Happy Birthday Jesus...Let's Have a Poop Fest

C'mon kids, don't you know that Christmas is a sacred day? These things shall be held sacred: you shall sleep until at least 8 am on Christmas morning, you shall eat some sort of baked good for breakfast and you shall not take a disgusting poop that your mother has to clean up! Well, our Christmas morning was one for three. Our kids were up at 6:30 and despite us trying to convice them that Santa just may take their stuff back for getting up that early, they called us on our bluff and were ready to have at it. We did have a delicious baked good for breakfast after the disgusting show of materialism at its best followed by all three of my kids taking utterly disgusting number twos. I mean, seriously, on Christmas? But, what do you do?

If you are wondering where your Brogan family Christmas card is, well, honestly, it isn't even started yet. I am so behind that I had to give Matt's mom an IOU for Christmas because I also haven't even started the calendar we usually give her each year. And, as if to rub my face in my personal failures, I get a beautiful Christmas card from my good friends the Smiths (it was really cute Kerry), and I was like c'mon...even the Smiths got their Xmas card out and I don't even have a decent picture of my three kids together! (Kerry, I hope you know that I write this in love and appreciate the fact that I measure my personal failures against your successes).

We did have a big week if you don't count Christmas with the fact that Zach had his ENT visit, had another raging ear infection and had tubes four days later (he got them this Tuesday). All in all, it went pretty well. He was super peeved when they brought him back from recovery but a bottle, cereal bar and 4 hour nap later he seemed to be back to his old sweet self. He seems to be having some balance issues (or maybe it is the new laminate floor we put in (courtesy of Dennis) but I'm sure he will adjust. Apparently the ENT had to suck a whole bunch of crap out of his ear, and give him two more shots of antibiotics as the regular stuff just doesn't seem to cut it anymore, so hopefully this procedure will take care of all of that.

Ben and Maddie had a great Christmas morning, but Ben is a little confused on the finer points of how Christmas works. We kept asking him if he thought Santa came and he ran right by his presents to go upstairs to see if Santa was outside. So, he was a little disappointed by the fact that he didn't get a personal visit and present delivery from Santa Claus (thank you Polar Express), but did enjoy his spoils. Maddie just does a really good job of following Ben's lead. They were both pretty fascinated by the fact that Santa ate their cookies and drank their milk, more so then the fact that the old fat guy spent way too much on them bringing them all this great stuff that they asked for and then some, so....note to self for next year:)

I hope you and yours all had a great Xmas season and I promise I will get a card out as soon as I get a decent picture of all three of my kids, in other words, 2017. Merry Christmas everyone oh, and Happy Birthday Jesus!

I Don't Even Know Where to Start

It feels like I have been going non stop yet getting nothing done for the last several weeks. I have been CONSUMED with work, which is both good and bad. Our auction ended today and was a huge success, which makes the hard work seem sort of worth it, yet I look back at the last three weeks and it seems like a blur. We have also been having some crazy medical things with Zach. I can't even remember what my last blog was about, if I touched on the hospital trip with a chest xray and blood draws and antibiotic shot (s) for the ear infection that wouldn't go away. So last week we had his nine month check up/ear check up and the infection was gone (finally!) but being the monster he is, his head is abnormally large (and keeps getting bigger). To be on the safe side we had to get a head ultrasound to make sure there was no fluid around the brain. So three hours and much negative musing later, I hear back from the doctor that he is fine...just big headed. We are off to the ENT and tubes will most likely be in our immediate future (and hopefully before the end of the year as we have an already met deductible). Then there was a week or two there when Matt and I were toying with the will we/won't we go to the bowl game with the Hawks. The answer was we would go to Phoenix, we would go to Orlando, but not so much Miami. Now, we are back to deciding where we will head this spring for our five year anniversary (I am happily accepting destination advice). Ben and Madilyn continue to do pretty well at school. Ben is still having a pretty hard time getting dropped off, but is always having fun when we pick him up. He has been incessantly singing Frosty the Snowman as he will be performing this Friday at his preschool holiday party. I'm pretty pumped for our first preschool concert. Poor Zach, I'm sure by the time his first preschool concert comes around I'll be like "really, this Friday?....hmmm....I'll check my calendar." Ben has been trying to discipline me and Matt by saying things like "do you understand?" "is that a deal?" following long diatrides that usually include things like I will eat this pop tart and then wear my pajamas the rest of the day, do you understand? or I am going to play with Thomas trains all day, not go to bed and cry when you drop me off at school, is that a deal? Pretty great. Madilyn is two going on thirty five. She is learning all of Ben's xmas songs by osmosis, and claims that Jingle Bells is her song and is happy to tell you that if you try to sing it around her. She does awesome at school and we are going to try to knock out potty training over Matt's shutdown. That would mean Ben is out of pull ups and Maddie would be out of diapers. Throw a party...two down, one to go! Now, if we can just knock off paying daycare and buying formula, we may just be millionaires! BTW, if you are usually a person on my Xmas card list and I think I have resigned to the fact that I won't be doing Xmas cards this year. I might send out a nice holiday email or something, but seriously, the cards cost us like $50 and then it's another $100 for the postage...that is a nice Xmas present for me:) Or a charity or something. Anyway, I am eating into my precious alone time, so I best scat...I'll try to be a better updater:) And dieter:) and exerciser:)...who am I kidding? It'll probably be another three weeks, I'm having a snack before I go to bed and I may work out one more time this month (to bring my grand total up to twice). Ah, got to love winter.

A Rough Couple of Weeks

If you, my faithful readers, have been wondering why I have been neglecting you or if you my friends and family have been wondering why I have been neglecting you, or if you, my husband and children wonder I have been neglecting you, I only have one answer for you: there is just not enough Jessi to go around. Does anyone else ever feel like this? It has been a rough couple of weeks in the Brogan household. My good friend and coworker Sandi had her baby a couple of weeks ago (I know, I know there are babies all around me, but don't worry, I haven't caught the baby fever again, just yet) and being the loyal employee and burnt out stay at home mother that I am (yep, six months=burnt out) I headed back to work. Ergo, my kids had to start at a daycare, ergo Ben is being a big ol' pain in my keester. That is about as nice as I can say it. He has been pitching FITS everytime I drop him off and at the same time ripping my heart out of my chest, holding it above is little blond haired head, doing a little dance, throwing it on the juice stained floor, rubbing some graham cracker crumbs in it, and then stomping on it. To the layperson it might just look like a three year old having to be restrained by his teacher all the while yelling at me down the hall "MOM don't leave me in this place, MOM MOM MOM I have to ask you something! MOM DONT GO", but I know what it really is. It's awesome. Maddie on the other hand, LOVES "school" and it is doing some wonders for her. She has given up her binky (okay, okay, except at bed), is peeing on the potty and is about 50% less whiny than usual. Zach is pretty indifferent. He usually is happy when I drop him off and happy when I pick him up, although he did cry the other day when I handed him over and that was just about the straw that broke the camels back. But I stayed strong (or stubborn, or selfish...I'm not sure which it is yet). So between working as much as I can (I'm pretty much doing two people's jobs, plus our receptionist quit and then the replacement we hired got fired, so it's been good times at work too), trying to take care of stuff at home (which I feel like I am barely getting by at) and sleeping when I can, I haven't had a lot of time to catch up with all my friends. So, this is my public apology. I miss you all. Once my son returns to his fun loving, sweet self, maybe we will venture back out in public.

