Update

Just a quick update (thanks for all the comments and calls!), Ben slept last night!!!  He fussed at about 10:30 (as per usual), but settled within five minutes.  He then cried out at about 4:00, but settled himself!  Yahoo!!!  We both needed our sleep so much last night that it was very much appreciated!  We're thinking that they both must have some kind of stomach bug, as they have both had incredibly gross diapers the last few days.  Nothing like having to wipe right up to their armpits!  Yuck!

Guess we'll see how tonight goes, but so far so good (knock on wood!).

Sleep... or Lack Thereof

Not quite sure what is going on with Ben, but the last few nights have been 'challenging'.  He goes to bed fine at 7:00 - we even gave him Tylenol before he went to bed last night thinking that maybe his teeth were the problem (he still has one molar that is just sitting under the surface of his gums).  Usually he will get fussy at about 10:00, but last night he woke up at 12:45 and didn't settle until about 4:00 this morning!  We tried everything we could think of to get him to go to sleep, but he wasn't having any of it. 

Initially, I got him back to sleep in my arms, but as soon as I layed him in bed he woke up again.  I then got him some milk, he drank it all, fell asleep, and was promptly awake again as soon as his head hit his bed.  Lennard took him for a bit, while I layed in bed - awake.  He got him asleep again, and within five minutes Ben was screaming.  I finally took him downstairs thinking that I would put him in the playpen and let him cry for a while - hoping that he would go to sleep... well that didn't work either!  He completely freaked out and after ten minutes I took him out.  I got him asleep again and he tossed and turned on my chest for about half an hour.  I then tried to lay him down on the floor and lay down beside him.

He then thought it would be a good idea to get up and play!  He found the phone, wandered around the office, got right into my face and gave me kisses, climbed all over me and just would not hold still enough to actually let himself fall asleep.  Finally, in tears, I put him back in the playpen to try to get him to go to sleep.  I sat on the floor outside the door with tears streaming down my face as I listened to him cry out for 'mama'.  Once again... ten minutes later, Lennard decided to 'rescue' him.  I gave up and went upstairs.  I felt like a comlete failure.  I layed in bed and cried until I finally crashed a little after 4:00am... about the same time that Ben finally gave up downstairs.  Needless to say that both Lennard and I are beyond tired. 

It's now 7:00 in the morning - Ben is asleep... and Emma wants to play... this should be an interesting day.

It's a good thing he's so cute... and that we love him so much! 

Crazy Kids

I haven't felt terribly motivated to write anything lately (as you can tell from the lack of blog posts).  The last couple of weeks have been full of chiropracter appointments (for me), rugby meetings (for Lennard), and way too many trips to Lethbridge (for all of us!).  I haven't accomplished as much as I would have like to, though I've read some really good books lately! 

Ben is really starting to try to say more things now.  His favorite word (besides 'no') is now 'yes', in a very high pitch.  It's quite funny to listen to.  We try to get him to say it over and over!  It's so darn cute to hear!

Emma is a little 'escape-artist'.  She thinks it's hilarious to run away from us.  Any stores without carts (and even some with them), get quite the entertaining show.  I have discovered that if we pretend to leave that she'll come running though.  I'm sure she'll figure that one out pretty soon, so we're going to have to come up with something else to deter her in the near future!

They both love to help and want to be right where I am at all times... which means I'm not getting much done, but it's lots of fun to see them 'wash' the dishes!  My floors get done at the same time!

Ben's favorite thing lately is to play with the salt and pepper shakers... though salt is definitely the favorite... it comes out the fastest!  I refilled the salt shaker a few days ago and it's almost empty now...  The funniest was when he shook pepper all over his granola bar and then attempted to eat it!  His expression was priceless!

Some of our time has been spent playing with play-dough.  Emma loves it and spends quite a bit of time cutting shapes out with the cookie cutters.  Ben just like to smash anything and everything into it.

So there you go... nothing too exciting, but at least you know we're all still alive and doing well!