Week in Photos

A couple random cute things I wrote down that he has said over the past few weeks:

After going through the carwash we got to pick out an air freshener.  I chose Coconut, to which Ben yelled "COOKIE-NUT", followed by "I WANT COOKIES"!!

From the back seat, every time we have driven somewhere the past few days, "Mommy, you are a nice driver"!

Wearing Greg's hat. 

Enjoying a lovely evening at Callie's house making "Mores" (as Ben calls them).  Randomly, I asked Ben last week who his best friend was and he responded without a beat, "Callie". 



Often times after school, Ben will come home SO dirty  that it requires an early bath (which is awesome - dirt definitely indicates a good day)!  He has been obsessed with wearing his bear robe my parents got him for Christmas.  We snuggled and watched a little Cars before his nap.

Greg got a golf net for the backyard, so on the nice evenings, the boys have been going outside to dig and hit balls.  :)





Last Friday was had an awesome evening babysitting Raleigh while Rachel and Peter went out for an evening!  They bought us beer and Indian Food while I got to remember what having a 1 year old was like (snuggles, bottles, and early bedtimes) - so I'm not sure who got the better end of this deal!

Funny side note: When they got home, Rachel and I talked and hung out while Greg, Peter and Ben played some Grand Theft Auto.  Every day since, Ben has been telling me that he "wants to drive the black car", which I had assumed he meant MY car, until he elaborated and said "I want to drive and crash the black car, with Peter, at Baby Raleigh's" and then I understood what he meant.







Some fun at the park:



And finally, a school update! I am happy to report that just as everyone predicted, school is getting SO much better!  He still will tell me he doesn't want to go to school, but I'm almost positive it is only because he would probably still PREFER to be at home.  When he is there, he is napping, playing with other kids, getting outside, and getting a routine in his life :)  He comes home singing all kinds of songs and talking about random things and when I ask, he tells me he learned it at school.  I love it.

Today when I picked him up he and a little boy were chasing each other around the room.  When I dropped him off this morning, a little girl yells out "YAY! Ben's here"!!  And then I died.

As I was walking out the door to my car this morning, a little girl coming in with her mom goes "That's Ben's mom".  So, that was cute.

I can't explain how relieved I am.

Here are some of the pictures we have received from his time at school:

 

 

Meal Planning: Week of March 16th

Review from last week:

Due to an early an unexpected arrival of Callie's brand new nephew on Saturday, we rearranged our dinner plans that evening and headed over to the Christensen's instead!  They made beer chicken on the BBQ, which was so totally delicious!  I'm making Greg make it this weekend :)

 

 

Meatballs in Chianti Sauce! 

 

Slow Cooker Chicken and Biscuits.  This one was just okay - I think I prefer my chicken pot pie recipe to this.



Ben also wasn't on board:



The rest of the week was leftovers and another batch of Kalua Pork. 

Plan for next week:

Saturday:  Out to dinner with friends

Sunday: Beer can chicken (on the BBQ), mashed sweet potatoes and sautéed snap peas.

Monday: BLT Salad with Corn, Feta and Avocado with grilled chicken

Tuesday: Creamy tomato basil soup and grilled cheese sandwiches

Wednesday: Blue Apron Meal: Tom Yum Shrimp & Fresh Rice Noodles with Gai Lan & Thai Basil

Thursday: Blue Apron Meal: Turkey Chili with Avocado & Cheddar Cheese

Friday: Blue Apron Meal: Corned Beef-Spiced Flank Steaks with Braised Cabbage & Buttered Red Potatoes

 

Meal Planning: Week of March 9th

Review from last week:

The coffee ancho chile short ribs were really great, but for some reason they didn't absorb as much of the flavor as I had expected.  They were very tender though, they just tasted more like pot roast than I would have assumed.

 

The kalua pork, which we had made before, was SO good and paired with the cauliflower rice - amazing.  I'm hooked.  I have tried cauliflower rice before and wasn't that impressed.  Maybe this is a different recipe?

After a meat-filled weekend, I was feeling the need for an off night.  Carrots, butter lettuce, cucumber, and basil with the spicy peanut dipping sauce I used for the Vietnamese wraps.

Greg and I LOVED these Chilaquiles and the pork we added put them over the top.  This will be a repeat recipe for sure.