Where Does the Time Go?

So, have I told everyone that Zach is crawling? Everywhere? He is the fastest, nosiest baby that I ever have met. It is crazy, the kid has some sort of sixth sense for finding cords and then ripping them out from under the carpet where they once peacefully rested. He has two little teeth, all the better to scream at 11:00 every night. Okay, those two don't really go together, but I just wanted to point out that Zach still pretty much wakes up every night.

I have officially, well part timingly, rejoined the work force. A girl who I work with is about two seconds from having a baby, so I am going to help cover her maternity leave. I'm working about thirty hours a week and because my bestest babysitter recently had her baby, my kids officially have been enrolled in their first daycare center. I think it will actually be really great for Ben's learning skills, Maddie's social skills, Zach's independence skills and mom's sanity skills. I'm taking this class for church and it has a lot to do with figuring out who you are and let me tell you who I am not: a person who is geared towards being home with three kids all day, every day.

A couple of funny things that Ben has done recently that need to be immortalized in blog world: He recently told Matt that "I have to poop and it is going to be a while" and when coming home from a midweek trip that included a visit to the John Deere Pavillion, The Imagination Movers concert and a trip to visit cousin Jacque at the Iowa Children's Museum, it finally took a toll on him and he actually succumbed to a nap in the car. However, being the most efficient little three year old that he is, he took the time to have his snack of cheese popcorn while he was sleeping. It was one of the funnier things I have ever seen him do and can imagine that when I see him doing it about 18 years from now with the cold pizza of his choice, it won't be quite as funny. And speaking of flashforwards (I haven't watched the show, but heard it was great, so thought I would reference it here) he was taking an awful long time in the bathroom so I busted in on him to see what he was doing and I found him on the floor, shirt off, pants down with a bottle of lotion. I asked him what are you doing? and he told me, mom, I just needed some lotion so I put it on my belly and my knees, see? It was pretty cute, but I couldn't help thinking about how a very similar scene is not going to be so cute, in say, god, I hope never, but probably 11 years or so. Start praying for me now...I have a feeling that having a 3, 2 and 7 month old is going to be a cakewalk compared to a 15, 14 and 12 year old.

Anyway, as Ben keeps informing me, Maddie is not going to go back to sleep (she has been fussing the entire time over the monitor), so I better get back to the duty at hand, which is enjoying my one day at home with my kids...how close is it to five o'clock?

A Busy Week!

So, to start out, go ahead and scratch our "Parents of the Year" Nominations. As I was just blogging about Zach's fits, I finally had enough and took him to the doctor and turns out he has an ear infection. That was probably the problem all along. Oops. Good news is that last night he slept until three with only a brief fit at 11. Much better. At least for one night. Madilyn had her two year check up today. She didn't cry a bit, even when they gave her a shot. She is 25% for weight, 50% for height, 75% for head. Not too shabby. Got both the kids Flu Mist and now just have to wait for the H1N1 vaccination, which I envision us having to wait outside in the snow in a line of about 500 people only to get to the front to find out that they are out. BTW, if that really is the situation, I think we are taking our chances with the virus. I've heard a lot of kids aroung here are sick, but what are you going to do? That's what happens when the weather turns from summer to winter on a dime.
It's been a busy week around here as our beloved friends Travis and Cerrita Anderson had their FOURTH baby, Jaxon Joseph. I was actually there to see the little guy born which was crazy, gross and beautiful all at the same time. It was also fast. I told Cerrita she makes it look easy. Little Jaxon was three weeks early, and only 5 lbs 4 oz and wouldn't cry. Unfortunately, he is in the NICU (for probably 10+ days) to get a little stronger and fight off the infection in his lungs. He is so stinking cute and so stinking little. Say a prayer or two for the little guy.

Madilyn is Two!

Happy Birthday to Maddie! She is celebrating by being a pretty big grouch and insisting on wearing pajamas. Ah, welcome to having a two year old girl who knows way too many words. The good mother in me should say that she is sassy and sweet at the same time, but the truth of the matter is that right now, she is mostly sassy. However, I do attribute some of that to the fact that I think she is getting another molar and it is wearing on her, but maybe that is just wishful thinking. She got a new pink potty for her birthday (thank you Schaefers!) and did go on that a couple of times. That is a good sign. One less baby in diapers would be helpful. As for the other two, they are both doing pretty well. Zach is still throwing a fit just about every night at 11. It is starting to get really annoying. Ben is a pretty good three year old. He does a pretty good job of playing with toys on his own, but man, is he ever a tattle tale. I think he is pretty sure he is the third parent in this family of ours, so from his point of view, he is just doing his duty as a good dad. I celebrated Maddie's second birthday with my 8th (or is it 9th, I've kind of lost count) bout of mastitis, so I write to you today with a dish towel strapped around my chest...my first step to weaning Zach. I figured I'm already going to be in pain because of the infection, I might as well go all out. Please do not brush up against me in the next 5-7 days. It won't be pretty.

Whistling Truckers

Oops, so it has been almost a month since I posted. In the baby land that I live in, I don't even know where to start with the leaps and bounds that my children have grown and changed in that month. I mean, do you start with the "Pull My Finger" Story (sure to be an instant classic), do you report that Zach can now sit up on his own (after he has fallen onto his big gut) and has almost perfected the eye rake, do you talk about Maddie's new ability to call small birds to our home with her whistling ability and Ben's really annoying attempt at copying her, or perhaps you talk about Ben's new tactic of getting out of trouble by throwing Matt and I's words right back at us. Hmmm, one at a time I guess.

I have to start with Pull My Finger because it is a crowd pleaser with it's cuteness (okay grossness) and the fact that it showcases something that their daddy has taught his son. So Ben and Maddie were standing on the landing between our living room and basement. I hear him saying "Maddie, pull my finger, pull my finger. When you pull my finger I fart." So after some prodding, she did indeed pull his finger at which point you see Ben's face change from one of amusement to one of uncertainity. He came upstairs and says "Mom, I pooped my pants". Yes, dad may have taught him the "pull my finger" gag, but has yet to sit down with his son and talk about the poop/fart separator. Nice.

Secondly, Zach is so big! Tonight when I went to check on him in his crib he was sitting up and looked pretty amused with himself that he got there. He is truly a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde. We have started "ferberizing" him and making him cry through his waking up at night instead of going in, rocking him, then probably feeding him and then finally just bringing him into bed so that we can get some sleep. So instead we let him throw these monster fits. I mean it is ridiculous. I am lucky that on the nights the windows are open DHS hasn't shown up on our doorstep. But, keep your fingers crossed, the last two nights he has done pretty well.

So Maddie learned to whistle. It was really random and I have no idea where she picked it up. But, I was listening to her and Ben on their monitor one naptime and I got really freaked out because I heard someone whistling. Who was this intruder in our house that instead of trying to kidnap my kids breaks in to whistle to them? So I run downstairs to see Maddie in her bed, whistling a little tune. She pretty much does it on command now. She LOVES Kindermusik and is pretty much the star of the class. Perhaps a musical prodigy on our hands. Uncle Jeremy will have to start some guitar lessons soon.

