Monkey #2 is 2

It is incredible to think that just 2 fast years ago, Bentley Armour was born into our lives!

Then, it was his perfect little lips and long fingers that had our hearts beating so fast. Today, it's his crazy spikey hair (which I actually cut last night :( ) and his deep dimples and somehow incredibly cuuuute front teeth. And his goofy, care free manor. Care free, yet able to go from 0 to 10 in the "Toddler Fit" scale in about 2 seconds.

You will never see him without his paci - or his big brother, Coy.

When I posted this picture on facebook 2 years ago, a friend said he's got a "built-in best friend"...and that's proved so true! Bentley has such a unique little personality and style of his own, but he never lasts long without his big bro.

Does he not just absolutely melt your heart?

Looking at the picture again just makes me heart skip a beat, then swell right up! And now, he can turn any frown upside down pretty quickly. And can vanish any fear and sadness.

Ha, he still looks like this when he sleeps! Lips squished out...eyes closed tight, but eyebrows somewhat raised.

Happy 2nd Birthday, sweet Bentilee Boo Boo!

Got Milk?

 

Today is finally the day I'm sending my donation of 332 oz. of breast milk to Mothers Milk Bank!

Now before you say "Eww" or think that's weird...hold on a second

because

Breast Milk Saves Lives!!

When babies are born premature and sick, the best medicine for them is breast milk. Now most mother readers know this, but it contains nutrients, colostrum and antibodies crutial for tiny little bodies' wellness. Plus, it's easier to digest, making it easier on sick little tummies. A new mothers milk is "Liquid Gold!" Unfortunately, some mothers cannot not produce milk because of stress from having a premie that is sick, or due to their own ilness.

And they use it for medical research, too...because of it's nutritional properties, it's used for illnesses for adults too. Research shows that it's been benefitial for cancer patients and boosting their immnue system.

Parents of adopted babies sometimes prefer breast mil, and rely on donated milk because they can't produce their own.

So that's where I (and other donors) come in.

All this 332 oz. of milk was all pumped within the first 2.5 weeks...meaning I was almost literally, bursting with this Liquid Gold. It was sickening to just dump it down the drain, so I bought boxes and boxes of storage bags (You are welcome, Medela) and put in the deep freezer.

Now this isn't just a free-for-all type of thing. I had to have blood drawn, extensive medical background questioning, and a well check for both Kase and myself. Once it's to the milk bank (in a hospital in Denver, CO) it's pasturized. After each pasturization, it's tested again for bacterial counts, to ensure it's free of any bacteria that may be harmful to infants, especially sick premies.

Still think it's weird?

http://www.milkbankcolorado.org/

It feels awesome!

So to the question, "Got Milk?" I will answer YES I do!

WEEK SIX and about time

WARNING: PHOTOS GALORE

6 weeks ago we were cradeling a tiny, sleeping baby, and today we're holding a baby who's now wearing 3-6 month clothes, alert as can be, smiling and craving attention!

Wow, time passes to impossibly fast when you know you should be treasuring every second, even though you really are too busy to!

These 3 boys are the coziest boys! Coy was begging to hold Kase and of course once they were cozy, Bentley wanted to be up there too :)

We are starting to see little smiles from this guy! They are sooo cute, and I usually see the first one right away in the morning when I go in and say good morning to him when I hear him stirring. But to actually prove it and catch a full one on camera? - nearly impossible!

His "safe" spot is this bouncer. Also a wonderful last resort in the evening when he's fussing and mommy is busy with supper/clean up and daddy is busy with big brothers.

Coy usually rides his Strider bike down to the mailbox. Bentley has one too, from Grandpa and Grandma Braaten, but isn't interested in riding it yet. This day, for fear of getting bored on the way down, he pushed his dumptruck ALL the way down and back. I will just say that we spent *most* of our morning waiting for the dumptruck driver to catch up.

We had our first snow on Saturday! Beautiful while it was falling, and awesome now that it's gone :D Coy was pretty excited and wanted to build a snowman, haha! They played outside till their mittens were soaked and cheeks and nose red as can be!

SO BEAUTIFUL!

In the guest room/office, Logan set up an old work computer for Coy to play on. He has two pre-school games that he dinks around with. Since kids these days use computer in kindergarten, we might as well get him started, huh? Great for hand/eye coordination practice too! Bentley just watches from afar...

How cute is our little football fan? Just kidding - he could care less about football, but his daddy loved hugging this sweet football! He was feeling a bit deprived because our internet was down on Saturday because of the heavy, wet snow and he couldn't watch any games he was hoping to catch.

I am loving this roley-poley chub! Too bad it isn't quite as cute on adults, huh?

Last week, (at 5 weeks) our midwife weighed him - 12.5 lbs! That means he gained 4 lbs in 5 weeks! We have an appt this week for him, so Im excited to see what he will weigh at 6 weeks!

I am not surprised that he is gaining well - he eats every 2-3 hours! At night included.

This is my good friend, Olga and her little girl, Clara. They live in Missoula where her husband Pablo is going to school, but they are from Chile. It was Olga's birthday last week, so Bonnie Coleman and I took lunch up to her! I am so lucky to have her as my friend!!

Kids spell love T-I-M-E. ~John Crudele

As any mother of more the one child knows (or even with one child, I suppose..I can't remember, lol)..."enough time" is a total fantasy!

I have been struggling with my TIME the past 6 weeks.

(Among other things...like sanity, sleep, etc. haha)

Enough time to get things done, time to spend quiet and alone with God, time being a wife.

But most of all though, enough time with each kid. Obviously, the baby takes the most time, right? I am feeling really aweful when I have to tell the kids "I can't right now", and "It will have to wait 'till later"...but what else can I say when I am nursing, burping, comforting a baby who really does need me most right now? Hopefully I am not scarring them now, and I will be able to balance my time better before they start to remember that mommy ignored them as a child! Sigh.

Then find time to blog? Seriously...if I had time to blog, this post (and the last) would not have taken 2 hours and 11 minutes to complete!

So...until next time, cheers!

Which means, not till next week, or the next week, or the next, I'm sure :)

Halloween

Since Halloween was already over a week ago, now would be a good time to post about it, right?

We met Aunt Mary at Red Robin (in the mall) for a delicious pre-trick or treating feast, and then walked around the mall collecting candy and looking at all the rediculous costumes that humanity dares to parade around in!

In our little parade was a 5 week old cutie (believe it or not, hes that cute all the time, not just on halloween!), a curious monkey, and shockingly sweet triceratops! And a lucky Gramma Mary, mommy and daddy who got to corral them in all the sugar-high madness! :)