I like to sleep in socks...so sue me!

There are things that I like that are unpopular. And I don't care! People are just snobs anyway. But I *like* to wear socks to bed!! Deal with it! I don't always do it, but I do most of the time.

Also, it was brought to my attention that some people consider 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner to be low-class. REALLY? Even the $8 Pantene? It's the ultimate cure for laziness. If it's wrong then I don't wanna be right.

Okay, so before I forget, here are a few updates:

--Matthew did NOT win the Disney marathon essay contest. However, he decided that he really wanted to run it anyway and signed up to run it on its own. (It was at full capacity but opened up to 99%, so he jumped at the chance.) He is going to run the 5K on Friday, January 9 (CIGNA is paying for this race) and the marathon is Sunday, January 11. The 5K goes through Animal Kingdom and the marathon goes through the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and MGM. We considered taking a family vacation there, but to be honest, I just don't think I'm ready to do Disney yet. Benjamin is too young and naps too much and breastfeeds too much. Plus his muscle tone has a lot to do with it. He's almost seven months old but is still very weak. He is nowhere NEAR being able to ride in a stroller unless he's strapped in his infant carrier. He just doesn't have the trunk strength. I don't want to have to wear him for five days straight. We will probably only go once or *maybe* twice ever b/c it's all so expensive. I want it to be enjoyable. So we might wait until next year. I know Andrew will be older but he'll still be three and will still enjoy it. So Matthew will most likely just go down by himself (unless one of his friends decides to go with him) and stay in a cheap hotel for a few days. He's so excited!!

--We made Spring Break plans!!!!!! I'm pumped and ready for April! It's been far too long since we've been to the beach. We are going with my mom at the beginning of April to my friend Stephanie's condo. Here's the link so you can be dreadfully jealous. Actually don't be jealous. There are plenty of available dates. You can book your own marvelous getaway!

--I tried a bottle tonight, and Benjamin drank it right up!!!! I am so excited!! That makes it so much easier for us to go to the Harry Connick, Jr. concert in about a month. Yay!

--Benjamin is doing GREAT! Only two more weeks until the worst part of the heart surgery is over. The ban will then be lifted on picking him up under his arms. They said to wait about two months before we resumed lifting him under his arms. Do you know how hard it is to pick up a 6 1/2-month-old baby out of the highchair *without* lifting him under his arms? Ugh!

--Some of you are aware that we had to implement a little thing called cry-it-out (or as us cyber-hip mamas call it, "CIO") last week with Benjamin. I am not one for rocking my babies to sleep. I think it is a very good skill for them to learn good sleep habits early, like how to soothe themselves and put themselves to sleep. Well, because of his heart condition and then recovering from surgery, I was afraid to let him cry for extended periods of time. But one day last week, I had HAD it! He wasn't even doing well when I would try to rock him to sleep as I had been having to do for months. He only took a short afternoon nap (like 20 minutes) and then would NOT go to sleep again until bedtime. He was screaming and his cheeks were all red. It was a rough day. I was so pooped I literally went to bed at 7:30. That night I decided that I could NOT do it anymore. The next day I implemented CIO. I would put him down for his naps and then only check on him after so many minutes. It only took about a day or two, and now even though he still sometimes cries for about ten minutes, he still goes to sleep. On his own! He has discovered that he likes sleeping on his belly, so that is helping.

Okay, drumroll please...here are some pictures, complete with commentary of course.

See the playmat? That's where Benjamin started out. But he ended up over by the wall. Look how cute!



I love this boy!

Guess who?

He is doing a little better with baby food, despite what you see here. He's not eating it that great yet, but he's at least making some progress.

Falling asleep on Daddy's shoulder at a school event of my mom's.

Andrew and I built a road with his blocks. Well, really, he handed me blocks and I built it. That's why it's so straight. As you can see, the ambulance is already at the scene of the crime and the police car is coming for backup. :)



Andrew can now open doors. Which is not always good, but very helpful at times like this when I was hanging out on the bed and Frank wanted out.

Just two brothers having a chat.

Oops. (It really looks a lot worse than in is...don't freak out, Stephanie!)