So that explain the Whistling part of my title, so how about the trucker. I have decided that there is probably a 90% chance that Ben may become a trucker when he grows up. He loves to hook the wagon up to his Big Wheel or Jeep and pull it around, but he has to have stuff in his "trailer". Whether it be his scooter or his sister, he does a great job of keeping an eye on his cargo and has only slammed into my van once (that I saw) while he was watching his cargo instead of watching where he was going. And speaking of Ben, if you plan on yelling at him any time in the near future, you better hope you have an answer for having your words thrown right back at you, because all Matt and I can do is laugh. I wanted him to come in the house the other night and he was throwing a fit, so I took him aside in a very motherly way and said (can you believe this, I'm such a mom) "now you listen to me mister" to which he replied "now you listen to me mom" (try keeping a straight face during that) but I maintained composure and said "you have two options, option number one you go in the house" to which he said "you have two options, YOU go in the house". To which I cracked up. Matt got a dose of the other day when he told Ben "You don't talk to me that way" to which Ben replied "YOU don't talk to ME that way". So precious.

Anyway, that is my update for now. I have some OP pizza waiting for me and can't really believe I have stayed away from it this long.

P.S. My plans for this blog are to eventually print them out so that my kids will have some sort of scrapbook/baby book and will know that their mom did try to chronicle their lives in some small way. But, I also want to chronicle what else is going on in our lives and to that end, would like to officially welcome Samuel James Holter Dunn to the world. We can't wait to meet you!

Baby Diet

Well, it's official...Zach has to go on a diet. He just saw the doctor for his 6 month checkup and continues to shatter the growth chart for his weight. He seemed to be WELL over the curve and continuing to go higher above instead of following the curve like the doctor had hoped. Damn my delicious milk producing boobs. He was 90% for height and 95% for head, so he is a big kid overall. Tall and fat, says the doc. Everything else looked great. I'm supposed to try to decrease the amount of cereal I give him and stick to fruits and veggies. Oh, and the being connected to my chest every three hours? Sorry, Zachman, but those days are over! We had started trying to wean him a couple of weeks ago, but think we mistook an ear infection for milk intolerance. So hopefully, we can start the formula again. I just gave him a 4 oz bottle, so keep your fingers crossed for me that he doesn't go beserk in about three hours. I'm hoping formula will stick with him a little longer and he can stop using my chest as a pacifier. I have created a monster, there is not doubt in my mind. But, he is one stinking cute monster! Ben loved his first week at preschool. I got an email from his teacher saying that he was loving, sweet and funny. I would have liked to reply, ah yes, the Ben I know BEFORE naptime is all of those things. The Ben I know who I try to get to lay down for a nap, followed by the Ben who doesn't take a nap is crabby, lippy and a pain in the a**, but I didn't of course. Seriously, I think preschool will be really good for him and me both. I am going to try to take Maddie to a Kindermusik class next week during Ben's preschool to try to give her and I some one on one time together. I think it will be something that she will enjoy. That is, if I don't have to go in for jury duty. Yep, yours truly got called to do her civic duty (AGAIN!), so look out gangstas of Waterloo--I may be deciding your fate. My plan is to take my breastpump. I figure I'll get dismissed as soon as I whip that puppy out. I'll let you all know. Gotta go make Ben stop playing with his tractors and sleep...wish me luck!

I Sometimes Wonder If I Will Be Lonely

When my personal space finally becomes my own again. I'm not sure what I will do. Maybe I will start hearing voices that aren't really there instead of the three little ones I hear constantly now. Or maybe I will start having to take a stuffed animal or something with me to the bathroom, so that I won't be alone. It is crazy how you wait and wait and wait for your kids to be able to talk to you and once they can, you just wish you could shut them off every once in a while. My days are filled with constant chatters of "look at this" "what's your name (don't ask about this one, I thought it was so cute weeks ago and now I just want it to go away)", "I need (fill in the blank, but usually it is milk, water or my butt wiped)", etc. The other day I was trying to unload the dishwasher, a relatively mundane task, right? And I pretty much just snapped and banned all people under the age of three from the kitchen until the task was completed. The kids are constantly checking out what I am doing in the bathroom (which is sometimes reading People a little bit longer then neccessary just to get away for a moment or two) and today when I announced that I was going to take a shower (why do I even announce such things) I got two bathing buddies in the form of Ben and Maddie. That's right, the shower isn't even sacred anymore. So anyway, I'm so accustomed to having someone accompany me everywhere and of having constant chatter going, I'm not sure I will know what to do when it is gone. Granted, this will be a LONG time from now, but believe it or not Ben is starting preschool on Tuesday which makes me realize when people tell you time flies with your kids, they are not joking around. Maddie also thinks she is attending school, so it should be an interesting first day drop off. We had to take Zach back to the doctor this week and turns out he did have an ear infection. Antibiotics seem to be kicking in and he seems to be doing better. We take him back at the end of next week for his 6 month checkup. I'll be curious to see if he has made it to the 125th percentile yet;)

Small Vacations, Good Times

So this last weekend the troop headed to Des Moines for a mini-vaca. We also brought along our niece Abby, and let me tell you, we might not be able to take any more vacations without her. Having an extra stroller-pusher, hand-holder, drink-fetcher, etc. is quite the luxury. So on Sunday we headed to the Blank Park Zoo via Urgent Care for Zachary. Saturday night was a rough night for the little guy that we had originally attributed to teething. But, he became pretty much inconsolable and if you even moved him an inch, he would scream. I thought I maybe dislocated a shoulder picking him up or something (trust me, I had some paranoid scenarios going through my head, especially when I couldn't get him to roll over, something that had become second nature to him). Anyway, the doctor said it was just a virus, but in doing my own diagnostic work (just call me Dr. House, because I went down about three different paths before arriving at my conclusion) that I think he was having a reaction to the Target formula we bought him. That's what we get for being cheap. So, I was starting to wean him and now all of that has went in the crapper and he's back to breast feeding all the time and I haven't given him cereal for about a week. However, the chunky monkey weighed 24 pounds 10 oz at the doctor, officially surpassing his sister by about a pound. So, in other words, I don't think he's hurting for meals. He seems to be doing much better now, besides the fact that we think he is starting to scream to imitate his sister, which is not a pleasant noise:) But I digress. So we head to the zoo on Sunday afternoon and had a great time. If you haven't been to the Blank Park Zoo and have little kids I highly recommend it. It was just the right size, and it wasn't so crowded that you had to fight to see the animals. It was perfect. Then we headed to a hotel that I kind of want to keep a secret because it was so great and Matt and I don't want the word to get out:) Okay, I will tell you guys. We headed to the Ramada on Merle Hay Road that has been COMPLETELY redone with an awesome pool area. It was perfect. The kids had so much fun. Monday we got up and swam some more and then headed to the Iowa State Fair. So we figured a Monday would not be too busy, but boy, did we figure wrong. It was CRAZY busy! The kids got tatoos, went down the giant slide (nearly causing me to have a heart attack as I looked on) and ate some food that both Matt and I regretted that night and Zach regretted the next day. But all in all, it was a great time. One of the best things about staying at home (besides hours upon hours of time with my kids....) is the fact that Matt and I have been able to spend some time together with our kids without dipping into what was once my meager vacation time. It has given us some freedom which is really nice. Kind of makes me hope we can afford to have me stay home forever...and hire a nanny:)

Grab a Minute When you Can

So I am waiting for my good friend Emily to bring some sub city over for lunch, and thought I would type a quick update. All three of my kids are in bed (and possibly sleeping, I haven't heard from Ben in awhile) which to me, is the biggest feeling of accomplishment that I think a stay at home mom of three little ones can feel. If you haven't seen Zach lately, you wouldn't believe how big he is...he is my little sumo man. I think I am slightly addicted to him. Madilyn is as talkative as ever. We have taken to calling her by different names just to hear her say, "I not Charley (or Twililla or Jim Bob or whatever). It is so stinking cute. She can also tell us that she lives on Jay Lane, in Waterloo, her dad is MATT BROGAN and her mom is JESSI BROGAN and her name is Madilyn AMELIA BROGAN. I put those things in caps because she says them like she means business. It is hilarious! We had our first parent meeting for Ben's preschool last night. So crazy! He is on snack duty for day one, which is kind of a lot of pressure for me. I mean, I don't have anything to set a standard by...do you set the bar high or low or what? He is putting us in the hot seat on day one, just because he is first in the alphabet. I knew Matt should have taken my name after we were married:)

Indiana!

