B-E-N spells Ben

Just like we've done with all of the other kids, we painted some letters to go above the crib so that he can learn to recognize his name from day 1. Matthew had fun helping mommy with this one. We hung them up yesterday. And plan to paint his crib this week, it will be red to coordinate with Matthew's red/blue room. Matthew has shown so much excitement with Ben coming along and sharing his room with him. I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am about this. I was kind of worried when we first found out Ben was a boy. Worried about how my current little man would handle having another boy around. So far, so good. Perhaps, he doesn't fully understand that once he's here, we can't send him back from where he came! Let's hope that's not the case!

And here's Matthew's side of the room.

Anyone know where I can get another personlized square blue pillow like this one? My OCDness is kicking in and I want everything balanced, if Matthew has one, Ben must also have one. My mom picked this one up at Homegoods when I was pregnant with Matthew. It was just by chance! I hope I get lucky again this time around.

Educational Updates

I was just telling Miguel that I think teachers/schools give these kids wayyy to much homework nowadays. From the time they get home from school, it feels like we are doing homework for hours on end; at least til just minutes before dinner. Elizabeth already had a project to complete (a Family Tree) and it's barely week 3! How are kids expected to be kids?! Seriously! They are in school for about 7 hours and STILL have to come home to do MORE work! It doesn't make sense to me. However, I could be wrong... The kids are in their third week of school. I'm already amazed at their progress. We learned that Brianna has scored higher than all of the other kids in her class in reading scores. She has set the record/goal for everybody else. Elizabeth was student of the week AND we were given notice that she already knows ALL of the 2nd grade sight words. She will be given 3rd grade sight words to learn while everyone else is still working on 2nd grade! Speaking of reading, Emily has out of nowhere, just started reading remarkably. She needs very little help now which makes reading more enjoyable. Matthew is learning to write his first name along with letter recogniton. And Megs, lately her personality has exploded! She is quite the character, making us laugh by imitating scary voices and giving dirty looks! She still sometimes refuses to talk but just this week I caught Matthew teaching her a word or two and she was repeating them perfectly. When she saw mommy watching she went back to baby babble. Little Stinker! What do you think? Are kids given too much homework nowadays or is it just me?!

Smores Cookies

We enjoyed these yummy smores cookies for the fourth of July, courtesy of Martha Stewart. We LOVE camping and these reminded me of those amazing, childhood camping days. They are fun and easy to make. I dictated while the kids mixed the dough. Try them out. Don't scared away by the amount of butter the recipe calls for. I promise they are worth it! They are kinda rich so just one will do!

Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 cup whole-wheat flour (spooned and leveled)
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup light-brown sugar
1 large egg
8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, cut into 30 squares
15 large marshmallows, halved horizontally

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, pulse oats until finely ground. Add flours, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt; pulse to combine. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, scraping down side of bowl. With mixer on low, beat in flour mixture just until combined.
Drop dough by tablespoons, 1 inch apart, onto two baking sheets. Top each with a chocolate square. Bake just until lightly golden, 11 to 13 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Remove sheets from oven; heat broiler. Top each cookie with a marshmallow. One sheet at a time, broil until marshmallows are lightly browned, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool.

Not Me Monday on Friday!

Being Brutally Honest

This post couldn't wait til Monday... Not me, I did NOT wake up at 4am last night to my son squirting me in the face with urine! Nope, not me! I was definitely sound asleep, enjoying my straight, uninterrupted eight hours of sleep. Not me, I did NOT let Matthew and Megan attack the cinnamon Metamucil wafers just so I could get my father's birthday post done! I sense some RUNNY days ahead of me this week! Pray for us! Not me, I did NOT forget about a prenatal dr appt this week. A very important one at that. It was the fasting blood sugar test! Woops, let's hope I'm not diabetic! I did NOT call the dr to reschedule this darn appt for the 3rd time! I did NOT let Megan play with a silly little doll while we were in Target just to keep her quiet. Oh, and I most certainly did NOT realize once we were strapped in the car that I accidentally walked out of Target without paying for the darn thing. I did NOT think that it was just easier to keep the darn thing than to unstrap them, load them back up in the cart, and enter the store with my head hanging low. I did NOT tell myself that I will just reimburse them the next time I'm in there (which is at least twice/wk). It's NOT the first time this has happened and I'm sure it won't be the last! and... I most certainly did NOT get home from school on Tuesday night around 10pm, realize that everyone in the house was asleep, quietly sneak into the freezer, grab the gallon of ice cream and a spoon, walk upstairs, strip off my dress, jump into bed, polish off the rest of the gallon, and fall asleep without the guilt of NOT brushing my teeth! Of course, I would NEVER do that. Lastly, I did NOT console myself by saying aloud before falling into slumber,-- "it's okay, i'm pregnant." No, never! NOT me!!!

Happy Birthday, Papa!

Tomorrow is Grandpa's (mom's dad) birthday. Happy Birthday, Papa! We couldn't ask for a better, more hands on grandpa in all the world! Here is your birthday poem:

Grandpa Gets Better with Age

We know for sure

You're one of a kind

Another grandpa like you

Would be so hard to find.

