Bieber Fever

For anyone who doesn't know, my kids are totally, completely, 100% OBSESSED with Biebs. They spend every waking (and some non-waking) hour of the day listening to Justin Bieber music. They love it all, they love the pop versions of the songs, they love the acoustic versions of the song, they love ANYthing Bieber. Recently, Jimmy Kimmel had Justin Bieber on his show and they surprised a three-year-old little girl named Cody with a visit from Justin Bieber. She, like my children, is completely obsessed with JB. She is obsessed to the point that she cries about him for no reason. If you click here you can see the video of that surprise visit. Well, as it turns out, Leyland (now 4 years old) likes to lie in my bed in the early morning before school and watch YouTube videos on my iPhone. She is a very smart little girl, and she knows how to find all of the JB videos. Anyway, early one morning Leyland found this Jimmy Kimmel video and EVERYday since then she has asked me "Mommy, when do I get to hug Justin Bieber?"... it's pretty much the saddest/cutest thing ever. Now, for the really funny part... Corey (now 2 years old), has also become OBSESSED with the Biebs. I would dare to say that Corey has Bieber Fever worse than Leyland. Corey would (and tries his hardest to) watch/listen to Justin Bieber ALLLLLL DAAAAAYYYY, and now at night too. For his entire life, Corey has listened to a lullaby CD that he got from the hospital at his birth. Since his introduction to Justin Bieber, he now REFUSES to sleep unless he has an endless loop of Justin Bieber music. Click here for a video of me trying to switch him to the radio instead of his JB. So, to bring this post to a close, if anyone knows Justin Bieber, please tell him that my children want HUGS!! :)

Kids say the darndest things

My daughter, Leyland will be three years old next month. She is so funny. She experiences the world in the most precious ways and comes up with her own spin of things. She is always making me laugh, so I thought I would share some of the funny things she has said.

- While pretending to drive with Gigi: Gigi: Where are we going, Leyland?

Leyland: Walmart

Gigi: What are we going to buy?

Leyland: Orange Juice and Beer

-When her stomach growled: Mommy, my stomach said "I want popcorn"

-When she saw me on the computer: Mommy, I need to get on myspace.

-Trying to touch her brother's privates: Me: Leyland, you can't touch Corey's privates. You have you own privates. :: She looks down at hers and replies::: "Awwww" ( as in aww man )

Here are just a few words that she says funny:

Backyardigans (a kids tv show) = Back yards again

Spaghetti= Tusketti

instead of "with" she says "to" as in "Will you play to me?" "Will you lay down to me?"

Lemonade= Mellade

sandwich = sammich

I hope no one has a coronary

I'm acutally updating my blog. It's only been, what? 6 months? Oh well. I just wanted to post something and see if I remembered how to use this site. :) I don't really have anything blog-worthy right now, except, I guess, that I started back to school last week online with The University of Phoenix. I guess in a couple of years you might see me on the commercials declaring that "I am a phoenix". Anyway, maybe I'll get back to blogging since I have to be on the computer for a goodly portion of the day anyway.

Fort Yargo.

