I am so proud to post some beautiful 6 month pictures of baby Ben…. Or should I say, “Big Ben!!!” My dear friend April took some time out of her afternoon to use her camera and her talent to capture some pics of the 2 of us in honor of Benny’s 1/2 birthday. I felt really in love with him as she was taking the pictures and when I look at them I feel so blessed to get to be his mama. Don’t all mom’s feel that way about their kids? Actually I feel that way about my neices and my best friend’s children too! I was looking at my girlfriend Raegan’s pics last night of her daughter Mallaney and I felt exceedingly proud of her and how sweet and lovely she is. Anyway, I thought you all might want to see some of what April captured.

Just so you know John wore these jeans on his first birthday…I could barely snap them closed on Big Ben!

Ben has the sweetest smile, the bluest eyes, and the kindest disposition. I am so glad April captured it all so I can look back and always know him at 6 months old in this way. Thank you April for such a precious gift!

Every Tuesday I keep Kristen’s youngest daughter Beth, my precious neice. Today we needed to have some extra fun because Bethy was really missing her mama. So we decided on a Day at the Salon with Deets. “Deets” is what Bethy affectionately calls me. It started 9 years ago with Rebekah calling me Dee-Dee because she couldn’t call me Katie.

Miss Ramsey received some very special treatment today at the Salon. The pampering treatment began with sparkling fruit punch out of a very special glass. Next we soaked Beth’s hands in warm soapy water followed by a satin hands treatment (compliments of Mary-Kay). Beth chose a beautiful shade of shimmery pink nail polish (Glazed sand frost, to be exact) and we painted her nails. Then we did a pedicure in the same shade. And finally we ended the salon treatment with a make-over. Shades chosen by Beth of blue and purple with pink blush and lip gloss completed the look.

Beth satisfies my intense need for nurturing with a feminie touch!!!

Beth would like to add that her favorite part of the make-over was the manicure and she really likes the lip gloss which she keeps applying liberally. Enjoy the pics of my beautiful neice, Miss Ramsey!

John of course loves when his best buddy Beth comes to play. As I was trying to take pics- John must have poopd becasue Beth seems to be holding her nose in one of the pictures…that made me laugh out loud!

I guess i’ll stop blogging and go change his diaper.

Well, buckle up, this is gonna be a long ride. I plan on writing stream of consciouness and I’m not looking back so who knows what will come out from these fast typing fingers. Today was just one of those days. Yes, mothers all around the world know what I mean when I say…It was just one of those days. My morning began at 2:30 am, and then 3:15 am and then 5 :30am and then the final buzzer went off at 6:50 am. Ben did the triple morning wake up. Wow, I wish I hadn’t taken a benedryl last night and that my precious husband wouldn’t have taken more than his fair share of the coffee this morning. For the past week John has miraculously slept until 8:30 am. As I sat down in the recliner with my 1/2 a cup of coffee and with Benny contentedly in the in exersaucer, i thought to myself, ” well at least I’ll have a few moments to let this caffeine override my exhaustion before our little spinning machine wakes up”…. “A,B,C,D…H,W…” Is what I hear at that very moment like a loud speaker from heaven blaring from John Kelty’s room. I take a deep breath, say a quick prayer and sacrificially change the channel from my beloved Today show to hopefully catch up on the Texas Polygamy case (my current obsession) to John’s beloved “The Wiggles.”

And so the day began…we were off to a good start. Chris quickly ran upstairs to get John before he left for school as I started to nurse Ben. I hear a sweet “Goodmorning Anna, have fun with Jesus” as John came down the stairs and saw Anna’s picture. I think to myself, “such precious things come out of that little mouth”. The next thing I hear is, “Mommy, John needs a snack and Benny eats (drum roll please……) boobie snacks, 2 of them.” Yes, you heard me right, boobie snacks. I have never heard that from John before and we certainly don’t refer to nursing in that way. So I silently rewind and add to my previous thought, “Precious and precocious things come out of that little mouth.”

The sweetness quickly turned into hysteria and 2 year old tantrum throwing when I suggested we take a special “brother’s picture” for Maw Maw for Mother’s Day. I even promised a bowl filled with chocolate chips, ( I swore I’d never bride when I became a mother). Rivers of tears and flailing erupted since he couldn’t have the chocolate chips before the picture was taken and since he actually had to sit next to Ben which meant Ben’s hunky, unsteady body kept toppling onto John. John was convinced that Benny was kirplunking him on purpose….and he tried to kirplunk him back…and so a series of timeouts prevailed.

