Tagged

Whats his name? Ben or Benjamin! if he's done/said something outrageous (which is often)
How long have you been together? married for 4.25 years
How long did you date? a year and 3 months
How old is he? 27
Who eats more? he does, but occasionally I can compete
Who said I love you first? I'm pretty sure I did.
Who is taller? Ben is. He's 6' and I am 5'6"
Who sings better? Me, he can only sing hymns that he knows really well.
Who is smarter? We are both smart in very different ways. We both have photographic memories, but he retains way more details than I do, and has better study skills. He also has a greater work ethic when it comes to pushing himself to learn than I do. I'm an English person, he's a Math and Science person. I definitely have more life experience, which is just a nice way to say I made a lot of mistakes and had to learn the hard way...Ok, ok, he is smarter, but don't tell him I said that!
Who does he laundry? I do
Who pays the bills? He did until he started med school, then I took over.
Who sleeps on the right side? looking at the bed from the foot of the bed, he does.
Who mows the lawn? He does, but I am going to learn how now that my asthma isn't an issue anymore. He's too busy for it.
Who cooks dinner? I cook most every night. He can make a few things, but usually I cook. He would if I asked him to, though, but I love to cook. I take pride in being a good cook, and that most of the time, what I can make at home is better than what we could eat out at a nice restaurant, and healthier!
Who drives? Him usually. When we take long trips, I drive so he can study. He has to take dramamine though because he gets motion sickness horribly.
Who is more stubborn? hard to say...I used to be, before we got married, and I am still a stickler about some things, but I have relaxed a lot over the years, so he is probably more stubborn now.
Who kissed who first? Now that is a funny story. He had this rule about not kissing a girl until he was sure she was the one he was going to marry. I took that as a personal challenge! On our third date I got impatient, and I pretty much attacked him. He kissed me back, and I went in the house bragging to my family that I got him to break his rule (they knew all about my evil plans to corrupt him, it was kind oif a household bet...hehe). What I didn't know is that he came in behind me! He had forgotten a movie my dad had asked him to take back to Blockbuster for us on his way home! He didn't say anything, just took the movie and left. Later I called him and he wasn't mad at all. He forgave me, and continued with the kissing, thankfully! Who knows, maybe BECAUSE he kissed me, I became the woman he married, I mean, he is a pretty good kisser!
Who proposed? He did. One night after a re-enactment date of our first date, I was sitting on a bench by this beautiful tree in my parents' front yard. He said, "My Sunday School teacher told me once that if I behaved in SS, my wife would be beautiful, but he lied, because I was rotten!" lol, I thought it was cute. Also, the ring was huge (by my standards) and came in a box that lit it up when you opened it! So cool!
Who has more friends? Probably me, I have time to make friends and keep up with the relationships. Plus, I tend to keep in touch with old friends, too, and he doesn't have time to be friends with anyone except the guys he goes to school with.
Who is more sensitive? Me
Who has more siblings? He does, 4 to 2
Who wears the pants? We both do, but everyone would say he does. I just don't like to put my foot down in front of other people. Ben will tell you, though, that I can be a real you-know-what when I want something or I will just go and do it anyway. However, we make big decisions together after many conversations, weighing pros and cons, and prayer.

I tag anyone...

Jackson's 10th month pictures

Training to be a master chef

Getting into stuff

Fascinated with his Leap Frog Fridge Farm Toy

Watching Daddy play volleyball at the end of semester med school party

Jack getting a ride!

Bathtime Mohawk

Jackson's First Steps

It is truly difficult to say when a child has his first anything because it happens so quickly, a mother is often left second-guessing that it even happened in the first place. A few weeks ago when we were in Tulsa, Ben had Jackson standing in front of him and Jackson took 3 steps on his own from Ben to me. My sister, JD and Ben all witnessed it, but eveyone thought, did that just really happen? Surely not, he is only 9 1/2 months old. This weekend while we were up at Ben's school, playing games, Jackson pulled himself up using a table and took two unassisted steps toward me. Everyone was busy chatting or playing games, and I was the only person who saw. However, when I was playing foozball, and Ben's family was watching over Jackson in the loft above, they yelled down to me that Jackson was taking his first steps! This time I had several witnesses FROM BEN'S FAMILY who felt sure of what they saw! Ben cannot deny it now! So my news is that Jackson is walking! He needs improvement in his balance, and he still walks on tip-toes, but he has successfully taken several steps on his own now! YEAH! Allison (Ben's mom) thinks he'll be walking confidently in a month! I am excited and yet, I know I'll soon long for the days when all he could do was pull a can of Chicken and Stars on his head!