Sunday (2/8/09) was such a gloriously beautiful day!!! Dustin and I could not bear to sit at home on such a wonderful day. We decided tbat we would get ourselves a picnic and go to the park! We packed up all of the various and sundry items that are required to take two kids and prepar for a picnic. We went to the playground where Leyland had a ball climbing up and down the apparatus and sliding down. Each time she went down she would yell "WEEEEE". It was so cute. I can't believe how big she is getting. We decided to walk down to the "beach" area beside the lake and let Leyland play in the sand. This is where the tables and grills are also. We discovered upon arrival that our hamburger meat was still frozen.... FAIL (for you Kate). So we aborted the picnic plan and went down to play in the sand. For those of you who don't already know, Leyland is a bit of a klutz... she gets that from me. She fell in the sand because she was pretending it was snowing (throwing sand in the air). She saw some other kids walking in the "surf" and decided she had to do that too. I was going to do it with her, but I swear to you the water was like 2 degrees. I couldn't do it. I tried to discourage her, but she absolutely had to walk in the water. ( she had on her new shoes and I didn't want her to run out there anyway and get them wet). I rolled up her pants and removed her socks and shoes. I let her walk out just a bit, the she got brave and wanted to let go of my hand. When she did she immediately walked out so deep that the bottom of her pants got wet. then.... I saw this all in slow motion.... she teetered, she tottered, she lost her balance, and FELL IN!!! She whimpered a little and said "Mommy I wet and cold!!". I could not help but laugh. It was so funny. I will include a video of immediately after. That is all I have for now. I intend to blog more often, but it seems that everytime I have something to write about my mom has already written about it, and usually better than I could've. Anyway, I'll work on getting a more interesting life ... haha just kidding. Well, I hope everyone enjoys the videos from the park !

Catch up

It has been a while since I have posted on my blog with the holidays and such. We had a wonderful holiday even though is was pretty hectic. The kids got more toys than you could possibly imagine along with many outfits and trinkets. Mary and Leyland both got digital cameras (why they need them I don't know) lol. Leyland has increased her vocabulary exponentially in the past couple of weeks. She is like my own personal little parrot always at my feet. I guess it's time to work on improving my vocab before she picks up some words she shouldn't. Incidentally, this has been rather hard for Dustin to do. For those of you who don't know he has a tendency to have a foul mouth especially when playing video games. He has been working carefully to try and replace his choice words with less offensive ones. Instead of the usual "Phooey" or "Crap", Dustin chooses to make up his own words. His latest invented phrase is "Doo Doo Butter". I'm not really sure why he chose this phrase, but that is what he said. Of course the little parrot picked up on it and is now constantly filling the house with the sound of "DOO DOO BUTTER". It's quite lovely I assure you. She has also taken to calling Dustin and I by our first names. She still uses Mommy and Daddy most of the time but she will occasionally pipe up with "Hey Whint Ney" or "DUSSIN.... EAT". It's quite hilarious, but I should probably nip it in the bud before she becomes one of those kids who consistently calls her parents by their names. Corey can now relocate himself whenever he pleases. He can scooch across the floor (not crawling but moving). He can roll all across the floor, which seems to be the most effective method of transportation at this point. Sometimes, he falls asleep in his bouncy seat before his middle of the night feeding, so I just let him sleep there until he wakes up to eat. The other night I had swaddled him and put him in the bouncy seat. As a result of swaddling him I could not fasten the belt. I woke up to the sounds of his little voice cooing and found him lying on the floor. Apparently the little weasel squirmed out of his seat. Needless to say, that put an end to the sleeping in the bouncy seat. Anyway, now that I have written a book I suppose I'll stop for now and write another chapter later. Lata!