I decided to turn the morning around by having a fun mommy son morning activity, cookie making to give as a gift to a friend. I should have known better than to suggest such an activity on, “Just one of those days.” John and I had very different ideas about the right way to incorporate the chocolate chips and oatmeal into the dough. I suggested stirring as the correct method. John demanded the scoop and stuff method…from the bowl into his mouth. Of course I had to take the bowl away which sent John running into he living room to throw himself dramatically onto the sofa where he pounded the cushions with his fists and soaked the fabric with his tears. Needless to say, I finished the cookie project alone. I left John in the living room to calm down as I went to put Ben down for his first morning nap. As I was tending to Ben’s needs, I realized it was quiet downstairs. I thought to myself, “finally he is caming down, probably entertaining himself with the “little people” I pulled out for his pretend, independent pleasure.” I took my time with Ben and came back downstairs to find the “little people” abandoned, with a knowing look on there plastic faces seeming to indicate that John was up to no good. I took there hint and headed for the kitchen where I caught John red handed standing on a chair he pulled over to the kitchen counter fisting a good majority of the dozen cookies that were cooling on the cookie rack. I said, “John Christopher Kelty!” he said innocently (but not so innocently), “Mommy John likes cookies.”" Gooey chocolate was painted all over his face and markers all over his neck. Oh, did I fail to mention the earlier coloring activiy that went ary? I forcefully (I mean gently) removed his body from the chair and plopped him onto the living room sofa….another dramatic crying session insued.

Then came the sad moment. As I was walking and pumping at the same time and dealing with 2 year oldness while listening to a frantic 6 month old cry in hunger, my hard earned 24 hours of scarce breastmilk, I mean gold, somehow came flying out of the bottle in slow motion and flooded the living room floor. I was on the edge. I know it wasn’t John’s fault but in that moment it certainly felt like it was…somehow.

Then of course this would be the day when the infant constipation pipe we have been waiting to unclog would come erupting forth in what we like to call the “blowout” or “neck poop”. I kept my neice today which always means extra fun for John and a fight at naptime. He kicked and screamed as I carried his overly stimulted and overly tired body up the stairs. He practically passed out on my shoulder when I plugged his plump little mouth with the passy and handed him his sticky (I’ll wash it later) blankey. Of course the naps were far from coinciding today and my stomach hurt and I planned for another pot of coffee that never got made and John woke up early from his nap.

Chris called to say that baseball practice, which I was crossing my fingers would be canceled, was definitely not canceled. But I determined that I could do it- I could take my “crazy today kids” to Wal-Mart. But of course, when you are having, “Just one of those days,” your baby who rarely makes an unhappy peep, cries the whole way through the store and your 2 year old most certainly screams, “my turn for toys” repeatedly over and over and loudly so that everyone in the store can hear (and judge you as one of those mothers) as he tries to hoist himself from the cart. So of course I proceeded to bribe for a second time today and I headed straight for the MacDonalds that sits conveinently right inside the electric double doors magnetically pulling you in with thier signature fried fat aroma. At first I felt bad about this bribe, I thought, “I’m a bad mother resorting to food to keep my kids quiet.” So I came up with a cute rhyming song with the words “if your sweet you’ll get a treat, insn’t that neat…” and then I resolved that I wasn’t a bad mother at all. In fact, I ws incredibly creative, providing my child with fun, melodic, opportunities for sweet treats. I opted for the new jumbo cinnamon and sugar pretzal since John had already had who knows how many cookies this morning. “Be careful, the pretzel is very hot,” said the MacDonalds cashier. John understood her caution very clearly and started to cry, “Oh no mommy, my treat very too hot!” No problem, there’s a snack kiosk not ten feet away. I quickly paid for the sizzling pretzel that was later thrown away and headed for the snack station as I thought to myself, “What in the heck am I doing and I am so glad Chris is not here to witness this pitiful parenting moment.” I grabbed a bag a cheesey enchilada “for a limited time only” cheetos which left John with gunky, orange fingers and of course he used Ben’s fuzzy new hair as a napkin….. And so on and so forth.

When Chris came home tonight there was a brief moment when he hugged me and I thought I would burst into tears and say “let’s go get a pizza.” Instead, I took a deep breath and I said outloud, “tomorrow’s a new day”and I proceeded to make the healthy dinner I knew I needed to make in order to right a day filled chocoalte chips and cheetos. As the evening progressed, John and Ben got cuter and cuter and I grabbed my camera to capture these little boogers that I love so much. I started counting my blessings. Sunday is Mothers Day, a day when mother’s get to thank God for entrusting them with his little people to love, nurture, tame and mold. Three years ago I sat and wept all day and remember thinking I would give anything for a screaming baby to love. I want to remember that desperation as I reach another Mother’s day when my arms and my heart are so full.

The following pictures capture some of our evening rituals….playing with daddy, dancing, bath-time, story time and getting ready for bed.

Cuddling with daddy.

John taking a picture with Ben while still watching The Wiggles.

Waving my arms in the air just like an emu (compliments of the Wiggles) and waving my U of L flag- a daily acivity!!!

Chewing a giraffe…Ben is working on some teeth!

Getting Ben ready for bed…

bath time…
sucking my toes….fast asleep.

story time…

fit time…John wanted to wear his elmo underwear conveinently right as we wer turning out the lights for bed. He didn’t like our idea of waiting to wear them until tomorrow.
kissing daddy and saying prayers.