Merry Christmas!

So, I should be in bed. It's 11:00pm. BUT... I had an amazing nap and well, not quite tired yet. The boys are asleep though and we've got the computer in the family room tonight so that we could chat with my family in UT through out the day. SO, it's nice because I'm watching Iron Chef while typing this. I kinda like having the computer in here!

We had a fun/strange day. Not bad strange, just different strange. I had to work during the day Christmas Eve, well until 12:30. It sucked. It was boring and quiet and I missed my boys. That night we drove to Jonesboro with Ryan's parents to Ryan's Aunt Vickie's house and got to see some other family there. It's a family tradition and we missed it last year, so it was good to see everyone again this year. They always make lots of yummy food like lasagna and chili and Uncle Lanny's famous wings. So yummy. After dinner the kids (Ben and his second cousins) opened some gifts, and then we played Dirty Santa. Except for no one was dirty, except for Ryan and I... but it was still fun and we ended up with a $50 Outback gift card! Ben got lots of nice presents from Aunt Vickie and Uncle Tony who were very generous. We enjoyed chatting and enjoying each other's company. Ryan's cousin was a Falcons (the Atlanta football team) cheerleader... I say "was" but I'm not sure if she is going to be again or is or what. Anyway, she's a ball of fun and we watched a little of some shows she was on the local cable stations. Again, it's so great to be around Ryan's family since I don't know them all to well. And they are awesome and kind and generous and welcoming and AWESOME! Ben had a fall while we were there. He was standing on a chair next to the counter and me and of course in the one second I turned away... it tipped back and fell on the ground. He bumped his head but more than anything I think he got scared and my reaction scared him too. He shrieked out in tears and everyone was so worried about him and asking him if he was okay. I put ice on it and Ryan's cousin Jason is a doctor so he made sure he was good, and with in seconds he was back to playing and jumping down stairs! It was also a bit of a struggle to get him to eat, which was incredibly annoying. He's SO fickle when it comes to food. One night he'll pig out- the next he wont eat. And I mean, I get that he's human and maybe he's not in the mood for whatever we're eating- but in our house, you don't really have that option. You eat what we make and if you don't... you go with out. I hate to see him "starve" but I am not going to be a made to order restaurant. Overall, he was well behaved. I had to put him in time out a couple times, but he was pretty good. The threat of no Santa worked! hahaChristmas morning I woke up realizing it was after 8am, and that Ben must be awake and just waiting in his room for us like he normally does on the weekend. But when I went to check in on him he was still sound asleep and I had forgotten that he didn't go to bed until after 10pm the night prior and he was probably still way tired. Ryan was asleep too, so I left Ben to sleep and woke Ryan up and we got everything ready to go for our Christmas morning. He's still young enough that he wasn't SO excited that he couldn't sleep anymore, in fact I don't think he will even be that way next year- but probably the next. I tell you what though, that boy really loves his sleep, so we'll see! We took him to the family room first to do our stockings and to see if he would eat a waffle... the waffle was just an afterthought though- he was TOO excited to do anything but look at all the cool stuff in his stocking. Then we decided to let him go ahead and see what Santa brought him. He was SOOOOOO excited! I'll try and attach video. His face and expression was priceless. He got a motorcycle, a Buzz Lightyear and Woody doll from Santa, movies and clothes from Grandma & Grandpa, a Woody towel from his cousins, books, a puzzle, Lincoln Logs (my choice since I loved those when I was a kid) and some other small things. Ryan got a remote control helicopter and I got a nifty cute camera strap for my camera! We were supposed to have gone over to Nana & Poppy's house after we did our present thing, but Poppy called and said that Nana had been up all night sick. SO... we decided to stay home and hang tight until we heard anything about going over there. We put a movie on after presents and ate a little lunch. We did a chat with my parents and tried to chat with my brother Greg, but to no avail. And then around noon... is starting SNOWING! The last time there was measurable snowfall on Christmas Day in Atlanta was in 1881, when 1.6 inches of snow fell on the city. Amazing! It was so peaceful and pretty and well, it made my heart warm. That was an awesome Christmas present! It was like God knew that I was home sick and that was the best way to comfort me. :) We all took glorious naps... and then quickly realized it wasn't going to be a day with extended family, which... well, was pretty weird. Neither Ryan or I have ever NOT been with family (even if it was with mine or his) for Christmas. It wasn't bad, just different and weird. And, we didn't really have much to eat (that Ryan wanted anyway) so we had to venture out in the snow to find any open restaurants and settled on TGIFridays. Not my idea of a Christmas dinner, but... oh well. It worked and we were together and we had fun. After dinner we came back home and just hung out. Ben played with his toys and we all watched one of his new movies he got from Ashley, "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs". Cute movie. And that brings me back to the beginning. And now I should go to bed. Hope your Christmas was wonderful!

