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We are heading to Monterey this weekend. My parents got a new lab puppy, and I’m dying to get my hands on her.

Ben has not been feeling too well today. He has had a bit of a cough, a goopy eye, and is clingy. The CF team thinks he is fighting something off so they have put him on a two-week course of Bactrim. He has a very low fever and has been pulling on his ear. Hopefully it’s nothing too big, just something we may have picked up.

We will be seeing both sides of grandparents along with going to a first birthday party on Sunday. Hope everyone has a fun weekend and I’m sure I’ll have multiple pictures of Ben with the new puppy. Happy weekend!

To cut or not to cut; that is the question

Ben’s first birthday is just around the corner. I have already started planning. I think we will just do a casual BBQ somewhere. I am just not sure where yet. We don’t have too many friends with kids so I don’t think that I need to plan too much for his first year. If you would like to join us, the party date is March 13. Of course, adult beverages will be included!

Ryan and I are debating on whether or not to cut Ben’s hair. So, I have started a poll on the upper-right hand column for you to vote. What do you think? Leave it longer and see how far we can get it or cut it short again? or perhaps a Mohawk cut….

I can’t wait to see cake all over this guys face!

Ben Walking

Walk the line from Margaux Hughes on Vimeo.

Yes, he is wearing his xmas outfit. We don't stop wearing clothes just because they're out of season :)

New

Our new gymboree class is going okay. We went from being one of three children to one of ten. The children are a lot more active and I think Ben was taken back in our first class. He spent most of the time just watching other kids! This class has a lot more physical activites so I think it’s good for him. However, I have found that I have a harder time keeping things (ie- balls, beanbags, plastic toys) out of his mouth.

I foam with our antibacterial hand foam, ever time we go to a new activity. I also don’t let him put anything in his mouth which can be unavoidable. Sometimes, I catch the other mom’s looking at me while I foam both of us. I struggle with announcing to our class that Ben has CF or not. I want other mom’s to know why I sanitize so much but another part of me doesn’t want anyone to look at him differently. For now I will keep silent but I’m sure a time will come when I need to speak up.

After our class, there is open gym time. I often stay with Ben to let him play until he gets tired. It can be hard at times, other mom’s come in with older children that run wild. Last Friday, some brat boy started throwing balls at my head! The first time, I let it go, smiled at him and glanced at his mom (who was in deep convo with another mom, completely oblivious to what was going on). The second time, I picked up Ben and moved away. The third time, he started throwing them at Ben! Talk about maternal instinct, I nearly threw one back at him! Teach him to mess with my child! However, I held myself back and grabbed the ball from his hand, told him no in a loud voice (so his mother would notice) and moved completely away.

I have joined a mom’s group, MOPS, at a church in Roseville. Today was my first day. I brought Ben into the group because I’m not ready to leave him in the childcare. Needless to say, it wasn’t easy and I’m not sure how often I’ll make it. A 10 1/2 month old doesn’t sit still for long.

Before we know it, he’ll be walking!

His new favorite activity is to pull all his books off the shelf. Because I don’t have enough to do already!

 

Shenanigans

Our little man certainly is moving lately! Phew, we can barely keep up!

Giving lots and lots of kisses to anyone


Getting into everything



But still totally adorable!

Wordless Wednesday

Can you tell what the little man is hauling around?!

The million dollar question

"When are you having your next baby?"

This seems to be a question I'm getting a lot lately, so I thought I'd address it. I think it's only natural for people to be curious and to think that our next one won't be too far behind. So let me set the record straight- Ryan and I are not financially nor emotionally ready for another child.

Don't get me wrong, Ben has been the biggest joy in our lives. We love him more then we thought possible. We did think that our children would be close in age but our circumstances have changed. The economy isn't what it used to be and with every conception we have a 25% chance of having a baby with CF. That is something we don't take lightly.

After being pregnant for nine months and breastfeeding for nearly eleven, I'd like time to just be. Time to myself, time with Ryan, and time with Ben. We are enjoying being a family of three for now.

We have been thinking, discussing, and praying about this for awhile. We are making decisions that we feel is best for our family. We feel that when the time is right we will know. Our next move is to buy a house but who knows how long that may be. I feel comfortable leaving you with this; when we buy a house, Baby Hughes 2.0 will soon follow :)

Weekend Fun

This weekend went by in a whirl! On Saturday, I took a limo down to Lodi with some of my friends and went wine tasting. It was good to get out for the day, and I know that Ryan and Ben had a good "boy's day" together. I missed my boys though, I couldn't wait to get home to them!


It's nice to be back in Sac so I can go out with my friends.

On Sunday, we headed out to Serene Lakes by Lake Tahoe, where my Aunt and Uncle have a cabin for the night. Boy, was it cold! There was a huge storm that came through and just dumped snow on us. Ben and I didn't even go outside. Ryan spent the day snowboarding with my brother and friend. It was great to spend some time with extended family.



My mom ready for her walk. I refused to go for obvious reasons

Ben with my brother and Daniel

Ben loved leaving his mark on the cabin....

...his fingerprints!!

Decisions, decisions

Ah, to be a kid again, where your hardest decision is deciding which toy to play with:




Yes, that is a bell pepper and asparagus. He loves to gnaw on both. I think it feels good on his gums but I'm done guessing when his teeth are going to come in. I should be thankful for no teeth because I'm still nursing.