I can't wait until they're the best of friends.

I guess this is what you call Future Blackmail. I told him to give Benjamin a sweet kiss and this is what I captured. Priceless.

Cute babyface + babyfood prunes = messy face. (It only looks like it's coming out of his nose!)

Cold day + wearing a hat while playing upstairs = CRAZY HAIR!

The next few pictures are of the BEST PICTURE EVER. Several months ago, I entered Benjamin in a Beautiful Babies Contest at the best hospital ever, Parkridge East Hospital. The winners got a professional photography session with Rhonda Mathis, and the pictures are now displayed in the newly-renovated BEAUTIFUL waiting room area of the maternity ward. Of course, my sweet baby was one of the 20 babies selected. The photo session was in September, so his chest is sweet and unblemished by the scar from his heart surgery. We also got an 8 x 10 of this picture, which I hope to frame with one of Stephanie's *beautiful* handmade frames. Click here to see her amazing work.

On Thursday night, the hospital had an event to unveil the pictures and the renovations. It looks amazing!!! And the cheese sticks were yummmmy. Here we are in front of his picture, which is right past the double doors before you get to the waiting room chairs on the right.

Just a cute shot of the brothers "playing."

Remember that Fear Not party we went to? Well, Andrew got this snake there. It is the first toy he has given an actual name to. ("Baby Owl" and "Baby Rabbit" don't techically count even though they're really cute.) Ladies and gentlemen, meet Robbie the Snake. Andrew loves Robbie the Snake and has me retrieve Robbie the Snake from the bedroom when he is eating his applesauce so Robbie the Snake can look at the big bites Andrew is taking. Andrew loves Robbie the Snake almost as much as Mister Tim, whose house we got Robbie the Snake at.

Here is Andrew showing Robbie the Snake to Benjamin.

And here are Benjamin and Robbie the Snake just seconds later, watching Andrew spastically run into the next room...

...and dive into the gigantic box. You remember the BOX, don't you?

Frank was close behind. I zoomed in just in case you wanted a better shot of my toddler diving headfirst into a giant box on the hardwood floor.

Here is the picture!!!!!!! Yes, that's me. :)

I don't know if you know this, but evidently Down syndrome kids are really flexible. Here's proof:

Love him!

And lastly, here is an adorable video. It's only about one minute long, and it's really dark. But the sound. Oh, the sweet sound of a laughing baby is just endearing. Be sure to go to the very bottom of this page first and pause the music.

Sorry it was over a week in between my blogs! It's been so busy here and I've honestly just not had time. I would say that things will hopefully slow down, but who are we kidding? It's almost the holidays...BRING IT ON!

**Oh, here's my "missing" post from earlier. I decided to just add it to the bottom of this post. They're out of stock by now anyway, and that post was hiding this one. I feared that some people might not see this one, and to be perfectly honest, it took me too long on this post for it to be missed!**

Car Seat Steal!!!!!!! OUT OF STOCK!

**Evidently, as of 10:45 p.m., they are out of stock. Hope you got yours!!**

I am currently working on a new blog post, but b/c I've been so busy lately, there's a lot to say and a lot of pictures. In the meantime, if any of you are in the market for a convertible car seat, check this out. (But you'd better order fast. I just emailed a bunch of my mommy friends. Two of them emailed me back within minutes, telling me they had *just* placed their orders!) Here is my email:

I’m not sure if any of you would be interested in this, but it was too good a deal not to share! I just ordered two!!!!!!!!! The seat that Andrew is in now belongs to my sister-in-law, who is pregnant and will need it back in a year or so. And they go up to 60 pounds, so I’ll have two boys in convertible seats for awhile. I’m so excited!!!! These seats are normally $279, and they’re on sale for $42.99 with free shipping. Sure, it’s not the greatest color, but I have boys, so it’s not as important. :)

Angela

http://www.target.com/Britax-Marathon-Convertible-Car-Seat/dp/B000YSNMG2/sr=1-8/qid=1226884246/ref=sr_1_8/178-3563354-7432540?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k%3Abritax%20marathon%20car%20seats&page=1