Since Ben had been asking John if he could help blow out candles all week, we celebrated John's birthday at lunch time. I don't think Ben could have made it much longer. John relit the candle and they blew it out twice. Ben would have done it again and again, but John said twice was enough. Mollie didn't get to party with us. She was napping. Ben did not want her to take a nap, though. As I was carrying her to her crib, he yelled, "Wake up, Mollie!!!!"
Today is John's (and Jim's) birthday. Ben has been very excited about John's birthday. Yesterday afternoon, Ben, Mollie, and I made cupcakes. I didn't plan for Mollie to help, but she woke up crying just as we were getting started good.
Before lunch, Ben and I decorated the cupcakes.
This outfit was really cute on the hanger. I didn't realize the flower was bigger than Mollie's head until I got her dressed. If you're wondering, the flower snaps on and can be removed. I had to take it off to strap Mollie in her carseat.
Mollie sat up in the bouncy seat for the first time yesterday. She would get excited when she bumped the toys with her feet.
Since I was taking a picture of Mollie, Ben wanted me to take a picture of him drawing with markers.
I was trying to take a cute picture of Ben and Mollie together. It's hard because Mollie can't hold herself up and Ben can't hold her up either.
"Just like Jack and Elmo." That's what Ben said when we planted his beans yesterday. We learned how to sprout them in a jar from an episode of Elmo's world.
We really like making things grow. Maybe we'll plant a small (very small) garden next year.
I haven't mentioned potty training in a while because it's been a bust. Ben decided he didn't want to use the potty and we just switched back to pull ups. This weekend he showed more interest though. While we were grocery shopping at Walmart this morning Ben told me he needed to use the potty. I groaned inwardly since we were nearly through and I needed to get home and fix lunch. However, his pull-up leaked last week while we were grocery shopping and I didn't want a repeat of that. I figured I would find a full pull up since he usually tells me he needs to go the potty after the fact. Instead it was nearly dry. I sat him on the toilet and after a few minutes of talking about everything in the bathroom, he peed. He was so excited. He clapped. I figured using the toilet in Walmart was worth a bigger prize than a sticker so we went to the toy section and picked out a Hot Wheels car, a 1970 Plymouth Road Runner. I wanted to take his picture with it before we took it out of the package, but he was being pretty silly and I didn't have much time since I had groceries to put away and lunch to fix.
We had lunch at McDonald's on our way home yesterday. There was a nice indoor play area so Ben ran around while I fed Mollie. I told him this was Ronald McDonald. He wanted his picture taken with "McDonalds."
Ben took this picture (of course). You can see me feeding Mollie over his shoulder.
A lady in McDonald's looked at Mollie and said, "That is a juicy baby." I'm guessing she meant fat. I wanted to say, "Let me tell you how juicy she is," though. I had just finished cleaning up a diaper explosion. After giving Mollie her bottle, I sat her in her carseat while I helped Ben go down the slide. When I came back and picked her up, I stuck my hand in a big pile of green poop. It had come out of her diaper and was everywhere. I grabbed her somehow up high and around one leg, the diaper bag, and Ben (left everything else in the play area) and headed to the bathroom. I stripped her down and she literally was dirty all the way up to her armpits. Thankfully, I had a change of clothes. I cleaned her up with wipes and we went back out to finish lunch. I put her back in her carseat, and THEN remembered that the carseat was probably dirty too. I lifted her back out, cleaned her up again with wipes, and cleaned the carseat. That stop took an hour.
Between Rita's wedding, a baby shower, and people coming to visit, we saw nearly the entire family and lots of friends this weekend. Hadlie Jo loves "pink" babies. She held Mollie and helped feed her.
Emalee held Mollie, too. She gave her back when she started fussing. She said she didn't hold crying babies.
Ben loves Emalee. She is spinning them both on the Sit N Spin.
Ben is playing the piano and singing with Wyatt and Sarah Allison. Ben thought Wyatt's name was Quiet.
We went to Jena this weekend for Rita's wedding. I don't have any pics from the wedding, but I have a lot from the roping pen. Ben has been talking about riding a horse for weeks. First, Zac and his friend Justin led Ben around on Justin's horse, which Ben called Strawberry. That's not its real name, but Ben's favorite horse on Elmo's World Wild Wild West is Strawberry and that's what he calls his Radio Flyer rocking horse. Strawberry worked since Justin's horse is a strawberry roan.
After they had roped a couple of rounds, I decided to ride Ben around on Daddy's mare, Little Girl. I haven't been on a horse in at least three years.
Ben riding the roping dummy while I made another round by myself. My leg muscles were a little sore the next day.
Zac on his horse.
