Life Keeps Ticking Away

This past week was full of our normal routine.  Saturday came along and offered a really nice break from the ordinary.  We all awoke with plans to head to a local Chick-Fil-A, Brent's most favorite place to be.  They were having a "Breakfast with Characters."  It was CRAZY busy.  They had their employees dressed as different cartoon and movie characters.  Brody didn't let Ben put him down but Brent kept on insisting on going to see someone.   The same thing happened each time.  "Spongebob" was followed by his clinging to my leg.  "Spiderman" was followed by him climbing me with his head buried.  The only person he was even a little willing to visit was "Minnie Mouse." 

We then headed home and decided it was too nice to not do something outside.  We went for a bike ride.  The boys really liked it and each took a nap at one point.  Ben did really good pulling them.  We ended up on a 3 hour bike ride.  We rode from our house to the "River Walk" and a little over half way to downtown Columbus.  It was so nice to be outside!! 

Last week Monday, January 24th, we lost our unborn baby.  Even though I was only 8 weeks along, Ben and I both felt a great loss.  This baby was wanted and loved even before it was conceived.  I thought it might be a little theraputic for me to write down all the details and my feelings on the event.  Seems I've turned to eating the past week to cope.  Ten pounds later, perhaps this was what I needed to do to end that!  I've put my story here.

We did receive many phone calls and cards offering love and support.  Thank you so much.  We also received beautiful flowers from the Hess family (Zac, Emmy, Piper and Calder) and an Edible Arrangement from the Johnson's (Nick, Jen and Logan).  (The picture of the fruit was taken after we already ate one round from it.)  Someone said to me that they just don't know what to say or do in this situation, knowing that they can't make it better.  I just wanted to put it out there that it was nice to have something said, something sent, a story shared or something.  Losing a baby so early makes it feel as if it almost didn't exist.  By people recognizing it and willing to discuss it made it REAL.  And I appreciated that so much.

THANK YOU!! 

Week in Review

Aunt Carol bought the boys these chairs last year.  They love to sit in them and "read" their books.  They know which chair is theirs and Brent has even pointed to his name, as if reading it, and announced that it says "BRENT JONES."  This is how I found them one evening after getting ready for bed.

There are certain things that I just don't let the boys eat on their own.  Oatmeal and Chocolate Pudding top the list.  Seems that more ends up on the carpet than in their mouths.  I decided that I need to let them do it.  How else will they learn right?  Turns out Brent is really good at it and hardly makes any mess at all.  Brody on the other hand... well, he really enjoyed his pudding.

We went to a Birthday Party this past Saturday at a local place called "Jumpin Jax."  The boys had a great time and didn't want to leave.  Brody tried to do everything that Brent was able to do.  They went to bed early after all their running around... wonderful!

We started watching a friends son, David, this week because his normal sitter is out of town for a couple of weeks.  David is 10 days older than Brody and is an only child for now.  He was such a good boy for us.  He loved following Brent around and copying whatever he did and Brent loved him doing it.  David's daddy has gone for training for the past 3 weeks and is soon scheduled to leave for Iraq.  His mom thought he must be missing his daddy when I told her how he kept climbing into Ben's lap all morning.  This was the first time they met!  I sure hope the next few days that we watch him go as easy as today did.

This past week was a whole new routine for us.  Ben has started school once again.  He has a very high expectation to complete his degree this year.  He's taking a full load and even had to get "special permission" from the school to take as many classes as he his.  Because he has straight A's so far from St. Leo, they granted him his request.  So, he is always busy reading, watching or writing these days.  It'll take some getting used to but will be worth it in the end.

Last week Sunday all schools and most businesses announced that they would be closed on Monday.  Atlanta got hit hard but I was expecting to wake up to more than this in the morning.

Because the temperatures were only in the 30's, they even cancelled school for Tuesday for fear of icing.  Monday our internet was out so we decided to go to McDonalds so Ben could "login" to school and the boys could play.  It was great.  Because everyone was too scared to drive, we had what seemed like the whole town to ourselves.  The only other people we ran into were Military people who were from Ohio and Michigan.  We all had our laughs.

It has been colder here than usual and really wet so we've spent a lot of time inside this past week.  The boys found new creative ways to spend their time.  A lot of card games were played.  New puzzles were put together and a lot of coloring was done.  This is what I found Brent up to one afternoon.

The boys received new "Choo Choo Train" pajamas from Grandma G for Christmas.  They love them.  They are very soft and warm.  I think between Ben & I we took 20 pictures of them and these are the only ones that they are both looking in the same direction.

New Years Resolution

I regularly keep up with Emmy's Blog, Jessica's Blog and now Jeremy's Blog. I even recreated My Parents website in their very own Blog. I have often thought about blogging again since my one week challenge from Emmy and now I have made it my New Year's Resolution. It's a great way to keep family and friends a part of our lives even though we aren't close in distance. So... here it goes. Hopefully I can keep it going!! Here is what we've been up to the past week...



We bought the boys a John Deere Gator Power Wheels for Christmas. We gave it to them the day before we left on the cruise and they were so excited to see it again after we returned from Wisconsin for Christmas. Brent can drive it completely on his own but Brody needs Brent to hold down the "gas" pedal in order for him to drive. They love it!










The Witkiewicz Family gave Brent some "Toy Story" Bubble Bath as part of his gift exchange present. Now every night after dinner we hear "Bubble Bath!!" being chanted by the boys as we head upstairs. They also received "Thomas the Train" bath toys from Grandma G and "Toy Story" Bathtime Bubbles from Magda. Bath time has been revived as a favorite thing around here now. Brent loves to swim in the water and Brody likes to "Goonie GooGoo" by dipping his face into the water.




























Brody will be 18 months in a few weeks and it was time for him to get his first haircut. Brent has been needing one as well so we headed out to a new place in town. It used to be "Crewcuts and Pigtails," a really neat place for kids to get their hair cut but they have since changed it to "Haircutz" where everyone gets a haircut for $10. They did however keep 2 of the kids chairs and a few of the toys around. Brent sat like a champ and Brody did so much better than Brent did for his first haircut. Brody was so interested in the Firetruck he was sitting in, he didn't really pay much attention to the stylist except for when she shaved his neckline at the very end. This left him in tears for a few seconds but when it was all done, he was happy once again. Both the boys look so handsome.