The Forrest Family

OSU basketball

2012-01-26T10:16:00.000-08:00

Ben attended his 1st OSU basketball game. And what a game he got to see... who knew the Cowboys could knock off the #2 team?! I had gotten free tickets from work and honestly I needed a night to get in bed by 8, so John thankfully took Ben with him and let me have a night of resting. Apparently Ben had the time of his life - cheering, clapping and yelling O-S-U with everyone. We have read many books on OSU, so he is fully aware of Pistol Pete, GO POKES, O-S-U, etc. He has been requesting to watch basketball at night when he goes to bed, so I knew he'd love a life action game. When they were getting ready to leave I asked Ben - "you know who will be there?" and Ben says "Nate?!" (his uncle)... no silly, not what I was going for...Pistol Pete. He then asked where the dutch star was (name of my parents RV), poor guy was so confused, he thought he was going up for a tailgate :)

Break for cheez-it time

Come on Cowboys, don't let me down

Ben and Daddy game night

25 weeks

2012-01-18T19:45:00.000-08:00

Past the half way mark and.....
~ Natalee is a big time mover, way more than I remember with Ben
~ Feeling pretty good. Have to take a pepcid morning and night or else my throat is in a burning hell
~ Natalee feels really low
~ As before, we love cream cheese. This phase is plain cream cheese with cinnanmon bagels. Delicious!
~ Most active at night. Dad got to see and feel you having a party at 23 weeks. I was sick as a dog and the Robitussin got the party started for you.
~ At 23 weeks u/s, you weighed in at 1.1 lbs and measured 100% healthy and right on track for May 1st due date. Doctor scared us while looking at you, he kept zooming in on your heart and just watching it. His exact words were "this is a textbook scan and what us doctors dream of, this is too fun"... Apparently you have quite the amazing heart!

Photo Shoot ~ Winter 2011

2012-01-15T12:27:00.000-08:00

One of my BFF's, Lindsay McDaniel,took our family pictures.... in November. Late post, I know :) Lindsay did a FANTASTIC job!! She is quite the talented photographer and I highly recommend her! I can't decide which pictures to print off - too many to choose from. With the help of Skittles, bribery can go a long way for a 3 yr old while getting pictures :)

christmas swimming

2011-12-29T12:14:00.000-08:00

That's right... Ben went "swimming"...in the deep end too!! He got a kick out of being in the "pool" and had a hay day playing on the dirt mountain. After 20 years of begging for my parents to put in a pool, all it took was giving them a grandson :) It will be perfect timing... I'll have the baby, go on maternity leave and be soaking up the rays all summer. We all can't wait!!! There are many more pictures from Xmas, along with pictures from Thanksgiving at Seaworld... if I could just the energy to blog more :)

A much needed mess

2011-12-29T11:38:00.000-08:00

Since I layed my eyes on our current home, I immediately envisioned a much brighter kitchen. I knew exactly what needed to be done and mistakenly decided that around Xmas would be a good time for some remodeling. Our house STINKS to all nastiness, the fumes are unbearable. There is a film of dust. On everything. We've taken up residence at Noni and Papa's house. Below was the state of the project a week ago. Hopefully the painting it will be completed by tomorrow.... really HOPING :) Then the hardwoods will be installed. I am so happy we did this now and not a month before baby is due. I can't wait to make the den a cozy hang out off the kitchen and get my blue walls back in action. No matter how hard I try to find other wall colors, I can't stay away from the blues. Once it's all complete, I post more pictures!

DEN - BEFORE

DEN - in the midst of it all

Kitchen - BEFORE

Kitchen in chaos

Santa's Wonderland

2011-12-13T14:50:00.000-08:00

To keep up tradition, we went to see Santa at Bass Pro for the 4th year in a row. As I've mentioned before, Ben has never met a stranger, including a man with a beard dressed in red velvet and white fur. As we were waiting in line, Ben was on daddy's shoulders, yelling "Hi Santa" over the line of people. Then he became very concerned, an elf was stuck in Santa's workshop! I mean, who was going to save him mommy?? Ben was extremely concerned about this and upon the intially meeting of Santa, Ben kept looking up at this stuck elf. While waiting in line, Ben found Roger the racoon. Ben met Roger last year and Santa delivered Roger on Xmas morning last year. He loves his raccon. I do too, he is super soft and perfect size to snuggle. We didn't take the entire Bass Pro tour as usual... it's too much energy that I don't have these days :) Next year, we'll have 2 kiddos on Santa's lap!!

ROGER!!! We told him it was Roger's family who lived at Bass Pro when he saw the bin full of them

If you look carefully you can see the Elf half way out the window at the top of the house in the background

Santa: "What do you want for Xmas"
Ben: "CANDY CANE"

Love these next pictures of Santa's facial expressions to what Ben wanted....

We crusied through the land of wasteful spending... I mean CHK campus to see the beautiful lights... really out did themselves this year, putting lights on the 5 construction cranes. I mean is that necessary Mr. McClendon?!

Pretty in Pink!

2011-12-02T16:09:00.000-08:00

It's official... Ben is having a SISTER! As if the 3 previous ultrasounds weren't enough, I finally believe the doctors now. For sure a girl, as apparent from the first picture below :) It's been quite the long road and I can't even explain how thankful, happy, relieved and excited I am for this baby girl!

Road Trip

2011-11-28T11:04:00.000-08:00

Packed up for Seaworld Wednesday morning... this is how trip got started....

Then we stopped at McDonalds and Ben swiped some toys - Stir Sticks.

More Stir Stick entertainment....

Down to 1 stir stick....

That was on Wednesday on the drive down to San Antonio. Ben did awesome. All it took was a set of large headphone and an iPad to keep him occupied. Took potty breaks when we stopped and he tried to have us pull over because "I need to pee in the grass, right there mommy, in the grass". Nice try, we just stopped so I'm not falling for it.

Friday we took a slightly shorter road trip from San Antonio to Fredericksburg to see my college roomie. We hadn't seen each other since my wedding, it was a long over due visit. Evan has the 3 most precious girls. Hallie (below) was just a baby at our wedding and is now 5 years old! So glad we got to sit around and catch up... just like old times hanging out in Drummond 612 :)

Can it really be?

2011-11-16T16:37:00.000-08:00

Can it really be true that we will be buying bows, dresses and PINK clothing?!? And what is the deal with siblings knowing the sex of the baby from the get go? Ben has NEVER waivered from his statement "it's a girl". 3 ultrasounds in the past 3 weeks (being high risk has it's benefits) have each shown this hell raiser to be a GIRL. So weird to not see a penis on the ultrasound and I'm still hesistant that a penis will appear on our next one in 2 weeks, so I might be retracting this blog entry :) But in the mean time, I couldn't hold this info in any longer. Most importantly, baby is healthy and bouncing around all over the place! I thought those girls were nuts who said they felt their baby kick early on, well I'm one of them. Sunday night I felt a thump on my left side and today, as the nurse was picking up the heart rate, baby was on the left side so pretty sure I did feel a kick.
At 16 weeks....
I/baby can't get enough chocolate milk. I hate milk, so this so bizarre to me
Love pineapple & strawberries
Still not too fond of steak
Bagels with strawberry cream cheese
Can't think of anything else out of the ordinary.
We are so thrilled with the baby girl news and so relieved baby is healthy and growing!

Trick or Treat 2011

2011-11-01T13:57:00.000-07:00

To say Ben was excited about trick or treating is an understatement. Once our doorbell rang with kids asking for candy, it was GO time for Ben. He wanted to leave with them, "where the kids go, where the kids go?" We quickly put our shoes on and went out for the night, thankfully catching up with those kids he so desperately wanted to find :) He knew the trick or treat routine, follow the kids up to the door and get the goods. In the group of kids we tagged along with, there was a Princess and this Princess had to be the 1st to the door and was "in charge". Well my son, with his competitive streak that he must have gotten from... well me (it's fun to make things into competitions and it's fun when I always win!), caught onto this Princess and by the end of the night, he was 1st! Hahah.... so proud, no way was he going to let her beat him. But I was more proud of him when Tigger dropped his candy and Ben went over to help him put it back in his bucket. As I always say, he is such a sweet boy!! We all had so much fun in our new neighborhood trick or treating!

petting the kitty

Miss Owl grabbed Ben's hand to help him across the street, it was really sweet!

the "scary house" on our route. ben was brave and went straight into the "danger"!

ben and his noni

why sure, let me walk right into your house!

watch it princess... i'm onto you!!!

scoping out the scary house with dad

walk-arounds

2011-10-30T19:25:00.000-07:00

We attempted a night out to the OSU homecoming walkarounds.... it was PACKED! I hadn't been to a walk arounds since my days spent pomping all hours of the night, I don't remember it being that crowded. Our 1st stop (and only stop) was the Delt house carnival. Ben had a hayday on the spinning ride, I can't wait until he is old enough to ride the tilt-a-whirl. He is gonna love it! Ben is a spinner, spins all the time and came home last week from daycare with a black eye, a result of spinning into a play pin. We left the carinval and weaved our way through the mass of people to see a view more house decs. Truely amazing what creativity, chicken wire and tissue paper can create!

having the time of his life!

"i'm spinning daddy... i'm spinning" as he holds on for dear life

It was fun to watch daddy try to get out :)

Here I come....

on the belly slide!

Space Ben

2011-10-28T13:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, I feel like a human again and going to try to actually do things, like blog :) The past 7 weeks were HELL. Not going to sugar coat it, I was in a bad bad place stuck in bed and had zero interest to do anything. Finally, I can say I feel GOOD.... I ran errands all day today, such a nice feeling to not be gagging while trying to browse Target.
After serving my time on jury duty Monday and Tuesday (wow... that was interesting, convicted this thug and gave her 7 years, who knew we had to decide the time in prison, I did not!) Thursday was Devon's Halloween Spooktacular! This year, thanks to Grandma Sandy, Ben was "space boy" or "space ben". I finished the look with the purchase of some snow boots, I mean space boots. After trick or treating on one floor, Ben got his sucker and was "all done". WHAT?! Mom needs more candy! "I don't want anymore candy!". Crazy kid.... we continued to other floors and scored candy for me :)
I am actually finding my nikon and taking pictures tonight in Stillwater for walk-arounds. I've been slacking for long enough!

Rumble made surprise appearance!

Ben and Iyla

Catching up on some work at mom's office

Big Brother

2011-10-16T10:43:00.000-07:00

Not talking about the show but the fact that Ben is going to be a big brother come May 1st!!!! Baby Forrest completely took us by surprise, not that we weren't trying but there were no fertility pills involved and lets just say it doesn't take but one time for a baby to be conceived :) The specialist was planning on running further tests, but obviously that wasn't needed. John and I were, to say the least, in complete shock when the test turned positive, trying for nearly 2 years, the only times we got pregnant, it was on fertility pills. Of course, the anxiety of losing this baby set in and the past 8 weeks have been extremely stressful. However, the fact that I've been stuck in my bed dealing with this outrageous case of morning/day/night sickness has let me know I was still pregnant. I didn't know if I was going to make it to work each day, I seriously thought I'm going to have to quit. I thought I was "sick" with Ben - not even close. These pregnancies so far are night and day. I start my 12th week tomorrow and REALLY hoping it goes away by next week! John has really stepped up to the plate and took over for me... oh and has been getting me whatever food sounds good at the moment :) Ben couldn't be any sweeter - laying in bed with me, giving me kisses when I felt so horrible and is so excited for "the baby in mommy's belly". (which he thinks is in my belly button!) So far my craving and dislikes have been....(I need to write this down now or I'll forget)

Cravings: *some of these lasted a week and I moved onto the next weekly addiction
Fruit, fruit,and more fruit
Glazed chicken lean cuisine
Carrot sticks with veggie dip
Baked Lays
Taco Bueno... or as Ben says "Mom we got your Taco Beano"
Ramen noodles
Jalapeno cheetos
Crackers, pita chips, pretzels (didn't want these by choice)

Barf tendencies:
Ice cream :(
Pizza
Meats
Gray walls... I can't explain it but I made John repaint walls in our house
Scented laundry detergent
Fruit scented hand soaps
I'm sure John could add just a few more to this list :)

So far we've had 3 ultrasound and each appointment I about give myself a heart attack from anxiety, thankfully each time we got to see the bambino growing and growing! Heartrate has been from 177-182 and due date was 5-5-12, then 5-3-12 and now back to the calendar due date of 5-1-12!

