Here are a few pictures from our family photo shoot. They are amazing!!

I know its been a while. Things have been busy around here.  The girls are busy with their extra curricular activities and Benjamin happily tags along.  Its getting harder as fall has arrived and winter in pending...I hate dragging him in and out in the cooler rainy weather for fear that he'll get sick.  But I have no choice and I just have to trust that whatever comes our way this winter we'll be find and be able to handle it.  He's getting his flu shot this week and that will make me feel a bit better.  I still feel like keeping him home and not interacting with other kids much, but that's getting harder too.  Benjamin is starting to show that I'm boring and he needs more stimulation.  You can only read so many books and build so many towers.   I think we'll do some swimming but I'm not sure what else.  He has started staying in the nursery Sunday mornings at church which is such a nice break for me.  That hour is very refreshing. 

We don't have any appointments on the horizon.  Benjamin had a dentist appointment a couple weeks ago and so far so good.   The dentist doesn't really push him to much, she doesn't want to make it a bad experience for him, but from what she can tell all is will.  He used to put up such a fuss to brush his teeth, but with a new flavor of toothpaste and a fancy Thomas the tank tooth brush he's doing much better.

Other then that things are good.  We had family pictures done this past weekend.  I only have 1 to show right now, but I'll have more soon.

Things have been busy as school is in full swing along with the extracurricular activities that come with it.  The girls are loving school so far. Both have great teachers and are settling in quite well. They both have several after school activities which are keeping us moving.  Benjamin misses his sisters so much though, he spends a lot of his day talking about them and when they're coming home.  Its very sweet, I just feel bad that I can't entertain him enough for his liking.

We had a couple appointments in the past few weeks. The first was with his surgeon.  She was very happy to see Benjamin, as it had been a year since his last appointment.  She seemed happy with how his scars were looking and said we could pursue deep tissue massage to help loosen up the tissue.  She also gave us some recipes to try to help get Benjamin's bowels to function better in a more natural, unfortunately so far his hasn't liked what I made.  So he's still on the medication.  She was happy that we had started him on something though as chronic constipation can cause long term issues.  So we're still searching for a more natural way to solve the problem...but the medication is a good temporary fix.

Benjamin also had a dentist appointment.  It went as well as can be expected.  He hates having his teeth brushed let alone having a stranger in a mask pry his mouth open.  She didn't do much, she doesn't want to force him and make it a scary thing.  So I held his mouth open and she got a good look. She said everything looked great and she had no concerns.  Yay!

Other then that all is well.  Fall is definitely in the air which is a nice relief, but the impending winter still makes me very nervous.  We started Benjamin on his inhalers already as he had a few nights of coughing start...With the girls in school again they bring home all sorts of things.  Whooping cough is also going around like crazy so that is also worrisome.  With him still nursing and on his asthma meds I hope we can avoid any major issues this winter.

We have a family photo shoot coming up in a few weeks which I am really looking forward too.  We haven't had pictures done together since Benjamin came home from the hospital 2 years ago.  I hope he cooperates and we can get some fantastic pictures.

That's about all that's happening here.  

Benjamin with his beads of courage.  Each bed represents a procedure/medication/doctor or specialist etc that he had when he was sick.  You can find more information about them at www.beadofcourage.org .

We've been making the best out of the last week of summer holidays.  We've been playing outside and going to the park.  Today we went to the butterfly conservatory, which was pretty cool.  The kids loved it.  This weekend we're just hanging around the house with the kids plus my nephew so I'm sure we'll come up with some creative ways to say good-bye to summer holidays.  As we speak the kids are on the trampoline with the hose and some dish liquid.  Hopefully no one breaks anything...no Jon is supervising.

I am definitely looking forward to next week. I'm looking forward to routine again.  The kids are getting bored and need to go back.  They are super nervous as am I.  I don't think it gets any easier as they get older.  Benjamin will probably need some time to adjust to life with just mommy during the days again.  I'm sure it will good.

We have an appointment with the Benjamin's surgeon on Tuesday.  We've been discharged, but I wanted to talk to her about Benjamin's scar and the possibility of deep tissue massage to help it and also the fact that he does still have some minor bowel issues.   She was happy to get us in and we're looking forward to seeing her.  Its been over a year since our last appointment. We'll also pop in and visit our social worker from the NICU whom we have kept in contact with and is just a fantastic lady.

Benjamin also has a dentist appointment next and that always causes me some anxiety.  He is prone to issues so we're watching them closely.  He hates brushing his teeth too, which makes things even more difficult. I'm praying that all is well still.

Anyways, that's about it around here.  I hope everyone has had  a great summer and will transition smoothly into the new fall routines.

I feel bad because I haven't posted in so long...but nothing has really been going on.  Benjamin is having a great summer.  We've been busy doing lots of little things.  We went camping again for a couple days which was great.   We went just with the kids which was really nice.

Summer is slowly winding down and I think Benjamin is going to have the hardest time with the adjustment of the girls going back to school.  He loves them so much and looks for them when they aren't around.  I think he'll be bored.  

Benjamin has no appointments coming up anytime soon, which is great.  We're still working on getting him to wear his glasses more often.  He does great sometimes and other times he refuses to wear them at all.  They got pretty banged up while camping so I know I'll have to replace them sooner then later...which sucks, but I'm sure it will be that way for a few years.  Anyways...that's about all for now.