Sick and Tired

Sorry for neglecting my blog for the past several weeks. I know that for most of you who read my blog, it is the only source of joy and light in your entire world. I am extremely sorry for depriving you of my hilarious anecdotes and photos. Okay I'm totally kidding, but I have been neglecting my blog so I'm going to make up for it. My mom is not one to neglect her blog so I'm sure that some of you have kept up with the goings on in my life via her blog. The past couple have days have been pretty stressful. Dustin and I have been dealing with a sinus funk for a couple of weeks now and Leyland and Corey have now come down with it too. The kids went to the doctor yesterday (corey for shots, and I wanted him to check Leyland out because she has a pretty nasty cough). Corey was "the picture of health" yesterday, but Leyland got a diagnosis of Acute Sinusitis and probable RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Leyland was hospitalized for this in 2007). Leyland is old enough now that it will manifest as a bad cold, however Dr. Edwards warned that we need to be extra cautious that Corey doesn't get it. Last night at approximately a zillion o'clock I had to get up to pee, I had been holding Corey because he was really "figety" and just restless. I hadn't realized until I returned that he was burning up. He had a fever of 102 degrees. I gave him some Tylenol and chalked it up to the shots. Leyland also woke up shortly thereafter with a horrible coughing fit. All of us piled into the bed and hung out until everyone was feeling better. When we woke up (at an unheard of late hour of 8 am), I decided that I would call the Doctor's office just to be sure that they were aware of Corey's fever. The nurse said that 102 is a little bit higher than what they would normally attribute to shots, but as long as the fever didn't recur we shouldn't worry. She said that if he spiked another fever that we should probably bring him in. Well, low and behold about 2:30 Corey's fever returns. I took him back to the doctor's office for re-examination. He now has sad weak eyes and a runny nose and a somewhat suspicious cough. Dr. Edwards said that RSV starts in the head (like a sinus infection) and can move quickly into the chest. He wants to see Corey again on Friday. He indicated that if Corey's symptoms worsened we may be looking at a hospital stay :( I really really hope that Corey will not follow in Leyland's footsteps as far as trips to the hospital. In 2007 Leyland amassed a total of $65,000 at St. Mary's alone ( that doesn't include Regional First Care and her most recent stay which was at MCG) no, we don't have to pay all of that money out of pocket, but that is enough to by a small house. My intention was not to write a "poor us" blog, I am just trying to be informative. Hopefully next time I will have a hilarious story to tell. For now please pray that the green mucus blob men that have taken up residence in my sinuses will move out soon!

Quickie...

I don't really have time to write a long drawn out blog, but I've been neglecting my blog so I wanted to share a quick little story that brightened my day. A certain grandmother of mine ( I won't say which ) was discussing Christmas gift ideas with me for the kids. I was telling her that I was at a loss for what to get for Corey because he can't really play with anything much. I also mentioned that I knew that other people would probably get plenty for him. She also brought up that he would be able to play with a lot of Leyland's toys also because most of them are "bisexual" (meaning, of course, to say "unisex"). I almost peed my pants and thought I would pass the joy along! I'll try to do better about blogging.... peace out

A Christmas Miracle!!!!

I got it!! My Christmas miracle! GiGi and I took the kids today for their annual Christmas photos. I actually managed to get a picture of both of them!! It took some coaxing to get Leyland to cooperate, but at least we didn't end up at DEFCON 5. We actually got some really really cute individual pictures also. Unfortunately we won't have Mary again until closer to Christmas, so in order to get them back in time to give as gifts, I had to take only Leyland and Corey. Now, Corey is napping like an angel and I'm waiting for Leyland to fall asleep so I can type some Dr. F. Is it too much to wish for 2 Christmas miracles in one day?

Poor Whitney, Leyland, and Corey

So it turns out that Mary had an active case of strep throat which was adding to the size of her huge tonsils. Now, Leyland, Corey, and I also have strep throat.... yay. yesterday I felt..... dead.... I couldn't move. I was either freezing or sweating. Leyland seems to be feeling okay... Corey too. They have been on antibiotics since Monday. I didn't get mine till late last night. The gremlins took mine for a little while. We looked everywhere for them and then found them plain as day right on the table. I'm feeling about 75% better today. My body doesn't hurt and I'm not running a fever. I do still have a nasty sore throat, but it's much better than yesterday. I am hoping this trend will continue. We are not contagious anymore so we can still do the Thanksgiving thing. I'm glad of that. I'm going shopping friday even if I have to fill my pockets to the brim with throat drops. They do think that ultimately Mary's tonsils will have to come out, they are going to check her again in a month or so. Hope everyone feels better than me :)

Poor Mary

I'm pretty sure that Mary has tonsillitis. It is a very sad sight. Mom and I were in the living room last night while Mary slept. Let me preface this by saying that Mary has always been one to snore... loudly. Last night we noticed that not only was Mary snoring loudly, she was also somewhat struggling to breathe. Dr. Cathy and Dr. Whitney decided that she is going to need to have her adenoids out at some point. It was quite disturbing to see the child using every muscle in her little body just to get enough air. She mentioned something this morning about her neck hurting, so I took the flashlight and took a look in her throat. I was horrified. Her tonsils almost touch! They are all red and she has some little pus spots on them. Her uvula (the punching bag thingy) was stuck to one of her tonsils. It is so sad. Melissa (Mary's Mom) is going to get her seen ASAP. I'll keep ya posted.