Super Ben is 3!

2011-10-09T08:37:00.000-07:00

Another year for the record books for the Beano. We celebrated the big 0-3 with a super hero party at our house on a gorgeous Saturday morning, couldn't have asked for better weather. In fact, we moved the party outside to the back porch! I'm pretty sure Ben was in heaven with all this friends and family at his house to celebrate his birthday. He loves to have guests over, such a people person he is.
Quick stats to report:
Weight: 32 lbs
Height: 38.5
And now for the party pics.... a huge thanks to Lindsay McDaniel for capturing the day!

My mom (Noni) made capes for all the super heros

I let Ben pick out his shirt... Thunder jersey... surprise, surprise. Time to get that 3T :)

Ben and his BFF Jacob

"to the rescue...."

Hit of the party... Rocket launcher from Uncle Seth and Aunt Ryan

We captured all the super heroes at once!

Dentist

2011-09-05T13:38:00.001-07:00

Ben's 1st dentist check up was a success! He did fabulous and teeth look great! We took him to the same dentist John and I went too as a child, they remembered John.... which I told him later, they remember you cause you had such bad teeth. Kidding, kidding :) I probably had worse teeth. Thanks Dr. Steele for an awesome 1st check-up, see you in 6 months!

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cool dude

2011-09-05T13:27:00.000-07:00

I admit, the iphone has taken over the #1 spot in the paparazzi, it's just so easy to whip out instead of the big ole nikon. The iphone has also made me a blog slacker, couldn't tell you the last time I was on this laptop. But I'm here now and here is what we got...

Built soley by Ben himself, he was so proud of his "spaceship"

this happens about 50 times a day now - the "bury and hide"when told no, please stop or just because.

if that isn't a cool dude, then i don't know what is!

testing out daddy's noise blockers

trying to out run the paparazzi, too bad i had it on action mode!

My best friend

2011-08-20T12:30:00.001-07:00

Ever since Ben started at Ms. Rose's, he has been attached to Jacob. As Ben puts it " he's my best friend". Ben doesn't know it yet, but Jacob started kindergarten this year :( my babe will be heart broken his BFF won't be at Rose's all day. Jacob's sister, Iyla, is Ben's age and had her party a few weekends back. I loved getting to see Ben with all his friends from "school", they are all such sweet good kids. We are so so thankful we found Rose, couldn't ask for a better daycare!

2 peas in a pod!

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my iPhone

Return to Cali

2011-08-20T12:12:00.001-07:00

Mommy took a trip, by herself. I'm so lucky to be able to travel solo, sometimes it's needed. Thankfully I have friends in fun places to visit, Boston and this year Santa Monica. I went to see Gesell, my BFF since 3rd grade, so lucky to have her in my life! The trip went so fast with shopping, walking, shopping, beach time, and holy moly our wine tour in Santa Barbara. We got rowdy, our tour guide didn't know what he was in for! I will keep our memories to myself, no need to embarrass ourselves :) it was a much needed break from reality for both of us, miss my friend and wish she'd come back home! But until she does, I can always go visit sunny Socal.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

First stop... Calm and quiet

2nd stop... My fav tasting room

Ha-ha-ha we are so funny

Time to leave wine country but not before some off roading, we were covered in dirt when we got home

Just like ole times... Gesell and Phillips!

Just Kidding

2011-07-26T10:28:00.000-07:00

What do you do when Mommy tells you not to do something and you do it anyways.... you smack that sweet grin on your face and say "I just kidding mommy!" Then you realize that failed, you say ever so politely "I sorry Mommy". Defiant. Independent..... pushing the limit on EVERYTHING!

Oh and you are now working at Office Depot and what do you do there? Well apparently you fix computers. True story, you told me this one early morning on our way to daycare. What a hoot you are Beano!

Monday night visitor

2011-07-19T19:08:00.000-07:00

Monday night a special visitor slept in Ben's bed...it was Grandma Duncan! She was flying out of OKC Tues morning, so stayed the night with us. Grandma Duncan is from..... well name says it all.. Duncan :) How creative we were as kids :) Of course the night I needed Ben to sleep in bed with me, he puts up a teary saga of "nnnooo I sleep in Ben's bed." He got over and then requested our room to be complete darkness so he could fall asleep. So demanding and yet so charming. He was looking at one of our wedding pictures and said "it's mommy and daddy.... mommy is a princess". Since Will and Kate's wedding ( you know my good friends who are royalty), he thinks all brides are princesses :)

Super roll

2011-07-17T12:53:00.000-07:00

No more half side, fake rolls....Ben mastered the somersault last night!

Seen alot of these today. Also seen alot of cartoons. The heat is unbearable, we are sweat soaked just getting in and out of the car. Trip to the snowcone stand is of course an exception :) John is out of town for an entire week. yikes. Mommy having to be at work at 7am, creates a 6am wake up for cranky pants, it won't be pretty this week. It wasn't pretty either last Monday for the ole Stinker. He got in trouble at daycare for spitting. Really the 1st time he had to be disciplined there. After being sent to his room that night, he hasn't done it since. Just another thing to test what he can get away with, on top of saying NO to every question. I put my foot down on that one and he knows he goes to his room if he says the n-o! He is hilarious and somewhat creepy - he wakes up in the middle of the night and mosies on in our room. Stands on my side of the bed and just stares at me until I wake up. Creepy. Or like this morning, he was already in our bed and I wake up to his big ole smile in my face asking for a breakfast bar. Hilarious and super cute. He had a stutter going on for a few weeks but lately it seems to have gotten better. I noticed another kid at daycare was doing it, so not sure if he was copying her or what. I love the conversations with him. So animated and he remembers EVERY thing. He is a copycat and mommy's lil helper. He loves to watch the videos I take of him and grins from ear to ear watching. With my parent's and John being out of town, he is pro at facetime and skype. Amazes me what kids get these days! The big 0-3 is on the horizon and I have a request to throw a super hero party. Can't wait!

Benburglar...a million degrees out and he wants his beany

My tough cookie

$1 Spot glasses that say Ben... how awesome is that?!

Who are you?

2011-07-10T11:34:00.000-07:00

Who is this young man?! Chopped off your curls and you turned from my babe to my little man. You are such a stud and are rocking the new 'do like no one's business!

All time Fav

2011-07-08T16:53:00.000-07:00

I might be the only adult lover of blue bubblegum snowcones, but now I have a partner in crime to indulge in the sweet sweet yumminess of snowcones with!

swim party

2011-07-03T14:22:00.000-07:00

We went over to our friend's house for a get together with all the families. It was such a blast with all the kiddos around the same age. Ben was swimming but was so distracted with being at a new house, with new toys. We convinced him to stay outside and he loved jumping off the side of the pool and squirting the water gun. I had chunks of watermelon on my plate, handed him a piece and he refused to eat it telling me "uugggghh mom, mustard on it!" There was no mustard, it was a seed! hah We realized he needs the "puddle jumper" floaters and already ordered a pair off amazon, scared us to death when he decided to just go under. Fearless child I love, but not when he gives me a heart attack in the pool! Tomorrow we are braving the heat, so Ben can see a real life parade. He's been talking about all week when I accidentally told him we could go. Happy 4th!

tinkle star

2011-07-02T05:52:00.000-07:00

Ben was on a streak of performing" tinkle tinkle little star" awhile back. I failed to capture the performance in it's entirity but you get the shortened "I'm done performing mom" version below.

muno!

2011-07-01T11:49:00.000-07:00

My dear sweet Ben - you are fascinated with Muno and Plex (Yo Gabba) at daycare right now, you don't watch it at home or request to watch it but in bed at night you get so giggly talking about Muno and Plex. Daddy said your reaction was priceless when you found this shirt awaiting for you on the front door (a Noni surprise). You play with the Muno toy at daycare but love to watch Wubbzy, Max & Ruby and all 3 Toy Stories at the moment. Mommy and Daddy have all 3 Toy Stories memorized but you don't get sick of any, laughing at all your favorite parts!

munOOOO!

it's a miracle i captured you non-moving
with the iphone. you posed!

Titleless

2011-06-26T19:22:00.000-07:00

We started the weekend with a trip to "Homo-depot". Ben loves the home improvement stores. Test rides the mowers, ooo's and aaawww's over the big saws and the new discover are the little video tvs around for security. Let's just say, Home Depot's security guy got alot of Ben face time Friday night.... and Saturday morning too. FINALLY our master bedroom got painted this weekend. Out with the baby blue and in with, well another blue... but much more calm and soothing blue/gray. Ben only spilled a SMALL POND of blue paint on our white carpet. Noni and mommy calmly utilized the Hoover carpet cleaner and wah-la, blue paint gone... for the most part :)
Today Ben and I spent the morning watching cartoons and watering outside (daddy was sick in bed). By 10am the heat was unbearable, even for Ben. We cooled off with grapes on the back porch, he is loving green grapes, about the only thing he eats besides his staple of Cheez-its and breakfast bars. I've given up on him trying other foods. He is picky, extremely picky on his foods. Oh well, I am too :) We ended the weekend with a quick dip in the pool and dinner at Grandma Sandy's and Grandpa Jim's. Mommy and daddy ate too much of Grandpa's delicious ribs, while Ben nibbled on his cheezits. Another great weekend to start a long, hot, windy week : )!

What's up lady friend.... she ignored him. I think her googles blurred her vision and that is why she ignored my sweet adorable son.

You will notice the stranger's feet in the lower right corner. I had to capture Ben saying hello to everyone who walked by him. This boy has no enemies, he loves everyone!

Wood surprise

2011-06-18T05:43:00.000-07:00

I can't ever be surprised, I'm too snoopy and investigative. But it happened. And the results will last forever! John had our good friend Lindsay McDaniel come down fromTulsa to take Ben and his pictures for me. And of course the talented Lindsay didn't fail and got some adorable pictures!! "Wood" is the 5 year present, so these pictures are for the wood frames... Daddy did good :) I love how the space shuttle was included in these pictures. Ben, to say the least, is attached to all things space related. He flies that shuttle around and the best part is the landing... he slowly brings it down and makes this ruffling engine noise while shaking because it's" too much force" to control this shuttle landing. Cracks us up!

While laying in bed one night, I asked if he had a good day and what he did. He replied with this silly grin "Muno with Jacob and Iyla (his BFF's)... Muno, Muno, Muno". Muno- he keeps saying this and each time he has that grin and tone of orneriness, what is Muno?! I finally remember to ask his daycare teacher - she informed me it's Muno from Yo Gabba. Duh mom! She said each morning they fight over holding Muno and Ben will hold him tight to his chest but when asked to share, Tabitha said "Ben is so sweet and is so willing to share with everyone and will take it to whoever wants it and says here you go". Makes me smile. He is SUCH a caring child. He hates when other kids get in trouble, he stopped in his tracks at the pool when a kid was getting yelled at and said "whats wrong mommy, whats wrong" with this look of sadness on his face. Of course at home, when he gets in trouble by us, he just yells NO at us and continues to be a maniac :) Love my maniac and hubbie for the best 5 year surprise!!

