Thilges Family Fun

Drum Roll Please...

2010-12-06T21:56:00.007-06:00

I'm baa-aackk!!! I know, I've been gone far too long, and have a lot of catching up to do, but first I have to reveal to you our Christmas card for this year (not yet...see below). First of all, have any of you ever made your Christmas cards through Shutterfly? I am HUGE fan. I have made photo gifts like this neat desk calendar...

They make great and affordable gifts that last an entire year. Shutterfly makes creating photo gifts as easy as pie- seriously mom and dad, you could even do this! If you want to create a masterpiece like this one click here.

Shutterfly also has quality photo invitations to choose from. I love adding pictures to birthday invitations, suddenly the invitation becomes something that you will keep forever rather than just pitch in the garbage after the party is over. One of my favorite invitations from their site is this one:

As you all know, we take pictures of our kids each month, so an invitation like this is perfect for us. I can't wait until Alanna's first birthday so that I can pick out her first invites from Shutterfly Cards & Stationery.

I know, I can feel the tension growing, you are waiting to see our Christmas card, right?? :) I am so excited because Shutterfly has a deal going right now for bloggers...if we share what we love about their products, we get 50 free Christmas cards. That is a great deal! To all of my blogging friends, here is the link to be able to get this deal too: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

I had a terrible time picking what one we should use. There were so many adorable Christmas photo cards to choose from. Here is a link to get you to all of them, but my top three were:

Click here to create this one called "With Love"

Click here to create this one called "Starlight Snowflake"

and

Click here to create this one called "Family Wall"

Which one did we choose?

I think you are going to have to wait until closer to Christmas to find out. I know, that was really mean wasn't it, but to give you a little taste, here are some pictures that I had to choose from for the card:

Aren't our kids adorable? :)

Merry Christmas everyone. I'll put the Christmas card on here soon...but not quite yet, I want to get them sent out first. I'm hoping to be around more often too...pretty sure I won't ever get caught up on the blog, but we will see. I'm finally done with school again, so I am predicting a little more free time in my future! :)

Alanna is 2 Months Old!

2010-10-18T12:28:00.000-05:00

Alanna had brought joy to our lives for 2 months now. She started smiling just after turning 5 weeks old and hasn't stopped since.

Don't you just love the curl on top of her head?! She has a nice thick streak of hair down the center.

Here is one of her REALLY BIG smiles. I haven't been able to catch her in a picture just smiling without the freaking out style of smile seen here:) As you can see her stork bites have already started to fade a little bit. They get nice and red though when she is upset.

At 2 months old Alanna was still nursing 10 or 11 times per day. She gives us a 5-6 hour stretch between feedings at night. Alanna continues to sleep in between each feeding during the day and isn't on a schedule yet. The most that she can stay up at a time without starting to get tired is a half an hour. She has a very fussy period that starts like clockwork around 6 pm each night.

Alanna is 1 Month Old!

2010-09-27T12:34:00.000-05:00

Alanna turned 1 month old on August 30th! Just like her shirt says, she truly is one of a kind, but she is also a lot like her brothers! :) I am learning more and more about her each day and I can't get over how she looks so much like Bennett, but acts so much like Ethan. Ethan loved having his bottom patted to be soothed, so does Alanna. Ethan hated a pacifier, so does Alanna. Ethan cried a lot in the evenings...so does Alanna! :) We are pooped, let me tell ya.

Alanna's Birth

2010-09-26T10:39:00.001-05:00

On the evening of Thursday, July 29th, I started having fairly regular contractions. However, they were easy to talk through, weren't really getting any stronger, and by the time I had taken a shower before bed, they had subsided. Great, I thought, I will get to go back to my class tomorrow! At 2:30 in the morning, I woke up feeling like I had peed myself...sorry, too much information, I'm sure! With the other 2 boys I had never had my water break on its own, the doctor had always broken it for me, so this was a new, and very strange experience.

We got up and called the hospital right away. They questioned whether or not it was my waters...not sure why, I don't regularly pee myself, but anyway, we headed to the hospital after taking the boys to Leia and Ryan's house.

Here I am, nervously waiting....

After 2 hours of walking the Labor and Delivery floor in the middle of the night, my contractions were actually subsiding again! I felt ridiculous. If my water hadn't had broken, I would still be home waiting for the contractions to get more strong. I think that I was only dialated to 1 cm.

Finally, Dr. Hintz started pitocin and that's when things started happening. Slow at first, and then very, very suddenly!! I swear it took me FOREVER to reach 3 cm, but then I think I went from 3 cm to 9 in only a couple of contractions. I got an epidural, which only numbed my left leg and by the time the anesthesiologist tried to fix his mistake, I was ready to push. Dr. Hintz was doing a D & C procedure...I heard him tell the nurse that he would be done in 10 minutes and he would be back. Ha! He almost missed my delivery! Adam and the nurses were actually trying to get me to NOT push....seriously, NOT push??? Come on people, there isn't any way you can NOT push.

And here is the result, I'm finally writing about it:) Alanna Rae Thilges was born on July 30, 2010 at 1:20pm, 5 pounds 15 ounces, 19 inches long. What a dolly! :) She wasn't due until August 18th, but I would going to be induced on August 5th.

Her face was covered in angel kisses, or stork bites as others would call them. Adam said she looked like Wolverine. Nice daddy. They have already faded quite a bit.

Aunt Kate with cousins Gabbie and Paxton.

Aunt Jamie.

Big Brother Bennett.

Big Brother Ethan.

Leia and Ryan's daughters, Delphina and Arabella.

Aunt Brooke.

A proud daddy and his little girl.

Nana Thilges.

I can't believe I have a beautiful daughter to love. How blessed can I get??!! Thank you God, allow Adam and I to raise her to know how fearfully and wonderfully made she is. She is a gift from you.

Ethan's 4 Year Old Pictures

2010-07-23T21:49:00.004-05:00

Ethan's 4 year pics are ready. Adam said he had a difficult time warming up (it took around a half an hour), but once he got started he did great! He has started to stick his tongue out when he is nervous, so they had to remind him to keep it in every once in awhile.

Ethan looks like a young boy now, not my little baby!

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35 Weeks Along!

2010-07-15T13:40:00.004-05:00

I had a doctor's appointment today, no ultrasound, but I will add picks of my belly later.

Alanna is now lying transverse (sideways) in my uterus. I said to Dr. Hintz, "Oh good, this means that she is just slowly making her way head down because last time she was breech!" Dr. Hintz sarcastically just told me that I can think what I want, but now that she is transverse it will just be easier to turn her later! Due to her sideways position, I am not measuring correctly, but how could I be, right?

Her heart rate was 152 and my level of antibodies due to the Rh sensitization remained at 1:2, no change, which is great news!!

Dr. Hintz moved my ultrasound up a week (7/22) and said that he will also check my cervix again next week...he typically does not do this (he thinks it is pretty pointless), but he is going to make sure I am still not dialating at all since he will probably have to turn her head down eventually.

Please pray that she turns head down. I'm scared of the pain of him turning her again! Would I rather have a c-section, no, but it just REALLY HURTS!

4th of July Weekend

2010-07-13T21:05:00.002-05:00

We had a great 4th of July weekend up at the river...well, we left on the 3rd, but still had a great time with family. The boys LOVE being out on the boat with Grandma and Grandpa. They were hanging over the edge to feel the cool water on their hands almost the entire time. Bennett wanted to dive in I think!

I think that one of my favorite things to do is be on the river, just be out on the water. It is so beautiful. I don't need to be doing anything at all except looking at nature...and it makes it extra special when I get to be with family.

Bennett saw a boat!

Fishin'

Kez looks like she is about to dive in!

33 Weeks and Ultrasound

2010-07-01T21:06:00.005-05:00

Yesterday started my 33rd week of pregnancy with Alanna. We celebrated with another ultrasound. :)

Now that I have also been Rh sensitized, which means I am building antibodies against the pregnancy due to Alanna's blood being a positive type and my blood being a negative type and somehow they came in contact with each other, Dr. Hintz is examining the blood flow in Alanna's brain more closely to watch for anemia. It is extremely rare for this to happen randomly in a pregnancy without having experienced bleeding, and the majority of women with a negative blood type recieve RhoGAM around 28 weeks to prevent this from happening. I have officially decided that if there is a statistic, a percentage, a probability...Adam and I will break it!

Anyway, so far so good, the blood flow in her brain is as it should be. Her limbs are now measuring 7 weeks behind and her heart looks the same as it did the last time. Alanna had the hiccups for a good portion of the ultrasound so it was difficult for Dr. Hintz to look at her heart. He is not concerned at this time but will check again.

Alanna is breech right now, so we will have another ultrasound at the end of this month to see if she has turned head down. Dr. Hintz turned her (OUCH!) but by the time I got home she had turned back again. I have her head in my lungs! He will try and turn her again at 37 weeks if needed, otherwise I will need to have a c-section. I am praying that she does the right thing- make a good choice Alanna! ;)

Now for the important part, pictures!

Look at her big, pouty bottom lip. She is so beautiful, I'm getting so excited to meet her.

The umbilical cord is covering her lips in this picture and her hand is up by her face too:

I have gain 19 pounds so far, almost double what I did with Benne over his entire pregnancy, we are doing great! Well, everything I eat gives me heartburn, but hey, at least I'm able to eat!!

Okay, this is a first for me...I am going to show you my bare belly. CAUTION: You may want to put on some sunglasses at this point in the post as it is blindingly white:

Thank you for continuing to pray for Alanna. I can't wait to meet this precious gift that God has created.

Summer Days...

2010-06-10T20:07:00.013-05:00

For my birthday weekend we went to Des Moines to the Blank Park Zoo. It was a lot of fun! Ethan's favorite animal to see was probably the lions, although he wouldn't allow himself to stop and watch any of the animals long enough because he was so excited. Bennett's favorite animal was the monkeys. He, on the other hand, could have stayed and watched them play for hours.

It was a beautiful day to be at the zoo. Perfect weather. I'm pretty sure that Bennett would have walked the entire time if we would have let him...he was SO TIRED by the time we were done. The boys also really liked the petting zoo that they had. Of course, mom and dad didn't bring ANY CHANGE to get food for the goats, so we just had to watch the other kids feed the animals grain. Great parents, huh?!

Yesterday we went to the library to make bubble wands and sign up for the summer reading program. After that I had a picnic down by the river with two Burger Kings...