Well, we are back from our week long vacation visiting our family in Indiana. So, first off, let me thank the Kocher Family for the GRACIOUS hosting. For families with small children, let me stronly suggest that the only way to go for vacation is to find a house that you can stay at that has three teenage built in babysitters and an awesome host and hostess! It was so relaxing and our whole family had a blast. I'm working on getting some pictures together, but posted a few for now. I have to be quick, because the kids are actually sleeping and I have a list about a mile long of things to do and blogging isn't one of them. However, I figured you all missed me:)

The highlights of our trip included Ben's three rounds of miniature golf (let me tell you in a year I bet he will be able to challenge any of you to a mean game of putt-putt...the kid had a couple of legitimate holes in one), Madilyn's enjoyment of the Linton park (minus the header she took off the merry-go-round...Kocher family her nose is healing very nicely!) and Zach was introduced to sweet potatoes on the trip (while the Kocher family was re-introduced to how completely disgusting a five month old's poops can be while eating sweet potatoes). We had a great time, but the old adage is true...there is no place like home! (especially when that home has gates across bedroom doors when mom can say, time for a nap and shut the gate then come downstairs and blog:)

One other quick thing to anyone who knows or interacts with our family. We have grown a world class whiner in Madilyn, so after much serious discussion last night (okay, a quick conversation over the OP pizza Matt and I dominated last night) we have decided it is time for some tough love! NO more giving into Maddie when she asks for anything in her whiny voice which then usually escalates to crying when we say no. So, if you happen to be around Maddie, prepare yourself to use the phrase "Can you ask nicely?" A LOT.

The Loss of Friends New and Old

I'm going to quit saying that I have been slacking, when really I think the truth is that there seems to constantly be less and less hours in the day and if I leave one thing out, it is easily going to be blogging (or maybe laundry...well probably both). Anyway, we have had a busy couple of weeks. Last week we finally got the fence that we had been talking about and planning for on Tuesday. Three professional fence builders took all day to complete our fence and they did a great job! Then Wednesday night a downburst (this is a new weather term to me which basically means crazy freaky thunderstorm that has some really nasty winds) took a huge tree into our fence and pretty much right up to our house. All things considered, we are pretty lucky that only a portion of the fence was wrecked, our house was fine and no one was hurt. But it still sucked. Luckily we have some really awesome friends and family (thanks Jon, Jeremy and Adam!) that helped clean up the tree and hopefully we will get our fence fixed soon.

As for old friends, we have bid Ben's binkies adieu. I think that I want them back. After a lot of empty threats as to what was going to happen if Ben kept pooping his pants, we finally pulled out the big guns and threatened to trash the binkies. One turd later, and Ben doesn't get his binkies anymore. The first night started out okay, but he was awakened by some thunder and seriously, it was like watching an addict go through withdrawal. So, at about midnight we had to go to his room and finally had to calm him down with a pop tart in bed (hello...uses food to deal with stress anyone?) Tonight was our third night without binky and it is really still not going that great. He doesn't lay down like he used to (he used to look forward to going to bed), doesn't take the greatest naps and announces bright and early that "he is awake" and "ready to come downstairs" which of course rouses Maddie and soon I have both of the chorusing the same thing. But, I suppose at about three and a half it was time to finally ditch the bink. But I really, really, really didn't think I would have to be the strong one in the situation, I am so ready to give it back to him!

You would not believe how much Maddie talks. She is a parrot who I can understand more then I do Ben. This week she really started stringing sentences together and can carry on entire conversations. Her favorite phrase when she gets up is "Up Now, Clothes On". She of course, has to pick out her own outfit right away, for fear that I will trick her into wearing something that she might not want to. She is too much.

Zach continues to grow, and grow and grow. He is such a happy baby, you just have to smile when you look at him. He is finally rolling over with ease, which has helped him sleep a little easier, because he can roll onto his stomach. But that doesn't stop him for getting up for at least one midnight snack. He loves going for car rides and just watching the kids run around him. I love that they are built in entertainment for him. Speaking of Zach, he's fussing!

Zach Attack!

So, we took Zach to the doctor today and amidst much speculation he doesn't weigh QUITE as much as Maddie. But it is close. Really close. If it was a boxing match, it would go something like this: "Weighing in at a petitie 23 pounds, size 4 diapers, don't let her pixie demeanor fool you, this girl is all spit and vinegar....Madilyn Brogan!" "Her opponent in the ring today, nicknamed the Chunky Monkey, weighing in at a robust 21 pounds 4 ounces, also in size 4 diapers, taking a few minutes away from his mom's boob to hop in the ring with his sister....Zachary Brogan!"

Yep, less than 2 pounds separate my 4 month old and my 21 month old. Pretty funny. We can start Zach on cereal now, so we are hoping that will maybe stick to his ribs a little bit more and he won't need to nurse all the time. The kid may or may not (but probably is) addicted to my boobs. But most importantly, he is a healthy boy!

Our kids are currently all resting up for some 4th of July activities that will be taking place on my parents homestead this afternoon/evening. Hopefully home grown fireworks won't freak Ben out quite as much as the real deal. We are looking forward to a lot of eating and perhaps a beer or two...Zach is groggy from his shots so he won't know the difference:) I hope everyone has a happy 4th! Yeah Democracy!

We Broke Down

Okay, so again, I have REALLY been slacking. But one thing after another has been hitting the Brogan family which has slowed down my ability to sit down and write about what it is that has been preventing me from writing. Perhaps the biggest roadblock was the fact that our laptop crashed. Kind of hard to write without a computer. Then I got the mother of all mastitis infections (third one with this kid) and feeling like you have been hit by a bus, then the bus backed up and ran you over again for good measure does not make a happy blogger. But, I'm back and better than ever:) You know, with the passing of Ed Thomas last week all of these people have been issuing statements about Thomas and their relationship, etc., etc. I told Matt that no one has ever asked me to issue a statement. So, I decided I am going to issue my own statement about something, sometime, right here on my blog. I just haven't decided what yet. But enough about me, people want to know about our kids. Oh, one more thing about us. We bought a minivan. I can't believe I have succombed to peer pressure and double sliding doors, but yes, we did it. Granted, in the world of minivans, I feel that ours is cooler than most, but it is a minivan none the less. All I need is a soccer ball.

Okay, on to the kids. Ben has been regressing a bit on his potty training. I'm not sure what the deal is, but it all started this weekend in Walmart when he stood up in the cart and proceeded to pee in the aisle. It was the aisle with the potties, so maybe he was moved to action. Who knows? It could have been the crapload of water he drank too. He also is showing a real fear of loud noises. If you remember our experience with the fireworks, you kind of know what I am talking about. This weekend we took the kids to the Sturgis Falls parade and he cried at both the fire trucks and the motorcycles.