5 years

2011-06-17T05:58:00.000-07:00

5 splendid years John and I have been married today! Seems just like yesterday we got married and packed up the Penske and headed out to California, thinking we would be out there for awhile. Hah. I admit it, I was crazy thinking. But seriously, unless you are "independently wealthy", there is no way you can afford to raise a family in the standard of living we are use too in Oklahoma. Back on track... tonight we will celebrate with a yummo dinner at Boulevard Steakhouse! We have had quite a rough couple months, but we had each other to lean on and I couldn't have asked for a better hubbie to spend our roller coaster life with! Here is to 5 years of marital bliss (let's be real, for the most part :)) and also to John starting his new career today!!

moms day: the late edition

2011-06-07T10:28:00.000-07:00

Completely forgot to highlight my splendid mothers day from last month. Nothing special but just a great day with Ben and John and then dinner with Noni, Papa and Uncle Nate. It was quite perfect. Ben took a good nap, there were no tantrums and it was such a peaceful day:) I'm so lucky to have this boy as my child, after knowing I am "mutated" (for real), he truly is our miracle child, must explain why he is a genius and such a sweetie!

Yard work in skeevies.. well of course!

Don't mess with me Uncle Nate!

No more, no more

Hi Paparazzi

Will I ever get him to look at the camera in a group shot?! :)

Fears, tears and lillies

2011-05-27T05:54:00.000-07:00

Fear and sadness have consumed me this week. I have always loved storms but not ones that are coined "killer, maxi torando" and the words from the best weaterman out there of "you HAVE to get underground" made me almost crap my pants. John was calm. I was NOT, but when Mike Morgan says 1/2 mile wide tornado could be coming directly at Edmond, I flipped out. We don't have a storm shelter and the images of Joplin kept coming in mind. Ben watched about 10 episodes of Wow Wow Wubbzy and ate whatever he wanted, I had to keep him out of the living room where I was losing it. I never thought I'd act that way in a storm. What has happened to me?! I always thought I'd grab pictures, computer, etc. I grabbed nothing when we left to get in a shelter. Nothing. After the fact, I realized I have uploaded all pictures since Ben was born to shutterfly, so if you haven't uploaded your pictures to a website, I suggest do it now. You never know! Having a child changes it all. Those fears of losing Ben took over. Unfortunately a mother in Piedmont had those fears come true. She lost her 15 mo and 3 yr sons. Completely heartbroken for that family. I just can't imagine, she did what she could and got them in the bathtub but that tornado was so mean. Complete devestation and so sad, however, the family will have a bundle of joy in Oct, the mom is 5 months pregnant and the baby is doing okay!
I can't dwell on sadness when I have this little man in my life. A day after the storms we enjoyed a nice evening in the front yard playing "golf". And after 3 months, what started looking like the tops of pineapples, our lillies have BLOOMED. They are stunning :) These suckers took forever to bloom. Thank you previous owners for planting these, I love 'em. I hope we never have to deal with a storm like that again! But given the fact we live in tornado alley, we probably will, but this time we will be safe in Papa's new shelter he is building :)

Pool opened today

2011-05-22T19:31:00.000-07:00

The title of this post, might have had you thinking we went to a pool that is cleaned with chlorine... but wrong. The Forrest style, backyard "bathtub" (as Ben called it), $15 Walmart bargain was purchased today. We debated on upgrading to the $30 one with the slide but -

1. John would have had to walk home with it along 15th St,...Wallies is just around the corner from us

2. With me being the genius that I am, screw the upgrade, we have our own slide at home

I think our decision this year on the hard plastic will be money well spent over the annoying blow up plastic ones we've tried in the past. I tested it out while Ben napped and throughly enjoyed it . Ben obviously had a hay-day this afternoon with his naked self swimmin. His words - "yay, summertime, pool..."!

Look at that smirk.. so ornery!!

here it is in action - SHOOSH.

I think I have the whitest caucasian child on the planet!

Always gotta see his foot steps and hand prints

Going up the "big" slide... star for his privacy :)

That's right, this is the 2011 edition of the Forrest pool,
bonus slide added this year!

Shoosh and Trucks

2011-05-21T07:23:00.000-07:00

At 2 1/2 Ben loves to shoosh us. Puts the finger up to his mouth and "shoosh, BE QUIET". It isn't nice and usually ends in screaming if we don't quit talking. This lovely new thing has been coming and going the past 2 weeks. I have to hide when I talk on the phone and John and I have been limited to conversations once he passes out. Which this week, bed time was anywhere from 11pm-1am. What the heck?! I thought to myself what have we been doing different? BANANA. He has been eating a banana right before bed. Sugar fruit. No more bananas before 6pm. Unreal how much it affected him. 31 lbs of full blown energy is not my wish after my 10pm bedtime. I get completely wore out from him going 90 to nothing after work, straight up to bedtime but don't think I'd want it any other way. He is too dang entertaining with his dance moves, lawn mowing skills and sprints thru the house. What else has Ben been saying....
~ "Good night Andee, Good night John...lauve you"
~ When meeting new people - "This is Andee and John" pointing at us
~ "Mommy it's a big turd!" And he spells turd while pottying. My mistake.
~ When asked are you done? "not quite mommy, not quite"
~ Ben knows cars. He associates people with what kind of car you drive. This has been going on for awhile but I am still amazed at his knowledge of the car world.
~ Ben and I watched the big storm that rolled thru Thursday night out our back doors. He wanted to go outside and I had to tell him lightening is dangerous. So when a big flash of lightening occurred - "Oooooo big one mommy....dangerous." He loved sitting in the dark watching mother nature with me, I was hoping this would prevent future nights of being terrified by storms. This way, I can just reassure him it's the big flashlight turning on in the sky :) And the big boom ... well that was Thunder? His face lite up and he sang "uuhhh-uuhh-uuuhh THUNDER" Works for me, loves to watch the Thunder and now will associate the loud noise with basketball team!

Gotta throw in our activity last week - Touch A Truck. This event was held at the UCO parking lot and we were touch a truck virgins. Note to self - don't go if you have a headache - this event entails a parking lot full of trucks, buses, cranes... all with children sounding the sirens, horns, etc. Ben was in complete awe. It's the best thing to see his eyes light up and his face illuminates pure joy. I would have to say his favorite was the basic, no frills big yellow school bus. He also enjoyed the UPS truck :)

Ben and papa

CHEESE!

In the patrol car with his sucker, not a cig!

High fivin Mr. Robot

mothership

2011-05-13T20:04:00.000-07:00

Me and my friends in college always discussed what each other's "mothership" would be... Ben found his mothership Monday evening at Academy. Our intent was to find mommy a new Thunder shirt, but ended up taking a tour of the entire Academy store. The last leg of "our tour" Ben came face to face with his mothership... SPACESHIPS...ROCKETS... it was priceless. He literally stopped in his tracks and was in "aawww". These "spaceships" were really a row of kayaks lined up on the wall. I'll give him credit, they could be mistaken for rockets. He proceeded to try to climb up in them, in which I told him no, which lead to a complete meltdown in the main front aisle - rolling around on the floor, scooting on his butt and telling me "no mommy NO". Mommy left with a super cute Thunder shirt and Ben left his heart with his spaceships.

CAT the CAT

2011-05-10T18:13:00.000-07:00

Aunt Allyson's birthday present to Ben has turned into his 1st book he is reading... super cute book called Cat the Cat Who is THAT? (hence my title of the post) :)

Field Party

2011-05-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

Spur of the moment on Friday night, we ended up in Logan county on 160 acres fishing, cookin dogs and just enjoying nature. This land belongs to my parent's neighbors and we tagged along for the evening. Ben got his 1st taste of fishing, as with most things, it lasted all of about 5 mintues and he was on to the next activity. He wanted to hang with the big boys (teenagers), it was pretty cute as he'd follow them around. Ben has reached the stage of "that's scary"... he was scared of the fire pit? Goof has been around fireplaces all winter but the open flame freaked him out. He was into eating the marshmellows but not so much actually making smores. He greeted everyone with his "Hello There!", tooted away the evening (he's had a case of the stomach weirdness going around) and entertained all with his attitude. We throughly enjoyed our random night in the field!

"no way mommy.. no way!" hates to have pic taken but LOVES
to look at himself on the LCD screen

"Ssshhooo-weee, skunky fish"

hey guys... can I play?

"sit right here"... we hear this ALOT when he
refuses to do something

Learned how to put keys in and start, YIKES!

Fishin with DAD

DAD casting his reel

entrance to land

"Don't Push MY Buttons" - sums up our Beano!

Rub-a-dub-dub..

2011-05-03T12:37:00.000-07:00

Look at these 2 precious babies in the tub!

Miss Ellison Bloom, star of the Bloom Memoirs, stopped by for an evening of dinner and bath tub fun with Ben. Ellison and I woke Ben up from his late (5:30) nap and he was in the best mood when she woke him up with her "hhhiiiii" to him. He sprung right up and smiled at her. So sweet. He was very gentle with her and she gazed and smiled at him. Evening was cut short for Ellison with her 7pm bedtime, but have no fear, Ben stayed up until 11pm :) Thunder was on tv, he couldn't sleep. With us watching all the play off games, Ben noticed during one game Kevin Durant was wearing his shirt. Ben says "hheeeyyy, that's Ben's shirt". HAH Ben has KD's jersey, if you remember from his Halloween costume, and KD was wearing HIS shirt!

Easter 2011

2011-05-02T19:34:00.000-07:00

As we all know, Easter plans went down the tubes with the weather. Typical - we've been in a drought for months and the one day it decides to rain cats and dogs...it's Easter. Anywoo, we improvised and hit eggs inside for the Ben-man. He was quite the hunter like last year, except this year the eggs were hid in closets and tables instead of grass and trees :) Aunt Ryan loaded up lots of eggs for him with tasty chocolate and got him fresh new pad of paper and paints! Great Easter memory from this year....we were all sitting around the dining room table enjoying dinner when Ben decides to poo in his pants. Alright we can handle that, John cleaned him up and forgot to "re-pant" him, however nothing unusual having Ben run naked, except the fact that he made himself a lil too cozy on our living room chair. Next thing I hear is Uncle Nate saying "uuuuhhhh Ben what are you doing?" Yes Ben poop in our chair. Thankfully the poop stuck to his butt for the most part as John whisked him to the bathroom :) Popping on back deck, check. Popping in living room chair. check. Where will he mark his spot next?!

Super-duper basket Noni made

These didn't leave his side for a good solid 3 days... always
had to be lined up perfectly too

Ben and his Noni

Checking out his Easter loot with Uncle Nate

Easter outfit... only to sit in mud and stain the shorts :)

Wouldn't be a good day without a round of mowing

Easter Bunny stopped by

Post muddy shorts.. hunted eggs in undies and shirt

Potty Excellence!

