"Daddy build swingset! Ben swing!"

That's all we heard this weekend from Ben! Nick put up our new swingset this weekend (with a little help from me when 2 people were needed and when the boys were napping...) The boys are thrilled, and so are we - a new way to entertain them!

Here's work in progress (Ben couldn't wait to use the slide, can you tell?)


Ben sitting on the slide enjoying the sunshine-


Ben on his new glider, a little too short to make it go by himself yet, but I bet by the end of the summer he'll be gliding along self-propelled!




Strong man Benny hanging from the trapeze. What the picture can't tell you is how long he can hang there while swinging...his upper body strength is almost super human (for a 2 year old I mean!)


Here's sweet Xavier still trying to enjoy our beautiful weekend weather despite a fever of 103 and a cold. In the picture he's underneath the fort of the swingset in the shade (it got up to near 80!).


The almost finished swingset as of last night...the ladder, fort railings and tarp need to go up still, with hopefully some nice weather on our side that should be done in no time!

Ben's making potty progress!

Sparing you all the details, suffice it to say that Benny has made us very proud in the last week!! We're well on our way to a having a day-trained little man! Here's a picture we'll be sure to threaten to show to his future girlfriends :)

Benny's visit to Children's Hospital

On April 10th, Ben had tubes put in his ears. He did remarkably well, the worst part of the whole ordeal was the waiting and the fact that he had to go without food ALL day (until 4:30!) The procedure only took about 15 minutes and he was in recovery for less than 30 minutes. Despite being very cranky after waking up out of the anesthesia, he still wanted to put his own clothes on ("Ben do!"). He flopped face down onto the bed after putting his shirt on and starting sobbing pathetically - I said, "Ben, what's the matter, what do you want? Do you want Mommy to hold you? Do you want Daddy? What do you need?" He said, "EAT SNACK!!!" After gobbling down about 4 graham crackers in record time he was a new man and after we got home, it was as if we had just had a shopping outing and not surgery. Completely back to his normal self within 1 hr after surgery. He's truly a fighter, that little ornery boy of ours. And thank God, because I know that is more than just a little bit of the reason why he was able to survive being born at 25 weeks...the nurses and doctors at Children's Hosp. couldn't believe how incredibly well he is doing. We are very lucky! The tubes seem to have helped already, he is saying all the syllables in words now, when he used to drop off the endings!

Happy Easter!

Xavier ripping into his Easter basket from Grandpa D.



...from our little lamb and Easter bunny! As you can see, Benny was not amused with my attempt to have him play dress up for the camera. Xavier was a ham as usual and played along. We had a fun day - went to church where Xavier sang his little heart out and Benny played with Silly Putty, and then to Gma and Gpa Pandrea's for Easter dinner and a birthday celebration for Xavier. Benny thought the egg hunt was such a fun game - the eggs were filled with stickers, puppy and kitty tatoos, and a single jelly bean here and there (giving Benny sugar is like throwing fuel on an already raging fire.) The funny part was, he was most thrilled with the 2nd round of the egg hunt (we had to keep him busy while dinner was being prepared) when I had to refill the eggs with things spur of the moment...finding the cheese cube from the appetizer tray in one of the eggs was absolutely thrilling to him - "CHEESE!!!" he shouted with such excitement, like he had just won the lottery. The only disappointing part about the day was the weather - cold and snowy - more than we had on Christmas!

Happy 4th Birthday Xavier!

Xavier turned 4 on April 2nd! We can hardly believe that our little guy is 4 - he's filled our lives with so much happiness and love over these last 4 years. He's an inspiration to us all! Here's a few pictures from his special day, which he thoroughly enjoyed because we got to be outside (it was 65 and sunny!)- one of his favorite activities. We had a little cookout with just the 4 of us - cheeseburgers with lots of ketchup, again, another favorite of Xavier's!

Boys will be boys...

Nick couldn't resist joining in the fun Benny was having riding his tricycle this weekend. Here they are racing around our patio - both having the time of their lives!

Wagon rides!

The weather is finally nice enough for playing outside! The boys' favorite new activity is taking walks in their new wagon from Grandpa Doney (or Papa Paul, as Benny likes to call him). Here they are Friday evening as we went around the block. Xavier really likes hitting the bumps and sits up very tall in it! Benny says "GO, GO!" - he loves going fast! Although he also enjoys leaning back and relaxing onto Xavier like he's in a recliner - Xavier thinks that's enjoyable too and plays with Benny's head and shoulders. Ahhh, brotherly love!