He's Making a List... checking it twice

I should write a quick note while the rice krispie treats are cooling down. Ryan's out home teaching and Ben's in bed. I'm exhausted. It's 2 and a 1/4 days until Christmas... finishing up some last minute goodies... and then- visits tomorrow night with friends and then Christmas Eve with Ryan's family in Jonesboro, GA. I honestly am the most excited to just do NOTHING but be with family and sit around and be happy on Christmas day. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the holidays... but they also wear me out! So does my two year old. He's so sassy these days. [That's weird... a big gust of wind just blew by and it's been a fairly quiet night weather-wise.] Anyway, back to Ben. He's also been SO excited about Christmas this year. He's learned (parts of) Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Jingle Bells and Frosty the Snowman and it's A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!!! We've actually been able to threaten him this year with "okay... I'm going to call Santa right now and tell him not to come!" when he cries and IT REALLY WORKS! He even got to SEE Santa at the Ward (Church) Christmas party Saturday night! He was a little scared at first... but he agreed to sit with him. He, in his true nature, was shy but wanted to show him his mac and cheese t-shirt. He might've even quietly told him he wanted a Woody Doll and a Buzz Doll. He loved going to Church on Sunday and I had a migraine and we almost left, but decided to stay because Ben wanted to go to Nursery SO bad. :) It's cute. He asks if he can go to Church just about every night. We bought him a book about what the real meaning of Christmas is, and that's been nice and a little challenging to make sure we tie that in to our festivities.I am working all this week which stinks... I have NO motivation. But am trying... My boys are going to come and visit me tomorrow so that gives me something to look forward to.
I had a photo shoot last weekend I haven't even been able to touch. And I miss my family. I keep seeing little reminders of Shauna every where I look. I miss her lots, and wish I could send her a gift or call her so she can hear Ben singing his Christmas songs. But I know she's up there watching and smiling. I will miss my parents this year, and hope that they have a wonderful Christmas and that my siblings do as well.
Side Note... not really having anything to do with Christmas- Ben's been using the potty a little more. I don't feel like we've made progress, but we took a few steps back there for a little while and now he's starting to get excited again because of a new trick we came up with... "Potty Pills". (Otherwise known as M&M's!) I've mentioned before we don't give him a lot of candy and so this is definitely a treat for him. He gets three if he goes one or the other, and 6 if he does both. I think he's figuring out that "going" means candy and I am trying to let him know when to think about when he needs to go. Not sure if it'll work or when it will or what... but we're just trying...
I am telling you what, I'm sick of changing a big kid's diaper. There's definitely a difference between a baby's poops and a kids. Ugh.
Well, on that special note- I am going to bed! Overall, I am grateful for this time of year because it truly has brought the Spirit of Christ in to our home. The Lord has been working very SMALL miracles to some, but so important and wonderful to me. Merry Christmas EVERYONE! I probably wont have the chance to post anything until after Christmas, so I hope it is wonderful!

How Neat is that?

ksl.com - Provo firefighters still fighting tabernacle fire (Gallery Viewer)
Obviously, this was a SAD SAD thing to happen. But look at what the firefighters found and how beautiful and miraculous a thing. Whether or not your are LDS like me, I think you'd still find this pretty awesome! Check out these photographs of a painting of Christ that were found in the rubble of the burnt down Provo Tabernacle in UT.

