Christmas at the Schwuzzards

For the past 4 years we've been spending our Christmases in Charlotte, North Carolina with Mike's family. This year we decided to stay close to home since it might be more difficult traveling with two, and to start some of our own family traditions with Ben and Sam. Ben was really excited about Christmas this year! He seemed to really get the idea of Santa and his reindeer. We had a little Elf named Red, who lived in our house during the month of December. He kept a close eye on whether Ben was naughty or nice. Ben would wake up every morning and go searching the house for Red, asking him about his travels back to the North Pole to see Santa. He was very sad to wake up yesterday morning, only to discover that Red had gone back to North Pole until next year.

Ben wouldn't wear his Mickey Mouse ears in Disneyland, but he busted them out to parade around the tree...go figure!

A friend of ours, Marc, was in-town visiting from Vietnam (where he's been living for the past 10 months). He shared our Christmas Eve and Christmas morning!

Petey!!!!

Uncle Mark, passing out gifts.

Can you find my dad? He's hidden behind the bag of garbage (one of four bags of trash...a little excessive????) What a MESS...

Playing with our new toys. Life is good.

The rest of the day was spent eating, eating, and then eating some more. Special Pancake for breakfast (a tradition in my family), hot dogs for lunch (a new tradition????), and turkey/cranberry enchiladas, which were delicious! I'm definitely going to have to make use of that gym membership!!! HA!

Happy Holidays!

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Halloween

Last year for Halloween, Ben was one and wasn't so sure about the whole trick-or-treating thing. What a difference a year makes!!! Halloween was three days ago and Ben is still carrying around his bucket (with four pieces of candy in it...because I sent the rest off to work with Mike), and asking to go trick-or-treating. He loved dressing up as a train engineer (because he is obsessed with trains right now), and once he got warmed up, enjoyed walking up to the doors and saying, "trick-or-treat!".

This year we also carved a pumpkin, which Ben helped scoop the seeds out of,

and then daddy carved it up!

Sam helped by sitting around and looking cute in his giraffe costume...

Sammers

Ben 2008

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Now I Know My ABC's...

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Oakland Zoo

Since Mike is heading back to work soon (we're going to miss him...he's been home almost 2 months!!!), I decided I needed to make the most of the time we have left. It had been a while since Ben and I got to do something special just the two of us, so I took him to the Oakland Zoo (threatening rain clouds and all). Luckily, the rain held off until we left, but we had a great time together!

We rode the carousel,

saw the giraffes,

climbed atop tomato frogs,

indulged in some pb&j with fries,

rode the steam train (Ben's FAVORITE part),

and left very happy. I love spending time with my bog boy!

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A Phase?

No, those band-aids are not because Ben actually needs them. Ben has become obsessed with band-aids. What is it about band-aids kids love so much? I just hope they fall off in the bath...I don't want to be the one to have to take them all off. Ouch!

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Mr. Smiley

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It Was a Napa Kind of Day

We decided to take our first mini-road trip as a family and head up to Napa.

And while Sam slept (I caught him awake for a few minutes before he nodded off)...

We had a lovely lunch at Bistro Don Giovanni,

See and download the full gallery on posterous

And then stopped at Bouchon for some chocolaty delicious bouchon...headed to Francis Ford Coppola Presents so Mike could deliver some bouchon goodness to some colleagues. Finally we headed home, in hopes that October temps in Walnut Creek would be a little cooler than the 99 degrees we experienced in Napa.

Did I mention we shopped, as well? Food, family, retail therapy...perfect!

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Smitten

I think it's pretty safe to say that Ben is smitten with his baby brother, Sam....

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Pumpkin Patch

While Sam slept, we had a blast at the pumpkin patch! Ben jumped in a giant pool of beans, fed a llama, went through a giant tunnel and maze of hay, and picked out a special pumpkin for his little brother Sam. He's SUCH a good big brother!

Samuel Emerson Buzzard is here!

Sam is here...and I'm only three weeks late in writing a post about it. We are quickly getting adjusted to baby life again, which has caused me a fuzzy brain from lack of sleep. (Not to mention that we also have a VERY BUSY two year old, so life keeps moving along...any advice from experienced mommies is welcome....yesterday I found myself nursing Sam while eating my lunch and making sure Ben ate his lunch...is this normal???...I guess I need to master the art of multi-tasking....yikes!)

