Apple Orchard

Joel had a great time at the Apple Orchard yesterday - it was one thing to the next the whole time. Mitchell was in WI this weekend and Grant was happy in his carseat the whole time, so it's pretty much just pictures of Joel having fun. Funny, the purpose of going there was actually to get pumpkins, but turns out they don't have pumpkins at this particular place. I'm still glad we went though - it's actually a very cute little orchard and very close to home. We still need pumpkins though.... hmmm, maybe Aunt Terri and Uncle Jon could spare of few of their FOURTEEN pumpkins :)

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Victory at the Dome for Buffalo (21-8)

Last weekend, Mitchell got the very exciting opportunity to play on a team with several other Buffalo 5th and 6th graders and play a game at the Metrodome against Blaine. Needless to say, this was VERY exciting for him and he had great time. And even better, they were victorious against a very skilled Blaine team. Way to go Buffalo!!

New Paci

So, I have to chuckle after rereading my last post, where I explain how Joel surprised us by giving up his paci so easily last week. Well, just when you think your toddler has decided something is okay (like no paci), they of course, change their mind. I have needed to update this blog, regarding the paci situation, for about a week now. Apparently, after Joel thought about it for about a day or so, he decided that it was NOT okay that we took paci away, but of course that was after his mom, clearly a first time mom, had already "broken" the real paci after Joel took ONE successful nap without it. Way to go, mom. That one nap, was the ONLY nap he took all week, and I will tell you it was NOT because of lack of effort on mine and Jeff's part. Each day I spent LOTS of time trying to urge him to take a nap. I tried everything... letting him cry, lullaby cd's, a new cool Thomas pillow for his crib, putting books and toys in his crib. After 4 days of Joel not napping, and eventually deciding he wasn't going to sleep at night either (he started getting up every couple of hours to scream at us), mom delivered a new paci to his crib at 2:30 in the morning. So, peace has been restored to our house and, for now, Joel's will to have his paci is stronger than our will to get rid of it, and we are OKAY with that :)

Broken Paci

When I decided Sunday morning that Joel's afternoon nap would be the last with his paci, we all prepared ourselves for some major drama around bedtime that evening when we planned to tell Joel that his paci was "broken". After his bath, I handed him his teddy bear "Teddy" and of course, as always, he put out his little hand for his paci, as "Teddy and Paci" have always been a pair... he never had one without the other. So, I gave him his broken paci, explained it had broken and asked him if he thought we should throw it in the garbage. He loves throwing things in the garbage, so he quickly took paci over to the garbage and tossed it in, without a single complaint. So, I thought, well, that was fun, but the real drama is yet to come when we put him to bed with just Teddy and no paci. But... bedtime came and went and Joel didn't make a peep. We did have to show him the broken paci a couple more times, but not a single whine out of Joel about the situation, and this is kid who has thrown himself onto the ground when a puzzle piece doesn't fit quite right on the first try. I am still baffled that the loss of paci did not even warrant even a mild tantrum, or at least a little whining!

And perhaps the funniest part of this story is that, the paci in the picture below, is in fact, the real paci... but this one just "broke" today, for this picture, and I won't be showing Joel this one. The paci that broke on Sunday was a fake one that looked JUST like this, but was actually Grant's. I did NOT have the guts to cut the real paci on Sunday, because that's just how convinced I was that Joel may not go to bed or maybe even ever sleep again without his paci:) I just laugh now thinking about how much I pondered and thought about how and when to get rid of this thing, and then leave it to Joel to not even care.

5 Months Old

I always think it's fun to look back through the pictures and see if I think the boys look anything alike when they were the same age. Jeff even dug out a picture of Mitchell at 5 months to add to the mix. Usually I think they all look different, but I think I see some similarities in these three photos of the boys at 5 months... I'm just not sure...

Grant - 5 Months

Joel - 5 Months

Mitchell - 5 Months

Grant's Baptism

Here comes the baptismal water...

Godparents Uncle Jon and Aunt Terri

Grandma Rose and George came all the way from Hibbing for the special day (thank you)... somehow George must have been hiding during the pictures... hmm.

Cake made with love

A baptism kiss from cousin Jayna

Long day, with no time for a nap, left Joel (and Dad) all tired out.

Another reason Joel was so tired by the end of the day... he couldn't get enough of rough-housing with Uncle Mike all day long.

Grandpa and Grandma Move to Town (well,.. not really:)

As most of you probably already know, my parents recently bought a townhome in Buffalo. No, they are not moving, but I'm sure my mom wouldn't mind :) They love coming to visit, but our lack of a spare bedroom (or bed), was making for tight quarters in the Benson house. So far, the new place has been great for everyone... the kids get another fun place to go, Jeff and I get date nights, and Gpa and Gma get more time with the kids. It's win, win, for all.

All the pictures below were taken my my mom, with her camera... I just took them off her camera so I could blog!

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