Enjoying the beautiful weather. Bennett loves the bubble mower!

Ready, set, mow!

How adorable is he?!!! Seriously, I have really cute kids!

Ethan looks so grown up here.

The new tent and play tube is a hit!

Ethan's favorite way to spend his time.

So cool.

We got a new bike for Ethan for the summer. He had bruises on his knees from where he hit the handle bar on each crank of the pedal from his little Radio Flyer one, so we thought it was time!:) We measured him this week and he is 42.5 inches tall!

Since getting his bike he has had one "good tumble" down the hill at Fontana Park, and since then he has been worried about riding his bike at all. I am happy to report that tonight we had a successful ride!!! He was scared to go down the driveway hill, but did great after that. :) Ethan is such a sensitive boy...I worry about it sometimes, how can I help him feel more self-confident?! Look at him! What a sweetie...

29 Weeks and Ultrasound

2010-06-02T20:49:00.005-05:00

I am 29 weeks pregnant today and we got to see Alanna. Yes, her name is Alanna Rae. I am SO BEHIND on posting, I feel like there are a million things I have forgotten to blog about!

We chose Alanna Rae because Alanna (A-Lon-na) is my middle name and Rae after my Grandma Whitesell's middle name. There are several meanings that I have found for the name Alanna, but my favorite one is "precious". She is a precious gift, that is for sure.

Our ultrasound went really well today! Dr. Hintz measured my amniotic fluid right away. They measure this by centimeters. There are typically 4 pockets of fluid that surround the baby. In one pocket alone today I had DOUBLE the amount that I had total at the end of my pregnancy with Bennett. Right now it is looking normal and healthy...thank God!

Her limbs are all measuring 4-5 weeks behind. I looked back at Bennett's measurements at around 29 weeks and they were all 5-6 weeks behind. They are very similar little babies. She is estimated to be around 2 pounds right now.

Her brain and heart look great. Dr. Hintz can still see that one of her heart valves is a little bit thicker than on the opposite side, but the blood flow is very good through her heart so he is not concerned at this point.

I didn't get any pictures. I know!!! She is so beautiful too, so pretty. It is my fault for not asking for any, he usually gives me plenty, we were all just so focused on looking at her, I forgot to remind him.

I am continuing to grow, I have just felt so much better this pregnancy than with Bennett. On numerous occasions during a meal, Adam will just look at me and say, "It is so nice to see you eating while you are pregnant! Do you realize you didn't eat very much when you were pregnant with Bennett?" I only gained 10 pounds total during Bennett's pregnancy and I know that I am WELL BEYOND that with Alanna. I think I am as big as I was at 9 months with Bennett as I am right now!

I will go back in 2 weeks for another appointment (I can't believe I'm in the 2 week check-up zone!) and then 2 weeks after that I will have another ultrasound (June 30). She will be here before we know it.

Bennett's New Stool

2010-05-03T20:25:00.000-05:00

Our wonderful family members all pitched in with us to get this stool for Bennett for his birthday. It is so exciting because now Bennett can safely help in the kitchen and wash his hands all by himself without me having to worry about him falling off a chair. He LOVES it, it puts him right in where all the action is and helps him be more independent.

Thank you so much to everyone who helped us be able to purchase this for Bennett!

He can even climb into it all by himself thanks so the "ladder" on the side!

Bennett is 2!

2010-04-29T10:07:00.000-05:00

Bennett had such a great 2nd birthday party. We had beautiful weather to celebrate his special day. I am so thankful for the little boy that Bennett is becoming.

Bennett has finally given up his morning nap and is getting used to sleeping longer in the afternoons. He will usually sleep between 2 and 3 hours each day and then 12 at night. He still wants to be in bed by 7pm and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Bennett is a great eater! He isn't a huge fan of meat, but loves fruits and veggies. I would say that his favorite foods right now are bananas, cheese, green beans, oickles, baby carrots, mashed potatoes, mandarin oranges, and of course, sweets! This kid has such a sweet tooth, it is strange because Ethan doesn't really care about sweets, but Bennett would live on him if we allowed it.

Bennett is saying an uncountable number of words and has started to put together some short sentences. For example, "Want one too!" "Thank you mama." are ones that he has said just recently.

Bennett was exited from his private physical therapy and the therapy that he was getting from the AEA! Both parties thought that now that he is walking he will quickly learn the rest of his gross motor skills on his own. It has been so nice to have a break from all of those appointments!
He still is a little wobbly on his feet, but is trying so many new tricks. He is climbing, running, and attempting to jump every single day. It is hard for me to believe that just 5 short months ago he had just begun to take his first steps!

Bennett shows a tiny amount of interest in potty training, but we aren't going to push anything. He will tell us when he goes poop and oftentimes tells us right after he has peed, but I've never been able to catch him doing it and put him on the potty. He likes to practice sitting on the potty, and when he is in the bath he acts like he is going to pee like Ethan by standing up and putting his finger on his penis to "hold it down". Very cute!

Bennett definetly has a 2 year old attitude! He knows what he wants and insists that he gets it. And he still continues to be the LOUDEST child I have ever met! He really does not have an "inside voice"!

Below are some pictures from his party:

Cousins Gabbie and Paxton
My pictures are not in order! This is the day after his birthday. We had to go feed the ducks in honor of his birthday, and besides, he got a loaf of bread to share with them at his party!

Bennett had a duck themed birthday party. My friend has a business on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/NoPaparazziPlease and she made this adorable duck t-shirt as a birthday gift for Bennett.
Here is the cake! I was SO STRESSED about how it was going to turn out, but I loved how it ended up. Target made the base and Adam and I made the duck.

Thank you God for Bennett and all that he brings to our family. Continue to remind me that he is in your hands. You love him far more than I can even imagine and you have wonderful plans for his life. Continue to guide Adam and I as we raise our two fabulous sons.

Breathe

2010-04-07T20:09:00.013-05:00

On Monday we had an appointment for Bennett at the University of Iowa Hospitals with Dr. Trapane, a genetics doctor. It was his yearly exam with them. They did a skeletal survey, which is basically x-rays of his entire body, in the morning, and then at noon we met with the doctor.

Once again Bennett continues to stump everyone! His bones look completely normal, nothing has changed over the past year. Praise God! They did an upper to lower segment ratio (measure from hip to toe and compare it to his arm span) and it is 1.6 with the average at his age being 1.53. At our last appointment in Iowa City his ratio was 1.9, so he is actually become MORE proportional over time. The doctor also feels that Bennett's upper-arm length looks shorter because he has big biceps:) He is our little muscle-man! They were very happy with the way he is growing. He weighs in at 23 pounds, 11 ounces (7th percentile), 32.5 inches (13th percentile), with a head circumference of 46.5 cm (10th percentile)...a peanut, but such a cute one!

We had a long discussion about the fact that the baby I am carrying now is showing the same signs that Bennett did. Dr. Trapane says that obviously it must be something that is being passed down in a recessive manner through our genes. This means that all of our children have a 25% chance of having whatever this is, and Ethan has a very good chance that he is a carrier of it. Of course, it takes just the right two people to come together to make these genes show themselves, and Adam and I are the right two people. We have the exact same genes that have a change in them that is creating this in our kids. Make sense? The stumper is, we don't know what it is! She says that the majority of children with skeletal dysplasias have a change in their bones that can be seen in x-rays. For example, the hip bones in children with achrondroplasia are actually shaped a little bit differently. THEY SEE NOTHING DIFFERENT IN BENNETT'S BONES!! :) This can change as Bennett continues to grow, but we just wait and watch...we are completely at peace with this.

On Monday, we also had an ultrasound with my OB, Dr. Hintz. This is the longer ultrasound that he typically does at 20-22 weeks. I didn't even know what to think, what to expect. When Bennett was inside of me every ultrasound we went to held grim news, and it only got worse the closer I got to my due date. This was not the case today!!!!!! Praise God!!!!!!!

The fourth ventricle in her brain that was dilated is, "unremarkable", nothing to really comment on anymore. Dr. Hintz said that it isn't even something that he would recognize as abnormal in another baby. It has shrunk down so much from 4 weeks ago.

There is still fluid around her heart, but NOT EVEN NEAR the amount that was there last time. He said the only thing that he can see that may be causing it is that one of the ventricles is a little thicker on one side, causing the blood on that side to flow through slightly faster than on the other side. There is great blood flow through it, so he is not overly concerned. He is going to continue to watch it.

Her arms and legs are measuring around 3-4 weeks behind. However, her bones look nice and straight. Everything else looks to be growing just as it should be. AND, I will only have to deliver in Iowa City if something changes with her heart.

Here are some ultrasound pictures of our precious baby girl that is a special gift from God.

Isn't she just gorgeous! :) Ethan, Bennett and this little sweetie are made just the way God wanted them to be made. I am going to be the proud mom of 3 beautiful children soon. Regardless of how short or tall they are, or what struggles they may face, I know that God has a plan for each of them.

Psalm 139: 1-18

O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.

You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake, I am still with you.

Bennett's 2 Year Pictures

2010-03-29T20:13:00.003-05:00

Come and see Bennett's 2 year pictures by Infinite Image Design. All he wanted to do was walk around for the outside ones and then for the inside ones he insisted that I sit my big bum on that tiny white stool next to him. (Sit, Mama! SIT Mama! SIT MAMA!) For not being in the best mood, Rose captured some good ones!:)

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The Ducks Are Back!

2010-03-22T21:43:00.002-05:00

Many of you know that the best part of living in Independence, Iowa is living right by a river....a river where ducks love the people and the people love making the ducks fat. This is one of our very favorite activities to do with the boys. We will buy entire loaves of bread JUST to feed to the ducks, AND purposely not eat the bread we have to save it for the ducks.

Anyway, the ducks are back! They came back for the spring and summer months last Thursday, and yes, I know that was the EXACT day they came back because this is the argument between my boys that I heard EVERY DAY, ALL WINTER LONG after picking them up from daycare:

As we proceed over the bridge:

Bennett: Ducks?

Ethan: NO DUCKS BENNETT! (very irritated that he must tell him again)

Bennett (straining to see out on the ice-covered river): DUCKS! (matching the same irritated tone of Ethan)

Ethan: BENNETT, THE DUCKS ARE SOMEWHERE WARM!

Bennett: DUCKS!

Ethan: NO DUCKS BENNETT!