2011-04-23T07:21:00.000-07:00

Potty training is here in full effect. It seems it has happened so fast, I mean Ben is in undies during the day and no accidents? When did he become such a big boy?!? 2 weeks ago, daycare told us to quit putting him in diapers because it was only getting in his way when he would go to the toilet on his own to pee? WHAT? He was not doing that at home but apparently he was showing off at daycare with his potty skills. So last weekend we did the "need to go potty?" every 45 minutes to him and I created the fabulous fancy potty chart as seen below :) (yes Thursday is Thursay, oopppss). He gets small stickers for pee and big stickers for poop. Not only does this encourage him to pee, but he is learning the days of the week - double bonus with this chart!
We went to dinner last night with the Forrest family and I think he visited both the women's and men's restroom about 10 times - 2 of those he actually did pee. wwooo hoo! Ben is rocking this potty training, he pooped both Thursday and Friday night... I'm hoping we've passed the "OMG I'm terrified to drop my poop in the toilet" stage. Cleaning up not only 1 but 2 poop undies on Tuesday was more than we'd like.... please please please let this pooping in the potty stick around :) I'll tell ya, when Ben does decide to achieve a new goal, he puts his all in it and goes full steam ahead. I am so proud of the Stinkerman!!

John said this looks like one of those akward school pics
where kids wont' look at the camera :)

ZOO

2011-04-20T10:23:00.000-07:00

I played hooky at work Monday to enjoy a Zoo day with my boys and the Gesell clan. So worth it! Allyson, who is my BFF, was in town from LA with her boyfriend Aaron (who is on his way to be a famous actor, seriously, I will for real know someone famous) so we joined them along with Allyson's sister and her 2 kiddos. Ruby is a year older than Ben, we laughed because they have the exact same coloring and same hair....by the end of the day, both kiddo's hair were curling up from the heat :) Ruby is a bossy lil thing and Ben loved every minute of it. He "made fun of her" when she cried because she didn't get her way. It is apparently his new thing because he did the same thing at the park Saturday. When a kid throws a fit (or in the park incident really gets hurt), Ben does this fake cry at them. To Ruby it was hilarious.... not so hilarious to the poor kid who got hurt. Partly our fault because we "egggg" him on to act for us. We had high hopes to see the new baby elephant but she was bonding with her mommy. Ben was not disappointed though - he got to see elephant poop - "BIG POOP MOMMY!" Could have cared less about the actual elephant, he loved the poop and the fans in the elephant room. He also was obsessed with the pig poop at the petting zoo. I will blog another day about his recent pooping habits, lets just say we have hit white trash status for sure! Back to the zoo.... we took our lunches, ate by the lake, and got cooled off by the lake breeze. Ben was great for the most part, a few meltdowns here and there but nothing a little kit-kat bribing couldn't cure :)

On a totally different note - to my friends out there who encouraged me to take action on my miscarriages, I did... I graciously donated 14 tubes of blood :) The results came back yesterday and I have a "mutated" gene - Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is the name of a gene that produces an enzyme. If a person carries the genetic mutation that inhibits production of this enzyme, its ability to absorb folic acid is inhibited - in short, I have a severe folic acid deficiency,along with blood clotting. Not only do I carry one bad copy of this gene, but 2 bad copies :( My doc has never had a patient with 2 bad copies, fantastic news right? However, my doc is the greatest and already prescribed me what to take and is going to seek further answers from a specialist for me. At least I now know why I've lost 2 babies and there isn't the answer of "we aren't sure why, just bad luck.. keep trying"!

Had to ride on the Panda!

Checking out the elephant poop :)

Notice the curly q's... this was at the end of the day

"E-L-E-P-H-A-N-T"... as always, he was spelling the sign to Ruby

Banging on this random door at the Chimp exhibit.. I told him the monkey's were sleeping in there and to stop.. his mind went to "ssshhh sleeping, MACHINES. He manages to bring machines, rockets, space in any sentence :)

Happy Zoo Clan!

after dinner

2011-04-11T10:36:00.000-07:00

Each week Ben finds something to obsess over. We hear about it over and over and then it fades out and something new and exciting enters the little man's brain. However, spaceships and rockets are still lingering and I don't know if they will ever leave our topics of conversations. All weekend this is how it went:
Ben: "Lets go bbbyyeee-bye"
Me: "Where you wanna go"
Ben: "SPACE"
Me: "We need a space ship for that and I only have my car"
Ben: "uuuuoooooooohhhhh ok"
And Ben will start talking, talking in what sounds like a foreign language, and then at the end you can decipher either... "spaceship" or "rocket".
But this past week, it was paint. Started with crayon coloring. Next night he found our "junk drawer" with the water color paint. And knowing what was coming the next night, the finger paint popped in my head and we let him go to town outside with it. Weed-eed-eater and mowing could be this week's after dinner energy buster, he was pretty attached to both this weekend... if only they were the real-deal to help out daddy :) Good practice though!

Getting pestered by daddy-o

About to spew milk out of his mouth!

Fire station, yes please

2011-04-05T19:17:00.000-07:00

We have experienced a few "neat" and exciting things lately...

Peeing as he wishes in the backyard. Our new neighbors probably think are "Dub-T". I won't go into details but one night the neighbors have every right to think we are white trash, because they would have heard me say "Ben show Papa how you poop in the yard"..... long story, he isn't pooping in the yard...yet. He is so proud of himself when he get his stream of peeing going in the grass.
Someone deposited "nuggets" in his Buzz & Woody undies... He has been back to fighting the diaper changes again, so we settled on big boy undies Sun morning. 30 minutes later, I see what looks like rocks in his undies. GAG. It was sick, but we threw the poo in the toilet and waved good bye as it went to the ocean :)
For many reasons, I try to avoid taking Ben to the stores with me. Refusal to sit in shopping car, throwing items, you know... but on Sunday he went to BOTH Target and Wal-Mart! He was a champ! There was a rough patch during the Target trip - chalk eggs were being launched on the floor but Cheez-Its saved the day. Ben loves Wal-mart. Since moving right by it, he knows where it is and always asks to go. At both stores, he thrived on being Mr. Personality, saying hi to EVERYONE.
Ben befriended 2 firemen in the Wal-mart parking lot and ended up with an invite to visit their station after refusing to exit their firetruck in the parking lot. I had to lie to my child, it was necessary. There was no other way he was budging... "Ben, hurry, get out quick, they have to go put out a fire". It worked. His eyes got wide and he hopped right out. Upon arrival at the station, Ben received some sweet SWAG - coloring book, badge stickers and daddy's favorite - tattoos! Daddy of course had to try it out and looked so badass with this Edmond Fire Dept tat on his chest. Fortunately it washed off :) Ben prefered the brush and tanker truck to the actual real deal fire truck. The firemen all came out to see us and were super nice... I foresee future trips back to Station #4.

total white boy

2011-03-28T16:44:00.000-07:00

Don't know where he picked up these dance moves but I couldn't be more proud!

Offspring

2011-03-25T10:10:00.000-07:00

Between the 4 of us, we produced the most "perfect little angels" in the whole wide world pictured below :)

Who wouldn't love these sweet babies?!?

I can't wait to see them grow up together and be bestest of friends!
(If you remember, Ben wouldn't leave the legos, so I had to bribe him to sit there with candy, hence the fingers in the mouth)

party animal

2011-03-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Reese and Jacob!

Reese is Ben's one true love :) He calls her Reesey-poo. She is one feisty lil thing... nothing like her mommy.wink wink. Reese's bday last year was hampered by a stupid March blizzard, but not this year. It was an awesome afternoon and it was great to have the kids all together. We attempted a group picture - I had to bribe Ben to sit with chocolate candy, so his hand was stuck in his mouth the entire time nawing on it. I will post it once it is edited for blog use by a fellow blogger :)

Birthday Girl on her new 4-wheeler

Love this. Reese is so giddy on her bike and Ben looking so studly in his "sundays best"

I'm catching iiittttt

Here ya go Parker and Cason....

Jacob is Ben's best bud from daycare. Jacob showed him the ropes at daycare when Ben started last year and he is such a sweet kiddo. We were anxious to see how Ben would do, given this party was at Bounce Craze and Ben is just a tad bit scared of them (as seen in the picture below). Didn't matter though, his daycare girlfriends were there and he played with them. Getting a pic of all 3 turned out to be impossible. John and I just sat and watched Ben be the ladies man and play house with his ladies. Until things went south... no nap, coming off a sugar high from Reese's... Ben was in no mood to listen to us and decided to revolt- crying and then pulled his shorts right off in front of everyone. I wish I would have taken a picture but I was so stunned. Needless to say, we left and didn't stay for cake. It was time for someone to have nap. We had another get together that night and Ben once again was the ladies man, being the only little boy at this party filled with 6 other little girls! I didn't take pictures, I was all pictured out.
One last thing... Ben's uncle Nate scared the living day lights out of him with this Rock Band fog machine. Ben was standing right in front of it when it went off, shooting the fog directly at his face and Ben took OFF. Crying "focking machine". Except you know what it really sounded like. "FOCK". Just to make sure we asked "spell what you are saying", and phew "F-O-G". He likes to tell people about this "focking machine". I love it, I find it hilarious. I also love that Ben tells me "good job mommy, good job" after I go to the bathroom or how he yelled out while taking a bath (and grabbing it) PEN-IS. Through the tantrums he continues to crack us up every day with something new.

DADDY... get me off this!!

Ben and birthday boy Jacob

Ben and Iyla looking really excited to be photographed

Demo weekend

2011-03-15T10:27:00.000-07:00

"What a beautiful formal living...(minus the apalling window treatments)" we thought as we came across this listing picture for a home we liked... too bad this was a psych out picture....

Because a little marketing birdy did some photoshopping, this is what the floors really looked like..

It was way worse in person. What to blame - the 500 year flood from last summer. This was the deal breaker on the house, we feared this wasn't just this damage, but also water in the ducts. Camera scope put our fears at ease, clean ducts. This was a week before we were suppose to close. Fast forward to now, we.... meaning John (I tried but decided to mop the rest of the house instead).... has ripped up the floors, all 100 layers of it. Someone's hamstrings are stinging, so my handyman is slowing down but almost done getting the plywood boards up. Carpet is going down in here and this will be our main living room. I love the look and easiness of hardwood floors but carpet is so much softer on the toosh... and cheaper :)

Our family photo is really making this room feel so homey :) I had to put it somewhere for now. Not only were there horrendous window treatments in there but the dining room might take the cake. I will save that room for another post and sorry if I offended anyone's taste of curtains!

Marvelous Lindsay McDaniel

2011-03-09T19:10:00.000-08:00

Please check out my friend's blog, the exceptionally talented Lindsay McDaniel.... she took the time to photograph Ben and 2 other friend's kiddos and I must say she captured their personalities to a "T" :) Milam - thank you SO much, I love how you got Ben's signature pose, what a stud he is...I can't wait to get that one in a frame and see the other shots!

Cursed

2011-03-08T19:34:00.000-08:00

Remember that movie Teen Witch?... well I think Louise is using her voodoo doll to "reck" havoc on our lives. I mean seriously, who put a curse on us? I don't want anyone to think I'm asking for sympathy but you know, sometimes life isn't so peachy all the time and I hate the "I'm so perfect blogs", so I'm laying it out of what is going on in the Forrest household - bad or good :)
I think our home on 62nd is pissed at us for leaving him because once we put the for sale sign in our yard, it all went downhill from there (with the exception of getting our new house just in the nick of time). Among other things discussed in previous blogs....The icing on the cake occurred last Friday, when a chunk of wood came flying at my face on I-35 and smashed into my windshield... thankfully John was with me or else, I would have pulled over and made him come get me. It scared me to death. The windshield didn't break through, just crackled all over. And then the cherry on top came on Saturday when John stepped through the attic floor. Not a totally horrible curse cause it was only in the garage but still there is now a huge hole in our garage ceiling.When the cursed was lifted.....

