How Long till Santa?

Well, we received a catalog for Fisher Price toys in the mail yesterday. Not a big deal...until your 3-year old sees it! Brock has been pretty "into" Christmas for the past couple years but this one is going to take the grand prize so far. He's flipping through the pages and is extremely excited with each turn. His eyes light up and he says "Mom, I want this!" "Mom, look at this dinosaur!" "Mom, I want that plane!" And so on and so on. So what does this naive mom say? (You'd think I would know better by now.) "You'll have to ask Santa Claus to bring it to you. Well, that did it...now try to explain to this same 3 year old that Christmas is still 63 days away! He wanted to know if Santa was coming tomorrow. Hmmm, no. We have to get through Halloween, Thanksgiving, St. Nick's day and then we'll finally get around to Christmas. The poor kid went to bed last night with the catalog. Tonight, he also looked through it one more time before lying down to go to sleep. Here's hoping he doesn't bring this up for the next 63 days! Our Christmas Countdown decorations may come in pretty handy this year!

Oh, and if you're wondering...Brock doesn't have cheap taste!! He is extremely excited over some pretty expensive toys!

Cute pic of the day...Sarge keeping watch over the newest addition...

She's Back!

Today was my first day back at work. With some evening preparation and a very blessed night filled with good sleep, I made it through the day!

Aubree has not been consistently sleeping at night. Some nights she sleeps just two or three hours at a time...other nights she won't go to sleep until 2 am...and other nights she'll sleep a 5-6 hour stretch! Guess Forrest was right..."Life is like a box of chocolates...you never know what you're going to get!"

Well, my precious little boy actually asked to go to bed around 7:30. That NEVER happens! And Aubree went to sleep at 10, and slept till 6am! Thank you Lord! The most continuous block of sleep I've gotten in a very long time.

It's been busy and I've wanted to get a lot more posts out here...but here is a short one for today and I'll try to get our turkeyfest post out soon.

My cowboy & ballerina at the pumpkin patch.

Mommy & her kiddos

Two Months!

Well, little Miss Aubree is two months old, as of Sunday! On one hand it's hard to believe she's already two months old...on the other hand...it's ONLY been two months?!?! I think her colic is getting better, but definitely not gone. Here's hoping the next four weeks fly by and at the three month mark, she turns into one good natured little girl! In the meantime, I'll continue to pray for patience! I saw a sign the other day and really liked it. I keep repeating it to myself when I am getting frustrated or impatient. "Patience is Trusting in God's Timing". I need that in some sort of frame in my house!

She has started smiling, focusing, following you with her eyes and sucking on her thumb/hands (when she can find them). Big Brother seems to be growing more and more used to having a little sister around. Just this morning, she started crying while I was getting him breakfast. He looked at me with a concerned look on his face and said: "Mom, I think Aubree is crying. I think she wants breakfast." I'm glad to have a little helper around...the howling dog gives it away too. (Sarge thinks he needs to howl/whine whenever the kids are...makes for some interesting times and noise in the Benich house!)



I go back to work on Monday. I'm NOT ready. I thought I would be, but with Aubree still having really rough nights, I don't think I'm going to be going back with my A-game, and that's not how I like to roll. Oh well...gotta adjust sometime!

So strong!

My little dancer!

That star is so funny!

Check it out! Big Brother not only got in the bathtub with me...but he "washed" me too!

She Did It!

For those of you who always wondered if Miss Kristen Treibs would ever tie the knot. I'm here to say I proudly watched her walk down the isle, say her vows and marry Mr. Matt Murphy! I couldn't be happier for them. My very best friend has found a most wonderful man. I couldn't have hand picked a better match myself!

The weekend was full of great festivities. The groom's parents hosted a dinner at their house Thursday night. Those of us who returned to the hotel were kicked out of the hotel bar late that night.

Friday began with a fabulous bridesmaids luncheon at the Canoe Restaurant. The grounds were absolutely breathtaking, sitting along side the Chattahoochee River. Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner followed in traditional fashion that night. Saturday morning we got Kristen to the makeup counter, had hair done in the hotel, and shuffled off to the church around 4pm. The wedding was picture perfect. This bridesmaid cried through nearly the entire ceremony. (Yes, probably some left over hormones!)

For the reception, we were bused to Turner Field, home of the Atlanta Braves. The wedding reception was in the 755 club at the stadium. Very cool! I've never been to a wedding reception where you could watch football games on the TVs! Normally, if we're in football season, you can find the gathering of fans in the kitchen huddled around some radio! Kristen & Matt left in an array of sparklers at 1am.

The guests all were bused back to the hotel where many of my age group guests held our own after-party at the hotel pool. For someone who is longing to go to bed at 9pm, I held my own until 3:45! My father made sure we got to the airport on time and had me up at 6am! Ouch!