Steaks with rutabaga-barberry tabbouleh and labneh cheese.  I don't think you could have paid me $10,000 to correctly identify a rutabaga prior to cooking this. It was good!

 

Italian wedding soup. I really liked the pasta in this recipe (Fregola Sarda).

Plan for next week:

Saturday: We are going to Callie's house for dinner on Saturday!  Looking forward to some nice weather and I know Ben is going to be thrilled to be back at his second home :)

Sunday: I've been wanting to make another batch of these Ricotta meatballs with Chianti Sauce, so I shall.

Monday: Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken and Biscuits

Tuesday: Leftover meatballs.

Wednesday: Leftover chicken.

Thursday: Crockpot Kalua Pork, Cabbage and Cauliflower rice.

Friday: Leftover pork. And margaritas.

 

Week in Photos

Dr. Ben, giving us check ups and showing us how to say "Ahhhhhhhhhh":

 

A morning with our trucks:

 

I recently got upgraded at work to a Surface Pro 3 and it's CHANGED MY LIFE.  Goodbye old, slow, heavy laptop that took at least 15 minutes to boot up that I had to haul back and forth to the office every day.

 

We purchased a family membership to the Science Center last weekend and met some friends.  Ben's favorite attraction was the selfie booth.

 

And the water exhibit outside:

 

Selfie at brunch:

 

We had planned on going to Portage Bay Cafe for breakfast before the Science Center, but it was packed and they were not accepting walk ins.  We stumbled down the street a few blocks and had the most delicious brunch at Serious Biscuit, a place we had been wanting to try forever.  

 

Greg testing out his new golf net:

 

Me, Brenna, Paige, Max, Maureen, Emmett and Becca celebrating Cam's surprise 40th birthday party (and Ben's first time "bowling")!

 

A few pictures proving that Ben seems to be doing at least OKAY at school when I'm not there...

 

Ben has been obsessed with the movie Cars, (and to be honest, I really like it too).  I bought him these little car figurines and he loved them - so much so that he wanted to nap with them watching over him for the first few days he had them :)

 

A fun playdate with Bronson (and Shauna, and Alivia):

Goofballs!

Dear Ben

 

Yesterday was tough for Ben.

Transitioning into school has been a little emotional and not what I expected for him. I had assumed that he would thrive in an environment full of kids his age, which I'm confident will be the case soon, but to be honest, I think the change of pace and scenery has been a little abrupt and overwhelming for him.

When I walked into the cafeteria yesterday to pick him up, he took one glance up at me walking in the door and broke down into tears as he ran towards me. When he finally could muster the words, he said "Can you take me home Mommy? I'm feeling sad". 

While I have had experience with feeling empathy for others in the past, I don't know if I've ever felt it so strongly as I did in that moment. I was ready to pull him out of school, quit my job and home school him through college. It truly broke my heart.

It occurred to me that in this very moment in our lives, there is absolutely nothing that brings comfort to Ben like the site of his Mama. At school, he was crying tears of relief because when we are together, all is right in his world and he feels safe. 

I never ever want to take that for granted and it pains me to think know that I will not always be able to provide that for him. One day, the sight of me or my holding him in my arms will not be enough to erase a tough day out in the world.

Last night, the nasty cough that Ben seems to have had come and go a zillion times over the past 4 months woke him up. He cried until I came to be with him in his room, continued to say "I want mama" even as I was holding him, and proceeded to barf down my arm because he was so worked up. But the entire time I was changing my clothes, and his, and his bedding, and getting him water, and Tylenol, and adding water to his humidifier, and finally rocking him back to sleep in my arms, all I kept thinking about was how lucky I was to be the one there providing him comfort and how grateful I was that it was me he wanted. I was in his bed, pinned underneath him, frozen because I was too afraid to sneak out because I wanted him to stay calm and asleep. And cherishing every second.

I now am realizing that for the rest of my life, no matter the circumstance, I will be feeling his pain, wishing I could fix everything, and hoping that he still will turn to me (to us) to help him. I don't knew how many more months or years (please GOD let it be YEARS) that he will be soothed by me and want me there when he is sad.

So, Ben, should you read this someday: Being your mom has been the greatest gift and the best experience of my life. I hope you always know we are here for you and I hope you always know and feel how much we love you. I will be working hard everyday of my life not to screw up this bond we have right now :)