Sam is wonderful. He eats, sleeps, fusses a little, and snuggles a lot! My labor was such a different experience than Ben's labor...there I go, comparing already, but it's really amazing just how different the two are. Sam's disposition is so different than Ben's was at this age (this ripe old age of three weeks), but I can't wait to watch and see what Sam will be like, and how they will be as brothers. So far Ben has been extremely loving...but of-course Sam hasn't tried to steal any of his Thomas trains.

Mike has taken a good bit of time off of work, and he has been spending a lot of quality time with Ben...which I know Ben has just loved. They have gone on some great adventures...steam train rides, the airplane museum, San Francisco...not to mention hours of riding the scooter that Sam got him...it has been nice for me to have some time to bond with Sam and get to know him.

Hopefully soon we'll settle into a routine and Sam will decide that he'd like to sleep some longer stretches at night (which I'd really appreciate)...and life will start to feel "normal" again...our new normal (whatever that is).

A Few Firsts

Ben had his very first trip to the dentist and did an incredible job. The funniest part about it, to me, is that his dentist was my dentist when I was little, the Snoopy Dentist! Everything in his office is Snoopy. Ben even got to go to the dog house and pick out a toy when it was all over. I remember doing the very same thing. It's so amazing to me how we've come full circle.




Ben's other big first was starting pre-school this week. He'll be going two days a week, and a bunch of his friends and neighborhood kids are in his class! Look at that big boy smile!

Good Morning, Mr. Rolli Polli

As I was getting ready this morning, I was greeted by a rolli polli bug cruising along our carpet. A rolli polli is much less offensive than a gigantic spider, or a mosquito, or a flying bug I can't even identify, but it's still an icky bug nonetheless.

Enter suburbia...a place where you have ample room to run around, plenty of parking, Target, and a LARGE VARIETY of icky bugs! Living in San Francisco we certainly had our share of mesquitos. On those rare, warm nights, they would congregate over the still puddles of water in the park that hadn't fully absorbed into grass. Of-course, we had raccoon sightings, but rarely an icky bug.

Now, icky bugs are becoming the norm. I'm not a fan a of the bug, flying, crawling, or creeping along our carpet. However, unless we make the exterminator a regular friend, I'm afraid I will have to make peace with the icky bugs.

One Saturday Morning

Last Saturday, Ben and I went to our neighborhood farmer's market to pick up some fancy lettuce with flower petals (my favorite), strawberries, and asparagus. Instead of using the stroller (which might have been the easier option), he held my hand the whole time. While perusing the market in the sun, we ran into neighbors, and friends from our Mommy and Me "preschool" class. We walked by the sorbet stand and I figured a little mid-morning snack of icy strawberry-rhubarb would be a great Saturday morning treat.

We found a spot in the shade on a curb and Ben scooted as close to me as he possibly could. We sat together and talked, eating sorbet, and I looked at him, with his little baseball cap on sideways, holding his cup like such a big boy and realized how quickly he HAS become a big boy. Talking, jumping, running, sharing, snuggling, reading, making trains, coloring, understanding, laughing, crying, getting frustrated...he's growing up so fast!

I will forever hang on to that moment in my mind at the farmer's market where life seemed so simple, and my little boy suddenly seemed so grown-up.

There's a Bagel in Mommy's Tummy

"A bagel in mommy's tummy," was Ben's response when I asked him if he new what was growing in Mommy's tummy (of-course this was right after I had downed an Everything bagel with everything on it)! As we talk more and more about it, and mommy's tummy gets bigger, Ben will tell you there is a baby in mommy's tummy, whether or not he really understands that he will become a big brother in September. The other day I asked him where the baby was, and he put his hand gently on my stomach and said, "Baby right here." We are 18 weeks along and get to find out girl or boy in two weeks!

Everyone keeps asking if I have a preference. A healthy baby is all I could ask for. If we get another boy then we are set with clothes, if it's a girl, I can go crazy buying bows and tutus! We got Ben his own stroller which he loads up with his doll Jake and his sippy cup and cruises through the house and yard, bumping into walls, and popping wheelies along the way (perhaps we'll wait until he's a little bit older to push the stroller with the real baby).