You take us on Mexico cruises

and to an occasional movie

You blow us bubbles on Easter

which proves you're groovy.

Don't forget the piano recitals

and the trips to Big Bear

You give us pep talks

when 'life isn't fair.'

Your genuine concern

in what we have to say

can be seen from afar

and it makes our day!

Paying for Thomas the train

or even a live petting zoo

a birthday here is never the same

and it's all because of you

You've been in hospital rooms galore

from elbow surgeries

to waiting for grandbabies--- more, more, more.

Encouraging us to go for a run or even 'uncomfortably' holding another grandchild-- the newest one You prefer us older and wiser wayyy past the baby stage and we feel the same about you cuz Grandpa, ... You get better with age!

Shade- Slowly but Surely

Dad is still working on his shade cover for over the bbq grill. He's doing it all by himself, amidst watching kids and baking under the 100 degree weather! I'm so proud of him. 3 nights a week he watches the kids so I can finish a class I'm taking; I get home and they are all sound asleep in bed. To help him out a little, I've done a few of the 'manly' chores around here like testing the pool water and adding chemicals and such to it (this is sooo a man's job, I sooo don't know what I'm doing). I really consider us a team and feel that we compliment each other. He's such a good daddy to my 5 1/2 kids and still has the energy to fill the role of husband exceedingly well. Even on days when he comes home grumpy and stressed out from work, I'd still never opt for another partner in this team! Papa B., you're the best. Thank you for being you!

Bloomers in a Day

A few months ago I bought some fabric which I planned to use to make Megan a cute outfit for the 4th of July but I just never got around to it. Not wanting it to go to waste, I decided to make her a cute pair of bloomers to wear around the house. I thought it would look cute with a little camisole top. So, I whipped these up in an hour. Aren't they cute?

It was easy to do. I'm thinking about purchasing more fabric to make a few more of these for summer. It might be something easy for Brianna and Elizabeth to work on too.

Brother Ben is Beautifully Baking

We are 24 weeks along now! That's six months preggo! Gosh, time is flying by. I wish it would slow down. Ah, but I must admit, I do miss the skinny days just a little bit! That's okay though. This growing belly and baby is very much worth the extra chub and beautiful new stretch marks I'm waking up to every morning. I call them my battle scars! Here's whats happening with Ben this month... The uterus keeps expanding now to accomodate the growing size of the baby. The fetus does not have as much room in the uterus now as space gets tighter. The baby is growing rapidly now and is roughly 11 inches long and 1.25 to 1.5 pounds. The main lungs are developing branches as well as special cells that produce surfactant needed to inflate the air sacs. The baby will continue gaining muscle weight and deposits of fat under the skin which will help the baby later to retain body heat. The baby’s face is complete now with the features well developed and in the right place though the eyes are still shut. Hair will continue to grow on the head and the eyelashes are well formed. The baby is now just a thinner version of how he would look when born. The baby will start gaining more weight in the next three months. The baby starts practicing breathing by inhaling the amniotic fluid into the developing lungs. We had a recent ultrasound (last week) and they confirmed that Ben is still a BOY! I was a little paranoid and feared he may have lost some valuables in there. I've had lots of Braxton Hicks contractions lately. I don't remember having them so early on with the other kids. Other than that, all is well in the baby growing world. In other news... Miguel & I recently celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. We did nothing special this year but are planning a BIG trip for next years anniversary. It's a big one-- 10 years! Honey, I promise I'll be skinny again by then.

First Day of School

I like to take a picture of the kids on the first day of school each year. They started early in July.

Brianna- 5th Grade
Elizabeth- 2nd Grade
Emily-1st Grade
Matthew & Megan- Still home w/mom

Sorry about the glare

Forf of July

So, I'm almost 3 weeks late on this post. Better late than never. I have a good reason though. I've been busy! I even missed my prenatal dr. appt. yesterday. I totally forgot about it! The kids are back in school (we're on year-round), we're getting the house ready for upcoming parties, planning a camping trip, and with working and school it's hard to find some free time! I'm a dork and like to take family pictures in matching or at least color coordinated clothes every holiday. For the fourth of the July I had bought the whole family these pretty cool flag t-shirts. I wanted to take a picture of all of us together in them. I had to work on that day but I got off pretty early. I rushed home to find everyone in the pool! So much for our group photo! We ended up taking our annual fourth of July family pic just yesterday. I made everyone put on their shirts and march out to the front yard. These are a couple of pics I wanted to share with you on the fourth but like I said, I've been busy. They were taken in May '08 in Big Bear, but are patriotic enough to share now! Crap! Speaking of forgetting appts. I just realized Brianna has an ortho appt in less than an hour! Still gotta get myself, Matthew, and Megan dressed and run to the school to pick up Bri. Let's hope I have enough time to brush MY teeth. Enough blogging for now! I guess this is what my husband means when he complains of me running late everywhere I go!

New Address

No, wait... put the house down! We aren't moving! My "New Address" refers to my email not my house! Since my old one no longer represents our true number of children, I've opened up a new account- one that properly and proudly announces my 1/2 dozen. So, when you see something from: momof6mejias@yahoo.com, you'll know it's from me.