Hey everyone, just a heads-up... it looks like my days of selling Scentsy are possibly over after this month. It's been a little over a year and while I love the product A LOT, I am not producing enough sales for me to keep "active". Hopefully I will be able to sell again in the near future, but for now I just can't manage the time that needs to be put in to it. So with that being said, if you need anything from my Scentsy site, order now because as of the first of the year it may no longer work! (You can also use the site to buy even if you are out of state.) Also, if you need a Scentsy product for a Christmas gift, get your orders in before Saturday the 18th in order for it to get to you in time! Thanks for you support!
Click here to shop!

A pirate Ship

This is Ben's pirate song he still sings. When my cousin and her kids came to visit, Gracie made up the song and Ben has sang it ever since. ("Yo ho ho, going on a pirate ship repeated)

Sunday Decorating

We got a lovely and inexpensive tree from Home Depot this year, gotta love Promos. We got it on Saturday and then decorated it on Sunday. Sunday was a FUN day of decorating the house and getting it ready for Christmas. We turned the TV off and the radio station that plays Christmas music all month long on, and got to work! Well, I mostly did- but that's the way I like it. As Ben says "that's Mommy's tree". Ryan set up the nativities with care and exactly as they showed on the box. Ben help hang an ornament or two... and touch another one or two! He was SO excited all morning long. He and Ryan ate popcorn and sat on the floor with blankets and watched me decorate and we talked about Santa and Jesus and sang to the music. Ben helped me hang the stockings, and when I said "Do you want to help me hang stockings?" he quickly sat down and started to take his sock off all the while saying "yes, yes I help". I told him not THOSE stockings, and thought it was extremely adorable.

I really love each and every one of my ornaments, most if not all have a special place in my heart and special meaning.That night the crew came over. Ryan made a fire in the fire place (for the first time since we've lived in the house in almost 4 years) and I made Wassail and were able to watch the Christmas Devotional. There was reindeer brownies and hot cocoa too! It was a lovely and Christmassy day! I loved EVERY bit of it! Happy Holidays friends and family!

much needed update

I have a lot to catch up on:

-The week before Thanksgiving
The week before Thanksgiving, Ben and I weren't feeling so hot. Ben had a tight cough and wasn't eating much and just wasn't a happy kid. And the cough wasn't getting better. Tuesday I woke up with a sore throat but didn't think anything of it until Wednesday when I woke up and my throat was super swollen and I was talking weird and couldn't really swallow. Despite the cost of our copay we decided both me and Ben needed to go to the doc. Too bad it's not the same one, because that meant $80 in copays for the day. Yikes! Well, turns out Ben had Bronchiolitis and a touch of Pneumonia and I had strep... random! I haven't had strep in YEARS. That was a LONG day of doc's visits and running to the pharmacy twice, not fun by any means. Luckily antibiotics are free at Publix! Poor Ben's temp rose from 101 to 102 in the doc's office and I got really worried about it. After some Tylenol, animal crackers and a breathing treatment he was good to go and had plenty of energy. One of the saddest things I've ever seen. He did SO good with the breathing treatment though. It makes me wonder if Ben will be prone to asthma. A lot of people in my family have it. I sure hope not. Anyway, we vegged out what was left of the day Wednesday and then Thursday and I had to go back to work on Friday. I was glad we were able to find out BEFORE our Thanksgiving trip and not during.

I just have to note, that the following Saturday we needed to get some yard work done. This was before it started getting very cold and there were A LOT of leaves that needed to be cleaned up. I have to say that's one thing about Georgia that I love/hate. It's cute and all Fall-like, but a pain in the butt to clean up those darn leaves. BETTER though than having to pick up pine needles like we had to in Flag where I grew up. Putting them in trash bags was like putting well... real needles in! Anyway, it was a fun day and it just really felt like FALL which is one of my fav seasons. It was one of those days where I was in a place and world where it seemed like what I pictured life as a family woman to be like. Raking leaves in my front yard with my husband, while my son drove his tractors down the driveway... watching Ryan set a board up at the end of the driveway so that the tractors wouldn't go in the street since our drive way is a tad bit uphill. It was just a neat surreal moment and I loved it. (End scene. hahaha)

