Life After the Man O War

Jon is doing great. And he actually has been for a while. It was a rough day/night but he went to school the following day and life went on. I will admit now, that I stayed up until about 1am that night, checking on him about every 1/2 hour. And then I went in again at 4am and checked on him (he slept in Vanessa's room to get a decent sleep). I was so worried he would get some crazy infection or delayed reaction to all the venom. I guess that's what us women do...worry. He was fine, I missed some sleep, but I did ease my worrying :) His marks/scars are healing. They don't hurt at all anymore. He will probably have some scars, but only time will tell. These beach pics were taken that fateful day ;) Vanessa really wanted him to play in the sand him with when he was leaving to go snorkeling. We have a bunch of pics or her trying to coax him back to the sand. They're really cute. And is it just me or are baby rolls the cutest ever? And tan lines in the rolls. Yes, Benson has both. That would probably make him the cutest baby ever.
This is Jon and Benson taking a nap in the loudest room in the house. Why they chose this spot, I have no idea. But, luckily we have a house full of deep sleepers because they didn't seem to mind the noise. Aren't they cute? Benson is seriously a super happy baby. He smiles and drools like crazy, they seem to come together. He isn't crawling, but he can pretty much get anywhere in the living room he wants to be by rolling around. I think he scoots a little too. I'm not honestly sure how he gets some places as fast as he does. Just yesterday I was helping Vanessa with something by the end of the couch and Benson was on the floor near the other end. I looked up and he was suddenly at my feet with a huge drooly grin. He also eats like a champ. He is eating baby food three times a day, most days. And, I even made him some home-made baby food. Go me! Sweet potatoes and green beans. In case anyone was wondering, I priced it out. Here were my calcuations.
I spend about $1 for 7 oz of Gerber baby food (this is with no sale and no coupon).
1.3 lbs of fresh green beans cost me $1.30 and this made about 35 oz. of baby food. That saved me $3.70. And it wasn't much time/work. The sweet potatoes are a little different story because I forgot how much the potatoes cost and can't find my receipt. I think they were around $2 so I only saved about $1. But still, it would add up after a while. Both these foods were super easy, I don't know that I'm all about spending much time doing the nitty gritty (like apples, they just sound tedious). But I guess we'll see. Benson does seem to prefer the fresh.

Vanessa starts looking more and more like a little girl everyday. She is no longer a baby. And she is acting more and more like a little girl too. My goodness! She is giving me and Jon a run for our money. She leaves us both shaking our heads, what feels like ten times a day. I wouldn't call it the "terrible twos" because she is still the sweetest, most adorable thing ever. But honestly, she has those tantrum skills down!
Enough of that. How am I surviving two kids that are 16 months apart? Well, I think generally well. Better than I expected quite honestly. I am exhausted and I wonder if I am doing anything right ALL the time, but I really did think it would be a lot harder. When Vanessa was Benson's age, I was just pregnant (though we didn't know it yet). Weird.
So today I went to Dollar Tree. This is a great store. But there are seriously some weird people here. I am walking up holding Benson, with Vanessa attached to my leg whining "cue, cue" (which means, carry you; but really me carry her). I was in the middle of telling her "I can't carry you, can I hold your hand?" When some lady walked up and started saying how cute my kids are. Really lady? I smiled and was polite, but I really didn't think my kid was acting very cute. But this lady was persistent. She continued talking to me. She wanted to know if we were going to have more kids and how many and when. Sheesh, honestly?! I realize this may be judgemental, but I don't think this lady was quite normal. I was worried for a minute that she was going to try to pick Vanessa up, to help me. Which probably would have caused all hell to break loose. But that's a topic for another story. This lady held the door open, followed me inside, and down the aisle as I am shopping. All the while asking me about my kids. It was freakin me out. Then another lady commented on what a flirt Benson is and my new bff told the lady for me that he was a really good baby. She did confirm it with me after she answered. It was about this time, that I stopped talking to her and just walked away. Was that totally rude? Probably. Was I also annoyed that I was there to buy pregnancy tests and didn't want 500 more questions from this lady? Most definitely.
PS...I'm paranoid, not pregnant. We don't actually have a need for pregnancy tests yet.
Since I am on a random tangent, I wrote up a scathing review on a doctor I saw once in Utah and absolutely HATED. I saw this doctor for my first prego appointment with Benson, so over a year ago. I don't know why I suddenly felt like writing this review. I was contemplating doing it and then when I saw he had a perfect score it suddenly became an obsession. Now I am wondering if I wasn't a little too harsh. I'm sure he's a decent person and a decent doctor. I take reviews on line into consideration, I wonder if other people do too? What would you do? I have an option to take it back, maybe I should?
Have I mentioned that I am considering getting certified to teach childbirth classes? I am pretty sure that I will eventually, it's just a matter of when and with what organization. There are lots of options. And I have to decide if I want to go to a conference or just do it all on-line. There are definitely pros and cons to both. I actually went to Nova's library to see if they had any of the books on one organization's book list. They didn't. But I did find two small, quick reads. One is called Childbed Fever and the other is Cocain Exposed Infants. I know, I'm weird. But these are two topics that I've wanted to know more about and they just happened to be there and the books I wanted weren't. So another decision I have to make with getting certified is what philosophy I want to go with. If I really go with my personal feelings on childbirth, they aren't exactly mainstream. But if I want to teach to make money maybe I should go more mainstream. Any thoughts?
I am so tired and really need to go to bed. There are a million random thoughts lately that I would love to post, but that's all the energy I've got for now and it'll be another six months before my whole family is asleep long enough for me to ramble this much. SO, I guess I'll spill the rest of my guts then.