Maddie is now yelling at me from her room "up mommy, up mommy". Yep, her vocabulary is coming right along.

And Zach is as cute and as big as ever. He has his 4 month check up on Friday, so I will update everyone then. But my guess is the kid weighs at least 20 pounds. He is so happy and mellow, I don't know what I would do without him! Once we get the pictures off our laptop that crashed I will post some new ones:)

Fireworks!

Last night we got to witness the enigma that is a three year old in true form. Jeremy's work was sponsoring some fireworks and Ben was so excited to go. The kid remembers the only other time he saw "fireworks" (Missouri style at mom and dad's last fourth of july) and all afternoon he was talking about how he was going to say "oooh" and "aaah". So we get there and he is still SO excited and it's getting to be time for them to start so he settles in his little lawn chair next to Evan and then they set off one of those big fire bombs that are now all the rage in fireworks followed by a big continuos blast of some colorful ones. Ben turns around and I thought he was laughing, but turns out he was screaming and crying. Guess they scared him. So we had to watch the show in the car and he was fine for a while, talking about all of the colors and how many were going up in the air at a time and then all of a sudden he decided he was going to cover his head with his blanket and hide. Kids are funny! Maddie on the other hand, loved the fireworks and watching them with her dad, but I am not loving post firework Maddie as she is not a very happy camper when she is tired. All morning she has been super fragile and so I was just waiting for the minute I could lay her down for her nap which was about noon. And then at 130 she started crying and I thought, oh no, you are taking at least a two hour nap, so I was letting her fuss which then woke Ben up. So, I took him some more water to have him lay back down and she is now throwing a world class fit in her room. Maybe it will tire her out enough to take another nap. I certainly don't want to hang around her right now:) But my main man Zach is just chilling on the couch with me taking a little rest of his own after a big ol' #2. Ah, to be a three month old!

So I have been slacking

In my blog efforts lately. By don't worry, it's not just my blogging that I have been slacking on. It also includes laundry, cleaning, and writing thank yous for the last couple of months. So, if you got me a birthday present and have not yet received a thank you, don't worry, it 's not just you. In fact, I told myself I was going to write thank yous during nap time today, yet here I am...

Anyway, I put up some new pictures from our trip to KC. Our kids had a great time and Matt and I had a great time (for the most part...and the bad times had nothing to do with the great company we were in, but with our kids' ability to deal with being out of their element). Jeremy and I were once talking about this and he commented that you think your kids would love being someplace new, doing all these fun things like you, but when it comes down to it, they just want to sleep in their own beds every night. That is my kids exactly. But, we are making an effort to break them of their routine (Just a little) so that we can have an overnight trip away once in a while without complete chaos. Our Kansas City trip was hopefully a good warm up for a trip to Indiana to visit family later this summer. Have you noticed though that when you take a vacation with your kids you don't get to do any of the things you used to do on a vacation? There is no sleeping in (or through the night for that matter), no long days lounging by the pool doing nothing but reading a book, no late nights with cold beer, heck not even a baseball game. Instead, we get a morning trip to the zoo (oh boy...the train!), shopping for new shoes (for Ben, not for me!), an hour long bed time routine that leaves me more tired and frustrated then when I started and Imagination Movers on a different TV (that was most exciting, I think!). Don't get me wrong I wouldn't trade it (okay, I would trade it, but maybe for just a little while). The best part about being gone was that after the kids went to bed Matt and I had some adult time with our friends. I never knew board games and the one beer I allowed myself could mean so much!

Oh, another milestone...Ben got an email from his preschool teacher noting some important days and telling us to be on the lookout for his school supply list. That cracked me up! What do preschoolers need for school supplies? I can tell you what Ben is going to need... an extra pair of underwear as he is sure to crap in his, and yep, that's about it. That is our new threat. If he doesn't stop pooping in his underwear, he doesn't get to go to school. It probably won't work either, but it's worth a try.

Besides that, all is good in the Brogan household. We are enjoying a quiet Saturday at home preparing for Zach's baptism tomorrow. Hopefully it will stop raining long enough for the guys to put together the new swing set!

Near Tragedy Followed by a Laugh

Okay, so I have a semi-serious topic that I hope by getting it out will help me get over it. Our family of five made their first big trip together to visit our good friends Angie and Dave in Kansas City. We arrived Thursday night and were fairly exhausted. We finally got everything unpacked, kids calmed back down and into bed ourselves around two. Ben woke up at about 4:30 and after I got him back to sleep I went to check on Zach who was sleeping in his nap nanny at the foot of our bed. I couldn't see him because he was completely covered by a comforter that Matt and I had kicked off at some point in the night. I am having a really hard time getting the image of Zach as I pulled the blanket off of him in my head. Thank God (literally) that he was still breathing and didn't appear to be any worse for the wear. He was really hot and clammy so I immediately scooped him up and woke him up so that he could get some fresh air in his lungs. He fell back asleep and woke himself up to eat about an hour later. The next morning he was smiling and didn't seem any different so I think he didn't suffer any adverse affects, but holy cow did I become a more spiritual person! I now believe with all my heart in divine intervention because if Ben wouldn't have woken up who knows what would have happened. So, anyway, I had been having bad dreams about the whole thing and we got home on Sunday and Zach gave me his first real laughs. So, I think that is his way (and God's way) of letting me know that all is okay and to try to laugh it off! Matt and I have learned now to be more vigilant of our surroundings. It is so easy to say this is our third child, we know what we are doing, we don't have to worry about anything. But really, we need to always pay attention to what we are doing. Good lesson learned. When I have more time I will write some more about our vacation...which was a lot of work but even more fun.

MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM,
MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM,
MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM. Oh, I'm sorry have I been repeating myself? I just thought you might all like a little taste of the stage Ben is in right now:)

Madilyn is REALLY coming along in her speech. She knows so many words and is starting to string them together. However, she is really dramatic! The other day she was throwing a fit and I told her that her fits don't affect me anymore, so she might as well start to throw them when it really matters. I'll be darned if she didn't just stop fitting and say "OK" in her little pixie voice and wander off to play with something else. She's pretty stinking funny!

My Big Fat Baby

Just wanted to update a little about Zach. He is doing great! Well except for the fact that he wants to eat all the time and doesn't sleep that well:) Actually he has seemed to turn a bit of a corner and I am sure that I am jinxing myself by writing about it, but the last two nights he has had a stint of sleeping for six hours on his own. Most of it was in his crib (in his nap nanny, which is in his crib), but still, not too bad. Just when I thought my boobs were going to go on strike for unfair work for unfair pay, the little guy might just be coming around.

Another secret to his sleeping well: tequila. So, this may be a little known fact but when some of your great friends take you out for your birthday and force you to do a shot of tequila and you decide that you have eaten enough to dilute any effects the tequila may actually have on the baby so you go ahead and nurse him anyway he sleeps like a champ. Who knew? This conchita might have to start doing shots of tequila every night.

Zach did roll over again the other day, but I think it was more of the fact that he sort of lost his balance and tipped over then he was actually working to roll over. I put him back on his belly to try again and he came darn close, but not quite there. I can't wait until he is rolling over easily so that I can start putting him to bed on his belly...stupid SIDS and the Back to Sleep Campaign. I am tempted to put him that way anyway, cuz God knows an entire generation survived while sleeping on their stomachs, but then I wouldn't sleep. It's always something.

