I felt so blessed to be amongst brethren. I think one of the highlights of the day was riding with Hubby and Benjamin, and our friend and his child, and two other kids, on a golf cart all over the property. Although I did feel rather nauseous by the time I got off!
But my absolute favorite moments were the ones where Benjamin was having the most fun {albeit he had a lot of fun steering the golf cart in daddy's lap}.
Benjamin saw the big boys running and jumping over this board, so he decided he was going to jump "over" the board as well. It was so precious. He would run on top of it and "jump" - which is more of a bounce - and run off. Oh my heart was swelling at how adorable and charming my baby boy is!
Don't you love it? That was perfect timing right there! Oh my sweet Benjamin!
He was so proud of himself! He just needed to be a big boy so he could run with the big boys! So we clapped and cheered for him because boy oh boy, was he a big boy!
I am so proud of my darling boy, how excited he is for life, how zealous he is! Why can't we be more like children - giving everything we do our all? Sweet Benjamin jumped and jumped and he jumped with all he had - why can't we be like him? My sweet darling boy!
He inspires me every day...
Anyway...
Benjamin jumped and ran around for a while... and then the storms came.
Usually my sweet Benjamin loves to go to the doctor. He is never whiny, never fussy, and only cries during shots and shortly afterward. He loves all the attention he gets when he is at the doctor's office. I guess he understands that it is all about him, and you know how egocentric children are. Even though we try hard to teach Benjamin that it is not all about him by teaching to be considerate of others, he still believes that everyone in the doctor's office came especially to see him.
We went to the doctor today {not to be confused with the trip to the E.R. yesterday}. This trip started off like any other doctor visit - with Benjamin hamming it up in the waiting room and charming the nurse and doctor.
And then off came the diaper.
And then he was made to lay down on the table.
And then he was held down while they inserted a catheter.
I have never, ever heard him scream the way that he screamed today. My poor baby with tears streaming down his face, struggling so hard to get far, far away from that mean doctor {who was actually very, very kind}. It only lasted two or three minutes, but it was two or three minutes too long for I believe everyone in the room.
My poor sweet baby. When I laid him down to put his diaper back on after all that was over, he cried and drew his legs up like don't touch me! I felt so bad. He clung very tightly to me for a while afterward. We went and sat in the lab waiting area for a little while and then the doctor called us back and said she couldn't find anything wrong. So the specimen has been sent off to see if he perhaps has a UTI - and if he does, we will have to go see a specialist because boys rarely ever get UTI's.
Afterward, Benjamin and I went to Target and I treated him to some popcorn {which unless he's sneaked some, was his first taste - instant love I think!} and a cherry icee. We walked around a while, talked to Benjamin's Nana, and then Hubby came and picked us up for some grocery shopping. By this time, Benjamin was back to his usual self!
Grocery shopping done, we headed home, and Benjamin and I played outside for a little bit and worked on my newest photography project {more on that later}. I took a handful of cute photos:
Isn't that plaid outfit adorable? It was a hand-me-down from a friend and I have been in love with it since I laid eyes on it - before Benjamin was born! I have been waiting and waiting for him to be able to fit in it and my wait is over! So you may see that outfit a lot - I love it!
And I love my sweet boy.
Please keep my baby boy in your prayers. I need him to be ok!