Family Fun with the Rangers

Ben with Baby Kate (Alicia's newest addition)
Isn't her hair adorable!?

For Christmas, Ben's mother, Allison, bought De, his father, Rangers tickets for the whole family for June 28th. So this weekend we hosted Ben's entire family for the game and we had a blast! We were so excited to have people come stay with us because since all of both of our immediate families live in Tulsa, they don't have many reasons to come out this way very often. We had Jamie and Alex in the office, Ben's parents in the guest room, and Alicia and Steven + their 4 kids in the loft. Jenni's son, AJ, slept on a single air mattress in the playroom downstairs and Jackson and Ben and I all had our rooms. We were prepared to share our room with Jenni and Brad, (but as they are newly married, they opted to stay at a hotel for a little more privacy) and have Vince's family in Jackson's room, but Vince's family wasn't able to make it at the last minute. :( How fun that we fit his whole family in our house and it didn't feel crowded!


Jackson and Jillian playing with the popper

On Thursday night Ben's parents treated us to the Cattlemen's Ranch on Main Street next to the historical Fort Worth stockyards. It is internationally renowned and after eating there, I can see why. Ben's steak was the best steak I have ever had and my shrimp and catfish were juicy and delectable!

On Friday, we threw a surprise wedding shower for Jenni and Brad because they eloped about 2 weeks ago. They carpooled with Alex and Jamie and didn't make it until about 10:00 pm, but we had fun anyway. We couldn't wait for them to eat, but we saved cake and presents for when they arrived! We are so excited for Jenni and Brad. After spending the weekend with them, I can see how happy he makes her and they seem perfect for each other. No one deserves to be happier! Congratulations Jenni and Brad! We are ELATED for you!


Jenni and Brad cutting the cake

On Saturday during the day we took the whole family up to see Ben's school. We played ping pong and foozball and laughed and talked! Ben has been practicing his ping pong skills all year between classes, so he was thrilled to finally beat his dad after many years of losing to him in garage games. Then Ben came over and helped me school Alex and Steven in foozball TWICE! That stinks for Alex because before Steven and Ben came over to join our game, he had beaten me two or three times at foozball, but I was learning fast!

Saturday night we went to the Rangers game, and I received further proof that I LOVE being part of this family! I always wanted to be part of a big family and when I am around Ben's family, we laugh hysterically and get silly! Rangers lost 8-6, but it was a great game. In the 8th inning when the Rangers were down by 2, they had the bases loaded, and a full count on the board, and you could feel the energy in the stnads electrify you! We unabashedly twisted to the Twist and Shout, wholeheartedly sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", and rooted for our Rangers until our throats were sore and our voices were gone! What fun! The coolest (literally) thing about that night was when we got there the temp was 98 degrees and we were melting! Then, RIGHT after the final words of the National Anthem, this huge cold breeze came through and blew Ben's hat off. The sky got cloudy and the temperature quickly descended to 73 degrees at it coolest! Even when it started raining, the players played on and we didn't even get wet because we were sitting barely under the awning on the first base line and right field. Then after the game was a fireworks show! What a great night!

Sadly, Sunday morning everyone packed up to leave, but I am comforted by the fact that we will see them in less than a week when we go to Tulsa for the annual fireworks show at Veterans Park for Independence Day! Family Fun to be continued...

No, no, no! says the white goateed devil baby

First of all Jackson is about to get his top two teeth. They are right there about to break through! I am so excited, although as you can see from my last blog this hasn't really been holding him back much. Maybe getting those teeth completely in will alleviate the shirt-soaking drool problem he has been having. Maybe I won't have to break everything up into such small bites anymore. Tonight for dinner he ate/inhaled cajun brisket, pasta salad, a slice of bread and a large jar of baby food green beans (and 4 oz of formula)!

Lately, we have been using the word no with Jackson a lot, trying to teach him what things are safe/sanitary to explore, and what things are not, i.e his diaper pail that he is so fascinated with... Apparently when we say no, we both tend to shake our heads with the word. Now when we say no to Jackson, he emphatically shakes his head right back at us! It is absolutely impossible not to laugh! I will say though, he does mind when we say no. Usually he backs away after us staring him down and saying no repeatedly in a firm voice. He is pretty obedient for being only almost 10 mos.

