Sunday, July 23, 2006




This first picture is of Lua sitting in her "Bumbo" seat; a funny little chair that lets infants sit up and look around before they are really able to sit up on their own. it is a great little chair and she seems to appreciate being able to see what's going on. ...Ben loves for Lua to snuggle with him in his bed. This picture was taken a month or so ago. Lua always has this surprised look on her face. Maybe it is because she doesn't have any eyebrows yet.

just a little post

Just a little post because i don't want to spend too much time sitting at the computer right now.... i would have had time to post something longer and maybe more interesting if i hadn't just spent 20 minutes searching around Craigslist for things i don't need. I am not buying these things, mind you... well, not often anyway ;o) i just surf around looking for fabulous deals and rare finds and then i e-mail them to myself and others. a real time waster. good fun.
so, this will just be a little post- a "postlette" really- because my two children are sleeping simultaneously and we know that that won't last for long. We were at Feast until very late last night; had a wonderful time... but were out hours past bedtime and so the little boy went down for a rest with practically no fuss today. that means he is REALLY tired. The little girl is also asleep for the time being, though i am not sure how as her daddy is in a closet adjascent to ours drilling drywall screws into the wall. anyway, so long as they are both asleep i thought i would write a little note.
The cute thing that i was thinking about has to do with our little son who is moving towards being completely potty trained. It is a big step in our lives, and i can't tell you how happy we are to not have two babes in diapers. so happy. of course, it is a pretty intense time of having to pay CLOSE ATTENTION. Mostly Ben is great about telling us when he has to use the potty. sometimes, he doesn't mention that he has to go, but there is really no need because he is blatantly doing the potty dance; a little aerobic routine that leaves no question as to whether or not he has to go. One thing that we have learned is that we must DEFINITELY ask him if he has to go BEFORE he sits down to watch "Clifford the Big Red Dog". That show is just way too compelling to get up from to go to the potty..... so compelling in fact, that one doesn't even realize that one HAS to go potty.... and so it just happens. right on the overpriced Crate and Barrel couch......... scotch guard can only handle so much. Until you have kids in college, there is probably no point in having any furniture other than bean bags and area rugs.
Another thing that we have learned in the "potty training" process is that the right underwear is tremendous incentive. Ben is very very proud of his "big boy underwear" and particularly loves the briefs with the "Cars" characters on them.
( May i also mention that there are few things cuter than an almost three year old wearing a tiny pair of briefs. truly.) He likes "Mater" a lot, but the character that really strikes his fancy is "Lightening McQueen". To hear him say the name is really about the cutest thing that i have ever heard. First of all, he says it with such flair and inflection, and very loudly- as if he is the announcer at a big race. Secondly, whenever he says it, he usually says it about three times in quick succession. Thirdly, he pronounces it as "Limey Naqueen". whew. so funny.
Okay, that's all for now. sorry for using the word "cute" so much. It is hard for me to avoid when i am talking about Ben. ;o) If you met him, you'd know why.
I've got to figure out how to link to friend's pages. I am pretty sure that there are about three people that read this blog. not that that is the reason i am writing.... but it would be fun to know that writing here was actually helping me to stay connected with other people in some way. i'll figure it out....

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

the happy hoferts

the happy hoferts i am just trying something.... i don't know what this does
Here is Lua playing on her butterfly mat and laughing; two things which she does often.


Here Ben and his friend Lila are playing with some gears in the family room. Lila and her mom Cara came for a visit from Montana last month. Ben and Lila were fast friends!

I can't believe that i have not written anything here since March. Well, maybe i can.

As you can see by the very amateur look of this blog, i don't spend very much time here. One thing i want to know is, WHY can't i move that blogger box off of my title? do you know how much time i have spent just trying to move that darn box? what is the point of having a title for your blog if it is covered up by the darn blogger box?? you can probably tell that i am QUITE computer illiterate and definitely not very savvy when it comes to things of this nature. ah well. at least i'm here.
So, on the 25th of this month, our baby girl will be FIVE months old! it really boggles the mind! Don't get me wrong-- some of the days feel SO long.... but here we are, already on the threshhold of being HALF A YEAR old!! it is pretty scary to think really. This tiny window of time that i have to try to be a good mom, and effective parent, raising children who will be noble people, contributing members of society, servants to humanity. It's a tall order. Not sure that i am doing such a good job.....
Lua is amazing. She is so cute and so smiley. She also has a great set of lungs and cries more often than her big brother did at this age. Dan describes her as having "higher highs and lower lows" than Ben did when he was a baby. Interestingly, Ben, who was our mellow little baby boy is quite an emotional almost three year old. He has been having some high highs and low lows these days. I am not sure what to attribute to the "new" baby.... though he has NEVER displayed one iota of aggression towards baby Lua-- and in fact talks at great length every day about how much he loves her and how she is his "sweet girl". it is so precious..... The other thing is, he is two and 3/4 of a year old and i know that some of this can just be attributed to that. I find that much of his life can be looked at as these little peaks and valleys when it comes to behaviour. For weeks-- maybe months, he is his easygoing self, happy, cooperative and easily entertained... until one day he wakes up and is grumpy and fussy for another couple of weeks. We are climbing out of grumpy valley right now. at least i hope we are climbing out. Yesterday was a pretty great day; very little fussing, quite cooperative and generally cheerful.--- though i must add- in Ben's defense, even when he is having a rough time, it is not constant, and much of his day he still demonstrates what a sweet boy he really is; loving, sensitive, funny etc....
So, in a couple of minutes, the kiddos and i are off to the pediatrician for Lua's checkup. She was supposed to go at four months, but we delayed the appointment so that we could do some research and talk about vaccination options. So anyway, now she is almost 5 months old... i am anxious to see what she weighs and how long she is ....though i obviously could determine both of these things on my own.... i would much rather go to the dr's office, wait in a germy waiting room and pay a 40.00 co-pay for someone else to tell me. why am i doing this again?? well, i also want to get her umbilical hernia checked out; she still has QUITE an outie. poor Ben doesn't get out enough these days, so even trips to the ped's office are something to look forward to and he is excited to go in momma's car.
before i log off, i wanted to share a little stream of conversation between Ben and i yesterday afternoon.... well, it was less of a conversation than a soliloquy actually. It was ben's naptime and i was snuggling with him in the rocking chair, and he was talking. a lot. i tried not to talk too much because i didn't want to stimulate his busy little brain too much... but i did say a couple things here and there- like, "Ben, i love you more than anything....", "In the whole wide world", he chirped in.... then the rest of the talking went something like this:
BEN: "I have a happy heart. Cause i am happy."
MOMMA: "I am so glad you are happy"
BEN:" I have a radiant heart. I have a kindly and radiant heart. I don't have a radiant square. I have a radiant heart."
I couldn't help but giggle and snuggle him closer... i said, in a quiet voice, "Ben, you are such a hoot" and he said, "Yeah. I am a hoopt". classic.

has it been THAT long?


Here is a picture of Ben painting with Auntie Leslie when she was here in May. what a fun visit that was! Uncle Jef visited us in June and we had a wonderful time with him as well ;o)


This is a picture of the kids with Gramma when she visited in May.... i am trying to catch up here.