-CHRISTMAS!
Well, Christmas season is in full swing. Our trip to Chicago seemed to give us a jump start on feeling the Christmas Cheer. And this year Ben is SOOOOO excited about it. Just all of it; the lights, the decorations, the music, Santa, Snowmen, anything that remotely resembles Christmas time usually follows with "mommy! Look at that Christmas!” It's freaking ADORABLE. He keeps telling people "Santa bring me toys and books!" He's missing the part of the deal where he's supposed to be using the potty completely by then- but oh well, it's still really cute. We put up the decorations this weekend and he was just in heaven. I am so glad, I hope his Christmas Spirit continues because it really does bring it in the home and makes us that much more excited for it as well. Saturday we bought our awesome $20 tree from Home Depot and didn't get to decorate it until Sunday. I had to run errands for quite some time Saturday and left Ben home with daddy, and much to my surprise Ryan had put up the lights out on the house and after Ben's nap Ryan took him out to see and Ryan said he had a look of utter amazement.

Sunday we let him help hang some ornaments. (Another post to come about our FABULOUS Christmas filled Sunday!) I taught him that if he felt like he wanted to touch that he needed to put his hands behind his back. He remembers at first, and then forgets... but I only put ornaments on the bottom that I don't really care about. I just want him to learn to treat things nice and that Mommy's tree is HANDS OFF! Hahaha. Ryan said "Ben, those are mommy's prized possessions... don't touch". That's about right! After his nap Sunday the tree was all decorated and lit and again, utter amazement. Then jumping up and down and clapping, which I've mentioned before doesn't happen from that kid very often, so that's when you know he is IN LOVE. Even last night when we got home we plugged it in and got the same reaction. Too cute. I love it and am so happy he's in to it. Next challenge, keeping wrapped gifts under the tree. I'll keep you updated. He's also really in to Christmas movies too, particularly Elf. The other night I had him sitting on the potty and out of no where he quoted the movie. The part where he burps for a long time and says "Did you hear that?!" He does an impressive burping impersonation. I have yet to get him to do it on video well, but what I do have is still cute. He's starting to memorize more lines from it, probably because we watch it like everyday.

-Baby Savannah

Well, last Thursday December 2nd, Ashley and Jacob welcomed their beautiful little girl in to their family. She was 8lbs 9oz and 20 inches long. Of course, she is beautiful and adorable and cute and all other things good. We, the Smiths, are super excited to have her as our "niece". We got to go visit her lots and they are home now getting used to their new life with a child of their own. They are both completely in love and head over heels for her. This is how it should be of course. Jacob is just adorable with her and Ashley already has the mom thing down and is amazing. We couldn’t be happier for them and I just can’t even wait to see that cute little thing again!

-I am a camera. C amera, camera.
We finally got a new little camera. I know another one? Well, our little point and shoot that we’ve had for years has had it. It still works…ju st not well. I would say a good 75% of the pictures are blurry and it’s just been dropped too many times. We’ll probably end up letting Ben play with it. We got a Canon SD1400 and it’s awesome. It has so many cool features and it’s nice to have a nice SMALL camera that can just fit in my purse as opposed to lugging around my big one everywhere we go.

Another Wonderful Chicago Thanksgiving!

(Sorry in advance for all of the collages, it was just easier to get as many pictures in as possible)