So, someone over here is very sleepy...but what else is new? I had a great time and sincerely couldn't be prouder to be part of Kristen's fantastic wedding weekend. Now, just have to hide the jealousy of knowing she's relaxing in Costa Rica while this tired momma is continuing the streak of sleepless nights. :)

Sleep is overrated!

Most of you who read my blog, probably know my friend Kristen. Well, she's tying the knot on Saturday in Atlanta!! Original plans were for Tom, Aubree & I to drive there while Brock stayed at Nana's. If I've learned anything in the past couple months, it's that things don't always go as I had planned! Tom is staying home with the kids and allowing me to have a much needed get away by myself. Seeing as how Aubree isn't the sleeper Brock was as a baby, 18 hours in the car would have been rough on all of us! I fly out in about 3 hours, so my next post will come from a very refreshed momma! I was getting sad thinking about going by myself, but somehow the kids must have known so they decided to make it easier on me. For some reason (is the moon at a strange phase or something???) both kids have had two very difficult nights. Between the two of them, I've had about 9 hours of sleep in the past two days. I'm sure Kristen will be so happy to know her maid of honor is coming this energized! ;)


Aubree was 6 weeks on Tuesday. Both Sunday and Monday nights she slept a stretch of 6 hours at a time, but the past two nights have been a completely different story. Here's hoping she was doing like I said and making it easier to leave...and Tom will have her back into shape by the time I get home. :)


Here are a couple pics from last night. Her midnight bath! My very gracious mother-in-law tells me to call/text at any time. After 3 hours of non stop crying...me included!...this very sleepy mommy had to call in for help. She recommended a warm bath. We did that and another bottle, and by 1:30 Aubree finally decided to give in and go to sleep. Only to wake back up again at 3, and 4! Oh, yes, I do love my little girl dearly.

Brock's BIG ACCOMPLISHMENT! He now gives kisses to his baby sister!!! I knew we'd get there! Just 6 weeks into this. Guess he figured out she's not going anywhere. He better get used to it.

Diagnosis = Colic

It's official, my fussy baby has been diagnosed with Colic. Life is throwing a lot of curves right now...guess it wouldn't be called "Life" without that! I pray that we can get through the very rough days, frequent rough nights, and all have the patience and sleep to remain calm and level headed for the next few months! Tom's mom is here right now and has been such a blessing. Last night alone, Aubree went down around 10, up at 10:05, down again around 11, up at 2:30, down at 3:30, up at 3:35. Sometime between then and 4, Janet graciously took over and she & Aubree were still in the recliner when I was getting Brock ready for school at 6:45 this morning! So as I've asked you all in the past, prayers...prayers...prayers!

When we were at the doctor, Aubree was weighed and this little gal is already up to 9 pounds, 15 ounces! Speaking of her...she's exercising her voice again so must run! Here's one of her more recent pictures...

Oh, I never did get a post in about my Hurricane Ike experience. To make a long story short, Cuero was supposed to be in the path, but luckily missed us completely. Nonetheless, Cuero cancelled school for two days, and the whole town shut down/boarded up. Even after the path had indicated a shift away from the town, everyone was freaking out. Here is a picture of a house boarded up. It's a darn good thing they boarded up this house...because it would have been just terrible if any damage had been done. (sarcasm at it's greatest) I didn't get any pics of the front, but it was more boarded up, and a few windows had been boarded from the inside. On a serious note, I pray for everyone who was affected by Ike. We were spared, but everyone was not that lucky. I have lots of family in the path of Ike, and am very happy to report everyone is OK!

Happy Belated Grandparents Day!

I'm sad to report that Grandparents day has come and gone...and I'm just now realizing it! Aubree has met all of her grandparents so far...but unfortunately has only met one of her five GREAT Grandparents! To have five great grandparents living is quite a blessing in itself. I hope we can get down to the El Campo/Houston area soon so she can meet her 3 other great grandmothers and her one and only great grandfather!

Happy Belated Grandparents Day...

Nana! (Lori's mom - currently blessed with two adorable grandchildren!)

Grammy! (Tom's mom - and Aubree makes THREE adorable grandchildren! On the right is Avery - Craig & Cathy's beautiful 9-month old.)

Paw Paw! (Lori's dad - currently blessed with two adorable grandchildren!)

Grandpa Tony! (Tom's dad - again, Aubree makes three...but we don't have Avery pictured here.)

GG (Lori's maternal grandmother - GG is VERY excited that this is her FIFTH great grandchild...but the FIRST whose name does not start with "BR"!!!! Lori's cousin Kyle has three kids: Brett, Brooke and Brendan. Add Brock in there and she has her tongue tied!! We won't tell GG that Aubree's nick name one day could be "Bree"!!!!)

We love you all! And we love Great Grandma Dornak, Great Grandma Benich and Great Grandma & Grandpa Biggs who we hope to see soon!