Quiet in the Naughty Chair

Okay, so we have a naughty chair in our house which usually gets used when Ben poops his pants (or his new favorite, when he pees his pants and says, don't worry mom, I'll just wipe it off). Anyway, Friday was one of those days where he was grating on my every last nerve and I had sent him and Maddie to play out on the porch so that I could feed Zach in some relative peace and quiet (mistake #1--let him out of my sight for an extended period of time when he hadn't yet pooped that day). So, shortly after, he comes in announcing that he has pooped in his underwear and should he go sit in the naughty chair? I rush him to the bathroom, he finishes his business (luckily he had really only skidded up a pair of beloved Thomas underwear). The whole time he is on the potty he is asking...should I go sit on the naughty chair? I responded several times, yes when you are done, you will have to go sit on the naughty chair (at this point you can probably visibly see my nerves fraying as Maddie is outside the door begging...no shrieking...to be let in and Zach is in his swing inconsolable because someone took his boob away). So we finish up and Ben (as chipper as ever) goes to sit in the naughty chair after selecting a book (he knows that it might be a long haul in the naughty chair, so we have amended the rules to allow him to have one book). Of course, he picks up the loudest, most annoying book in our collection which has a series of buttons you can push to make construction noises. So he is in the naughty chair asking over and over and over again "Mom should I push the blue button?" (As with any toddler, he couldn't spell, say or tell you what incessant means but he sure as heck could act out the definition). Finally, I said, "BEN...you need to be quiet in the naughty chair!!" To which he replied in a whisper "Mom should I push the blue button, mom should I push the blue button, mom should I push the blue button". At which point I realized how much I love the annoying little pants pooper!

Do You Ever Have One of Those Days...

Or weeks when you want to nap, but know that if you do, you will just lose whatever momentum you may have, so you stay awake (although you may soon become a danger to yourself or others)
How about when you get so excited that your kid finally managed to get up from his nap to poop by himself on the potty that you hi-five him and then realize afterwards where that hand had just been prior to high fiving you (oops)

Or when you realize that you are so excited that all three of your kids are sleeping at the same time so that you can finally catch up on laundry and get to the kitchen floor that hasn't been cleaned for about a month (oh boy)

Or when you can't wait for your husband to call so you can tell him all about what time the kids got up, what they had for breakfast and what funny things have come out of their mouths this morning (like Ben asking for a blue Thomas bass--yep, like the guitar with four strings, don't ask)

Basically, my point being, man, life sure does change when you have kids. You go from fighting your parents about taking naps, to not being able to make it through a day of college without a nap to praying that your kids will all nap at the same time. From being excited about things like where you will go on a first date, to wedding plans, to baby names to housework?? To wanting to tell the guy you are in love with about your favorite things in life, what you hope to accomplish in life to breakfast plans.

But, it doesn't matter, because as long as you all have each other, life is great! I have to go, because Ben just made a giant turd ball for me to look at...see, this is exciting stuff!

Super Baby!

Just wanted to write a quick update from Zach's 2 month appointment. He is officially a gino-baby. I just created that word, and in case you haven't guessed in means a ginormous child who is off the charts in pretty much every category. I am pretty sure he contacted Guiness Book of World Records to find out what it would take to become the Cedar Valley's largest 2-month old. And they said, "Easy, just make sure you tell your mom you want to breastfeed about every hour and a half for the rest of your life". And he said "No problem, that is my favorite thing to do anyway". Enter mom's incredibly tired breasts. Anyway, the kid weighs almost 16 pounds and is crying to be fed again...imagine that. Until next time...

You Happy Mom?

Okay, seriously, I don't know where Ben picked this phrase up and the first couple of times he used it, it was pretty cute. However, I am about to look into hypnotherapy to see if I can permanently erase it from his head. This all started when I once told Ben that he was making my very mad (this may come as a shocker, but the kid had just pooped his pants). About five minutes later (five long minutes of Ben sitting in the "naughty chair" asking if he could get down now) he said "You Happy Mom". And my mommy brain said "oh, how cute, he is asking about my feelings and recognizing that he did something to feel guilty about. Perhaps this sharing of our feelings is worth it". Yep, that was about two weeks ago. This phrase has snow-balled into Ben's automatic response when you ask (okay, tell) him to do about anything. "Ben, go get your shoes" "You Happy Mom?" "Ben can you get me the wipes" "You Happy Mom?" "Ben, stop hitting your sister over the head with her Cabbage Patch Doll" "You Happy Mom?". I take it you get the gist. Oh, but there is also the alternative saying, "You Happy Dad". I'm sure you can make the jump as to when that gets used. I might have to take to saying everything is a sing-songy, super chipper voice to see if I can eradicate this pest. However, saying "I can't believe you pooped your pants again" in a sing-songy, super chipper voice just doesn't seem to produce the type of results I am looking for. I have already tried the following responses: 1. Does this look like the face of a happy person? 2. I would be happy if you stop asking me if I was happy 3. Of course I'm happy Ben, are you happy? 4. Ecstatic. However, nothing seems to work. If anyone has any ideas, I'm open to suggestion.

Oh and while we are on the subject of toddlers and their annoying catch phrases, Ben also likes to say "I can't mom" accentuated with a shoulder shrug and a head nod that I have contributed to his cousin Evan. This used to be cute, and still is actually. However, yesterday on the stairs I told Madilyn she had to hurry up because Zach was crying and Mom had to go feed him to which she threw her arms up and replied "CAN'T!". God help us if she starts asking me if I'm happy.

Hide and Seek...Except You Hide There

So, my first week of stay-at-homedom is behind me, but if you haven't noticed, things are crazy! But, I have a few quick stories that I wanted to make sure were forever remembered...so here we go.

Ben and Maddie's new favorite game is hide and seek. However, if you have ever been to our house, you know that our main floor does not provide a lot of places to hide, which you think would be perfect for a 3 year old and an 18 month old. But, as he does with most things, Ben thinks he need to run the hide and seek show. So, he gets very mad if you don't hide exactly where he tells you to hide. So, hide and seek at our house goes something like this: First step, Ben tells you to hide behind the counter. Second step, Ben and Maddie hide behind the couch and counts to four with his eyes wide open to make sure that you don't go and try to hide anywhere else. Third step, Ben makes sure he leaves his spot behind the couch to run faster then Maddie to the spot where he knows I am hiding. Fourth step, he finds me behind the counter and laughs like crazy. Fifth step, Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Sixth step, put kids to bed, seriously consider having a big, cold Coors Light:)

Zach rolled over on Saturday! In other words, he is a super baby. He has only done it once, but I'm sure it will happen again. Also, we had his hearing test at the audiologist office this morning and everything checked out great! If you haven't ever had to get this kind of hearing test (I think it is called an ABR test) it involves a sleeping baby that you have to try to put electrodes on his forehead and behind both ears and then probes into each of his ears all the while trying to make sure he stays asleep and keeps everything attached. The test itself isn't anything, but it took Matt, myself and the audiologist to keep everything attached and going. She said that he may have a slight delay in his left ear which most likely is caused by a head cold or some debris in the ear, but would account for the failed hearing tests he had earlier. No need to follow up, we just are supposed to keep an eye on him to make sure he is developing normally. As if...he is already proven that he is going to be a super baby...so I don't think we will have anything to worry about.