My sister Delinda moved from her first apartment she lived in Chicago, to a new one this Summer and because we had so much fun last year and wanted to see her new place- we asked if we could come for Thanksgiving again this year and she said "yes!" Sadly Jen couldn't be there, we switched places with her and she came here to visit her family.We left noon on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving for the long drive. I had the day off but Ryan had to work so Ben and I dropped him off in the morning and then got some things taken care of before we picked Ryan back up and jumped right on the road. The drive from here to Chicago is supposed to take 12 hours, but with a 2 year old, potty stops and a stop to pick up the new camera ON TOP of pretty awful rain downpours in Indiana... it took us 14 hours. We got there at 2am. Better than 5am like last year though. So, we took a look around the apartment which is schnazzy and then went to sleep. Thanksgiving day we mostly took it easy besides cooking, and even that wasn't a big deal. Delinda and I had to run to the store but other than that we stayed in. It was chilly! Ben was a little bit of a stinker that day. I attempted to cut his hair and he wouldn't sit still and was kind of a poop head about it. So he ended up with a not-so-cute hair cut. I mean, he was just probably tired from the trip and was in a new place and so he was cranky. Anyway, Ryan had asked if maybe we could try something different for Thanksgiving this year. He was sort of sick of the typical turkey dinner. DJ and I still wanted Turkey so we still made that and then I made Ryan a Baked Ziti. Delinda made the turkey and I helped with the sides and made a Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake. The food was DELISH! I even managed to make (from memory) my dad's Creamed Corn. I was pretty proud of myself. There are two pass downs from my dad that we've got to keep going and that's Creamed Corn and his famous Fudge. Thanksgiving night we watched a movie and just hung out.Friday, we bundled up and ventured out in to the city. Ben was super excited to ride the bus and the train. We even got to see a REAL "choo choo" when we were waiting for the train in to the city. The conductor even tooted his horn and dinged his bell for Ben. It was pretty awesome. Once we got to the city we mostly just walked around and did a little shopping. We ran in to some Fur Protesters, AGAIN (we saw them last year too), and saw the windows at Macy's and went in Macy's for a minute. We mostly walked around, it was pretty darn cold though so we stopped in a Dunkin Donuts at one point for something warm to drink and a snack. Before we went in, a man who was asking for helping asked for some change to get a cup of hot coffee. Delinda decided to just buy him a cup and took it out to him. He came in a little while and was very grateful to her and then went out to see what else he could ask for. I was very touched when from watching inside I say a man stop to give him some money, and when choosing between a $1 bill and a $10 bill- he chose the 10. The man asking for the money I think was taken back by it too said a million thank you's shook the mans hand and then they hugged. Delinda and I watched the whole thing and just got so misty eyed. It was neat that he didn't even hold back, didn't ask why, didn't say he didn't have anything- he just did it. I thought it was neat and wanted to remember that. After the donut shop we attempted to walk up the see the river, but got across the street from it but the wind was SO strong and COOOOOOLLLLDDDD that we turned right back around and headed for the "Bean" and the Art Institute of Chicago Museum instead. We'd even thought about taking a tour of the city on a boat the next day, but it was just too cold and Ben was still getting over his respiratory stuff and we thought it might not be a good idea. Anyway, we saw the bean and museum last year- but it's still terrific, and free. :) It's always nice to have connections! We spent a good amount of time in the museum, luckily Ben was pretty well behaved and he even enjoyed it I think. He was quiet when he needed to be and didn't touch when he wasn't supposed to. Only thing was he wanted to be held... like ALL the time. I think he liked the Mayan exhibit the best. If you look carefully in the collage of the things we saw there, you'll see the room that was in Ferris Bueller's Day Off when Cameron is staring at that HUGE painting on the wall. After the museum, it started to get somewhat late so we went to get some Chicago deep dish pizza at Exchequer and Ryan got a deep dish pizza. I had a piece it was pretty delish! There was the most awesomeness waiter there with highlighted hair and those sunglasses/glasses with the jewels on top? He was so charismatic and sure of himself. Delinda and I got a kick out of him. After that we were all pooped and tired from walking so we got back on the train and rode home. Ben sat by DJ and it was cute to see him looking like a pro city boy sitting on the metro with his Auntie.
Pictures from our day.
A picture from the train station.Saturday we decided to stay as warm as possible, so we took a drive up Lake Shore Drive along Lake Michigan and saw a bunch of different parts of town. We got up to Northwestern University and a cool light house not too far from there. There was a playground so we decided to stop for Benny. It was too cold to stay out for too long though, and Ben was pretty ticked that we had to leave the play ground and one of my "keep myself sane" tactics is to walk away and ignore (kind of, I'm not really- I'm just pretending because really who can ignore screaming and carrying on like that?)... so I did this, Delinda beside me and Ryan ahead. Ryan turned around and yelled "Heather! Ben!" I turned around and the poor kid is standing in the FREEZING cold with his pants down around his ankles! I felt SO horrible, but it was pretty funny too. He "chilled out" after that, hahaha! We got him in the WARM car quickly with daddy while Delinda and I explored a little more...well, for as long as we could stand the cold anyway. We headed back home, trying to find a good hot dog place like HotDoug's, but the stupid people were closed for the weekend. So we went somewhere else and it was just "meh", not super great. Drove around some more, went through China Town and then went back to DJ's place to do some family photos for literally like 10 mins. It was TOOOOOOO COLD. We got a couple cute ones. That night we went downtown to the Christkindlmarket (which is SUPER busy and crowded and crazy). It was fun...just too crowded. But I wanted to get some ornaments, we saw the nativity scene and then left. But it was also nice to have that feeling of Christmas all around us.We watched a movie and ate popcorn and went to bed early, we had a long drive home Sunday. Which actually went quite well except for the the 30 min tantrum in slow moving traffic in the middle of nowhere Kentucky. This was a quiet moment, which there weren't very many of. Ben hardly slept at all for a 12 hour drive. We made it home safe and sound. Had a lovely time, and can't wait to go back. We really enjoy Chicago!