1. John and I went to the movies - 11:45am show time... just the way I like it. Empty. I'm not a fan of movies, I need to able to get up and walk around if I want. But we saw Cedar Rapids - hilarious! (and short)
2. My best friends and I got to enjoy a night out. A night out to dinner and good ole beer, to share our stories, to realize everyone else goes through the same stuff and to laugh our asses off at Kelly and her "here I go throwing myself under the bus again" stories. Aaaww I love my friends, they make me laugh and make me forget about everything going on.
3. I failed at taking pictures this weekend.... Ben wasn't in the mood for me. But he was in the mood for Milam to get some pictures which I'm dying to see. Milam was so gracious to take pictures of all our babies. She found this original awesome John Deere tractor in this abandoned lot that we trespassed on and then discovered a barn was there too. Don't worry we didn't stay long, this place was actually super creepy but made for a great photo op! Can't wait to see what her talent produced!!!

4.We discovered what a sweet heart Ben is, I mean I've always known my boy is a sweetie (when he has time to sit and relax) but never really saw him in action around other kids. His friend Reese was quite shy upon 1st meeting on Sunday, so Ben tried everything to make her better.... patting her back, giving her toys, "it's okay Reesey"... it was priceless. He absolutely loves people. I know I've said it before, but no one is a stranger to Ben. My favorite Ben slogan this weekend "uuumm no way mommy". Or how he told me "bbbyyee mommy" and waved me out of his playroom so he could do his #2 business in the closet :)

Homemade garage ventilation

We caught him twice tonight swiping the cookies off the counter. Guess the new recipe was a success

Attempting to cook with mommy... but it was more lets try to throw in whatever in the mixer

More beater action.

The Good, Great and Ugly

2011-02-28T19:40:00.000-08:00

Let's recap the past 2 weeks: Packed up our home, busted some ass getting it all done in 1 day and leaving our house spotless for the new owner (you're welcome new owner), closed on 2 houses the next morning, unloaded our contents into our awesome new home that afternoon, realizing how lucky we are to be able to live in the exact location we wished for and being so close to our families in such a perfect house! I can't wait for this house to get the "Forrest treatment" - it needs some much needed color updating in my usual blue tones :) Ben has a playroom all to himself and he is loving it, always telling us "show me, show me, show me" - that is his way of saying I need you to come here. He is currently obsessed with his fake potatoes in his play kitchen. He slept with them last night... those potatoes mysteriously disappeared today :) He is such a sweetie, he knows his mommy hasn't been feeling good and gives me kisses, hugs and even "rubs" my back. He has no clue what has been going on and I'm thankful he isn't aware of the pain his mommy and daddy have endured this past week. I was 9 weeks pregnant but no heartbeat. I hoped I'd never experience a miscarriage again, but obviously that wasn't the plan. No answers of why. I am so sick of feeling sick. I want the normal schedule back. I want to go on my normal Sunday Walmart trip, not much to ask, just a normal mom life. I want the ugly times to be gone. I have zero pictures to upload, my camera hasn't emerged from the guest room since we moved... here is to the weekend of pictures being taken, not only by me but by the talented Mrs. McDaniel and a night with the greatest of friends!

Hello Tahlequah

2011-02-13T06:29:00.001-08:00

Thursday we will say good bye to 62nd Terrace and Friday hello to Tahlequah Drive! Inspections went really good on Friday and nothing major popped up (there was concern of water in ducts, but NONE!). As I sit here, it is very overwhelming to think about packing up our entire house on Thursday into the moving truck, but with 75 degree weather it will make things better :) We close on our house at 9am and at 10am close on our new home! We keep telling Ben we are moving, but of course his minds goes to talking about spaceships or rockets.... my child is obsessed with spaceships, spaceshuttles, rockets, robots... rocket scientist perhaps? John lost his job on Monday, yes what timing huh? So he has been letting Ben sleep in and dropping him off at daycare. Ben loves his friends and they love him. John told me he walked into daycare last week and they all coming running to him "Ben's here!!" and then he proceeds to give them all high fives and as he is walking away to the playroom he throws out "Bye dad". Mr. Personality! Off to pack to get into our new home....

Week trapped in

2011-02-05T17:44:00.000-08:00

1. Snow play - notice his rudolph nose. Absolutely frozen but no way he was going to come in peacefully.

2. Ben completely zonked out while trying to eat dinner one night. Poor guy. His head must have never felt so heavy. Eventually his head "slumpt" over and he slept for 30 minutes.

Snotmageddon

2011-02-04T14:33:00.000-08:00

Yes I said snotmageddon, which is comparable to the natural force of the snow that hit Oklahoma this week, except this was snot hitting my head like a freight train. I can usually tolerate "colds" but holy crap, I was miserable. I haven't felt this bad since being a mom. I "made" John stay home on Wednesday... didn't have to pull his arm much since it was either staying at home or shoveling snow at CHK all day. No brainer. Thank you Nurse Cathy for calling in a z-pack and letting me live my day without hacking up a lung and saving my nose from yet another kleenex.

I hate winter. You get pale, you get sick, you can't leave your house, need I say more. I "spiced" up the blog, it needed some flare and I had adandoned it for too long. Here is too a cheerful, more colorful background and updated pictures. The new main picture... pretty much sums up my goof ball. Today I actually did something -blog updating and laundry, so exciting! Ben is sound asleep and I'm sitting in freshly washed sheets loving it. As my friend Sarah blogged, she is turning 30, which means I turn 30 as well this month. (I'm a week older :)). I never understood the term "dirty 30"... someone please explain to me this phrase. I don't have fears of turning 30, to me, it's another number. What is so distinctive about going from 29 to 30, is it aging? I think the scariest year is when you give birth, talk about some aging coming on strong. Most probably don't know this, but I really could care less about my birthday. I find it akward to have everyone telling you happy bday and you have to respond with "thank you". I mean why am I saying thank you to you... I should be thanking my mother who gave birth to me :) Don't get me wrong, Ben and John will always have a celebration, but for me... I'm okay. McDonald's will do the trick. I have had the best life the past 30 years and can't imagine it any other way, so bring on another 30+ years!

Back on track to the real reason I blog - Bean-o's. He loved, loved, loved the snow. I hesitated to let him out since he just got over an ear infection, but thought oh what the hell, every kid needs to experience some blizzard action. We waited until the winds died down and bundled him up. And waited and waited until his little cheeks and nose were bright red to finally drag him in. And then waited and waited for nearly 20 minutes until the screams and cries stopped for "snow, outside, snow, snow, outside". Talk about some terrible 2 tantrums (same scenario in the 70 degree temps when we left the playground last weekend). But it was worth it, he was in heaven outside and was in awe of the snow. We have been stuck in the house (with most of his toys packed up) since Monday night. I can't get my car out of the garage, so we will wait for daddy to get home and maybe we can take an exciting drive to Braums.... if they're open. Enjoy the snow pictures and woo hoo for 40 degrees tomorrow!

Investigating the powdery snow

"Uuuumm mom, put the camera away or else...."

Rosey cheeker babes

Shooting spiderwebs... Spiderman has become a new interest lately

Tear Jerker

2011-01-26T18:58:00.000-08:00

It has been 10 years, 10 years since Nate and 9 other men lost their lives. I honestly can't believe it was 10 years ago. I remember the night so well - me and a couple other friends stayed in that night because we felt "weird" - weird as in something didn't seem right and we just wanted to stay in. This was pretty rare for us partying "lounge rats" as the upper classmen referred to us Pi Phi sophmores. We were in our "rat lounge" watching tv when we heard of a reported crash. We immediately start calling Nate's phone - straight to voicemail. We probably dialed his number a bazillion times that night, only to hear his voice on voicemail. Nate was a great guy. I will always remember him with the best of memories. Right before the crash, he had told us girls about this new singer named John Mayer, let's just say, Nate knew this guy was going to make it :) Below is an article about Nate, warning grab your kleenex's now... this article, along with the Outside the Lines video, is of course so sad but at the same time really illustrates what an awesome person Nate was!!

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=110126%2FOklahomaState

Keep it coming

2011-01-25T19:39:00.000-08:00

Let the good news keep on rolling into our world... seriously about time, past couple weeks have been stale in the good news department. I take that back, there is alot worse in the world, I will say keep the exciting news coming on in.

Ben is going to have a cousin!!! Peter and Julie are expecting their bundle of joy in August. YAY!
Bank responded, verbally agreeing to accept our offer on the house we so desperately want... however, still no signed contract. Pretty please, please get us that contract ASAP.

Have to address some not so exciting news and first time "knocking on wood" hasn't worked. I totally jinxed myself by telling someone first of January "oh Ben has never had an ear infection" BUT I knocked on wood, all faith has been lost in that method. hah Ben was absolutely pitiful for a week straight. Have no fear, he is back in full force with the help of steroids (no, there was no "baby roiding out" that I feared) and the yummy pink medicine Ben loves so much. I knew something was really wrong when he wouldn't eat "Donalds" chicken and fries :)

His latest obsession, the leapfrog laptop (yes he has on a reindeer shirt, can't wear it in public but can at home :)

Big guy Ben... baby no more

enjoying a good laugh over some potty time reading

Car wash

2011-01-16T07:10:00.000-08:00

Picture says it all... complete nightmare for Ben. (pardon the iphone picture quality). The excitement while waiting in line, quickly fizzled out when the giant monsters came into sight for Ben. "NO-NO-NO-NO". Poor guy has been sick and we took him for a car ride that ended in hell.
John and I did get alot done yesterday while he was snoozing - cleaned out his bins of childhood items. It was time to say good bye to the zillion OSU baseball t-shirts, among other things. We have not found another house to move too. I'm not stressing out. Yeah right, I'm freaking out. The thought of coordinating the moving, finding a place to store it all, switching up Ben's schedule while we live at Noni and Papa's... YIKES. On top of trying to wait very patiently for Chase Bank to respond to our offer on a house that is in foreclosure. It could take up to 3 months. Please Chase bank negoitator, answer us so we know something!!

Potty pooper

2011-01-09T13:27:00.000-08:00

The potty training thing has been on Ben's terms, we aren't going to push it, but if he tells us he needs to pee, well then of course we don't object. Today it wasn't pee, it was #2!!! We are so proud of our little potty pooper. I was cracking up, here he sat on the toilet, grunting and pushing it out with this look of determination. Of course we cheered and high fived and he was very proud of himself as he said "bye bye poo-poo" once we flushed. What else is up with Bean-o.....

Picky as ever with food. His favs are olives (go figure), chicken, goldfish, scrambled eggs, any kind of fruit, peanut butter, bacon, pancakes/waffles, fries.... no veggies, it is my mission to find a veggie he'll eat, I've been pretty unsuccessful.
Really into watching football games, basketball games and golf
Pretty much obsessed with building blocks. We have to build a tower every night after dinner, crash it down and build some more.
Extremely loveable! Kisses and hugs for everyone.
Talking machine!!
Ball of energy - loves to spin, run, jump and turn upside down - he wears us out
My fav word of his right now is "ice-e-coon".. Ice cream cone. He sees the word Braums and knows they have the good stuff
Terrible 2's are creeping back in and I would prefer it to not :) I mean come on, the throwing of toys or screaming at us when he is told no, we can do without those!
Even with his attitude, he is hilarious. We love to hear him ramble off and try to decipher his sentences. He is trying so hard to get out these long sentences, yet the last word is the only one we can figure out. He is so smart and has so much going on in that little head of his.
He is such a helper.... he'll throw away stuff for me, clean up his messes, get me things when I'm too lazy to get myself that are across the room. No he isn't my slave, but it keeps him busy when I get him doing "chores" :)
Monkey see, Monkey do - Ben mimicks big time. For instance, my parents came with us to see a house. My dad is checking out the A/C unit, gives it a slight nudge with his shoe, so Ben walks up and kicks. Another total monkey do moment... we were sitting in the living room, John passes some gas, Ben looks over at us holding his breathe and lets out these loud farts!! Like he can fart on command, I love it. Keeps us laughing!