Ben and I took Mollie to her two month doctor's appointment today.
Mollie weighed way more than I expected. I thought should would weigh 8 something. Instead she weighs 10 lbs 11 oz. She is 22 3/4 inches long and her head is 15 inches. She was in the 50th percentile for her age (not adjusted to her due date since she was premature). She can start taking regular formula rather than the high-calorie premie formula. When the pediatrician was listening to Mollie's heart, Ben said, "That's a stethoscope. He's listening to Mollie's heart." I think he learned that from Farley Goes to the Doctor, a classic (belonged to me as a child) Sesame Street book.
She was not very happy after she got her shots.
We found an earth worm this morning while playing outside. Ben had never seen one before.
Watching the earth worm crawl home after we let him go.
Tomorrow is Mollie's two month doctor's visit. She is currently on a high-calorie formula for premature babies. I think she's probably ready for regular formula. All those extra calories seem to be going right to her cheeks.
Today at 10:30 a.m. it was only 84 degrees. It's been that hot at 7:30 a.m. lately. We made use of the cooler temps and played outside for a long time this morning. 
Mollie goes outside with us, too. The carrier is horribly dorky looking but is super useful. I'm able to carry Mollie but have my hands free to play with Ben. I was pushing him in the swing when I took this pic. I bought this carrier when Ben was a baby but only used it once or twice. I've taken Mollie outside in it nearly every day for a couple of weeks. Generally she sleeps in it while we play.
When John got home we went outside again. This was the first time we had gotten out the sprinkler this year and Ben wasn't really sure what to do with it. He drank and drank and drank. He wore a pull up all evening.
I sat Ben on a blanket to watch Sesame Street yesterday morning because I knew he wouldn't break away and go use the potty. However, he didn't have an accident.
But once Sesame Street was over, it started to pour. Between 10 a.m. and noon, we went through entire package of Thomas underwear. The kitchen was like a splash park. By lunch, I was ready to give up. After nap, I asked if he wanted to wear a pull up for the rest of the day, but he insisted on Big Bird underwear. Thankfully, the evening was more successful. No major accidents and two stickers.
I kept the mess confined to the kitchen yesterday by giving Ben a bunch of bowls, some measuring cups and scoops, and some dried rice and peas. He poured and measured for an hour and a half. It was super messy (especially with all the peeing), but he had lots of fun.
We do this every day when I wash Ben's hair. Today I had my camera in the bathroom to record the momentous event: putting on his first pair of big boy underwear. He has two packages of seven. Aunt Connie bought him Thomas underwear for his birthday and I bought a package of Sesame Street because I had a feeling we needed more than seven pairs (we did). It took him all of bathtime to "beside" whether he wanted to wear Sesame Street or Thomas. 
We started with Elmo, but managed to wear all other six pairs throughout the day and one pair of Thomas. He did successfully use the potty three times. Although the first time, he was so excited that he was pooping in the potty that he jumped up and it landed on the bathroom floor. I gave him a sticker anyway. We went through most of the underwear in about an hour this evening. What I learned is that if he pees a little bit make him stay in the bathroom until he pees a lot. There's way more in there. He was helping me wash dishes in the kitchen when it all finally flowed. 
A moment of calm in our wild day. If you're wondering why Ben's even wearing big boy underwear when we just started potty training, it is because I read that pull-ups are confusing since they feel like a diaper and that they actually extend the time it takes to potty train. Supposedly going straight to underwear is more stressful (for the parents) initially, but is overall a more efficient way to potty train. We'll see. I plan to stick to it through Saturday anyway. There's no way I'm sending him to church without a pull-up Sunday, though.
These pics are from Monday. Everytime Ben holds Mollie he says, "This looks good" and asks to have his picture taken (except on Sunday when I wanted to take their picture together).
Ben and I had the best time together this morning. Nana came and kept Mollie while Ben and I went to the ZooTot program at the local zoo. One of Ben's church friends, Burn, was there and that made it even more fun. The theme today was "On Safari." The zoo educator showed them pictures from a book called Life-Size Zoo and told them facts about the animals. They each had a game board and pieces to match to each animal. For example, they put a piece of sandpaper by the tiger because that's what a tiger's tongue feels like. We learned several interesting tidbits about animal poop. The sloth eats, sleeps, and gives birth hanging upside down from a tree but comes down once a week to pee and poop.
They made binoculars to look for the animals with. After craft and snack we ventured into the 100 degree heat and searched for animals from the book. 
At the end of the safari, they petted a snake . . .
and a ferret.
Ben and Burn checking out the fish pond. Somehow Burn's sister's sippy cup ended up in the fish pond. 
Afterwards we cooled off with a ride on the train and playing in the mist.