My Dilemma

Okay, so I have this dilemma. I have three absolutely, adorable, photogenic, perfect in every way children. Well, that is not the dilemma. The problem is that even though they are all extremely beautiful, I can't seem to get a picture of all three of them where they are all smiling or even all looking the same direction. The only one I have of all three where no one is crying is from Halloween and they all have something in their mouths. I took them to have their pictures made in late August. I got some really cute individual shots, and a really cute one of Mary and Corey, but Leyland would not sit with them for anything. I guess I'm going to try again soon, but I will need a small miracle to get them all there without getting dirty and get them to all sit still long enough for **ONE** decent picture of the three of them. Maybe that will be my Christmas miracle.

On a completely random side note, Leyland has decided that it is a fun game to take off her pants and diaper and run around. Everytime I re-dress her she is undressed within a matter of minutes. I guess she is comfortable with her Nekkidness.

Attack Of The Chickens!!!!

The image that you see above has brought much laughter to the Bennett family Thanksgiving gatherings. If you will notice, there is a family of pilgrims surrounding an ENORMOUS pumpkin; also, there are two gargantuan chickens ready to devour the pilgrims. This display has been on my Grandmother's (Nany) table for several years. After a long day of Black Friday shopping, my Aunt, cousin, and I stopped at Nany's for a snack and a break. We were suffering from complete exhaustion and began laughing hysterically at this display on Nany's table. We began to narrate the tale of how the pilgrims were so excited to come upon this bountiful pumpkin. They would be able to feast for years. (About the time we had established this much of the story, one of the pilgrims fell over, probably because we were shaking the table with laughter) we decided that this pilgrim had fainted at the site of the gargantuan chickens. This has been a source of many comical discussions around the Thanksgiving table. The Christmas following the initial discovery of the Jurassic Park chickens, Nany gave me a kitchen timer with a chicken on it and informed me that she would be willing the giant chickens to me. I'm very excited that Thanksgiving is only about a week away so I can see the mighty chickens. These days, Nany has separated the chickens from the pilgrims, but we always move them back for Thanksgiving dinner.

Thanksgiving.... and the day after !!!!

I am very excited about Thanksgiving. Not because I love food (I do) but because I will have the chance to see all of my family in the space of a few days. Also, I've been gearing up for two months for the shopping marathon that is Black Friday. For the past five years, I've managed to get ALL my Christmas shopping done on that day. It is one of my favorite things to do, not only because you get some amazing deals, but my Mom has gone with me for the past three years, and we have a lot of fun. Last year, we were both sick with bronchitis and she made me laugh so hard I threw up.... I know it may not sound like fun, but it is. Trust me. Many people say that they wouldn't venture out of their homes on that fateful day because of the long lines and ruthless people fighting over .50 socks. I love it. I have never been in a "fight" over anything... it's more about strategizing so that you get to the item you want before it's gone. Anyway, I digress. I get to go to my Dad's parents' on Thursday, Dustin's Grandparents' Friday (after all the shopping, if I haven't "shopped till I dropped"), and then Sunday we double dip and go to my Mom's side and my step-mother's side. So we totally do 4 Thanksgiving dinners. Dustin said "I love Thanksgiving because we get to eat and eat and not cook". I just love getting to see everyone.

I'm so sorry...