This argument usually ends up going back and forth until we actually pull onto our street and see the house, where then Bennett proclaims: "HOUSE!" and he is off to something new...

On Thursday however, there were ducks in the river. 5 of them. I immediately stopped at Kwik Star and bought a loaf a bread and we headed down to feed them their first feast. Bennett and Ethan were in heaven. It is so sweet to see the joy on their faces when they feed those sweet ducks:)

Needless to say, Bennett's second birthday party will be a mallard duck theme. My sister has already designed the invitations, they are adorable. I will post them next.

Sweet Baby

2010-03-11T19:40:00.000-06:00

We had an ultrasound on Monday. We are having a girl! This is very exciting for us, we have really wanted a girl. There are some complications that are going on though, so please pray for her. She is showing the same limb shortening as Bennett did (2-3 weeks behind at this point). Some of her bones are a little bit more curved than they should be. Her heart has fluid surrounding it. One of the ventricles in her brain is dilated.

Please pray for her and for us as we begin this journey again.

We go back for another ultrasound on April 5th. It is a waiting game again.

Rockin' It Before Bed

2010-03-10T14:37:00.002-06:00

If you ever need to smile, come and visit my blog and watch this...

2010-02-21T07:33:00.000-06:00

13 weeks!

2010-02-08T21:08:00.003-06:00

Some of you may not know that I am pregnant! Our third baby will arrive in August. I just had my second OB appointment today. It went really well. The baby's heart rate was at 174. It was heavenly to hear it again.

I have been having a lot of anxiety with this pregnancy. I think that it is bringing back a lot of what we went through with Bennett and I am worried about the baby. I expressed this to my doctor today and he said that when he does the ultrasound he would measure the baby's limbs right away. I made him promise to talk a lot during the ultrasound...he was SO QUIET when he looked at Bennett.

When I got ready to leave I heard him talking to his secretary, asking her to schedule me for an extra half an hour for an ultrasound next month! :) I didn't expect him to do that and am so thankful. He isn't very good with talking about "feelings". You can tell it makes him uncomfortable, BUT I know that he cares a lot about his patients because he didn't have to do that for me. He said that he will measure the limbs and check the chest cavity and then in April he will do his full hour and a half long ultrasound.

So, March 8th and April 12th can't come soon enough! :)

Playtime

2010-01-18T15:04:00.000-06:00

Older pictures from December, but I had already started this posts a long time ago...I'm so behind!!!!!!!!!!!! My sweet nieces birth day isn't even on here! One day at a time, right?

Bennett Update

2010-01-04T20:38:00.002-06:00

Bennett has added more words to his vocabulary than we can count, but here are some of them:
house, poop, dance, baby, mom, sock, bubbles, and peas (please)
He and Ethan race in the family room and he always says: ridy (ready)...go!

He is doing SO MUCH walking now. I can't believe I don't have a video on here yet. I need to stop beating myself up about my lack of blogging, but I can't help it. It will get done someday, right?
I would say he is walking over half of the time now. He is choosing to try to walk rather than crawl!

We had an appointment in Iowa City this morning for Bennett in endocrinology. I am a little discouraged because his doctor feels like he is becoming more disproportionate. She took his measurements, so we will know for sure when we get her report in the mail. He is at the 5th percentile for height at 31 inches and the 4th percentile for weight at 22lbs. 11oz. We will just continue to wait and watch him grow...and love him regardless!:)

SNOW DAYS

2009-12-18T14:52:00.004-06:00

On Wednesday, December 9th, we had a huge snowstorm and ended up with 12-14 inches of snow.

Time to play! Here comes Ethan overload...:)

Our snowman friend

19 Month Little Man

2009-12-02T19:46:00.000-06:00

We had an appointment with Dr. Nau last week. It went great! Bennett is 32 inches tall. He is now in the 32nd percentile for height! He weighs 22 pounds, 12 ounces... still a little pip-squeak. His percentile for weight dropped down to the 4th percentile but Dr. Nau is not concerned because he is moving so much he is probably just burning additional calories. His head circumference is 46.9 cm, which is at the 22nd percentile.
All of this + all of the cool words he is saying = adorable!

Bennett is talking up a storm saying: Thank you, all done, down, duck, uh-oh, hot, balloon (ba-oom), pup, ki (kitty), ball, snack, juice (uice), si (paci), blanket, ba-ba, bite, book, mama, dada, apple, up

He continues to sign "more" and started signing "help" tonight!

We still go to physical therapy every week. Bennett has taken up to 5-6 steps independently now and Adam and I catch him trying walk away from a table or couch all on his own. He knows he wants to walk now, he just isn't quite strong enough yet.

Bennett is, I'm pretty sure, the LOUDEST child on the planet. Seriously loud. And, he is almost always at his loudest when we are in the car. Ethan will tell him he is hurting his ears and to be quiet, and we all laugh because Adam and I are feeling the exact same way. How do you teach a small child the concept of an "inside voice" when it seems physically impossible?! What he lacks in size he makes up for in noise!

Pictures to come, I promise. My homework is killing me!

Fall 2009

2009-11-14T09:52:00.001-06:00

So, now it seems as though I am only a seasonal blogger. I got sad when I wrote the title of this post...is it really getting to the point that I am only blogging once a season? :(

During October at daycare, Leia sets special days aside for the kids to wear fun outfits. One of the days is favorite sports team day. This picture made me laugh, Bennett looks like one mean, fighting Viking!:)

This was Ethan's first year going trick-or-treating. We practiced trick-or-treating at home and Leia practiced it at daycare, but Ethan didn't say a word all night. He looked just like this all evening long...stunned.

A sweet dragon and a little punkin.

Grandma Smith gave the boys "scary eyes" for Halloween!

Halloween loot! Bennett's first sucker, he's hooked!

Ethan gets to paint a pumpkin each year at Leia's house to celebrate Halloween. He did a fantastic job painting his this year!

Playing in the leaves is what fall is best for!

Bennett walked nearly around our entire block with his favorite walking toy. He was exhausted but thrilled that he could do something all by himself! You could just see the joy on his face as he walked beside his big brother.

We picked out a few pumpkins at the local Pumpkin Patch this year.

Bennett and my cutie husband.

Isn't my ear cover fashionable on Ethan?! :)

Boo!

Bennett's 18 Month Pictures

2009-11-10T13:21:00.001-06:00

Here is the link to Bennett's 18 month pictures:

The password is: thilges

http://infiniteimagedesign.exposuremanager.com/g/children

Our little man!:)

3-5-8 and a Bunch of Words

2009-11-02T20:21:00.002-06:00

Bennett went from 3 teeth to 5 last week, and by the end of this week he will have 8, I'm sure of it! I feel awful for him, his mouth looks like a bumpy, swollen mess. Bring on the tylenol!

Also, Bennett's speech is blossoming so much right now. Some of his new words are: yuck, down, I want that, car, duck, kee (for kitty- or anything that comes remotely close:), and pup.

I have tons of cute fall and Halloween pictures to put on here, I'm getting there.

Oh, and I forgot to put on here that Bennett took his first steps!!!! I put it on my Facebook page, but not here. Anyway, his physical therapist is letting Leia borrow a small bench for him to do exercises on. He was sitting on the edge of it last weekend, stood up, and took a couple of steps towards me. He did that several times, but hasn't attempted anything like it since. He is such a chicken! :)

18 Months!

2009-10-21T22:15:00.002-05:00

Bennett turned a year and a half last week! We are so proud of him...little sweetie:)

He finally cut his 3rd tooth, his 3rd tooth!!! I was starting to wonder again if he had anymore than just 2 in there! But now we can see that his top chiclets are about to pop through too. I'm pretty sure there is just going to be an explosion in there soon. Poor thing.

Elmo's getting smaller and smaller, isn't he?! Bennett weighs around 21 pounds right now...we know because we have frequented the doctor PLENTY lately. He has now had 6 ear infections. He has been on antibiotics 30 out of the last 40 days!:( I don't even want to imagine what that has done to his system, although, I don't really want him to get tubes yet either.

Tooth-less grin!:)

Favorite face he dishes out...

Yeah, I'm cute, so what?

Bennett is making progress towards walking too. He can walk fairly well holding onto one of our hands and then an object in the other hand to give him security. I see him getting stronger each day, but am getting impatient for him to start walking! He wants to be able to keep up with his big brother in the worst way.

New words: hot, pumpkin, balloon, apple, up. We know he is saying a lot, we just can't understand it all.

Signs: all done, more, drink (on a good day)

Favorite toys: anything that Ethan is playing with at the moment...I'm pretty sure just the "act" of stealing the toy from Ethan is play enough for him. He loves the stereo equipment, VCR, DVD player, cell phones, and Playstation too. That's what we spend the majority of our time distracting him from right now anyway!:) When he isn't stealing toys from his brother he is imitating him, so I would say that Ethan is his best favorite toy of all!

Bennett is quite a firecracker, which I wouldn't imagine him any other way based on the way he came into this world. He has a quick temper and almost appears as if he is going to literally blow up when he wants something or is trying to communicate something. I love this about him, it just reminds me what a fighter he is.

I'm sure there is a ton I'm forgetting to mention about how fantastically wonderful my second born is. We love you to bits Bennett!

Maia Torture

2009-10-12T09:33:00.001-05:00

I thought I would share a glimpse of what Maia goes through every day at our house...poor thing!! She handles it so well though!:) Forgive how frumpy I look!

New Videos

2009-09-27T21:44:00.001-05:00

There are all new videos on the sidebar...click to see Bennett's new trick. I think it is the top one.

A Piece of Heaven

2009-09-26T22:44:00.003-05:00

I am pretty sure Ethan felt like he was in heaven when we went up to the river at the beginning of September. He got to "fish" with his Uncle Keith, throw rocks into the river, take a long walk, eat a cookie bar before lunch, look at some fish bones that grandma found, go to the top of a "mountain" (Pikes Peak), and hang out with his mom ALL DAY!! What could be better than that!:)

We haven't braved an actual hook and bait yet, but I think he may be ready. He has casting down pat...loves it, talks about going fishing all of the time. I can't wait to take him up to Prairie Du Chein again soon. I have so many memories of my summers there growing up and I want to create those memories for my kids as well.

The only set back we had that day was him throwing up on the way up there...welcome car sickness. Ever since then we can't make a trip into Cedar Rapids or Waterloo without him feeling sick. I used to (still do) have a hard time with car sickness, so I guess this is pay back for what I put my mom through! I feel so bad for him though.