Anyway, I probably have a very short window of opportunity to eat my lunch and take a shower, so I best be signing off. I will make sure I update next week after Zach's 2-month check up and Madilyn's check up at the doctor to see if she needs tubes in her ears. Nothing but excitment around here. I guess you know you are a mom when how many times a child poops, what they ate for lunch and what the doctor said is front page news!

This Stay at Home Mom Stuff Ain't Too Bad

As long as it is 70 degrees outside and my kids can just play outside while Zach peacefully sleeps in the stroller. Something tells me that not all the days will be like this, but hey, so far so good. I'll take it. We had one slight incident this morning which makes me wish I had about six additional arms. The two I do have were busy nursing Zach but I could have used another pair to keep Maddie from taunting Ben (yep, she is quite the aggresor) and then the other pair to stop Ben from bashing Maddie in the forehead with the ball she was trying to grab from him. The result was three crying kids: Ben because he was placed in the naughty chair turned away from the TV that was showing his beloved Imagination Movers, Madilyn because she seems to think she is above punishment and was unpleasantly surprised when she received a timeout in Zach's pack and play and Zach because I took away his breakfast and he didn't do anything to deserve that:) Oh well, we all ended up okay. Two kids are now sleeping up in their rooms, one is sleeping in his swing and I am eating lunch and writing about my morning...not too shabby!

The Update is There is No Update

Hey everyone. A couple of people have asked about how Zach's ENT appointment went. Well, it wasn't much of an appointment. First they ran a test on his ear drum to see how the movement was in each ear drum, which was perfectly normal. Then the ENT came and looked at the structure of his ear, which was also normal. But none of this really indicates whether or not there is a hearing loss. So, we go back at the end of the month to have the audiologist do a hearing test which has to do with electrodes and his brain stem, but no pain or needles. He just needs to be sleeping for the test. That will retest his hearing. If he still fails this test, the next step will probably be a CAT scan to try to locate a source for the hearing loss, but it is possible that he will have a hearing loss but no cause that we can locate. The doctor said that he can fit babies for hearing aids as young as one year to help with any developmental issues that may develop, but he also said that before they did neonatal testing a lot of kids with hearing loss in one ear went undetected until grade school and had no developmental delays. It would just be good to know what we are dealing with.

I will update everyone after the next procedure.

Playing the Potty Card

Well, this is going to have to be short and sweet, because I am holding Zach and it is hard to type one-handed. However, I just wanted everyone to know that after three months of potty training, Ben has finally learned to play the potty card. It was only a matter of time. He has to "make bubbles" about six times a night between bedtime and actually falling asleep. And he knows we are suckers for it because we don't want to have to change wet sheets, just in case. He'll sit on the potty for about five minutes until "just a bit" trinkles out (his words, not ours). It's an excuse not to go to sleep and to play with himself--smart kid. We finally had to start threatening removal of binkies from bed until he is ready to "sleep" which seems to have done the trick for now.

I Love You This Much Bullet Train

Okay, so for those of you who don't know, Ben has a bit of a fetish with Geo Trax (and for those of you who do know, also my breast pump, but that is a story for another day). So anyway, he loves his Geo Trax trains, especially his "Bullet Train". He has to take it to the babysitter every day and then take it to bed with him every night. He loves it so much, that he now also incorporates it into every day speech. So, every night I tell him I love him "this much" (accented by me stretching out my arms) and he used to tell me "I love you this much too, mom". However, in what I can only imagine he deems as the ultimate terms of affection, he has changed it to, "I love you this much, Bullet Train". Isn't that sweet? He also loves trains of any sort. Yesterday we had to go to Von Maur and they have a train table there that is a God send, but also a thorn in our side when it is time to leave. We seriously had to leave, because they were closing the store and of course, he did not want to come with us. So, we just pulled the "Okay, Mom and Dad are leaving with Maddie and Zach. See you later Ben" and started to walk away. This usually works really well with him, because he will quickly say, "okay, I want to go too". However, this time he started to cry and said "you were going to leave me here", making me feel of course terrible for implementing such parenting tactics. However, by the time we got to the car he seemed to be over it, so I guess, all's well that ends well.

Matt and I have been marveling at how maternal Maddie is, not only with Zach, but also with her dolls. She now informs us every time Zach even whimpers saying "crying, crying" and pointing to the baby (as if we were immune to hearing him cry and it is her personal mission to make sure we know what is going on). She also enjoys carrying her babies around, getting me diapers to change them with and feeding them bottles. It's pretty cute.

Zach continues to be a pretty content baby. Friday night he slept in two four hour stints, which was awesome. He is up to almost 11 pounds, so he is doing great. We have an appointment at an ENT April 8th, so hopefully he can provide us some insight into what may be a potential hearing loss. I'm hoping their tests have just been wrong, but we will deal with whatever comes our way. It's kind of funny, because Matt and I were talking about how I'm sure they didn't test our hearing in the nursery before they sent us home, so who knows if one of us maybe had some hearing problems at birth. It almost makes you wonder if they test for almost too much these days. On one hand you want to know what is going on, but on the other hand, you really don't.

Matt and I's 4th wedding anniversary is this week so we are going to try to (gasp) get out of the house on our own. There is a great girl at church that watches Maddie in the nursery every week who (bless her soul) has volunteered her services, so we are going to test her out. I'm not sure what we will do with an hour to ourselves, so wish us luck. It's crazy that our life together has produced 3 great kids in 4 short years. It's been a whirlwind, but a good kind of whirlwind.

Anyway, I have laundry to fold and thank yous to write, so I better get to it.

Girls Are Truly Superior

At least when it comes to potty training. We are still really struggling with getting Ben to poop on the toilet. He has changed from never telling us when he has to go to either telling us right after he has went (in his pants) or being trigger happy and telling us he has to go about every five minutes. Maddie, however, has been doing a great job of going on the potty. So, hey, I guess it is an ongoing battle, but hopefully one day we will win it.

Zach is going to have his hearing inspected a little further. He failed his hearing test again, so he will have to be referred to an ENT for further testing. Of course, it makes us worry, but what can you do? We will just have to deal with what comes. He's still one of the three cutest babies I know.

Anyway, I just wanted to make a quick post. I'll try to update later this week:)

Clean Bill of Health

Well, Zach and I have both officially had our post-birth two-week check ups and have both received clean bills of health. I told my doctor she does good work...two weeks after my c-section and I am feeling relatively normal. I might have some residual carpal tunnel that may eventually result in some further action, but we are going to wait a couple more weeks to see what happens.

Zach went to the doc today and he is officially one ounce over his birth weight...in other words, he is already a member of the elite "Good Eaters" Club. Okay, so it's not that elite of a club, but to be a member at such a young age is quite the accomplishment. Everything else looked good, with the exception of a failed hearing test. At the hospital they couldn't get him to pass his left side neo-natal hearing test, nor could they get him to pass it a week later. The doc looked at his ear and thought everything looked normal, but did refer us to an Early Development Intervention clinic where they will hopefully give him a clean bill of hearing. He seems to follow our voice and startles, so we are not too worried.