What Ben likes to do when I tell him "GO to your room"... take that Momma, I'll turn upside down!

moving boxes = new hiding spot

Potty time!!

Christmas Day

2011-01-09T12:48:00.000-08:00

I suppose better late than never... Christmas day pictures :) After "Santa Daddy" stayed up until 1am putting together Ben's trampoline, I couldn't go to sleep, I felt like a kid again so excited for Ben to see his toys. I woke up at 7am to make sure everything was ready once he woke up, which I figured would be around 730. But no, he slept in until 9am! He stumbled out of his room to find his new toys with a "ooooooo cool, awesome!" It was a classic Ben line and I wouldn't expect no other :) We had a great morning eating pancakes, eggs and sausage.... too much sausage for someone (as evident from my previous post)! Once we got out of our pj's around 1pm, we went to Grandma and Pa's house. And oh boy, Ben banked in the toys. He isn't spoiled or anything :) The night ended with a delicious meal cooked by the entire Forrest family. 11 more months until we are at it again....

Santa stopped by!

What more could a boy ask for... trucks, racoon, robe and John Deere hat - I promise we aren't rednecks!

Dad's happy with his Thunder girls

Too hot for clothes, except Buzz slippers

Such a little man

Hard core toddler fighter... hah! Looks like he is in the ring

Baby model

It's Dusty!

Ben and Grandma cooking some "boogers"

"What can I get you from my kitchen?"

Yyyuumm apple sauce

Under Contract!

2010-12-29T14:21:00.000-08:00

After a mere 2 weeks on the market.....after 3 offers... a lucky gentlemen will be taking over and loving our sweet lil home! I love our house, love that it was built in the 60's, love it's charm, love that it was Ben's first home (and ours too) and love how cozy it is. BUT, not the location, we want to be in Edmond. I am going to miss our home, the home we put our love into and made perfect! I mean obviously it was perfect, everyone loved it who looked at it (and he offered full price) :) We are shocked but so thankful it sold so quickly. Just a little snag in our plan, we now have to find a new place to live.... Pa's RV might be callling our name. Let's hope inspections and all else runs smoothly and we find a house soon in 2011!!

(this is not our home, but I couldn't post without some sort of picture)

Irresistible Cheeks

2010-12-27T14:48:00.000-08:00

I can't help myself from posting one of my favorite pictures that I took last night....

Little man had a burned tooshy from eating too much sausage, so we had to let him run around naked to air it out and he walks in his room and says "oh my boots" - yes Ben, boots would go perfect with your naked self :)

John Deere Christmas

2010-12-26T16:23:00.000-08:00

This Christmas was just as we thought it was going to be.... a GREAT Christmas! We spent Christmas Eve at my parents with my brothers, sister in-law and my Grandma Duncan. Ben didn't fail to entertain us as usual and is such a chatter box. He loves his Uncle Nate, Uncle "Sef", Aunt Ryan, Pa-pa, Noni and Grandma Duncan! It was a cold, cloudy day but that is how I think Christmas should be, wouldn't have minded a bit of snow but you can't have it all. Ben was in heaven with his new toys, stylish robe and John Deere hat (which he loves to wear both). We were all surprised when Pa-pa brought the big toy out - a John Deere tractor!!! My mom had told me she was going to wait until Spring to get it, but she couldn't resist and went ahead and bought it. Ben loved it. He was confused about the whole pedal idea but once he found it, he couldn't stop. It was hilarious...his hands were death gripped on the green bar above the steering wheel and he was zooming across the yard. His face was like g-force style, cause you know this tractor has some high speeds :) These tractor wheels are going to get some mileage in no time! I put to use my timer on my camera and got a good family pic with the use of a tripod. It was a perfect day with fantastic people, delicious food and fun toys for the Stinkerman!! Upcoming for next post.... Christmas morning and Forrest Christmas... I've been in my pj's all day, literally, getting over a cold - I even took a nap, it's been just what I needed.

Kitty and Spanky

2010-12-19T08:03:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from "Kitty and Spanky O'Brien" - don't we look so beautiful? Some friends of ours hosted an 80's Christmas and we didn't mess around, there was no way I was going to half ass this. I must say I found the jackpot with my Dynasty/Dallas dress and John's get up, well the pants were FREE and the jacket was $3. My shoulders were bumping into people/objects :) Needless to say, we did win best dressed couple!

Kitty and Spanky.... everyone had made up names for the night

Staircase of hotness!

Notice the inappropiate gentlemen I tried to crop out?

Some of the men

Emotional blizzard

2010-12-16T10:46:00.000-08:00

I don't know where the past month has gone, I feel like I blogged yesterday but apparently my last one was Nov 21st. I will refer to the past 4 weeks as an emotional blizzard. It was flooded with great news and then shattered with some super crappy news but I am digging out and I'm back with good news! I debated whether not to even blog about it but for some reason, telling what happened in writing is way better to my friends (if anyone actually reads this) than in a person. John and I have been trying for a year to have another baby. It wasn't working, so the doc had me try a month of Femara (clomid-like pill) to get my ovulation jumped started. It worked, however at 6 weeks I had a miscarriage on Thanksgiving morning. It sucked. Like everyone (including myself) says "it happens for a reason" - still it SUCKS and not the answer you want to hear. Needless to say, my Thanksgiving break was not what I had planned but what can you do. Everyone said what they were thankful for this season, well I was thankful for Game Show Network airing a Wheel of Fortune marathon on a day I needed it most to keep my mind busy :) Thanks Pat and Vanna. Not to mention John who kept me laughing over the break and Ben for snuggling in bed with his mommy.
Enough Debbie Downer news.... Let's get to the good stuff:
1. We listed our house with a realtor this week and so far 4 appointments already, woo hoo!
2. I got a promotion!!
3. John's hard work on his lawn paid off and it looks AWESOME. Who has the green grass now neighbors! Probably going to sell the house alone based off the yard.
4. Ben is using the potty... at daycare, not at home. But still he is going, it's a start!
* side note, remember his pooping escapade? Well recently his new thing is too stick is hand in the poop diapers and then show us and say "yuck" - not cool Ben, not cool.
5. Ben has been sleeping great, always makes life easier on the parents.
6. It's going to be a great Christmas!!!

We did our annual night out to Bass Pro... it wasn't empty like year, there was an actual line. What the heck... secret is out! Thanks to Noni and Papa for arriving early and saving us a spot in line.

Waving at everyone standing in line, such a friendly little man

Moose hunting

Is that Daniel Boone... oh wait it's Ben and his new friend, Mr. Raccoon

Noni teaching Ben how to shoot... yikes

Good bye bug

2010-11-21T07:13:00.000-08:00

Thank goodness for the lovely weather this Saturday. Ben has been quarantined inside pretty much all week due to a nasty stomach bug.... what happened to the 24 hour bug?! This bug lasted nearly 4 days but I'm happy to report Ben is bouncing back. He has never had an ear infection but can't resist taking on this stomach bug each year. John had to work yesterday and I think I got a slight but not as intense form of this bug and to my much wishing and hoping, Ben took a 3 hour nap yesterday. Don't think I didn't get into bed too :) Immediate words after nap - "outside, outside" - so out we went and got out every single toy/for sale by owner signs in the garage, played with each for about 10 seconds and then moved onto the next.... maybe he has too many options ? Or he is just a true toddler boy with too many things on his mind to focus :)

New words lately:

- nope... which to me is less formal than the flat no, so I'm okay with it

- okie dokie... he constantly was saying okay to everything so I taught him a new version

- fire... loves to spell this word and tries to blow out my candles (from very far away, hasn't worked yet)

Those are the new words I've been hearing alot lately, I promise he says more.... in fact he says ALOT more that we try to decipher :)

John and I are ready for our Thanksgiving days off - I only have to work 1 1/2 days! We have tickets to the Thunder/Mavs game for Wed, Thanksgiving to be decided, and then of course BEDLAM on Saturday!!

Tongue out? new thing for the weekend

Playing peek-a-boo with mommy and the camera

one of many riding toys he rode for a split second

Can't be in driveway without some artistic chalk work

Bored with toys... lets drag out and read FSBO sign

On a side note, we have put our house up for sale by owner to see if we get any "bites". We want to move to Edmond and since Ben's daycare has moved further into Edmond, we figured why not now, if we can sell our house, that is. I can't keep the flyers in the info box, I keep replenshing them and next thing I know, it's empty again... dang neighbors being nosey I assume!

Just swinging

2010-11-15T18:51:00.000-08:00

HOT stuff

2010-11-09T18:30:00.000-08:00

That's right, my boy knows how to pose ever so sexy....

Lets not forget this amazingly sexy pose he showed us all at 6 months....

Thunder Up

2010-11-06T18:28:00.000-07:00

Ben scored double candy while trick or treating at the Devon halloween party and then trick or treating at Grandma and Grandpa Forrest's neighborhood. Much different from last year, this year he caught on to what he was actually asking for :) Knowing he wouldn't keep an actual costume on, I found an awesome KD jersey in his size and the coolest headband (which he loves)... oh and I found him some nike hightops to finish the "costume". Cutest Thunder player in the city!!

Taking a break from this trick or treating, it's hard work

"More PLEEEASSEE"

Heading home to Grandpa & Grandma's after getting lots of candy for Mom and Dad

Obstacle course, sweet!!

Oh wait, I'm suppose to throw my ball through :) SCORE!

Hitting the Devon dancefloor with daddy

Having a blast at the Devon party and looking so cool!

October pics

2010-10-29T07:28:00.000-07:00

It is my Friday morning off, Ben is still sleeping at 8:30 (awesome), so I decided I needed to catch up on some random pictures from this past month. First off, I need to address Ben's current hibernation. Last weekend he slept until 11am and 9am - no waking up at ALL. I didn't know what to do with myself, I can't remember the last time that he didn't get up after 7am. I REALLY hope this sleeping schedule sticks around for awhile! Ben is repeating all we say, yes he has repeated s-h-i-t, bad time to be repeating us in the midst of football season :) He has really developed his language and amazes us with words he learns at daycare. We were reading one of his books and it had an alligator and I asked whats that... he tells me "algater"... we had never gone over that word and he just whips it out on me! He waited forever to actually start talking (which really scared me, thought we would have a mute child) and since he decided he was ready to talk, its been a constant river of words from his mouth. Things are always on Ben's terms... daycare cracks up because Ben is such a character and really when he is ready, he'll do it, can't force him. As I was telling a friend of mine, Ben is on the upswing of terrible 2's and I am loving this goofy, sweet hugging & kissin stinker! He has become very "lovey" and the tantrums are few, but I know to not expect this to last but for the time being Ben is hilarious and we are loving every minute with him!

John seeded the lawn and put peat moss down... of course Ben couldn't keep his hands off of it

It's DIRT!!!

Cruising on my bike

BUSTED! Holding daddy's iphone hostage in our shower

Watching OSU stay in the game vs. Nebraska (in 1st half)

Poo Party

2010-10-28T16:32:00.000-07:00

I will spare you and not be posting any pictures of what happened this afternoon. John picked up Ben after lunch today because at 3 was the Devon (my work) Halloween extravaganza. Ben was "sleeping" and gets up at 2:30. When I open the door to let him out, the aroma hit me like a cow patty. Ben had taken off his diaper and marked his entire room with his poo-poo. I'm talking ALL over. Sheets, bedspread, pillows, carpet, and books. The poor Splish Splash book took the brunt of this party, it appeared he drop the turds on that book!!!!! I can't believe this has happened. He walks out and says to John "poo-poo room". Uumm yes you are right, it is a poo room in which you obviously had a poo poo-party in! Not to mention, it appeared he aimed straight for the bedskirt with his pee, which in turn soaked part of the mattress and box springs (the water proof mattress cover of course isn't waterproof on the side!)