Ethan's 3rd Birthday Party

2009-09-26T22:05:00.008-05:00

I am embarrassed that it has been almost 2 months past Ethan's birthday party and I am now just posting about it, but better late than never, I guess.

Ethan's party was a lot of fun. He is really into dump trucks, diggers, dozers, cemet mixers, etc. So we went with a construction theme. The cups for the kids were traffic cones and the cake was dirt cake in the back of the dump truck Ethan got from Grandma and Grandpa Smith for Christmas last year. It turned out great!

We had a pinata made of steele, I swear! The kids had an impossible time even making a dent, we had to have Austin, my oldest nephew lend a helping hand.

Owen giving it a try.

He means business...look at that face!:)
Kez, can you do it?

Surely Bennett will succeed...

I think one of the adults finally "accidentally" ripped a hole in the back to make some progress.

Ethan got a lot of really nice gifts at his party.

Gabbie-Girl

The cake

Make a wish!

Worm balloons are a hit!

Bennett's First Haircut

2009-09-12T14:03:00.003-05:00

Bennett got his first haircut at the beginning of September. Unlike Ethan, he sat like an angel on my lap while the stylist cut it. Ethan is doing much better with it now though...in fact, that day all three of my boys got their hair cut at the same time. Bennett looks a lot more grown up now!

Handsome little man.

My cuties:

Whistle While You Work!

2009-09-12T14:01:00.003-05:00

Bennett can whistle! This week we have finally confirmed that yes, indeed, we are hearing Bennett whistle. He does it when he is playing really hard and concentrating on something. It is on the intake of his breath. So cute!!!

Phil and Beth's Wedding

2009-09-12T09:47:00.000-05:00

On August 1st one of Adam's closest friends got married. Adam was an usher. We had so much fun!! Grandma Smith came to our house for basically the entire weekend and watched the boys while Adam and I attended the rehearsal and dinner on Friday night and the wedding and reception on Saturday.

Adam looking all spiffed up.

Fixing the groom's tie.

Already had enough to drink...

Adam's crew from high school. Why does Danny (in the middle) look black and white? Not sure why that is!

Grandpa Thilges wore his sunglasses during the reception so we were poking a little fun...

My gorgeous sisters-in-law. Jen is in the middle (married to Adam's oldest brother, Chris) and Kate is on the right (married to James).

It had been a long time since we had taken pictures together!

Dad Thilges in his shades. :)

James, Kate, Gabbie, and Paxton

I have excellent footage of Paxton and Gabbie dancing, but I'm having a hard time downloading it...stay tuned!

Cute Pics

2009-09-03T21:33:00.003-05:00

We LOVE going on walks with the kids, usually after we clean up supper, even if for only 15 or 20 minutes. Here is where we capture our cutest pictures of them.

Peek!

By the way, Bennett is waving now. It is adorable, if waving can possibly be adorable! We also heard back about his lab results too. His iron level was in the low end of normal, his Vitamin D was in the low end of normal, and his ferritin (which is the body's storage of iron) was at 23 with normal being at 24...the last time this was checked it was 6! Great improvement, Dr. Nau was very pleased with this.

So many posts to write..so little time! I'll get there, be patient! :)

Ethan is Three

2009-08-12T22:20:00.000-05:00

Ethan turned three on August 7th. My little baby is growing up. He is sweet, loving, and passionate about everything he does. He works really hard at trying new things and always gives his best. I say all of this because his passion and determination also lend themselves to having a sometimes stubborn and strong-willed little boy. Don't get in his way that is for sure! Ethan is very sensitive as well. He requires a little nudge to learn new things and sometimes gets easily overwhelmed and frustrated. Let's just say he is exactly like his mother!

At 12:37 am on 8/7/06 my life changed forever.

One amazing little blessing.

One fantastic little boy.

At the age of three Ethan is finally giving in to peeing in the potty (notice I didn't say pooping). We have had quite a time just convincing Ethan to sit on his little potty let alone put pee in it, so I'm excited about the progress we have made. We are working really hard at helping Ethan feel comfortable with going other places than home and at going on the "big" potty with the VERY LOUD flush that Ethan despises! We also are working on going poop on the potty- he just doesn't have the patience to sit that long right now.

Ethan's had his first dentist appointment too. He did wonderful!! I thought for sure that he wouldn't want to sit in the chair let alone have grandma use an instrument to clean his teeth. He sat like such a big boy and the dentist said his teeth look great! It was really cute, the night after he went to the dentist he thanked God for the doctor who cleaned his teeth. It must have been a good experience for him!

Ethan gets funnier and funnier each day. He has a really silly personality. He still LOVES music and dancing and I often find him making up songs and lyrics to songs that he already knows. So cute! He also really loves to read books, paint, draw, and play with cars. He watercolor painted through an entire ream of white cardstock this summer! If it is a quiet activity, he is there.

I am so proud of the boy that Ethan is becoming. I pray that I continue to help Ethan grow to the man that God wants him to be. I pray that God helps me in showing Ethan how to be a great big brother, how to challenge himself to do new things, and how to always be confident about who he his. I also pray for guidance in how to push Ethan further in a way that works best for Ethan's personality. I love you Ethan. You are an amazing gift!

More about Ethan's fun birthday party to come!

Visit from Raya

2009-08-12T22:18:00.000-05:00

We got to have a visit from my friend at work, Shawna, and her baby, Raya, a few weeks ago. Ethan adored her and she adored him back! What a little dolly she is.

It is funny how kids just love other kids. Ethan and Raya were "peeps". Bennett just wanted to poke her!:)

Rylan Donald Recker

2009-08-11T09:42:00.001-05:00

On July 23rd my sister had her first baby, Rylan Donald Recker. He weighed almost 8 pounds and was 20 1/2 inches long. Looks just like his daddy but he has my sister's sweet personality!:) Ethan was completely IN LOVE with him when we visited him for the first time. He actually held him for at least 10 minutes! 23 must be a lucky number because there are now three of us in the family with birthdays on that date!

Don't you just love Bennett's old man outfit?

He was so incredibly sweet to him.

Proud Uncle Adam...

Not Your Mama Anymore!

2009-08-06T20:49:00.003-05:00

Apparently when you turn 3 (tomorrow) you don't need to call your parents by "mama" or "dada" anymore...Ethan now calls us "mom" and "dad". So weird, really it is strange! It actually makes me giggle every time he says it.

Happy 15 Month Birthday Bennett!

2009-08-04T09:08:00.001-05:00

Bennett turned 15 months like 3 weeks ago so I thought it was time to post his 15 month update! :) He had his check up last week and it went really well. He weighs 19lbs. 9.5oz- 3rd percentile and his length is 30 inches which at the 10th-15th percentile. Dr. Nau said that if his length continues on this curve he should end up being around 5 foot 7 or so! Wouldn't that be fantastic?!

He will have his iron and vitamin D levels checked in a couple of weeks to make sure they are where they need to be. He continues to do really well in therapy. Right now we are working hard on cruising and walking with assistance. He struggles with knowing how to shift his weight from side to side and is a lot stronger on his left side than his right. We may have another lefty in the family! He is doing great with walking while holding onto someone's hands. Last week he learned how to get to a sitting position independently so he has been practicing that non stop.

I thought I would take out some pics of Ethan at Bennett's age again. It is so fun to compare!

Here is a picture of Ethan:

Ethan and Daddy

Ethan

Bennett. Definitely a difference in size!

Ethan all proud of himself.

Bennett in a predicament...ok, so I put him in there...

Don't mind the nudity in the background...potty training!

Hot stuff:)

Chillin...

Doesn't he look so cute standing at the couch?! And those jammies!!

Some words he has started saying: "dip,dip", book- "ba", "ball", he barks like a dog, although it sounds like a really annoying little yippy dog (nothing like our big scary pit bull!:), this, that, up, yes, kiss

It has been a great 15 months Bennett. You continue to amaze us and we thank God every day for you.

My Sweet Sons

2009-08-02T20:57:00.000-05:00

Cutest kids on the face of the planet! (I'm not biased or anything!:)

Done Nursing

2009-07-31T09:39:00.002-05:00

Bennett did not want to nurse this morning. :( I think he is growing up. It makes me a little sad, but also happy for him!

Summer Fun

2009-07-18T20:29:00.007-05:00

Summer is all about...

Good friends...

Hot parades...

Family memories...

and stayin' cool...

New Videos

2009-07-15T13:05:00.000-05:00

I uploaded new videos to the blog bar...Fun!:)

Going Back to School

2009-07-14T13:14:00.003-05:00

Well, it is official, I am now a student again. It has been a very difficult and overwhelming decision to make, but I am going back to school to get my endorsement in school counseling. Since I already have my master's in social work all that is required is that I take 7 courses and then do a practicum experience to receive my endorsement. I shouldn't say, "ALL that is required," because I feel like it is going to be a major undertaking having two kids, a husband, and a home since getting my MSW.

I decided to go back to school not because I don't like my job, I just want to be more of a part of the interventions that I am always suggesting to staff in the schools I serve as a school social worker. I want to be able to get to know kids a little better and work more with them. I am hoping that I will get to work with middle or high school students at some point. It will take me two years to get through these courses.

Anyway, I just thought I would share something about my life for once...plus it is a good excuse for the lack of posts lately (and probably in the future!:).

Don't Turn Your Back

2009-07-01T21:54:00.006-05:00

This is what you will find if you leave the kids in the living room for a second to check on supper just around the corner in the kitchen....
Bennett is a climbing fool!:) You can tell he definitely wants to put his new skill to work as he is constantly climbing our 3 sets of steps. We put a gate on this set today so that I can actually leave the room to finish supper if I need to. He is getting so strong.

We went to University of Iowa Hospitals today to see a pediatric endocrinologist. These are the specialists who look at growth hormone levels, your thyroid and other glands. We were super impressed by the doctor that we got to see. She was so gentle with Bennett and open to our questions. She feels that Bennett does not have a growth hormone problem because most of the time babies with growth hormone issues are proportionately small, but she says that Bennett has "disproportionate growth" where his legs and arms are shortened. This is what the previous doctors felt as well.

She feels that he is doing very well as he is following a growth curve of his very own. When she measured his length from belly button to foot and belly button to top of head, it was about where it should be (his belly button right now should be at around half of his height), so that is great news. She tested 8 different things today- I know I can't name them all but many of them were just basic vitamin-levels, like calcium, phosphorous, and vitamin B.