Ben may have officially entered the terrible threes. He was great at two, but man, has he ever perfected the whine. He is going to really test my patience and he is still at the babysitter five days a week! Yikes! His favorite thing to say is "I don't want to "insert what we want him to do, i.e. eat supper, go to bed, come inside" ANYMORE". Somehow, anymore becomes about six syllables accentuated with vigourious shaking of the head. It is funny, but also really annoying. However, then he can turn back to his normal fun-loving self thirty seconds later. Might be some growing pains with having to share even more attention than what he is used to.

Madilyn adds to her vocabulary every day. I'm really impressed with all of the words that she knows, and is even starting to put them together into phrases. She is such a different kid then Ben was at this age. She absolutely adores the kitchen we got her for Christmas and wants to go play in her room right away when she gets home. She puts her stuffed pig in one chair and then she sits down at the other chair for some quality play time. It's pretty stinking cute. I'll try to get a picture to post.

Anywho, it is a beautiful day outside so I think I'm going to take Zach for a little walk. I'll update soon!

I'm Back!

I can finally (sort of) type without pain, so I thought I should do a quick update. My swelling must finally be going down some, which is good, and I wish I could say the same for my pregnant looking stomach, but so far, no such luck:)

But enough about me. Baby Zach has proved (so far) to be a great baby. He is calm and content (especially since he sleeps about 20 hours a day). The only time he fusses is when he wants food, which I can handle. He is so cuddly and since the other kids have pretty much outgrown that stage, it is so nice to have our own little built-in heater that enjoys nothing more then sleeping on mom or dad's chest. I could keep having babies just for that reason:)

Madilyn has been a card lately. You can tell she feels like such a big girl lately since there is finally someone in the house who is smaller then she is. She is a great helper and throws away diapers, grabs wipes and of course, tries to force feed the baby string cheese and gold fish. Yep, we are going to have to keep an eye on her.

Ben is Ben. He is starting to talk more and more and he is just plain funny. He has two new phrases which crack me up including "I'm going to Batman you" which means he is going to run into you and try to tackle you and "I'll let you know". I have no idea where he picked this up but he likes to throw it out there when I tell him that he can't do something. For instance, I told him last night that he couldn't go up and play in his room and he said, "Okay, I'll let you know". You can tell he feels like a big grown up when he uses such phrases and it is pretty stinking funny.

Being a mom of three has been great so far. Especially since I'm at home during the day with just the really easy one to take care of:) Once all three of them are home at once, I am pretty sure I will be singing a different tune...or checking into the nut house...but I'm sure it will be full of great stories to share!

Attack of the Zach

Well, I wanted to write a real quick entry to announce to the world that Zachary Matthew Brogan has arrived. Unfortunately, some pregnancy induced carpal tunnel has not allowed me to type, nor will it allow me to type very long. However, the wonderful combination of Percocet and Motrin will let me type a real quick entry. Zach is here, he is beautiful, and so far, really calm. He weighed 9 pounds and almost 6 ounces and was 22 inches long with quite a bit of dark black hair. More on Zach and the family soon!

T-Minus 13 Hours

Until the arrival of Baby Brogan #3. I will try to update this as soon as I can to get the information out to everyone...who reads this at least. I'm a little nervous, but mostly ready to have the whole thing (pregnancy, c-section, etc.) over with. I think anyone who says they enjoy their last month of pregnancy is either crazy or lying. But that is just my opinion.

Ben and Maddie got new beach balls to play with today. Of course, these are for play in the house as it is March in Iowa and there isn't nary a beach in sight...nor will the weather be cooperative for several more weeks. However, Maddie's beach ball is just about as big as she is and Ben has taken it upon himself to introduce her to the harsh reality that she is a lot smaller than he is. Several times to night he ran into her with his beach ball, pretty much just to knock her down. Finally, Matt took away the beach ball and said he couldn't have it back unless he promised to not hit Maddie with it anymore. So, he asked "Ben, are you going to hit Maddie with this ball anymore?", to which Ben promptly answered "Yes" (three times, they had this conversation). So, at least Ben is honest...by the way, he didn't get the beach ball back.

One other small tidbit about Ben's brutal honesty involves a picture of me immediately following his birth. We were having such a feel good moment, looking back at pictures of when he was born, in which he likes to say "I'm a little tiny baby" (which to the untrained ear comes out as "I have diabetes"). But as he looked at a picture of me holding him right after my c-section he promptly pointed at me and said...Grandma Laura. Yep, you better believe no one is snapping any shots of me after this c-section until I at least get to brush my hair:)

Her Welcome

For whatever reason, Matt and I have really pressed the issue with our kids for saying please and thank you for things. I don't know if Ben so much grasps the concept as he can learn from repetitive beratings to say "thank you" when someone gives you something and "please" when you want something. Recently though, I think he is starting to get it. This is becoming apparent with the addition of "her welcome" to his vocabulary. It is my new favorite thing that he says. After you tell him thank you for something, he will proudly recite "her welcome". If you don't comment on how nice of him it was to say "your welcome" then you get reminded, "mom, I said her welcome". Why "her welcome" instead of "your welcome"? Well, I blame that on my own poor pronunciation. I think I have a tendency to say "yer welcome" which his little brain translates into "her". So, parents beware, pronunciate in front of your kids! Who knows what he will turn my poorly prounounced phrases into next, but I have a feeling it may not be nearly as cute/appropriate as "her welcome".

Sunday Evening Tradition

Continuing what is a most Sunday's tradition, we had dinner with Jeremy, Christy, Abby and Evan. Special guests Grandma Laura and Grandpa Dennis where also present today. It is hard to keep my concentration while writing this, as Ben is standing right next to me shrieking like a banshee. No, he doesn't want anything (except my undivided attention perhaps) which is why I think soon I will realize that the only time for me to be sitting in front of a computer will be when my kids are either enthralled with an episode of the Wiggles (they just can't seem to get into the Dateline NBC that is on TV right now) or when they are in bed. But I digress.

I'm still T-minus a week away from my C-section. No signs of anything happening any earlier, but you never know. Ah, I hear the sounds of all of the magnets being taken off of the fridge, compliments of Maddie, so I should probably wrap this up.

Ben and Maddie are still blissfully (for the most part) unaware of the shake-up that will be happening in the next week in our household. I was a little encouraged today when Maddie was very affectionate with our friend's baby who was over today and I thought, oh, she likes little kids, this won't be so bad and then that very same baby decided to sit in Matt's lap and that was the end of her congeniality. She became very territorial, very quickly. So, needless to say, I think the addition of our third little one will be in the very least, interesting. Start wishing us luck now!

Starting Out

I'll be the first person to admit that I have no idea how to set up a blog. But, I was talking to Matt about updating our website so that we could easily post pictures and updates of what is going on with our family (more for posterity then for the rapt interest of the outside world) and I came up with the idea of a blog. So, I don't know who I will send this to or who will read it, but it is going to be my place to record the goings-on in my life and the life of my two (soon to be three) little ones. Today is February 20th, and I am about 10 days away from the a scheduled c-section for our third (boy) baby. We had an appointment with our OB/GYN yesterday, and it looks like we will have another big, healthy boy in our hands. He is already measuring about 9 pounds and he has 10 more days to grow...unless a greater power intercedes and makes something happen.

I am writing at 1:21 pm which is a sacred time when I am not at work, because it means that both my kids are napping. I laid them down at noon and just had to go upstairs to lay down the law with Ben, as he was still playing and not so much sleeping. I'm lucky if Maddie sleeps for two hours, so my time alone is quickly wearing down.

I'm going to post this and see what that looks like, so I will write more later.