I am hoping to take a class on raising a child with CF. It is based on the theories of the Love and Logic series. I, personally, really like their ideas on how to raise a confident, responsible child. Would anyone else like to take this with me?? You don't even need to leave your house. Click on the picture to make it bigger for info.

Goodbye...

....level 2 Gymboree! We are moving up a level to the 10-16 month olds. That's right, we're saying goodbye to teacher Katie, and hello to teacher Audrey! Ben has become so much more active the last couple weeks, that I am glad we are moving up a level where they do a lot more physical activities. No more signing songs in a circle (which Ben wouldn't sit through anyway!). Our new class time is on Fridays which is great because Ryan maybe able to join us once in awhile. Of course, we couldn't leave level 2 before numerous amounts of pictures....

Wordless Wednesday

PS- Have you voted for Gavin today?? You can everyday! Click HERE! If Gavin wins, they will be on the news which equals more CF awareness!

10

Today, our little man is 10-months-old. How time has flown! I can't believe we will be celebrating his first birthday in two months. Still no teeth, but there is clapping upon asking, turning pages in his books, taking one or two steps by himself, saying "momma", and knowing where ceiling fans are in any room (funny, I know!).

I learned a hard lesson in enzyme ordering this weekend. His new shipment came in literally 5 mins before his meal in which I had none. The CF pharmacies timeline isn't always accurate, and I'm still learning. Luckily, I had contacted another CF parent in the area who brought me some just in time also. Glad we dodged that bullet!

Today is also CF awareness day, Yay!! Please register to walk with us in May through downtown Sacramento. You can join by clicking here:


Can't walk? DONATE! 90 cents of every dollar goes directly towards research for a cure.

Can't donate? PRAY! Pray for Ben, his Doctors, other CF families, and for a cure.

Together we can make CF stand for "Cure Found!"

Uh oh

uh oh! from Margaux Hughes on Vimeo.

Husbands and helping

My little man has been helping me do laundry today. I have been going through his clothes, hanging up new ones and boxing up old ones. Makes me a little sad to pack up his too-small clothes but then I realize that I am glad he's growing! CF children can have problems with weight and I am thankful our little man doesn't have any problem with that!

He is going to make a great husband one day. Between Ryan, my dad and Tom, my father-in-law, he has good examples!

I also need your help. My friend and fellow CF-mom, Jen, has a son, Gavin, who is only 4 1/2 weeks older then Ben. She has entered him into a local, cutest baby contest. They are hoping Gavin can win to put the prize money toward future medical expenses. Please click HERE to vote for him. It only takes a second and you won't get junk mail when you register, I promise! Us, CF parents, need all the financial help we can get!

Also, congrats to fellow CF-mom, Christina. They just announced they are expecting. We are all praying for a healthy baby Christina!

Home

The little man and I are finally back home from Carmel. I think Ryan is VERY happy to have us back. Ben was so good on our 3-hour drive home, sleeping more then 2 hours. When we got home, I began the process of unloading our christmas loot. The three of us had fun going through our stocking stuff again; we really scored this season! Tomorrow, I will begin the task of finding a place for everything and hanging all of Ben's clothes. I would like to start packing up the clothes that he has grown out of but I think I'll tackle that next week. I hope everyone is recovering from the holidays!

Fish, anyone?

I'm finally getting around to posting up our Aquarium pictures. Ben, and I are still having fun down here in Carmel. Ryan left today, we will follow in the next couple days. Anyway, we had so much fun at the Aquarium. Ben did better then we expected. He loved the million-gallon tanks along with splashing in the water in the kid area. He lasted over an hour and a half, longer then we expected. He is getting to be so much fun at his age, Ryan and I are enjoying trips like this, more and more. We sanitized multiple times, but felt comfortable letting Ben explore.












I have also added, Ben's currents Med's on my sidebar. When I started this blog I didn't want to focus so much on Ben's CF. To me, that is letting CF win. I wanted to focus on us, as a family and all the fun times we have. My hope was that far-away family members could get a glimpse into our life. However, I have met many CF families online and I know people are curious. I will keep it updated as our little Man continues to grow.

Happy 2010

We hope everyone had a wonderful New Years. We certainly did, down here in Carmel. My aunt, uncle, cousin, and girlfriend, all came over last night for Prime Rib. Even though I don't eat red meat, we had a great feast. Today, we opened presents with my parents and let me tell you, we are spoiled. Our big gift is a Maui trip in June. Lucky, I know! Ben opened multiple toys, clothes and books. Some to take with us and some to leave at Jammi and Boppa's (my parents). We are taking today slow, I have had a killer migraine stalking me for the last couple days. You know it's bad, when I didn't drink on New Years and Ben did not take a good morning nap. So, we are hanging out, watching tv, eating, some drinking, more eating, more drinking and relaxing. Later we are going to hit up some wineries that are only a couple miles away. I'm still trying to decide what my new years resolution is but I hope you all have yours!
Ben with my Uncle

Ben with his godmom, Megan

New Years fun (yes, that is my father with a lamp shade hat on!)




My cousin, me and Megan

My love and I



Opening presents and me with my new boots and pink snuggie!