I just wanted to let everyone know how sorry I am that we have the three cutest kids in the world ( and therefore, you do not). I'm only joking, kinda. I just have a second (while Leyland is entertained with her Daddy's "geetah") to post some pictures. So, here ya go...

Free Bird

If you read my mom's blog, you know that Leyland is now a free bird. I have been extremely lucky the past two years because she has been content to sit in her play yard whenever I needed her to. She would sit there so I could take a shower or clean; but most importantly she was perfectly willing to lie in there when she decided to wake up at 4am. She would be as happy as could be sitting there watching Elmo or Barney. Those days are no more. The day I was so sick last week was the day she figured out how to escape (absolutely perfect timing). Now I can plop her in there and she might be distracted long enough for me to accomplish a simple chore, but as soon as she remembers that she can get out... she's out. Now, you are more likely to find Corey in the play pen so Leyland can't get to him. She loves Corey so much, but she doesn't understand that she can't pick him up, feed him, throw him, etc... So anyway, it's a major adjustment. The living room is pretty much baby-proof... but you just can't forget about ANYTHING. She will find it. I hope everyone will have a lovely week. I guess I'll have to switch my blogging to nap-time. :)

Rock the Vote

Okay, so I am not going to fill up my blog with a bunch of political crap that you hear about all over the news and on tons of other blogs (like my mom's) but I will encourage everyone to go vote. Don't believe everything that you hear about the long lines (I'm sure some lines will be long in certain places) but since most of you live in rural areas like myself, you won't have to worry about these marathon lines. My mom and I went and voted last friday (the last day of advanced voting). There were probably 200 people at the court house annex, but the whole process only took us about 15 minutes. It was painless, and I felt really good about excersizing my political voice. I personally voted McCain/Palin, but I also encourage those of you who support Obama to vote. If you haven't been following the plans of the senators, visit their websites for an overview of their plans. Obama supporters can visit here and McCain supporters can visit here. I would also advise that if you have no information about either candidate, please DO NOT vote until you have done a little research. I mean don't vote one way or the other based on race. That means don't vote for Obama because he is black, and don't vote against him because he is black. Take the time to see who's policies you agree with most, then go Rock the vote!! I just went to the McCain website and you can click on "Job Plan" "Healthcare Plan" etc.. for a synopsis. If you live in GA pack an umbrella for tomorrow just in case the lines are long. You can do it!!!!

Trick-or-Treat (Come rub my feet !!!)

I'm absolutely exhausted (as are all the other members of the Veal/Bennett Household). We took all three kids trick-or-treating at the church. Kate ("Aunt Duck"), Jessica (Ta-Ta), Brandon (no cutsie nickname although I did just accidentally type Brandong"), and Corbin all came with us. If Kate hadn't been here we would not have made it!! First of all... My mom had the wrong time for the start of the event. She said 6:30, but it was 6:00, So we were already 30 minutes behind in prep. She was a lifesaver!!! THANK YOU AUNT DUCK!!!!! Anyway, of course our kids were by far the cutest kids there (and in the world). Leyland looked precious in her Abby Cadabby outfit. She got her hands on some suckers and that was good enough for her. She was content to stroll along with 2 suckers in her mouth. Corey was the precious boy he always is. He was sporting a dinosaur costume that was mistaken for a Marvin the Martian costume by some retard. We actually didn't stay gone very long. Everyone came back to the house for a quick supper, then Ta-Ta and Brandong were off to their various other stops and Kate also ran screaming for the hills... not really, but I wouldn't blame her if she had. I made a deal with the kids that they could trade in their buckets of who knows what candy that they trick-or-treated for and get a special halloween surprise bag. They chose the bags which had SOME candy and mostly other stuff that I knew they would like. Mary got some Hannah Montana stuff. On a side note, there is Hannah Montana EVERYTHING; in case you were wondering. Leyland got a Halloween Mr. Potato head and they both got some other crap that they love. Corey got a shirt, hat, and a crinkle book. So everyone is pretty happy. Now that everyone else is asleep I'm extremely happy to go to bed. Hope everyone had a safe, happy, melamine-free Halloween !!!!