Man O' War

This is a man o' war...

This is what it does...

Brush With Death

So I am being slightly (but only slightly) melodramatic here, but Jon scared the daylights out of me today.  We went to Lauderdale By The Sea for a nice beach day.  Jon took off snorkeling and I was playing with the kids.  After a good while, I see some commotion going on.  A man is yelling to another man askng him "is it a shark?"  I immediately started scanning the water for Jon and realized he was the one being yelled at!  The man tentatively swam out to him, slightly wary it was a shark, and the EMTs/rescue were shortly behind.  I was panicking.  Luckily, a nice family that was by us, sat with the kids while I ran to see Jon being pulled from the water.  His face was ghost white and he was covered in Man O War tentacles.  But, I was SO relieved to see he had all his limbs and it wasn't a shark attack!  He was in excruciating pain.  They got to work on him quick, using credit cards to scrape off the tentacles and spraying him down with vinegar.  After about 20 minutes, they told me they were taking him to Holy Cross Hospital.  I threw everything in bags and the same family helped me to the car.  I threw the kids in their car seats, sand and wet diapers and all.  We got to the hospital at the same time as the ambulance.  Jon was shaking really bad and looked completely miserable.  They had only given him Benadryl so far.  It felt like it took forever for them to get some pain killers in him but they eventually did.  Janelle came and picked up the kids and seriously saved the day.  I feel so bad for being such a burden and just calling out of the blue like that.  But her and hubby Brian were SO helpful!  They sent us home after a few hours with some good drugs. 
I feel awful that I didn't see him struggling and yelling to get back to shore.  He was at least 100 yards out.  I feel like I should have been watching and I could have sent someone to him sooner.  I am so grateful he was able to make that swim in the shape he was in.  He had last a flipper, and he thought he was still dragging the darn thing with him, since apparently the tentacles detach.  Next time, we'll make sure we snorkel with a buddy.  But for tonight, I am so grateful to have my hubby safe and in one piece.
So, apparently this is what happened.  He was actually almost done and wrapping things up when he felt a sting on his left arm.  He naturally went to grab it and his first thought was that it was fishing line.  He pulled on it and then the thing just went crazy on his back.  Apparently it had been behind him and he had kind of swam into after diving down.  He lost his flipper and his wedding ring :( in the struggle to get away.  He said he was yelling for him and seriously doubting his ability to get back to shore.  He was in SO much pain.  It is a thought I still can't even entertain right now.  I almost feel like I need to sit and watch him all night to make sure he doesn't go anywhere.  The doctors said it should feel better within 2-3 days.  It may scar and the next time WILL be worse.  They gave us a number to call.  He said if there are Man o War sightings, don't even go.  I am tired but I will post more pics tomorrow.  He pretty much looks like he was whipped.  Poor guy.  My stomach still turns in knots looking at it.