Again, we know nothing, but I don't think I'm supposed to know anything. Bennett is Bennett, just the way that God made him, and he is doing really well right now. We will just take one day at a time and if we eventually have a diagnosis, that great, but if we don't, I'm fine with that too!

Also, I have now realized that I haven't posted month pictures of Bennett for 2 months now. I'm horrible!! Maybe next month, but I still wanted to update you about other things he has been doing lately:

What he is saying: ball, trees, Dada, bye-bye, hello

What he is eating: EVERYTHING- we have yet to find anything that Bennett will not eat. He is still nursing once a day in the morning, but otherwise he eats whatever we eat- even steak with barely two teeth!:) He really likes to feed himself and uses a fork when he is feeling patient enough to work that hard!

How he is sleeping: Great! He sleeps through the night and takes 2 naps during the day. We still get concerned about how tired he gets so quickly at times- this is something we talked to the doctor about today. His physical therapist shares that concern as well. Bennett's endurance is quite short, obviously when he is working hard in physical therapy this is understandable, but even when he is just playing he needs frequent breaks.

What he likes to do: Bennett likes to climb stairs. I can't think of anything else.

Just kidding!:) He likes to play with cars and blocks, he loves to take anything he can "in and out", he loves to follow his brother around and bug him- I'm serious, I really think he knows that he is bugging him and does it on purpose!:), he loves to be really silly- this is hard to describe, but hopefully I will catch it on video someday soon, and he loves to ride the blue dog- see below:

And this is after falling off of the blue dog and Ethan immediately stealing a turn:

We are so blessed! Take a look at our video bar ont the side too, I added a couple of new videos today- the one of Ethan putting on his own pants cracks me up even though it is sideways.

2 Teeth!

2009-06-24T12:46:00.001-05:00

Bennett has officially cut his two first teeth- his bottom front ones. Finally! :)

Pee-Pee in the Potty!

2009-06-24T09:40:00.003-05:00

Ethan has been sitting on the potty for me!!!!!!!!!! We are so excited for him. This may seem like a small feat for some of you, but for many of you who know our potty training whoes, this is a HUGE deal for Ethan. He actually put a little pee-pee in the potty a couple of days ago. It made him very nervous to let it out, and once he did he did not want to do it anymore, but hey...it's a start!!! (I took a picture of it for Ethan and was going to post it but I thought that may be too much information!:) We are making progress, finally!:)

Trip to the Zoo

2009-06-18T21:31:00.006-05:00

Last weekend we decided to take our first trip as a family of four to Minneapolis. Surprisingly, we had no major meltdowns- the boys did a great job even through exhaustion.

When we got there on Friday evening we had a little bit of time before dinner so we decided to go to build-a-bear for the first time. Ethan picked out a puppy for himself and also one for Bennett. He named his "Fluffy" and Bennett's he named "Puppy"- very original!:) Ethan really enjoyed the entire experience and Bennett enjoyed chewing on the tag of his puppy.

I realized as I was going through my pictures tonight that we hardly took any pictures of Bennett. Probably because he spent the majority of his time in our arms or in the stroller, but I still feel bad! So, the pictures that you see of him are just put in to balance out all of the ones of Ethan...they aren't necessarily good!:)

Bennett enjoyed watching the fluff machine...

Our first opportunity to meet Fluffy (which, by the way, has not taken the place of Baby- as also seen in the picture)
After the workshop we went to Rainforest Cafe where Ethan wanted to LIVE for the next three days. He LOVED the monkeys, wasn't a big fan of the thunder and lightning (neither was Bennett) and adored the tree frog man. I find this very strange...Ethan is typically the more shy, timid, and sensitive one in the family yet, he adores large characters that often scare little children. Bennett screams bloody murder when he sees one, yet, he will free fall backwards in his crib without flinching.

Ethan loved Lego Land. We played there for almost an hour while Adam tried to stroll Bennett around on Saturday to get him to nap...which wasn't going to happen, by the way- you would think we would at least know THAT about Bennett by now!:)

On Saturday morning we headed to the aquarium that is inside the mall. I would have to say that this was our favorite part of the trip. In fact, we came back again later on in the day because we enjoyed it so much.

Ethan loved seeing everything so up close...I did too! I was in awe of the beautiful creatures that God has created for us to enjoy.

Looking so grown up...

The sharks and sting rays were our favorite. Bennett loved the aquarium too. He could see everything right from his stroller as the fish swam over and around him.

Ethan had a hard time taking his eyes off of the fish and coral long enough for us to take a picture.

Again, large scary looking scuba mannequin that Ethan loved...

On Saturday afternoon we went to Como Zoo in St. Paul. It was so much fun! The weather was gorgeous and we got to see so many animals up close. Ethan's favorites to watch were the monkeys, giraffes, and the lions.

On Sunday morning we went over to the mall to hang out for a little while before lunch and heading home. We decided to let Ethan try out some rides for the first time. He had a blast.

Bennett enjoyed his graham crackers and the sunshine!

So cute...

The carousel was his very first ride. Here I am trying to convince him that he was going to live through it.

I know that was a long post- thanks for bearing with me!

Pulling to Stand

2009-06-18T21:17:00.004-05:00

Yesterday Bennett was having difficulty falling asleep for his afternoon nap, and when I finally went upstairs to check on him I found the light on in his room and him standing up against the back of the crib! Needless to say, I immediately set up the pack and play in his room so that I knew he could be safe to sleep (although he ended up not sleeping at all!) and lowered his crib all of the way down! I was so proud of him, but a little freaked out as well...what if he had pulled himself up on the other side!!!!

I wish I could get Bennett to actually smile for a picture....

Like his big brother! :)

Only one feeding left!

2009-06-16T19:36:00.002-05:00

For the last two nights I have tried to nurse Bennett before bed and he has refused it. He still adores his morning nursing session, but that means we are now down to one feeding a day. My baby is growing up so fast- I know, I know, he is almost 14 months and it may be time, but it still makes me a little sad. I have loved nursing both the boys- Ethan for 13 months (I got pregnant with Bennett while nursing him) and now Bennett for around 14 months (I secretly hope he wants his morning session for at least a little bit longer:)

5 New Posts

2009-06-08T21:10:00.001-05:00

Don't miss our excitement! :)

"Benne Your Silly"

2009-06-08T20:56:00.001-05:00

Ethan's New Bed!

2009-06-08T20:32:00.004-05:00

Ethan has finally moved to a new bed. We are super excited. He slept in it for the first time last night and did a great job despite the storm. I thought for sure that he would get up with all of the thunder and lighting!

I won (it felt like a battle!:) his comforter set on ebay for $40 dollars. It is absolutely adorable and his LOVES it. All that we need to do now is some wall art- a summer project!

Here is his new room with his "comfy" bed- that is what he likes to call it.

Golfing With Dad

2009-06-08T09:14:00.003-05:00

Ethan went golfing for the first time last weekend. He had a blast! The even saw a train which Adam captured on video and Ethan talked about the rest of the day! (The videos are on the bar on the side)

The beautiful choo-choo!

A note for me to remember: Ethan has been having a difficult time with being scared of bugs for about a month now. I have read that this is completely normal for his age- at around 3 years old a child's imagination really grows- and with a big imagination, things can seem bigger/scarier/more exaggerated than they really are. We are just trying to expose him to bugs in a safe, non-threatening way, and comfort him without putting him down, and hopefully he will work through it soon!

Summer Daze

2009-06-08T08:55:00.007-05:00

Ethan is terrified of our vacuum- actually, I shouldn't say terrified anymore, it has gotten slightly better than it used to be, but still not thrilled AT ALL when we run it. But, on the other hand, he really likes to pretend that he is vacuuming- it is like he is working through his own fear. :) So, I saw this vacuum at Toys 'R Us the other day and got it for him. He has been keeping our house "spotless" ever since! Here he is helping daddy.

We are keeping busy already this summer. It has been so wonderful to be at home with the boys. We have gone on at least one walk a day, painted, played with rice, gone to the park, played outside, napped....all the great stuff of summer and there is only more to come!

Pushing Bennett in the doll stroller again. Bennett just tolerates it. :)

Laying around with our sweet puppy dog...

Playing in the rice. This has been SO MUCH FUN for Ethan. When we first did it I just got a big bowl out and he poured it into cups using my measuring spoons and cups. He played with it for almost an hour! Now, we dump it in a deeper cookie sheet that I have and he "loads" it in his dump trucks and such. So cute, sometimes a little messing, but so worth it!

Getting Stronger Each Day

2009-06-04T20:41:00.010-05:00

Look at Bennett standing on his own! He is now pulling himself to a kneel and has even pulled himself to stand a couple of times. We are so proud of him, of course. He looks so adorable standing next to Ethan. Bennett is also waving and saying bye-bye!

Go Bennett! Sorry this video is side-ways!:)

My 30th Birthday

2009-05-28T22:12:00.003-05:00

I turned 30 on May 23rd. Not too excited about getting older however, I had a PERFECT 30th birthday. Adam asked me if I wanted to have a party at our house, he said that if we had a party we would have to clean and make food and such- was that REALLY what we wanted to do?? :) He said that he really just wanted to see me leave and enjoy myself doing something fun. I decided to go to the outlet mall in Williamsburg with my mom and sisters. Adam would watch our niece, Keziah, and our boys, so that we could have a carefree day.

Have I told you lately how wonderful my husband is? He had an exhausting, LONNGGG day with the boys and Kez, and didn't complain a bit. In fact, he said, don't bother calling to check in because I won't answer! What a sweety. He took pictures to document the day...they had a lot of fun too!

Lunch with the stooges.

Kez bein' a ham.

Still doing the squinty- grin smile :)

Supper...notice Bennett's beautiful smile. :)

Thank you so much honey, for allowing me to take off and enjoy my 30th birthday. You helped make it really special and relaxing. I had fun spending my birthday money (and a little more!:).
Thank you mom, Erin, and Jamie for spending my special day with me!!