I took him to a doctors appointment yesterday and he got to hear the heartbeat. For the rest of the night whenever the subject came up he put his hands on his stomach to talk about mommy's tummy, the doctor, and the heartbeat.

Ben is going to be a great big brother. He has become quite the little helper around the house. If he finds a drop of water on the floor he will stand by the paper towels asking for one so he can wipe it up. For the next 20 minutes Ben can be found wiping floors, windows, and eventually his nose.

As for now, the bagel in my belly continues to grow and kick, and we are excited that our family of 4 (I had to include Petey), will become a family of 5!

He's a "Yeah" Man

A few weeks ago I posted about Ben and his favorite words, "No Mommy," and it seems as though things have taken a turn...for the better! All of the sudden Ben has starting responding to questions with, not yes, but "yeah", and not just a simple "yeah" but an extremely enthusiastic "YEAH".

Me: Are you ready to eat to lunch?
Ben: Yeah!

Me: Do you have a poopy diaper?
Ben: Yeah!

Me: Are you ready to take a nap?
Ben: Yeah!

Me: Do you want to read a book?
Ben: Yeah!

Me: (after throwing his sippy cup across the table) Do you need to sit in the naughty chair?
Ben: Yeah! (the only time I'd wished he would have said "NO!"...who wants to sit in the naughty chair!?!?)

What a pleasant phase we're in right now...I'm going to enjoy each "yeah" while it lasts!

A Bit of a Scare

Thursday night around midnight we hear Ben wake up and call out, "Icky Lovey, Icky Lovey...." (Lovey is what he calls his blanket). Mike went in to investigate, only to discover Ben had gotten sick. We bathed him, changed his clothes, retrieved alternate lovey from the closet and brought him into bed with us...only to have him get sick again...(so we had to repeat the steps and find alternate sleeping arrangements since our bed was now "icky"). We stripped our sheets and we all went to sleep on the air-mattress in the guest room (including Petey who managed to squeeze himself in). Luckily, we made it through the rest of the night without any further incidence.

Friday he seemed fine. We avoided milk, watched some Sesame Street, and stayed inside because of the rain. He slept through the night and woke up Saturday morning at his usual time.

I went to get him and bring him into bed with us, because we usually "nuggle" (snuggle) and read books and wake up. As soon as he crawled into our bed he fell asleep again, definitely strange for him. I decided to get up and get breakfast going and left the two lazies sleeping soundly. Once Ben did decide to get up, he stumbled into the kitchen and laid down right where he was standing, closing his eyes and going back to sleep. I picked him up and put him on the couch where he fell over sitting up and fell back asleep.

Something was wrong.

Luckily we have a great hospital minutes from our house, so we got in the car and headed over to the ER. Once there they gave B an IV (after pricking the poor thing 4 times to get it in), took blood, did some x-rays and determined the cause of his sleepiness. Due to being sick the two nights prior his blood sugar was low and he was dehydrated. Once they gave him and sugar, apple juice, and a bag of fluid, he was chatting away once again...much to our relief. He was so brave throughout the whole time in the hospital. The only time he cried was not when they were treating him like a pin cushion, but when they were taking off the tape to remove the IV! Such a tough little cookie.

This was certainly not the way we had planned to spend our Saturday morning, but thankful a little sugar and hydration was all it took to get him back to his old self. Phew!

A Walk

I was hoping to take Ben to the park today after his nap so he could burn off a little late afternoon steam. Unfortunately, the rain came so our outing to the park was called off and it looked like we would be hanging out indoors for the rest of the day...tearing up the house! Once Ben woke up, the rain had stopped, but I knew the park would be a little damp so we decided to take a little walk...(stop and smell the flowers, play in some water, and splash in a few puddles)

"No, Mommy!"

Little Ben is growing up so quickly, and lately, he wants to do EVERYTHING on his own. From brushing his teeth to putting on his p.j.'s to sweeping the yard. Should I so much as breathe in his direction I quickly get the hand and a, "NO MOMMY!!!" Though I am so excited Ben has this new-found independence, I can't help but feel a bit sad...he's only 19 months old, and I know this is only the beginning of things Ben is going to do on his own. I know my job as a mommy is to give him the tools he needs to be his own little person so he can find his way in the world, but I definitely wasn't quite ready yet to hear "no mommy!"




This last picture says it all...