I think it's time for a thoughts post

• I'm listening to the radio and they're doing a panel of single guys that single girls are asking questions to regarding what they need to do to get single guys (in general) attention. I had to turn it off, I was really just saddened by the whole "game" that is played out there. And I mean, the LDS World of Dating is TOTALLY different than non-LDS because well, it's kind of assumed that eventually you will have sex with that person... and I don't mean AFTER marriage. I don't want to go on and on, because then this wouldn't be a "thoughts" blog post, it would be a one thought post... but I am SO grateful that I didn't have experience a lot of jerks before I met my ONE, Ryan. I am glad he is a good guy and that it didn't take long to know he was THE ONE. And I'm glad I'm married, not that it's an easy thing... but I just really hated dating.
• Yesterday as I was looking out the window of the building I work in, I was watching the cars go by and then (this may sound utterly ridiculous) I remembered that those weren't just cars, that was a whole bunch of people that just DROVE their cars past me. People going to work, or the doctor, or home, people who lived and breathed just like me. Sometimes I feel very in my own world, and very much like me and Ryan and Ben are like almost the only ones in it and the other people we come in contact with everyday are part of it- but I mean, I don't really see too many other people than that in my everyday life. And I just have moments when I realize that Heavenly Father has so many millions of children and he still loves each of us individually and a lot. Cool huh? Okay, maybe just to me.
• I'm glad January is almost over. I am starting to be super ready for Spring and warmer happier weather soon. Or at least for the land to look greener.
• I love all my brothers and sisters so much. I am so lucky to have them to look up to.
• I'm pretty sure that they put new toilet seats in our restroom here. Nice!
• Does anyone else (whose had a baby) feel random "Phantom Kicks" occasionally? NO, I'm not pregnant... I'm just really curious because I do all the time. Maybe I'm just more aware of movement in there since having a kid! HA! Or as my friend here at work calls it "BG's" for Bubble Guts!
• Continuing about the Radio, Q100 here in Atlanta kind of sucks when it comes to the music they play. One day I kept track of one of the songs they play all the time, they seriously played it every 45 mins to an hour. I have the emails to Ryan telling him it was on again to prove it. Take it off the loop people!
• Sometimes... there's nothing better than a plain ol' Hershey's Kiss. Just the plain Milk Chocolate. All by itself. Sometimes I suck on them and let them melt, sometimes I like to just chomp away. Good stuff.
• I am SO grateful for friends. I am a very blessed person. I just love how comfortable Ben is around "Ashee" and "Caco" (Jacob) and how loving they are towards him. Same with ("Kint") Clint and Jen and the Burkes and the Eltons, and all of our other friends.
• I can't believe just how shy Ben is sometimes. Ashley totally called it yesterday, she said he is totally fine around grown ups for the most part but gets SUPER timid and shy around other little kids. He reminds me so much of Ryan sometimes!
• My goal this year is not to just do Ben updates on the blog... but to write more. Even if no one reads these things anymore. Seems like almost everyone does their stuff on Facebook anymore. I still like to read blogs though!

I read someone else's blog today that led to this article and I really liked it and wanted to share it as well. I think I need to take this person's advice and start "cleansing" as it were, my life.
STUFF

Thundering Waters

I don't know about you, but after the Holidays I get pretty bummed. Mostly because there isn't much to look forward to until March-ish because of birthdays. January and February usually suck for me. My dear Ashley heard from a friend or coworker about this cabin she and her family had gone to up in Cleveland, GA near Helen. It was a reasonable price, especially with a few people chipping in and not too far and something to do on the MLK Day weekend. Some of us had it off, some didn't but we decided to go for it. And boy are we glad we did! We had a very enjoyable weekend. We all took food up so we could cook breakfast and dinners together, and we basically snacked for lunch. The scenery around the cabin was beautiful. When you walk out of the house to the back deck the Chattahoochee River is literally right there below you. And the river splits over an island across the water from the house and so there were two rapids on each split and then again where it goes together. The Cabin is called Thundering Waters and for a good reason! It was gorgeous! We did some exploring Saturday but after that it started raining so we stayed inside and watched TV, played Wii, did a puzzle, some people read, napped, ate, talked... it was just nice. That's basically all we did the whole weekend. Sunday we went for a walk and that was really nice. Anyway, we enjoyed ourselves and plan to go again and again!