Hel-lo

2009-05-28T21:57:00.003-05:00

I think that we can now say that Bennett's first word was "hello"! For the last couple of weeks when Bennett is playing with my phone he actually holds it up to his ear and pretends like he is talking on it. Yesterday, I held it up to my ear and said, "hello", then I held it up to Ethan's ear and he said, "hello", and then I held it up to Bennett's ear and he said, "hello"! It was so adorable. Of course we had to do it a gazillion times...Ethan was laughing so hard he got the hiccups! :)

Here are the pictures I have promised of Bennett sitting up independently! He still struggles with doing it for longer amounts of time, but he is making progress. He works so a hard at physical therapy, Suzie has been impressed each week by the gains that he is making. Other tasks that he is working on right now is getting into the seated position on his own and getting up on hands and knees for crawling. He doesn't like to be up on hands and knees at all and at first chance he will revert back to army crawling. Why learn something new when you have already perfected something else!:)

Here he is with his cousin, Owen.

5 new posts below and more to come...

2009-05-18T21:35:00.000-05:00

I'm catching up!!!!

Brothers!

2009-05-18T21:21:00.001-05:00

It is innate in Ethan and Bennett to know how to be silly with each other. That is such a fun thing to watch- their connection just because they are brothers.

One Light and One Dark

2009-05-18T21:10:00.003-05:00

Ethan and Bennett took their first bath together the other night. It is funny, you can see the contrast so well in their hair when it is wet!

They played so nicely together in the bath. I know that Ethan will be such a protective and kind big brother to Bennett some day!

Hangin' out with my babies...

Bennett's First Birthday Party

2009-05-18T21:00:00.000-05:00

These pictures are not in any order- but I figured, hey, at least I actually am finally going to post about Bennett's first birthday- that's a start!

Here is the decoration I made for his party that had all of his month pictures that I posted on the blog. I thought it turned out really cute!

Bennett loved the cake. He was very dainty at first, barely touching the frosting with his fingers, but then he dug right in!

Mmmmm...

Here he is at supper eating his ravioli bake. He loved it! In fact, I can't think of anything the kid won't eat, seriously! He is such a great eater for us, yet, he has cut no teeth!

Daddy and Bennett opening gifts.

Bennett and Delphina.

The highlight of the party...worm balloons as big as Bennett!:)

Bennett, this past year has been the greatest gift. You are such a joy! I feel so blessed to be your mommy and have learned so much about trusting God in this past couple of years. I hope you will always know that you are a beautiful person inside and out!

Birthday Yummies- Finally

2009-05-14T20:13:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know, Bennett is almost 13 months old and I am just now posting about his 1st birthday...I think he'll forgive me!:) Anyway, here is the process we went through making his birthday cake and food for his party and the next post has party pics.

Bennett loves blocks so we decided to make a cake that had building blocks on it. We made the letters out of Starbursts and Laffy Taffys that we melted in the microwave for about 10 seconds and then rolled out and pressed with cookie cutters. I can't take the credit for that idea- I saw it in a parenting magazine! They turned out really nice.

All of the letters are done!

Here are the cakes Adam made.

Our first frosted block- we used whipped frosting which didn't make it look very smooth, but was very yummy!

My first attempt at piping (I think that's the term!)

Almost done!

Ta-Da!:) We were so proud- I'm already trying to figure out what kind of cake we will make for Ethan's birthday in August!

Here are a couple pictures of our yummy food that we served. We had spaghetti bake and cheese ravioli with bread and lettuce and snicker salad. It was delicious!:)

Happy 9th Birthday Maia!

2009-05-10T21:29:00.000-05:00

You're a good dog and we love you!

Go Bennett!

2009-05-07T19:56:00.003-05:00

Bennett is finally sitting up independently!!! Not long enough for me to run and get the camera, figure out where it is, grab it, turn it on, and then take a picture to prove it...but he's doing it!:) He looks so proud of himself.

Also, we found out that his x-rays looked normal again and his bone age scan was also normal! They are sending his pictures to Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles so that they can take a look...he's famous:)

Happy 28th Birthday Daddy!

2009-05-01T15:07:00.003-05:00

Adam turned 28 years old yesterday. I love you so much sweetheart. Thank you for all you do as a husband and daddy. You are the best!!

P.S. Thank you Leia for the yummy cupcakes you made for my hubby! They were delicious!

Health Update

2009-04-24T10:35:00.005-05:00

On Wednesday we went to Bennett's one year well-child exam and then he had a bunch of x-rays taken at the hospital including a bone-age scan. Bennett hasn't been feeling very good, and it just so happened that he had a fever at his appointment which meant no vaccinations. It ended up that he has a bad ear infection in his left ear. I was actually relieved that he didn't have to get vaccines that day because I knew that he would be going through a lot later that morning. He also needed to get pricked to check his iron, nutrition, and thyroid again.

Bennett's weight was 16lbs. 13oz (less than 3rd percentile)
His height was 28 3/4 inches (10th percentile)
Head circumference was 44.4 cm (between the 5th and 10th percentile)

Despite our appointment being at exactly when Bennett usually takes his first nap and being sick on top of it, he was such a trooper. He was pretty happy during the entire appointment. We then headed into the hospital to radiology where he had a skeletal survey and bone-age scan done. The skeletal survey was a repeat from when he was first born. It is basically x-rays of Bennett's entire body. They are going to send the pictures off to the doctor that specializes in dwarfism in Wisconsin again (Dr. Pauli) to see if he notices anything new. The bone-age scan is just an x-ray of his hand and foot. From this picture they can tell the actual age of his bones- if they are younger than his actual age- that can mean that he may be blooming late, if they are the same age as he is- we are more likely looking at a skeletal dysplasia.

After we got home from the hospital I received a call from the U of I. Great news! Bennett's chromosome test came back normal. So, she helped me understand what this means. She explained it as- "Think of our chromosomes as an entire set of encyclopedias. The chromosome test that we did would tell us if an entire book was missing, probably even if a chapter in a book was missing. It wouldn't be able to tell us anything about if a sentence or letter was missing though." She said the the letters in the books are our genes. If they want to know something specific about the genes, they have to tell a test exactly what to look for. Basically, the chromosome test ruled out a few more types of disorders, but didn't lead them to a diagnosis.

I also asked her about typical arm span length because on our report the average was not given. Bennett arm span is 61cm whereas the average arm span at 1 year is between 70 and 75. So we can conclude that his span to height ratio is a little smaller than is should be. We knew this!

The last thing that her and I talked about was that Bennett will probably need to have the x-rays done again at 2 and maybe even 3 years old, BUT the later they can come to a diagnosis, the more milder the form of skeletal dysplasia. So I am hoping they continue NOT to find anything! She reiterated that they feel that he most likely has a form of dwarfism, but are hoping that it is a mild form. We shall see and we'll love him either way!

*Update* - Before a got a chance to post this, I heard back on Bennett's blood tests. His iron is still a little low so we have to continue to give him a supplement plus around 1 pediasure a day for calories and iron. His thyroid and basic scan (that shows nutrition) came back normal again. Go Bennett!

Silliness

2009-04-20T20:45:00.005-05:00

Ethan stuck "Baby" in for a ride with Benne in the jump-a-roo.

Huh?

Ethan wears his "Cars" hospital hat every chance he gets. He got it when he got tubes put in his ears. Here he was acting like a rock star!

So cute!!!

A Year Ago...

2009-04-17T17:52:00.003-05:00

One year ago today God performed a modern day miracle when my second son was born but let me start at the beginning. I've never put my labor story on the blog, so I thought that this would be the perfect time to do it- the day of Bennett's one year birthday.

On April 15th I thought for sure I was going into labor and that Bennett would be sharing his birthday with his Aunt Erin and Uncle James. Here is my carepage (bthilges) post from that day:

"I am 38 weeks today! Yesterday we had another NST and Bennett did great. I have been having a lot of stronger and more consistent contractions the last couple of days and last night we almost made a trip to the hospital. They have subsided a little bit this morning, but I'm definitely not sure I am going to make it to the 22nd! Please keep praying that I know when it is the real thing, that we make it to the hospital safely, and that the doctors are ready for Bennett- preferably we will be there during the day time hours! Also, I have been struggling with some anxiety about Bennett coming out of me where he is so safe. Pray really hard for him as we go through labor, and pray that I am able to not let the anxiety overwhelm me as I have to be strong for him."

The next day, Wednesday, I was certain (again) that Bennett would be joining us so we took Ethan to daycare and headed down to the Iowa City area so that could be close to the hospital. We stopped at the Coralville Mall (thought the walking might help things along:), ate a spicy meal, and went to a movie...nothing. I remember being SO FRUSTRATED. Actually, frustrated is a huge understatement. To be honest, I was angry as we drove back to Independence. I wanted to be close to the hospital when he came, I was so anxious about that, and after all that we had been through didn't I deserve it? I thought so.

We ended up leaving Ethan at Leia and Ryan's house for the evening just in case and went to bed. Early the next morning, on Thursday, April 17th, I woke up and took a shower and started bleeding, a lot. It just didn't seem right so we called the hospital. They asked us to come down so that they could make sure everything was o.k. This was it! We were on our way, I was sure of it.

When we arrived Bennett and I got attached to a monitor and waited for the doctor. We were so excited to see Dr. R (the ONLY Ob-Gyn that we really had trusted and liked). She wanted us to have a final ultrasound to measure amniotic fluid. In that ultrasound we found that my fluid was the lowest it had ever been and Dr. R was feeling that it was time for him to come out. At that point she was thinking that I would need to have a C-section for Bennett's safety but thought that we could give labor a try to see how Bennett reacted to the contractions.

There were several points during contractions Bennett's heart rate dropped dramatically but we quickly found out that as long as I remained on my side, he handled them pretty well. At 3 cm I decided I could use a epidural (I wanted to actually see what one felt like since the one with Ethan never worked!:). At the U of I hospitals they do a spinal/epidural combo...very nice, and I got to have it done while I layed on my side for Bennett's safety. WOW, that was lovely. I didn't feel a thing!:)

After the epidural, within an hour, I was checked and found to be at 9cm. The time was drawing very close and then the next thing I knew, I wanted to push! I asked the doctor to check and sure enough, Bennett was ready. They quickly called Dr. R who had to RUN from the other side of the hospital to get there in time. I literally pushed Bennett out in 3 pushes.

And he cried.

HE CRIED!!!

They told us to expect respiratory distress due to the extremely low fluid, due to his chest size. They almost guaranteed him to go the NICU- we had a room full of neonatologists to prove it. (Which, by the way, one of them was a dwarf herself!)

They took one look at him and felt that he didn't need anything but observation in the regular nursery for an hour to monitor his oxygen levels. My miracle. I can't even put into words the joy that I felt. God FORCED me to trust in Him, He FORCED me to let go of control, He had a plan...a glorious plan for Bennett.

