Potty pooper

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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