Nathan's Surgery

After having 6 ear infections the past 3-4 months the doctor said it was time: Nathan needed tubes put in his ears. That many ear infections in a little baby, in such a short amount of time, can lead to hearing damage which leads to problems with speech development, and can lead to antibiotic immunity.

So this morning we packed up Nathan at 4:45am and headed to Northridge/Encino for his surgery. We chose to go there after a referral from our pediatrician so that he could be seen, treated, and operated on by a pediatric ENT and have a pediatric anesthesiologist. The pre-op was easy and he was asleep snuggling in my arms when the dr came to get him. So after a couple kisses I carefully laid him in her arms and she snuggled him as she carried him off to the OR.

Waiting in pre-op before he fell asleep






About 20 minutes later, the tubes were in and we were headed back to get him in recovery. He came out of anesthesia fine medically but was emotionally really upset. He was flailing everywhere, crying, scared and the second I picked him up he clung to me like a little monkey. It was heart breaking to see him like that so I just snuggled him close and sang to him in his ear.

We are now back home though and he is in bed resting. They say that he should sleep for a little while and wake up feeling better than he has been in the past couple months. Fingers crossed!

Thank you to all our friends that prayed for the dr's hands, our nervous hearts and our sweet little boy. We are blessed to be surrounded by so many people that love for us and care about us!

Brotherly Love

I love little moments like this and luckily for me, they happen quite often. These brothers just love each other!

My Sidekick

For reasons unknown, Ben has really been in a mommy stage lately. He wants mommy to do everything, go everywhere with him, help him with everything, you get the point. I've gotta say, it can be a little overwhelming sometimes especially when I just need a minute to go to the bathroom by myself. But then other times, we have conversations like this:

Ben: Mommy if you ever get scared or lost, you just tell me. I'll always take care of you
Me: Really? Always?
Ben: Yeah mommy, you're my best friend

.... and then it makes me stop and remember how amazing it is to have a little sidekick attached to me every second. And before I know it, he will be 16 and driving away in his own car not needing his "mom" around. So for now, instead of getting frustrated, I will choose to be thankful for every second that I get with my little sidekick!

Merry Christmas From Our Family To Yours.

Love, the Stone Family
(Ben- 3 yrs old, Nathan- 10 mo old)

Chritsmas Morning

It is our Christmas morning tradition to wake up in our own home and spend time celebrating Christmas morning as a family. I remember back when Bryan and I got first got married. We didn't have a fireplace so we would turn the TV on the yule log channel, snuggle together, listen to Christmas music and open our presents together in front of the yule log fire :) Now, here we are 6 years later with a fire in our real fireplace, snuggling little boys and listening to the sounds of our boys enjoying life and Christmas morning.














After having our own little time as a family on Christmas morning, we headed over to my parent's house to have breakfast with Matt, Staci, Grandma Donna and Papa. It was a great Christmas morning!

Bath Time for Puppy Hunter

This past weekend Puppy Hunter, Aunt Staci, and Uncle Matt came home for Christmas. While here puppy hunter needed a bath and who better to help than Ben? ;)

Nathan James: 10 Months Old

10 months old- I hate how fast the time has gone. Don't get me wrong, I love each and every day with my little boys but I also must be truthful and say that I love the newborn stage. So knowing that Nathan will be my last "baby", I am having a hard time with the fact that my littlest one is getting close to turning 1. But on the other hand I am also having a blast watching all the new things Nathan can do and laughing when I see new little parts of his personality coming out. So what is Nathan up to at 10 months old? Let me give you a quick overview. . .

*Nathan James weights about 22lbs and is about 31 inches long.

*He loves to eat and when you say "Nathan, do you want to eat?", he will smack his lips together over and over and get a huge smile on his face.

*He army crawls everywhere, especially to be close to his brother or to get into a cabinet.

*Nathan just started pulling himself up on things and loves to walk himself around furniture.