Bennett, you are here and you are wonderful. I am blessed to be your mommy. You have taught me and so many others so much in your short life already! You are a fighter. Your daddy and I will always stand up for you, we will help you to feel "big" because we know that you have a big heart to share, we will help you love who you are- just the way you are. Every life has hardships, but we can have hope because God has a plan even in the pain that we must endure. He has a plan for you. You are a gift. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. We can have hope for your future, look at how much you have gone through already!

Happy 1st Birthday sweet Benne James! I love you dearly.

Bennett's One Year Pics

2009-04-11T19:58:00.006-05:00

Please come and check out Bennett's one year pictures at: http://www.infiniteimagedesign.exposuremanager.com/g/bennett

The password is: thilges

We just had them done today. I was SO PROUD of how he sat up in the chair she had and he even stood up against it as well!

Also, just an update regarding his testing in Iowa City. His growth hormone test came back normal, so that is good news. We still have an appointment with the endocronologist on July 1st and on April 22nd we are having the full skeletal survey and bone age scan done at St. Lukes. In another couple of weeks we should have the chromosome test back.

PEEK!

2009-04-05T21:37:00.000-05:00

Bennett started to do peek-a-boo today. He had been doing it for awhile with his blankie, but now he covers his eyes...stinking adorable. Also, he is now signing "more" and "all done", and he gives kisses too! So exciting!:)

An Eggcellent Day

2009-04-05T20:24:00.006-05:00

Despite the weather (yet another snow storm) we had a wonderful day today. We made Easter gifts for the grandparents, dyed Easter eggs, and played our hearts out. Here is Ethan one year ago when he dyed Easter eggs for the first time:

His hands were stained for days!

And here he was today! Not near as messy!:) Look at that mop of hair. His huge paint shirt that we got him isn't looking so huge anymore!

I love you Dada!

Our "bootiful" creations (as Ethan would say it):

Glitter EVERYWHERE!

Ethan and Benne played in their tent for a long time today. Bennett is starting to follow Ethan everywhere he goes, no matter what the distance!

All is Well with Ethan's Ears

2009-04-04T20:02:00.000-05:00

Ethan had tubes placed in his ears on Friday morning. It was a very quick procedure. By the time I had left him and taken off my hospital gown, cap, and booties and went out in the waiting room, the nurse came and told us it was over. Ethan cried for over an hour after he woke up (and all of the way home), but after that, he was in good spirits. He has to have antibiotic drops put in twice a day until Wednesday, which I'm pretty sure is the worst part of the whole thing! You can tell that the drops must sting a little because he gets really upset afterwards, especially with his left ear. Thank you for praying and thinking of Ethan on Friday. I was just a wreck, but we made it through!:)

Bennett's Love/Hate Relationship

2009-03-28T20:04:00.009-05:00

Bennett has started to dislike his baby food. I really noticed it today for the first time during supper. I made him oats with pear pineapple and then tried to feed him some sweet potatoes and carrots and he didn't eat really any of it. He kept waving his hands in front of his face and pursing his lips as I approached him with each spoonful. I started giving him little pieces of my enchilada (tiny pieces of wrap, hamburger, and rice) and he acted like he was starving.

The same went for lunch today. Ethan and I had turkey sandwiches cut into triangles and cottage cheese. I had already attempted to give Bennett baby food, but when I started tearing a quarter of the sandwich up in tiny pieces, he dug right in! Ate the entire quarter minus the crust and had around 3 tablespoons of cottage cheese.

For snack this afternoon my mom tried to give him puffs- but he didn't really want those, he wanted the good stuff. She finally gave him a club cracker and some raisins cut in half. Again, ate those like they were going out of style.

That stinker is growing up! I always like this stage when they are starting to really get into "big people" food, but it is always a transition too because it seems harder to gage exactly how much they are eating. Do all of those little bits of banana come out to as much as a #2 baby food jar of bananas?:)

I'm also noticing that he is taking after Ethan in that he TAKES FOREVER to eat and will seem to want to eat FOREVER!!! BUT, he just learned the sign for "All Done" so that is fun! He still won't do it independently, but if you ask him if he is all done and show him the sign, he will do it. It just amazes me all the kid can eat even without a single tooth in that sweet grin of his. However, I do know (from painful breastfeeding experience- ouch) that his gums seem about as strong as regular chompers- which brings me to another topic- nursing.

I feel like I am begging Bennett to nurse. He flat out does not want to, and to tell me so he bites me and pulls away, as mentioned earlier. I feel like crying and throwing him across the bed all at the same time!:) Anyway, I'm frustrated, and I think he feels frustrated with it too. I guess I will just continue to nurse him when he feels like it (which still happens to be in the middle of the night), and I think that we are going to introduce whole milk (already had Dr. Nau's permission) soon. I worry about him getting the fats that he needs for his brain development.

And I thought the second kid would be easier to figure out...

Braggin' Up My Sister

2009-03-27T16:56:00.006-05:00

My sister, Erin, created Bennett's birthday invitations. Aren't they adorable? I had to show them off and brag a little bit about how talented my sister is. Basically, I told her that Bennett loves building blocks, and this is what she came up with!

It is surreal that we are planning Bennett's first birthday party. What a journey it has been to get here. We are so blessed to have Bennett with us, and to be celebrating his first year of life is amazing! More than we ever could have dreamed of.

No More Ear Infections!

2009-03-26T21:39:00.004-05:00

Ethan is getting tubes put in his ears next Friday. He has had 16 ear infections in his 2 and a half years of life...it is time. Please pray that everything goes smoothly.

Lots of New Posts

2009-03-22T20:26:00.001-05:00

Don't miss out on all of the new posts below!

Fontana Park Fun

2009-03-22T19:38:00.006-05:00

We went to Fontana Park on Saturday afternoon. It was perfect weather for a stroll outside and we had never been there before. The park is just about 10 miles north of Independence. They have an animal exhibit complete with black bears, skunk, and racoons. Adam and I felt bad for the animals in their small quarters, but Ethan absolutely loved it! We definitely need to try the zoo this summer.

We walked on the trail along the river as well. Ethan pulled sticks from the ground and Bennett enjoyed trying to eat them. :)

Squinty Grins

2009-03-21T09:59:00.005-05:00

This is Ethan on his first birthday. He had just started to do the squinty camera-flash-in-the-face smile....

This is Benne's new trick...:) Every time we try and take a picture, this is what we get!

Random

2009-03-21T09:36:00.005-05:00

Round of sippys, please...

Future rock star.

Fun with Ethan

2009-03-21T09:26:00.005-05:00

Last Saturday we went to the early childhood fair in town. I thought Ethan would be scared of "Kirby the Kangaroo" as he had never been around any large costumed characters before. He handled it really well...even before he knew that his dad was the one wearing the costume! After I told him who was inside he kept saying, " Dada's hiding in there!"

We washed Ethan's bumper due to a vomiting incident (yuck, I know) and Ethan made it into a road. Oh the fun you can find!

Our cutie-toots. He is looking more and more handsome every day, I swear.

Me and the Boys

2009-03-21T09:13:00.003-05:00

Bennett's Genetics Appointment

2009-03-21T09:12:00.003-05:00

On Tuesday we went back to U of Iowa Hospitals to follow up with the genetics department for Bennett. They measured his arm span and length again. The doctor that we met with feels that Bennett is still displaying some shortening in both his arms and legs. They took his blood to see if his growth hormones are at the right levels. They also took his blood to do a more in-depth study of his chromosomes. We won't get the first results back for a couple of weeks and the chromosome test takes 6 weeks. She made it clear today, I think, that we could be facing some sort of syndrome or skeletal dysplasia in Bennett. She also noticed that he only has a single crease in his hands which could be a sign of a disorder as well. We will have an x-ray of his bones done through St. Luke's soon and they will also look at his bone-age at that time. They are considering sending off all of the information to that Dr. they sent to before- they took pictures of him too.

Please pray for Bennett as we try and distinguish what may be affecting his growth. Pray for the doctor's as they work to come to a conclusion. Pray for us as we try and do what is best for our sweety. We are on a new journey again...but God has plans for Bennett. When I think back to almost a year ago, the doctors weren't even sure that Bennett would live after birth. We continue to thank God for our little miracle.

Bennett is 11 Months Old!

2009-03-17T20:45:00.005-05:00

Added Pictures:

Bennett turned 11 months old today! Guess what he decided to do tonight?!!!!! He started scooting forward! He looks like a little swimming frog in the way he moves his legs and arms, but it works! I am so proud of him and you can tell he is so proud of himself.

I will post some pictures as soon as I take them...we had a busy day. More about that soon.

Time to Get Healthy...Please?!

2009-03-05T20:29:00.005-06:00

What a rough few weeks it has been. It has been a blur of sickness in our house. I believe it all started with Ethan getting yet another ear infection, then pink eye, a second ear infection, and ending now with a cough. Bennett is really struggling with the same cough as well. We have gone to the doctor so many times lately, it is so frustrating as it feels like the doctors never get it right. Ethan now has had a total of 14 ear infections, poor thing. He has had 5 since we saw the ENT last, so I think it is time to consider tubes again. We are ready for the boys to be healthy and stay healthy for awhile!!

Ethan's Pink Eye

2009-02-24T21:26:00.004-06:00

Poor thing! Please pray that none of the rest of us get it!

Also, there are more new posts below!

10 Months Old

2009-02-24T19:49:00.008-06:00

This post is late, I know, but I have a great excuse...we all have (minus Adam, of course) been sick lately. Bennett and I shared a nice sinus infection infused with an ear ache, and Ethan now has pink eye. You know it has gotten really bad when you call the doctor's office and the receptionist knows you and your kids by name just by the sound of your voice and replies sarcastically with, "Long time no see!"

Here are Benne's 10 month pics. I am about to give up on the sign though. As you can see, he wants nothing more than to eat it instead of pose handsomly by it. I love the color of his eyes right now. They are in the midst of changing to brown.

Here are a couple of pictures of Ethan at around 10 and a half months. The second one makes me smile. Bennett LOVES clapping right now too!

Bennett is trying more and more solids and loves to eat independently with finger foods. Tonight I gave him pieces of sweet potatoes and colby cheese along with his pureed baby foods. He is doing great with a sippy cup as well. We have found that the Take 'n Toss cups that don't have a valve are great for practicing. They don't have a such a hard valve to suck out of, but don't allow the liquid to come pouring out either.