Pepsi

The boy loves his Pepsi.

(fyi - we don't really let him drink any)

Our LIttle Man

I should probably save this post for Friday, the official day of 7 months, but who knows if I'll have another opportunity.  Benson is getting so big I can hardly believe it.  He is a much bigger baby than Vanessa was.  He is sitting up, as you can see, but he still falls over quite a bit.  I'm still not comfortable sitting him up and walking away.  Supervised sitting only.  I started feeding him solids around five months.  I gave him rice cereal maybe three times and he just wasn't going for it.  But he loves the "real" stuff.  He went crazy for Mangoes the other day, so we'll have to be getting him some more of those.  He is completely over the "colicky" phase.  He doesn't get awful bubbles like he used to and can usually burp himself now.  Hallelujah!  And, he can even tolerate me eating and drinking milk products!  Oh ice cream how I have missed you!  And you better believe I have had ice cream every day for the past week.

Benson loves his sister to death.  He smiles at her and loves to watch her play, or just grab whatever toy she is playing with.  He has a pretty good grip on him too.  Speaking of grips, he LOVES hair.  Vanessa's hair is the ultimate temptation but he'll take what you can get.

He is still not sleeping through the night.  If I did some sort of sleep training, I could probably force it, but I'm still willing to let it happen when he's ready.  I guess that means I don't miss my sleep too much yet.  I haven't slept through the night in almost two years....what's a few more?

Benson has recently found his tongue.  He likes to curl it up and touch his top lip and say na na na na.  It's really cute.  He also says ma ma ma.  Which I think is interesting since I haven't heard a da da da yet.  Just shows who is the favorite I guess ;)

Benson loves bath time and has really enjoyed our first trips of the summer to the pool.  He loves to splash and will even relax laying on his back.  He also likes to drink the water when he gets a chance (yuck yuck yuck!)

Benson is extremely ticklish and has a giggle that will make you laugh no matter what mood you're in.  He also has a smile that can melt the coldest heart.  He's got this look that makes you feel like you are the only thing that matters in the world. 

Road Trip

Jon had a conference he had to attend for school up in Destin, Florida.  The kids and I decided to tag along.  AND, since it is a 10 hour drive, yes you read that right, TEN HOURS, we made it a road trip.  The way up wasn't too bad, we left after Jon's class Thursday night and drove until 3 am.  The kids were both asleep by 9, so it was smooth sailing.  We actually spent that night in Panama City, since we didn't have our hotel booked in Destin until the next day.  We drove around Panama City and knocked it off our list of "potentials."  A little hick-ish, even for us.  Note: "potentials" are places to live since the AA bill did NOT pass in Utah; due to corrupt government, don't get me started.....

Come to find out, the gulf coast is referred to as Flroida's "Emerald Coast."  It's a beautiful beach, though Siesta Key is still my favorite.  And Benson has found a new favorite thing to do.  That's right, he's a sand eater :(

Jon made some really good contacts at the conference.  Overall, it was a success.  And, we can now say that we have taken our kids clubbing.  Jon's class had a "get together" one night at a bar and grill.  Turns out the bar and grill has a club in the basement and that's actually where the "get together" was.  Other than getting separated for ten minutes in the crazy chaos, we made it out without too much permanent damage to the kids.

So our first stop on the trip home was St. Augustine.  We happened to arrive at 5, the same time most of the museums close.  What are the chances?  But, we still had a good look around and enjoyed the sites.  This is the oldest structure still standing in the continental U.S.  Built around 1565.

The city has lots of old buildings and unique architecture.  I would have loved to spend some time there taking pictures....without the kids :) The famous Fountain of Youth is also close by, I wanted to explore, but wasn't willing to add even more driving time.  So, we opted for this cute park by the parking garage.

