I started thinking about things that I will miss someday. Don't know why- I don't mean it in a sad or depressing way. There are just some things in life I know wont be the same and I want to remember those moments.
- Ben cuddling with me at night during bottle time. I love it when he plays with my fingers, or looks back to touch my face for just a second I guess to check if I'm still there. Cuddling with his blanket on his face. He'll actually let me rub his head and tickle his face and I love how his heavy eyes get heavier and heavier as I do it.
- After his bath he's pretty ready to go to bed. So getting his jammies on is quite annoying for him. If his towel is still on the changing table he'll snuggle with it on his face like he does with his blanky when it's time for sleep. I can always tell if he's sleepy if he snuggles with something like that. He's ALWAYS done that. I love it.
- Him giggling during nightly prayers at his crib. After bath and bottle we put him in his crib and turn his sleepy music on, and then we say prayers. For some reason he thinks it's funny and will lay there and giggle at me. I think it's super cute.
- He makes this little mouth noise. I wish I could describe it or even do it, maybe I'll be able to get it on video someday- but it's on my list of my 5 favorite Benny sounds.
- He loves his car blanky and his bed blanky. When we put him in the car he automatically grabs his binky and his blanky sometimes with out even looking. Both blankies have about the same texture. He doesn't love any other blanky as much as these two. He puts up with them... but prefers the others.
- Ben loves to say hi to people. BUT he gets sort of shy when they say it to him first. He feels much better about it if he does it first.
- He loves looking out windows and doors. His new thing is crawling up to the windows and if the blinds are down he'll try really hard to move them, or get under them. He doesn't even have time or the interest in playing with them- he just wants to look outside. He loves outside.
- Dropping Cheerios or any food on the floor for "ah-yee", or Ally our dog.
- How he still makes sucking motions with his mouth when he sleeps. STILL.
- The way he puts his binky in his mouth. It's really one of the cutest things (in my humble opinion) to watch.
- Everyday when I go to see him, I call Ryan as I'm walking in so he can hear our interaction with each other. He loves hearing how excited Ben gets to see me. I also always let Ryan say hi to him, and now lately whenever he sees the phone he says "hi!".
- His cute baby laugh and how he gets the hiccups anytime he laughs really hard.
Okay, there's more- but that's good for now. We're all a little worried because my oldest brother Greg is in the hospital and has been in and out of it for the last month or so. He's got incredibly bad migraines and now has heart arrhythmia and getting the two under control is really challenging. I really feel for his wife and girls and can't imagine the stress and worry that it's put on their shoulders. I wish we were there to help. Much love to them.







Here was the cake eating. He liked the frosting a lot more than the actual cake of course. He was pretty cute.


This past weekend we drove to Knoxville, TN to visit my lovely cousin Laura (Lulu) and her family. We left straight after work Friday. I kind of feel bad now looking back on it because I don't think I was myself this weekend and probably wasn't much fun for her. Usually I'd stay up late talking the night I got there- but tired me didn't even think about it and went straight to bed and didn't realize they had stayed up waiting for us to come down after we put Ben down to hang out. SORRY! I didn't sleep so hot that night, so the next day I was TIRED but still had a lot of fun. Laura kept asking if I was alright, and besides being tired I was fine! We went to the Knoxville Zoo and Ben saw some of his first of the Wild Kingdom. We saw Elephants, Giraffes, Zebras, Bears, Lions, Tigers (oh my), a baby chimp, birds of all kinds, gazelles, a hyena, and many, many more... it was fun! Afterwards we went home, Ryan jumped on the trampoline with the kids, we hung out and ate good food and watched a movie. The next morning we woke up to a thin blanket of snow and then it snowed a little in the morning. I loved it! Knoxville really is a pretty place... I could see myself living there. It reminds me a lot of where I grew up in Flagstaff, AZ. It was sad to leave that day... I wish we could have stayed longer- and I really still do feel bad that I was having an "off" weekend. I loved laughing and giggling and being silly with them though. It was a good trip!
I would be lying if I said that the state of the economy isn't worrying us. We are trying to make some very overwhelming decisions in our life to cut down on costs and what we spend our money on. Luckily Ben has started to eat more and more "big boy" foods and is now starting to transition over to milk instead of formula- so we should be able to save a few bucks on that. He's a big fan of french fries, waffles, goldfish, spaghettios, carrots, peaches, and noodles. And he LOVES Ranch or Blue Cheese too, I'll dip my finger in it and then let him suck on it and he does the coolest little tongue thing! It's hilarious! He'll eat the pureed stuff still, but isn't as interested in it. It's so strange realizing my little baby is turning into a little boy and will be walking any day now AND is almost 1 years old! He's got such a cool personality and is so fun to be around. Last night 
I would caption this "What mom?"