We continue to work on his gross motor development. He is working on scooting around right now. He does it in such a neat way. He will get on his tummy, lay on one side and dig his foot in to move forward, he then gets back on his tummy, digs his other foot in and moves forward again. It works! I am trying to get it on video to share and always remember.

His schedule is similar to the one I posted last. I think that he is slowly getting rid of that 3rd nap for most days.

As I said before Bennett is loving clapping right now. He loves to do "So Big" and raise his arms in the air too. He is still loud and yes, still sweeter than ever.

Valentines

2009-02-14T20:48:00.000-06:00

My friend Brooke and I went to a scrapbooking store in Traer where they hosted a Stampin' Up party before Valentine's Day. We each got to make these 8 valentines to share with the ones we love. It was a lot of fun! I had to take a picture of them in case I want to make them again someday!:)

Ethan is 2 and a Half!

2009-02-09T20:57:00.000-06:00

Ethan just turned 2 and a half. I can't believe how fast the time is flying by. Ethan's favorite things right now are cars and trucks. He loves to just sit and push Hot Wheels back and forth and watch the tires roll. He continues to love puzzles and now does jigsaw puzzles pretty well. He is really silly, sweet, and polite. He loves to give "hugs and kisses". I hope he never grows out of that.

Ethan also continues to be a really good eater! He loves fruits and fresh vegetables and I would say that his favorite meal would contain pancakes, noodles of any sort, and a bucket of strawberries or blueberries. :)

We haven't made any progress with potty training. I think I pushed him too far awhile back and now he is dead set against it. I know that he is physically ready, but emotionally, he is in love with his diaper! When I tried to put undies on him the other day just for fun, he cried and cried, saying, "I want my diaper! I want my diaper!" Yikes! That is going to be a big hurdle for us. I am thinking about telling him that there aren't anymore diapers anywhere!;) Just kidding, I don't want to completely traumatize him!

Ethan loves to sing and dance too. He's got great moves! I love that he is so into music. His favorite movies right now are Cars and Horton Hears a Who. We never make it through an entire show, but somehow I think he can follow the story line! His favorite books right now are our Usbourne lift-the-flap books about cars, diggers, and farms. He would rather look at a book independently and have you ask him questions about the pictures rather than read it to him.

Ethan has such a gentle soul. He is growing up to be such a loving, sensitive, and good little boy. He is a thankful boy as well. When we pray before putting him to bed each night, he always thanks Jesus for each member of his family...including our dog Maia!

One thing Ethan DOES NOT cooperate for is pictures. Here are the most recent pictures I could find of him that are good. They are only good because he is sitting by his friend Arabella rocking the glider back and forth as hard as they could!:)

Benne James

2009-02-08T20:18:00.002-06:00

Leia took some great pictures of Bennett on Friday. He is so handsome.

Thanks again Leia!

Macaroni Out Your Nose

2009-02-08T20:11:00.003-06:00

Ethan has a cold again and tonight he was eating macaroni and cheese, when all of the sudden, in perfect syncronization...he sneezed and must have swallowed at the same time and 3 PIECES of macaroni came out of his nose covered in snot! I know, that's gross, but I had to share, because I never thought this could happen until I witnessed it first hand. Poor thing! Kind of funny though, right?!:)

Bennett's Iron Level

2009-02-08T20:09:00.001-06:00

Bennett's hemoglobin was at 11.2! That means we get to cut back his iron supplement to once per day instead of twice. 11-14 is the normal range. Yeah!:)

Bennett's Latest Check-up

2009-02-04T19:41:00.006-06:00

We had Bennett's 9 month well-child exam yesterday. He weighed in at 15lbs. 2.5oz, which is less than the 3rd percentile. He is 27.5 inches long (between the 10th and 25th percentile) and his head circumference is 44.5cm (at the 25th percentile). Dr. Nau continues to feel that with the testing that came back normal last time we went, that he is not overly concerned about Bennett's weight. He is interested to know what the genetics department in Iowa City will say on March 17th. He would like us to continue with physical therapy to help him with his gross motor development. He would like to see more progress made in that area, as do we. I am ready for Benne to sit up, I know he will love it!:)

We had his iron tested again yesterday as well. I haven't heard the results yet, but if they are in the normal range, we are going to get to cut back his iron to only once per day. That will be great for Bennett's digestion, I'm sure!

Please pray that Bennett will continue to grow. I'd like to see him pack on a few pounds in the next month!:)

Take a Deep Breath

2009-02-01T19:59:00.003-06:00

When Ethan is starting to get upset I have been having him practice taking a deep breath to calm down. So, the other day, I was getting frustrated with something and Ethan walks over and says, "Mama, take a deep breath?" and proceeds to demonstrate how to do it!:) Gotta love it!

Our Playroom

2009-01-25T19:25:00.004-06:00

We decided to take away one of our guest bedrooms and turn it into a playroom for the boys. It turned out really nice! This room was Ethan's nursery at one time and is also the office. It is so nice to have our living room back! I can put the toys back in the playroom, shut the door, and not have to feel cluttered. It's the little things that make your day, right?!:)

View from the doorway.

Bennett and Keziah's Dedication

2009-01-24T19:34:00.000-06:00

Bennett and Keziah got dedicated last Sunday afternoon at our church. It was a neat service with a lot more babies dedicated since Ethan was- 7 total. Our church believes in infant baptism, but our family grew up believing that baptism should be a decision you make for yourself. Our church has been very accomodating to that thought and started an infant dedication ceremony several years ago. We committed ourselves to raising Bennett in a home that serves the Lord. We will teach him about Jesus and pray for him daily. In dedicating him we are saying that his life in in God's hands.

Keziah and her parents, Brian and Erin, and brother, Austin.

Bennett is 9 Months Old

2009-01-18T19:39:00.012-06:00

Bennett turned nine months old yesterday. He is growing up so fast, it won't be long and we will be planning his first birthday party. He has perfected rolling over and uses it to get what he wants. He is becoming a lot stronger at sitting assisted, but hasn't been able to sit by himself yet. We continue to work with him to bear weight on his legs and he has gotten a little bit better, especially on his right leg. Recently he has learned how to wave and he has caught himself clapping a couple of times. He looks very proud of himself when he does that!

Honk Elmo!

He loves to eat solids, his favorites are fruits...which is the opposite of how Ethan was! As you can see from the post below, he likes banana puffs, and eats them very daintily:) He hasn't gotten any teeth yet. Ethan got his first tooth right around his 9 month birthday, so we are expecting some to pop through soon. He is still nursing 5 times during the day and usually once during the night. His schedule looks a little like this:

7am- nurse and then have solids

8:30/9-10am- nap

10:30- nurse

11/11:30- lunch

12/12:30-2:30- nap

2:30- nurse

4:30/5- nurse

5:30/6- solids

6-6:30/7- short nap (sometimes)

7:30- nurse and go to bed

3/4am- nurse

The last time Bennett was weighed (last Tuesday) he was 15lbs. 5oz. He has not put on very much weight since his last doctor's appointment. We go to his well-child appointment on February 3rd.

Bennett continues to be quite loud! He loves music and still adores the Itsy Bitsy Spider. He likes to play with anything that isn't a toy, in fact, I can't think of what toy is his favorite because his favorite things are an old tylenol bottle, a medicine dropper, a toothbrush, the remote, or my cell phone!:) If he likes a toy, it seems it is always one of Ethan's toys. He LOVES to look at books, and eat them too. He giggles when you sing "Benny and the Jets" by Elton John, laughs when you fake sneeze, dance, play peek-a-boo, and when you rub his hands through your hair.

Notice the GREAT head of hair he has!
See the tylenol bottle?!:)

Ethan put the blame on Bennett for the first time the other day. It was so funny. When Bennett's OT was working with him, we had the couch cushions pulled off of the love seat and Ethan was sitting on one side and Bennett was "working out" along the other side. Ethan pulled the big sticker off of the couch that has the brand name on it. He was shocked at himself and exclaimed, "Benne did it!" We started cracking up because obviously Bennett couldn't do it, and it was a first for, I'm sure, countless more times that Ethan will blame Bennett to get out of trouble!

Bennett's Silliness

2009-01-17T20:46:00.001-06:00

Here is another video of Bennett being really silly. It is REALLY LONG and again, the audio is off and I am REALLY ANNOYING, but I wanted to share it anyway because it makes me laugh.

Thilges Family Fun

Drum Roll Please...

Alanna is 2 Months Old!

Alanna is 1 Month Old!

Alanna's Birth

Ethan's 4 Year Old Pictures

35 Weeks Along!

4th of July Weekend

33 Weeks and Ultrasound

Summer Days...

29 Weeks and Ultrasound

Bennett's New Stool

Bennett is 2!

Breathe

Psalm 139: 1-18

O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.

Bennett's 2 Year Pictures

The Ducks Are Back!

Sweet Baby

Rockin' It Before Bed

13 weeks!

Playtime

Bennett Update

SNOW DAYS

19 Month Little Man

Fall 2009

Bennett's 18 Month Pictures

3-5-8 and a Bunch of Words

18 Months!

Maia Torture

More videos!

New Videos

A Piece of Heaven

Ethan's 3rd Birthday Party

Bennett's First Haircut

Whistle While You Work!

Phil and Beth's Wedding

Cute Pics

Ethan is Three

Visit from Raya

Rylan Donald Recker

Not Your Mama Anymore!

Happy 15 Month Birthday Bennett!

My Sweet Sons

Done Nursing

Summer Fun

New Videos

Going Back to School

Don't Turn Your Back

2 Teeth!

Pee-Pee in the Potty!

Trip to the Zoo

Pulling to Stand

Only one feeding left!

5 New Posts

"Benne Your Silly"

Ethan's New Bed!

Golfing With Dad

Summer Daze

Getting Stronger Each Day

My 30th Birthday

Hel-lo

5 new posts below and more to come...

Brothers!

One Light and One Dark

Bennett's First Birthday Party

Birthday Yummies- Finally

Happy 9th Birthday Maia!

Go Bennett!

Happy 28th Birthday Daddy!

Health Update

Silliness

A Year Ago...

Bennett's One Year Pics

PEEK!

An Eggcellent Day

All is Well with Ethan's Ears

Bennett's Love/Hate Relationship