This next story actually happened about two weeks ago and I forgot to blog it. Jackson usually plays with his toys right beside the tub while I am in the shower. Sometimes he explores the bathroom, but I make sure it safe to explore before getting in. I lower the toilet seat, lift the trash cans up onto the counter, make sure all cords are not Jackson-reachable, etc. I also peek out of the shower to check on him from time to time, but this particular day I was showering and it had been a few minutes since I peeked out to check on him. When I slid the shower curtain aside, I found that Jackson had discovered toilet paper! Oh yeah! He looked up at me innocently, completely surrounded with an entire unrolled and partially shredded roll of toilet paper, as if to say, "Mommy, look what fun toy I found!" The best part was that a triangle of toilet paper was strategically stuck to the drool on his chin, making him look like a white goateed devil baby!

He is also learning lately that there are fun things on countertops that are too high for him to reach! Today, as I was in the middle of washing my hands, he found a baby can of chicken and stars meal he hadn't finished at lunch. I watched, hurriedly rinsing, seeing beforehand what was about to take place, as he pulled himself up using the legs of our kitchen table, and stood on his tiptoes to barely get his fingertips INTO the can of chicken and stars and completely dump out the contents all over his head and the kitchen floor. I wish I had taken a picture of the look on his face! Priceless!

Poor Starving Ethiopian Child

You'd think I was raising a starving Ethiopian child with the way Jackson is eating these days! He breakfasts on 4 oz of formula in a sippy cup (which he can hold all on his own...FINALLY!), and a baby bowl of oatmeal mixed with baby food fruit of some kind. For his lunch he usually has a baby food step 3 meal with formula, then for dinner he has a baby food veggie with formula, but then he has all these in-between meals. I usually give him bites of whatever we are having for breakfast, lunch and dinner as well. (Even if it is messy, I like to let him pick it up with his fingers. His favorite snack is mandarin oranges. You can imagine the sticky mess that follows.) Of course, he has formula and snacks throughout the day as well. Today, he had just finished lunch with formula, but then he saw me eating chips and queso at the table. He crawled to me from the living room, pulled himself up using my chair, and said, "Uh-Uh" with this little growly cough sound he makes now anytime he wants anything. He wanted a chip bite, so of course I gave him some bites of chips, and the little beggar just stayed there through the rest of my snack until I put the chips away and moved out of the kitchen.

Right now Jackson is most defintely a Mama's boy. Today I was continuing my post-church nap after he had woken up from his, and he was downstairs with Ben. For the 45 minutes he was awake and I was still "asleep," I could hear him screaming and throwing a fit downstairs for Daddy. Finally, I gave up and came downstairs to find a very frustrated Ben. He said, "I don't know what he wants. I gave him a bottle, a fed him some bananas and I changed his diaper, but he still keeps throwing a fit." I took him from Ben, put him in his highchair and gave him some bread pieces, and he was a happy guy from that point on. Ben was so irritated, haha! All Jack wanted was Mommy!

Less than 2 weeks left!

When I was a sophomore in high school, I took an Honors Oklahoma History class in which I was asked to memorize 70+ Indian tribes and factoids about each group including how they dressed, where they originated and where they were displaced, if they were displaced at any time. Being in the top 10-15% of my class, I usually didn't have trouble cramming for tests, but I remember feeling so frustrated by what I felt were trivial insignificant facts as I studied for this test that I actually laid down on my kitchen floor and cried like a baby. (My mom shortly took me out of that class.) This is what Ben goes through just about every day in Med School.

Tonight I was quizzing him for a test he has tomorrow over drugs used to treat illnesses ranging from malaria to UTIs, and I don't envy him at all. As I struggled to pronounce the names of drugs and medical terms, he promptly rattled off how they treat the illnesses, what side effects they have, and how they should and shouldn't be used!

There is no question that he is leaps and bounds smarter than I am, and also that he has an enormous amount of patience and diligence that I certainly lack. Tonight, I just wanted to go lay on the kitchen floor and cry for him. What a guy I married! What a great doctor he will become! He has less than 2 weeks left and still he is going strong!