Just a few hours south of St Augustine is Orlando.  So, of course we had to make a stop there.  We seriously debated staying another night to go to DisneyWorld but in the end, we couldn't force ourselves to muster up that kind of cash.  Vanessa will enjoy it more (and possibly remember) when she's a little older.  Maybe we'll hit it up when Jon graduates.  We did however, explore Downtown Disney.  It's a good, FREE alternate.  And it's free because it's a bunch of restaurants and shops.  Vanessa loved looking at all the toys.  We escaped with only spending $5 and only a few tears :)  Vanessa was asleep once we got in the car after about two minutes.  I still wanted to check out the temple so we did a quick drive by and headed home. Some time soon, it'll be a longer stop.  But that is for another day....

Plantation Boys

In order in the picture: Lincoln, Bradley, Benson, and Reese.  Age order: Benson, then Lincoln two weeks later, then Bradley a week later, then Reese 3 weeks after that.  At the time I was pregnant with Benson, there were three other women in the ward due within two months also having boys.  And here they all are six months later.  It's so fun to watch them all grow up together and see them all start to look just like their parents.  Another interesting factoid for ya, all of these babies are the first Floridians in the family.

Siesta Key

After my parents left, we drove up to Sarasota with our friends, Molly and Elliot. We stayed two nights and did some playing at Siesta Key. I would have to say this is probably my most favorite beach I have ever visited. Worth the hype, for sure. The sand never gots hot, which is fabulous, especially with kids. And it's super wide so it doesn't feel as crowded, even though being spring break it was just that. I am really bummed we didn't get more pictures of our whole group. We kind of slacked on the picture taking this trip, which is so un-like us. But here are a few of my favorites.

He's still got it. Sorry ladies, he's triple-taken.

Visitors

My parents came to visit last week and we had a total blast with them. They came in on Tuesday, March 8. On Wednesday, we went the beach, Lauderdale By the Sea. We chose this beach so Jon could snorkel but it ended up not being a goog snorkel day. Bummer. But everyone had a blast anyway.







Thursday was a stay at home day since Jon had to take the car for clinicals.  (He assisted in a 6 hour lipo.  It was really interesting to hear about, but also pretty gross.)  Anyway, On Friday we hit Alligator Alley on the way to Naples.  



Vanessa sure loves her Papa.

On Saturday, we went to the Miami Seaquarium.  Jon and I were pretty stoked to win free upgrades to a an annual pass.  We are so going back.  Vanessa loved it.



This picture makes me laugh.  Remember Benson's obsession with sucking on things?  He was sucking on the Pepsi bottle my mom is holding, this is how upsets he gets if something is taken away.



Sunday was an enjoy the Sabath day.  Monday we did a cruise along the intercoastal with a few minutes on the ocean.  And my Mom took me birthday shopping!  It was rather fabulous since we didn't take the kids, I got everything on my wish list.  Thanks Mom!  I was in serious need of some new clothes :)



On Tuesday, we went to Red Reef park in Deerfield.  Supposedly, this place has some great snorkeling.  We hadn't gone yet because it's $15 for parking and we didn't want to pay that until we could trade off snorkeling with someone to watch the kids.  We were slightly disappointed.  It was nice, but not really worth the $15 to park (or the drive).  Lauderdale is better.  But, Vanessa liked being burried in the sand.

And Benson loved his sweet potatoes.

The week went WAY too fast and we were sad to see them go.  We had a blast with them and Vanessa and Benson loved all the attention and spoiling.  Vanessa loves her new Nemo and Buzz.  And Jon and I sure appreciated being spoiled with our new clothes and stocking up at Costco.  We feel so blessed to have such wonderful family.

Gator Bait

Jon and I were pretty excited to try out camping in Florida.  We camped at a park about fifteen minutes from home.  But, we were the only ones there and the park is HUGE!  (Bonus points to Florida for having very awesome parks).  We had a bonfire with delicious smores and the world's largest marshmallows, compliments of Walmart.  (They weren't free, but Walmart carries them).  We pitched our tent, if you can't tell, a stones throw from the gator infested waters.  Okay, okay, not gator infested.  But, the week prior to this we were at this park and we did see a gator on the other side.  If it isn't Grizzlies, it's gators :)