Christmas Shopping

2010-10-27T08:40:00.001-07:00

My favorite new word from Ben... "pickle machine" but really he is saying "big ole machine". That is what he called my Kitchen Aid mixer.

Click here to view this video

JOHN!

2010-10-26T19:30:00.000-07:00

Ben has started calling his daddy, well by his name John :) It's never just a normal voice level, he likes to yell it. I love it... finally John feels my pain (I was "meme" forever to Ben).

Down and Dirty

2010-10-21T10:04:00.000-07:00

Oklahoma red dirt kept my boy occupied for a good 30 minutes - he acted he discovered pure gold, gold that he wanted to swim in and rub all over his face and body!

Word World Bash

2010-10-16T06:22:00.000-07:00

I realized I forgot to post Ben's party pictures... so here they are! I took a zillion and as always found it hard to post only a few. The theme was alphabet and Word World - Ben's most favorite show in the world. It airs on PBS and might be the cutest and most educational show created. The show spells all the characters and objects, thus has taught Ben to spell.

Ben was napping while we set the table up and when he woke up he got so excited to see his CAKE. This birthday was the complete opposite from last year for Stinkerman. Last year he was shy and didn't know what the heck was going on.... this year, he couldn't drag enough of his friends into his room to play! However he still didn't catch on to the whole idea of opening presents :)

Regatta Festival

2010-10-10T18:51:00.000-07:00

Friday night we headed down to the Oklahoma River to the Regatta Festival where John and his co-workers competed in the Corporate Rowing Challenge. 3 months of practicing at 6am, John and his team put their muscles to work, only to be screwed by being placed into an advanced category (bc one of their rowers had competed for 2 straight years) and came in last :( Besides that fact, we all had a great time. I was hesistant to take Ben by myself since he loves to run, so my mom joined us. And yes, I never thought I would EVER do this, but I put a "leash" on him. I had no choice. I had visions of him running off and getting snatched or running straight into the river. In the end, Ben was great and we really didn't even have to use the monkey tail, he held our hands. He was by far the cutest kid in the crowds :) Thanks to Devon and Chesapeake for creating the regatta park, it is actually really nice and something fun and new to see in OKC.

Never easy to get a family pic!

Ben and his "nonnie" - out of the blue he started calling Grammie, Nonnie?!

View from bridge at the finish line

Uuuumm what should we do now Nonnie?

Checking out the action from peep hole on the bridge

"Hi Daddy!" (guy in the middle waving at us)

Mommy works at D-E-V-O-N... he loves to spell Devon and forever would say "Dozen" but finally caught on and now says Devon.

Oh my gosh, it's a Ram! Ben loves humans in animal costumes ( remember my Easter bunny post...)

High five dude!

Having so much fun playing with the big kids

This and That - 2 years

2010-10-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

Another year in the history books for Ben! I'll try to make it this short, here is what he has been doing:

Stats: 28 lbs / 35 in (50% percentile for both)

Likes: Outside, bubble baths, his trucks, riding his new bikes, slides, books, the alphabet, Pistol Pete, Scooby-Doo snacks, pretend talking on the phone, pulling people around to where he needs them to come too, STOP signs, repeating and learning new words

Would rather avoid: gettting changed (diaper and clothing), veggies, mornings prior to 7am, going to bed

Ben made the switch on his own terms to his big boy bed in early September. We set it up in our guest bedroom (which was planned to be his big boy room) and gradually he would go in and play on it. Then one night when we said time for bed, he went to that bed and it has been love (kinda) since then :) Each night I expect the feel of little hands grabbing me as he climbs in bed with us, some nights he comes, others he stays in bed. I'll post pictures of his new room eventually :)

Pushed his frozen Gogurt pop on his nose

"Asson" came to see me!! And brought me an awesome toy

"Yeah I'm busy making Allyson play with me in my room"

Airplane! Right as he got up on John's feet he says "Awesome"

Couldn't get enough of airplane one night after work

He would back his rear up to Allyson, so she'd drive the truck on his back and head

Happy 2nd Birthday Ben!!

2010-09-29T10:28:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR LITTLE STINKER!!! We celebrated Ben's birthday on Sunday, with a small party at our house. Ben had a blast and LOVES when he has guests over (I will post more pictures from the party later). I thought it will be fun to see how much Ben has changed on the past 2 years.... and I love looking back on his baby pictures :) Apparently I am the paparazzi to Ben, I have taken over 2100 pictures of him since the day he was born! I didn't really know how to use my camera when he was born and probably a good thing because there would double the amount, now that I am aware of how cute newborn pictures can be with props :) Below are some of my all time favorites of mister Ben, it was hard to limit myself to picking a few. I can't help myself with my camera, my mom has so many of us from when we were little and I want to do the same for Ben.

This past year, Ben has completely amazed everyone. He is a baby genious. For real :) I'm bragging and I feel I have the right too because Ben knows his numbers 1-10, the entire alphabet and is reading and spelling words all by the ripe age of 2. He is so darn inquisitive, observes everything yet at the same time is extremely socialable, loves to entertain , and is so animated with the best personality! We love you so much Ben, tonight you'll get your favorite meal.... Nuggets and Fries from Mickey D's :) Funny story... couple weekends ago, after Ben and I went walking with Margo and Avery, I stop by McDonalds for my morning coffee. Sitting in the drive-thru and Ben says (what I think he said ) five. And I'm like oh you see 5 on the menu... Ben keeps saying 5. And I say what other numbers do you see, but 5 is the only one he sees? Get to the window and he yells FIVE, dawned on me he is saying FRIES. He knew where we were and what he wanted! I have created a McDonald's monster, just like his mommy :)

Ben goes to his 2 year check up tomorrow, so I'll post party pics and other updates this weekend.

1 day old in hospital

4 weeks old with that pout we see today :)

Happy 3 month old Ben

This might be my favorite picture of him EVER. Look at those eyes! I randomly took this of him as he was sitting in his hairchair in front of the front door while I was cooking.

7 months - Turning into a little chunk for a short while of his life before he kept getting longer and longer and longer..

Sweet smile at 9 months

Our little cowboy at 10 months

Grammie captured this framer - 13 months old

Bath fun at 17 months - he finally has hair!

Someone turned into a little boy! - 19 months

This picture shows his personality... always scheming something but trying to portray innocence!!

Hello rowdy boy!! - 21 months

This was Ben all summer.. always red-faced and dirty!

On the go much? Ben loves to run, run and more running - 23 months

This picture shows just how animated he is - always makes the most hilarious faces

2 years old!!

Ben's final 2010 tailgate

2010-09-26T07:54:00.000-07:00

I'm a little behind on the blogs, I've been busy planning Ben's bday party that is today! woo hoo party time!

Last weekend was the last tailgate for Ben of 2010 - he loved every minute of being up there and best of all his buddies from Tulsa came to play for the day - Cason and Parker McDaniel! I've known their mom, Lindsay, since our freshman year at OSU and oh how times have changed for us :) We had a great time chasing our boys around most of the day - Cason is almost 3, Parker is 1 1/2 and Ben who is 2 (on Wednesday!) so of course there wasn't a minute of down time for us all. The day ended with my mom staying back at the RV to watch Ben while John and I used my parent's club level tickets to watch OSU dominate on Tulsa!

Cat nap on the way...

Pre-tailgate shave.. a must for every 2 yr old

Love my Aunt Julie even though she is wearing blue

Eating ice on the McDaniel's rocket

Whats up Parker? Welcome to my tailgate :)

Parker so cute in his sweet visor :)

The boys chillin... nearly impossible to get a picture of the 3 of them

Loved this one of Parker, such a gentle sweet big boy!

Watching ultimate frisbee wishing he could run free

Ben and Mommy

The dads enjoying a relaxing game of beer pong

Amazon MOM

2010-09-19T17:29:00.000-07:00

If I only knew of this information I'm about to tell you the day Ben was born, I would be a semi-rich woman. Thanks to Jordan for revealing this website to me!
www.amazon.com/mom
Sign up for the Save and Subscribe delivery and save 30% off select diapers.
I ordered Baby Dry Pampers, 156 quanity for $28 and they arrived the next day with free shipping!
Check it out!

Curly Q

2010-09-13T18:44:00.000-07:00

Sunday night drive way fun fest.... I can't ever pick my favorite, I always gotta post a zillion of my cutie pie. The golden strawberry curls always come out on a hards nights work as evident below :)

Pool party

2010-09-11T11:40:00.000-07:00

A week late, but our Labor day weekend ended with a Sunday pool party at the home of a good friend's very gracious parents. We all wondered why we hadn't been doing Sunday pool parties all summer?!? Sangria, sun, brisket, beers, kids running around (not with the beers).... doesn't get any better! I have the bestest friends anyone could ask for - we can always get our families together and never a dull moment!

Ben and mommy eating lunch

The Dads doing dad things - airing up rafts

Somebody been eating Oreos?!

Droopy pants

Meet the newest baby to join our baby model clan - Avery Elaine

Suntan lotion anyone?

Life is GOOD!

A little secret too..

2010-09-07T16:56:00.000-07:00

...Beautiful nails :)
This post has nothing to do with our family... but what you will discover is the secret to cheap, salon looking manicured nails :) A good friend let me in on her awesome looking nails...introducing the Incoco kit, located at Walgreens. I promise, my nails are the most retarded nails and this kit made them look great and they didn't chip for entire week. $4 for easy great looking nails! Just wanted to share this secret. (I bought the "White Cloud" color)

O-S-U Cowboys!

2010-09-06T11:40:00.000-07:00

Ben is an official OSU fan, he attended his 1st game.... all 20 minutes of it :) But most importantly he got to see the 1st touchdown of 2010, Bullet and the OSU wave. He liked it when there was action but not so much in between plays. We left the cluster of Sec 224 and headed back to the RV only after being there for 20 minutes. The Cheetos and graham crackers wouldn't hold him over! We saw Uncle Peter and Aunt Julie in the game! Peter got a family pic of us, John had to squat and stick his rear out so we'd all be on one level :)

Waiting with Pa-Pa for the OSU bus

Prior to the game, we partied at the RV lot. Ben was in heaven, running around EVERYWHERE. Wore everyone out. I captured the shots below on the practice soccer field and then my good camera died. Night before I checked the battery to avoid this, said full, obviously wasn't! Oh well, I got some super cute ones of the Stinkerman. He has become our exercise regime. Child does not stop running, I had to push him in the stroller so he'd take a cat nap. It was an exhausting day but we all had fun and will be back up next week to do it all over. Go Pokes!

Future Cowboy QB

I've got the speed....

"MA-chine"... pointing at the big lawn mower

Chit chatting with the sweet puppy

You can't catch me Grammie (look at his 1 big dimple, love it!)

I got it Dad

2010-08-25T07:54:00.000-07:00

Don't worry daddy my "mom-bo" can handle this yard...

I follow and cut any grass you missed!

Weekend fun

2010-08-18T18:23:00.000-07:00

What was Ben up too last weekend....