My B

I just had to note a few things that Ben is doing right now I find either REALLY cute or REALLY annoying. We'll start with the really annoying first to end on a good note. We'll also see how this goes since he's making me hold him right now while I type.

The first annoying thing is this:
It frustrates me SO bad when he hits himself when he's having a tantrum or when he's in trouble... any suggestions? Part of me thinks I just need to ignore it and maybe he'll stop. But then I don't want him to think he can keep doing it, hurting himself is NOT okay. (Update: we got advice from a friend who said their kid did it and when they acted like they didn't care she stopped... so that's what we'll attempt to do too.)
The tantrums in general suck. But we DO ignore those for the most part. When we do he quits pretty quickly.
Most of these little tantrums are happening at night, when he's tired of course. And he occasionally will fight us to go to sleep lately too. We are thinking of getting him a toddler bed. But we have some time and aren't too stressed about it.

The cute things:
He's talking SO much. In almost whole sentences too. I stayed home today because I've got my usual January ickies and the first thing he said to me when I got him out of the crib was "Momma, nunny, ee-oh's" Which translates to "Momma I'm hungry, I want Cheerios". He likes to "CULLAH" a lot, which means coloring. :) He's actually now coloring next to me and just yelled "yay cullah!". Oh! I have an idea; since we live in such a technological society- I'll just add some MORE video!
My parents taught him to say "OH NO!" and now he says it to almost EVERYTHING, but it's really quite cute.
When he gets a boo-boo or hurt he comes up to me and points the body part that hurts towards my mouth so I can kiss it better. He'll even kiss my boo-boo's better too if I ask.
If he is in his high chair in the kitchen and I'm in a different room, he'll shout out "MAMMA!" just to make sure I'm still around.
He's really good about cleaning up. He likes to wipe his high chair and sing "me-mup" for cleanup. When it's time to get out of the bath, he'll put everything back where he got them from and watches the bubbles or water tornado go down the drain. He'll clean up pretty well when we ask him to put away his toys. He's a very good listener, when he wants to be of course. But then again, don't we ALL have selective hearing?
The kid loves to wear hats. Nothing more, nothing less. Anything he can fit on his head, he calls a hat.Him and Ryan give each other five when they see each other at night. They're so excited to see each other, but to keep it "macho" they high five. Pretty cute.
He LOVES applesauce (he calls them apples). He ate like 3 bowls full this time and had it all over his shirt. When I pulled his shirt off, the applesauce came off the shirt on to his face. I don't think I've laughed that hard in a LONG time! He just sat there looking like he wanted to be bugged he had applesauce in his eyes, but wanted to know what momma and daddy were laughing so hard about!He likes to sit on his beach ball and try and fall off of it. He likes to jump in his crib before he lays down. He says "chh, chh, chh" and then falls on his bum and then gets up and does it all over again. We tell him to get all his jitters out!
He STILL gets the hiccups when he laughs too hard. Sometimes even throws up... which I feel bad about, but I think it's pretty funny.
He keeps us on our toes. He's such a good kid and we are so lucky to have him. We get excited the minute we're done with work to rush to go pick him up. I only wish and hope and pray that I can be at home with him more in the future. It's my goal. I just miss him too much.

Goodnight Sweetheart, well it's time to go... ba-doom, ba-doom

Well, we say goodbye to my beloved parents "Granola" tomorrow... sad face. We have had a good time with them and are VERY grateful for their visit. Sleeping on a sloped, crooked bed and the floor and couch have all been worth it. Ben has enjoyed his Pumpa and Mah-ma SO much. He will miss them so much, and so will we.