*He has a few words: mama, dada, Ban (which is Ben), kitty, and uh-oh

*He loves to be rocked and snuggled by anybody that will hold him close, but especially by mama!

*He just stopped nursing this month, partly because he is getting his 5th and 6th tooth and won't stop biting mama and partly because life with a traveling hubby and 2 kids is crazy.

*Nathan thinks playing the "uh-oh" game is just the funniest thing. He drops something and then says "uh-oh" until somebody picks it up for him. Then, he drops it again and laughs

*Nobody can make him laugh like Ben can!!!

*If I had to describe Nathan right now in 3 words it would be: snuggly, sweet, and determined. (if he gets something in his mind, he is beyond determined to make it happen)

Nathan- way to big for the bouncer now




Nathan is too long/tall for the infant carrier so we had to put Nathan in a bigger (rear facing) seat. Ben liked this because it meant that he got a big boy car seat


I love my silly Mafin!!! (Ben can't say "Nathan" so it comes out like "Mafin" so thats become his nickname)




All my boys!

Thoughts From A Mommy

"... After birthing, nursing and having kids I now have little sense of shame and absolutely no concept of privacy when it comes to my own body. But it's not all bad. Having a mini critic as my shadow has toughened me up a bit, thickened my skin. Let's face it, kids are brutally honest. They are constantly pointing out our imperfections. Your bottom is big Mommy. (Time to go jogging.) Why are your legs so pokey? (Time to shave.) If someone had even hinted at some of these imperfections pre-kid, I would have been so mortified. But that's the beauty of having kids: I am no longer capable of embarrassment. Strangely this lack of shame, this policy of zero privacy is liberating. I no longer waste time fretting about a pimple or a few extra pounds. Now I'm the pack leader, the protector, the endless source of wisdom, comfort, and Cheerios. Words like natural and graceful have replaced ugly and awkward in terms of my body. I now know that it isn't something to hide. In fact, it's a pretty amazing machine. It can run on four hours of sleep, fueled solely by caffeine and Goldfish, and manhandle 50 pounds of squirming kids. Who cares if I have a bit of a tummy? I've had 2 kids and I still look relatively decent in a two-piece. Besides I am too busy trying to keep my son from eating floating bug carcasses to care if anyone snickers at my poolside jiggle.

So now when I'm in the shower I no longer fantasize about the day when I can get a little nip here or a little tuck there. I have come to appreciate my new mommy shape. My once perky boobs have become a reminders of the children I have nourished. Where I used to have pimples, I now have laugh lines. And when my son comes in while I am dressing and makes a brutally honest observation, well I just laugh and think "Some day I will recount this story to you in front of your future wife, and your will be mortified, and it will be hil-ar-ious!" But for now, I am just happy for my little mini-critics and they laugh lines they create on my face each and every day."
-Rebekah Scott

The Suprise: Disneyland

It had been planned for weeks, a special time with just Ben, Mommy, and Daddy- a trip to Disneyland! We decided that we both just needed some one-on-one time with Ben and since he had SO much fun at Disneyland a year ago, we decided to go again this year. Although we all agreed that we missed Nathan a lot, the special time with Ben was amazing! Since having Nathan, finding special (uninterrupted) time with Ben is just really hard to come by. So Grandma Mary was super amazing and came over to take care of Nathan the whole day for us. (Thank you so much grandma Mary!!!)

The weather was nice and cool which perfectly matched the Christmas decorations that filled the streets of Disneyland. The longest we waited for a ride was 10-15 minutes and most rides we just walked right on. Ben loves a thrill and said that Big Thunder Mountain, Tea Cups, and Soarin Over CA were his favorites. It was truly a "magical" day for us!

Riding the Rails


Having a "Tea Party"








Small World


Ben being his silly self




Rocketing to New heights


Cruisin on the matterhorn


Jellyfish fun


A Bugs Life: Crazy Ladybugs


Driving lessons starting early for Ben: Autotopia