Playing at Grammie and Pa's

AND

Playing at Grandma and Grandpa Forrest

Headboard complete

2010-08-15T10:36:00.000-07:00

After months (approx 18 to be exact) we finally put all the pieces together and got our headboard completed. Turned out perfect! Thanks to my mom who made the perfect fitting cover, fits like a glove :)

I had always loved these lamp bases from Target but couldn't bite the bullet and pay $50 for each. However, it was our lucky day last week, we stopped by a Target in Tulsa and they were on sale for $35 each! (They were destined to be ours because the OKC Target they are still $50?!) Finally I got to say good bye to the Ikea dorm lamps and got adult lamps, which I love!

I scream, you scream...

2010-08-13T12:48:00.000-07:00

Ben loves his ice cream!

And he also loves to wear mommy's Devon hard hat...chhheessssee

Serious business

2010-08-04T18:40:00.000-07:00

"Mom-bo" - the word we hear ALL day for ALL things existent. Ben has decided everything needs to be lawn-mowed. He is obsessed with that word. And when our neighbors mow, he has like lawn mower sensors and runs to the front window to watch. The kid LOVES lawn mowers :)

How old are you? ONE.... almost TWO!! Shoulder pads much? Its the angle, I swear he doesn't have on shoulder pads, nor does he have Hulk Hogan size upper body.

Ben has been cracking us up. For now that terrible two thing (which was really 1 1/2 yr thing) has totally disappeared (knock on wood) and he knows his limits. "Do you need to go to your room" works like a charm whenever he starts to whine or get mad. I love it!! I say it and he immediately flips back on the happy switch, all smiles and giggles. He has become our frequent bed snuggler in the middle of the night, a great lil helper and is getting too smart for his own good - I am shocked how much my boy has developed in the past couple months. He went from practically no words to bam saying everything... Reciting the entire alphabet (except W)...counting 1-10.... Harvard, Yale... nnaahhh OSU watch out!

Sam and Henry Forrest

2010-07-29T15:11:00.001-07:00

On July 24th my twin nephews came into this world at only 22 weeks, completely unexpected and left the entire family in shock. Henry Franklin was born first at 1lb 2 oz and his brother Samuel Michael followed at 1lb 4 oz. Henry being the smaller and first out just didn't have enough energy to fight and passed away Sunday morning. Sam I am is not giving up and remains very active in his new home in the NICU. 5 days later, Sam is beating the 2-5% he was given to live, and is doing very well for his situation. There is a long road ahead for Julie, Peter and Sam. Today Henry was laid to rest in a very peaceful service, giving his mom and dad closure. I can't imagine all the emotions they are going through, but both are remaining very strong and positive for their little man Sam. Please send all the positive thoughts to Peter, Julie and Sam... Sam you are so little but gonna overcome all this and once you do, Ben is waiting to teach you all his wise tricks... especially how to perfect the tricking of your parents and become ornery :)

Head bang

2010-07-23T19:53:00.000-07:00

Ben being his usual self running all over, had a head on collision with my dad's tailgate last night. John, my mom and myself all saw it happen in slow motion... Ben literally smacked straight into the tailgate, bounced off and hit the ground :( Sad sad baby. Thankfully the bleeding stopped and the knot isn't too bad. Poor guy had to have quite the headache last night. Didn't stop him from conquering his new play gym that we got from my boss... gotta love the hand-me-downs!

Just a small little knick in the forehead

"oopppin du-or"

Storing his mower and weedeater inside

Heaven for Ben!

Hard work

2010-07-11T07:47:00.000-07:00

Ben was daddy's yard assistance last night, someone was very dirty from all the work.....

The 4th

2010-07-10T19:14:00.000-07:00

So I'm a little behind on pictures from the 4th, I've had a nasty cold or allergies, something that totally wiped all energy I had and put me in bed. The 4th I was in and out of bed napping, but finally bounced back around 7pm ready for fireworks. This was Ben's first year to hear and see them, I think he would have been okay not doing either :) His uncles and daddy were setting them off right in front of us in my parent's front yard. Ben got very worried and scared, we would cover his face with the sweatshirt, but he would peak out trying to see sssooo... my brilliant mom grabbed the music headphones and it solved Beano's dilemma of wanting to see the fireworks yet be shielded from the "booms". Problem solved and soon after he was tuckered out and asleep for the night.

Practicing mowing on Pa's Cub Cadet

Who needs swimming you got puddles everywhere on the 4th!

Fireworks dream team... John with my brothers Nathan & Seth

I'm not sure about this Grammie....

"Oldies puttin me sleep"

Ben's date night

2010-07-05T08:26:00.000-07:00

Saturday we had grand plans to go swimming and cook out with great friends, that sure didn't happen. So instead Grammie, Pa and Grandma Duncan came over for lunch and Ben loved it, he got to perform and get his energy out with his vistors. Gave mom and dad a break :) Saturday night we went over for Ben's date night with Reese Ridenour. Kelly and Kyle moved into their new house, which was fabulous for the kids to run around in. Ben and Reese's 1st date went well, they shared crackers, he poured her tea and they played hide and seek - match made in heaven :) And by 9:30, the date was over and we said night night to Reese. It was great to go over to their house, we could enjoy some adult beverages and the kids entertained each other and mostly entertained us!

2 sweetie pies in buckets!
Everybody loves a slinky

I wanna give you sugars Ben....she got denied!

Here my lady friend, let me pour you some tea

We caged them in :) Isn't Reese so cute in her outfit?! She made sure she had the perfect outfit for her date with stud man Ben

Happy Anniversary Schmoops!

2010-06-16T18:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary to us! It was 4 years ago that John and I tied the knot at Tres Suenos Winery in Luther. What started as a horrific day to a bride (storms and powerless venue), turned into the most perfect beautiful setting for John and I. We are celebrating and heading out to Vegas for 4 days!! Below are a few of my favorite pictures, it was so hard to choose.... Love you Schmoops!

Ellison Kate and Parties!

2010-06-13T19:38:00.000-07:00

To start off this fantastic weekend, Sarah and Bryan Bloom welcomed their sweet baby girl into the world on Friday night - Ellison Kate! She is just perfect at 6lbs 9oz. While holding her I couldn't believe that Ben was even a pound lighter than her. You completely forget how tiny newborns are. Ben has yet to meet her, so on Thursday he will grace her with his ornery self :) Speaking of ornery (see pic below of my Karate Ninja boy), Ben was so ornery and bouncing off the walls all weekend (with a total of 3 hours of napping for both Sat and Sun!). We went to a friend of mine's daughter's 1st birthday party (Happy Birthday to Lucy!) and he made sure his presence was known. Sorry Lucy for Ben running through your party like a wild man and screaming. He is not shy one bit and acts like he owns wherever he goes... oh brother, we got a complete boy on our hands. I didn't get any pictures because John and I were "Ben chasing" the entire time.
From Lucy's party we hopped over to our last party, all my co-workers got together for a cook-out and Rock Band playing....us wild and crazy accountants :) Ben once again ruled the roost.... he was calm and relaxing when his 4 yr old girlfriend was chauferring him around in her Barbie jeep. He absolutely loved it. If he could only reach the pedals, John would have already bought him his own Hummer. He was very polite and respectful of her jeep, closing and opening the door very gently and enjoying the ride around the driveway. That was the only time that day when he wasn't going-going-going. People under estimate me when I say Ben is on the go 24/7... my co-workers now know what I'm always talking about :) He is such a good boy though, yes a little wired and a "firecracker", but he keeps us on our toes and cracking us up all the time. He is our entertainment at home and I love my stinker so much!
And lastly we spent the morning and afternoon at my parents. Ben got to eat, or shall I say try, fresh strawberries from the garden, "ride" on a bike and go swimming in the non-hot hot tub. Once again a non-stop on the go weekend for the Forrest Fam!

"Chhheeesseee"

Giving Pa-Pa a five in the hot tub

Crusing with his "cougar"

Ellison Kate

Bidet. Bidet. Bidet.

2010-06-11T20:15:00.000-07:00

This weekend a good friend from high school is getting married, so last night was her lingerie shower and night out. It was so much fun seeing the girls I spent my high school days with and just enjoying a night out with the girls. Gesell (Allyson pictured below) is my very best friend since 3rd grade, we've never fought (actually we think we got in a typical "i'm ignoring you" type high school fight but that is it). She lives in Santa Monica now, we move back from CA and she moves out there, go figure. Anyways I miss her and I'm so glad I get to see her this weekend! So the night was a blast EXCEPT for what I'm about to describe below. It hit me like a tidal wave and I can't stop laughing about.....
We arrive at Sushi Neko, our group of 12 gets situated and my friend goes to the bathroom. Upon returning she is all "refreshed" and informs me the toilet seat is heated, vibrates and there is a bidet (you know a "ba-day"). I'm like wwwhhhaatt??? A bidet in a public restaurant in a sushi restaurant. RANDOM. I needed to go to the bathroom, so I head to try out the heated and vibrating seat, NO INTENTION OF UTILIZING THE BIDET. I sit my rear on this warm toilet seat, a bit strange but okay where is the vibration? Don't judge me, I just wondered what a vibrating seat would feel like on my toosh. So I look on the wall and see a remote control type thing to operate this fancy throne. I see a button which appears to be a object that looks to be vibrating. Sweet I figured it out. If I could only take it back. Oh man if only I could rewind my finger from pushing that button. The next 30 seconds are in slow motion. I felt like I was in a movie. Button is pushed and I hear a strange noise coming from the back of the toilet seat. In slow motion I turn around to see the commotion, I see a missle about to launch at me. This hose is turning towards me, raising up for lift off . I was scared. I stand up, like standing up was going to make this missle go away? What was I thinking? In a split second the missle launched, water forcefully shooting out of the toilet seat THROUGH MY LEGS AND ALL OVER MY SHIRT!!!!!!!!!!! I'm not talking a slight mist, I'm talking a full on dreached shirt. I hate air dryers and the one public restroom when I need one the most, doesn't have one. Paper towels only.... I have to walk through the restaurant with a soaked shirt, just wonderful. I go to our table and absolutely lost it, I can't stop laughing to even tell what just happened. 24 hours later I still can't get over it. And I also think, holy hell that bidet was darn right power and now I'm terrified to think of ever actually using one. So lesson learned, remain seated at all times when a bidet is in use :)

Never ending virus

2010-06-05T06:03:00.000-07:00

For over a week now, below shows how pitiful Ben has been. This virus started with diarrhea, moved to a 4 day fever with cough and now back to diarrhea. It was obvious he didn't feel good because he wasn't hitting, throwing tantrums, screaming... and was mopy, wanted to snuggle with us and took breaks from playing. And for the 1st time EVER, he slept in our bed. Ben seriously has never slept in our bed, in fact really anywhere besides his bed and he was so sicky he feel asleep in our bed and on the couch. One night, while all cozy in our bed (see picture below) he had this look of "oh wow what have I been missing not sleeping with mom and dad!"It was kinda nice to have him fall asleep next to us, but we for sure don't want to make it a habit! With the help from immodium, we think the diarrhea is coming to an end. His poor toosh can't handle anymore. So sad. The attitude is returning (unfortunately) but on the flip side, lets us know he is feeling better. Ben is getting his very 1st hair cut today too! The back of his hair is turning into a big poof :)
We discovered a huge milestone for Mr. Ben - he knows the alphabet through T!!! It is truly amazing and we had no idea he knew them straight through. He started spelling his name last night and slowly saying other words. So proud of my stinker!!!! He is one smart cookie, with lots of attitude.

Please I'm too sick for pictures

Haha Mom, tricks on you - I took your spot in bed!

Whose your daddy

2010-06-03T19:09:00.000-07:00

Do you think Ben resembles somebody a little bit?!?