Corey Singing

Just wanted to share a cute video of Corey talking to "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". Enjoy :)

Halloween

This Friday, as everyone knows, is Halloween. We are planning to pick Mary up from school so that she can do the trick-or-treat bit with us. So we are going to get everyone ready, go down to the church for the trunk-or-treat (where everyone puts their candy in their trunks and the kids walk around the parking lot instead of the house to house thing). So apparently there is a big concern about chocolate candy from China with melamine in it. So on top of the usual removal of items that are sketchy and/or choking hazards, now I have to look for melamine bars. Maybe I'll just buy a separate bag of loot for the kids and just throw out everything that they get. I mean when I was a kid you just avoided the crazy witch lady that lived across the street and threw away anything that didn't have a wrapper. That was it. Now, with all of the crazy people and horrible chemicals you have to do a complete security check on every dum dum. What makes this a million times more aggravating is that I will have a 2 y/o and a 6y/o wanting to eat everything that falls into their bucket as soon as they get it. Anyone want to come along for damage control? My step-mother wants us to come out there and trick-or-treat in their fancy pants neighborhood with my niece. Mary would love to do this, but I just don't know if I'll be able to do it. I guess I should try. I think people should just fork out cash.... when that catches on I'll be trick-or-treating with the best of them :) Have a safe and happy Halloween and seriously check out the candy. I know it's a pain in the ass, but I've seen several videos about the melamine thing. You can watch one here.

Stop the insanity!

Okay, first lemme start off by saying that I have combed the web and come up with a list of absolutely ridiculous baby products. Some of them I stole from another list created by someone else and some of them I came across on my own. More than likely you will be tempted to believe that these products are fake, but I assure you that they are real and available for purchase (with the exception of the Japanese mop idea). So let's get started :

The baby wig. Yes you are seeing a "lil kim" and a Jamaican wig for infants. I don't think that I need to express how many ways in which this is retarded.

Next, we have a baby spoon which dispenses a bite-sized portion of baby food with a squeeze. Now, this to me is just absolute laziness. It takes exactly 3.2 seconds to dip your spoon in the baby food, while it takes the baby about 10 seconds to swallow what you have given him. They should've just made an automatic swallower.
Next on the list is the Japanese design for a baby mop. I mean the kid is just crawling on the floor anyway, you might as well get your cleaning done! I think I"m going to order one of these....

This one is just sad. This is baby perfume. It is "new baby smell". So you don't even have to keep your baby clean anymore... just spritz 'em with this and they'll be good to go. I expect that this will be available in the car air freshner form soon also.

This is probably my personal favorite. Okay, so apparently if you have never heard of a play pen this is an acceptable alternative. You are seeing an infant hanging from a wall. I think this is actually for public restrooms, but I'm sure that if certain people got hold of this product their children would never be allowed down from the wall, and thus generally accepted as modern art in the home.

Let me introduce you to the Nosefrida. This product is exactly what you think it is. The woman has the end of a tube in her mouth and the other end strategically placed in her infant's nose so that she can effectively suck the snot from his nose. Now, I will say that there is a shield that prevents the snot from entering her mouth but still. EEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWW

Finally we have this. If I'm not mistaken it is called a zaky pillow. The sausage like protrusions you see on the baby's back are supposed to be fingers. I would laugh at anyone I saw using this product. This is a pillow in the shape of two hands designed to mimic the feel of the parent. ( I don't really see how it would fool a child unless you too have sausage fingers ). I guess this to make the parenting experience as "hands-off" as possible. Although, if you are going to trick you child into thinking he's being held, why not just hold him?

Well, I hope I have enlightened you to all of the "wonderful" products available for today's parents. Also, this doubles as my christmas wish list. Just in case you were wondering.