Family Time

We had a visit my cousin Laura (Lulu) and her two kids last weekend. We had a terrific time and only wish they could have stayed longer. It's always good to have visitors (hint, hint) and especially family visitors! (hint, hint!)

I think this photo is adorable and captures just how much fun Ben and Aidan had together. Ben really enjoyed having another big kid come in his room to play or to go out in the back with. They had a good time cracking each other up and it was awesome to hear them talking to one another. Ben said to Aidan on Sunday morning "we gotta go to Church!" and Aidan said "I know!"
Grace was super cute and fun to talk to, she could talk circles around me ANY day- but then so could her mom... haha! I loved hearing about her best friends and her concern with how weird it was that the fire hydrants were silver and not red or yellow.
We went to the mall for a little shopping, lunch and entertainment... that is until my little guy started being, how do you say it nicely... a poop stain. We took a small trip (which the kids fell asleep on the way to) Uncle Shucks for a hayride through the corn and then to the bonfire where we roasted marshmallows and then quickly got back on the hayride because it was a tad bit chilly and we weren't really prepared for the cold! We had fun though, Ben is STILL talking about riding on the tractor.
After sacrament meeting Sunday, we said farewell... sniff, sniff. I hope that we can see them again soon! I sure love my Lulu and appreciate her.

Funny Benny

• I just told Ben that I needed to give him more medicine for his head. And he said pointing to his head "no on my head mommy! in my mouth!"

• Last night when we were waiting for Ryan to come home we were waiting some TV and a Ghirardelli chocolate commercial came on where the lady eats one of those chocolate squares? And Ben said "No eat that! You eat dinner FIRST!" furiously pointing at the TV!

Fantastic Weekend

Started off the weekend with me getting to leave work early, which as I was pulling away I declared my excitement for the new found freedom I felt! I met Martha and Ashley at a restaurant called Brio for lunch. The food was delicious and of course the company was terrific, unfortunately the service was HORRIBLE. But we had a nice visit, I complained to the manager (because apparently I do that...) and we got a coupon for a free appetizer sometime. Not sure when I'll be back now that I don't have $5 off coupons... but we'll see. So after lunch I met up with a photography client to give her a disc of pictures, then zoomed off to Ben's daycare to attend his "Fall Festival". They had a fun snack and allowed the kids to wear their costumes. They asked the parents to put the costumes in a bag in the child's cubby so they could put it on them after nap time. When I got there, I saw Ben's class sitting by the door- but I couldn't' find Ben. So I looked around feeling dumb that I couldn't even spot my own child, but no pirates in sight. So I asked the teacher where he was and She said "he's right here, in his football costume!" and at that moment some child in a football costume was talking to me... and I was like "football costume?! Oh that's not his!" and then recognized my own child... in this random football costume that he looked pretty cute in. But it was NO "piyate"! So I quickly had to take him in his classroom and put his pirate costume on instead. Hopefully no random little kid was without! Oh well. Basically... he just wanted to go home after he ate the snacks they had. Apparently the teachers stashed away and hid the cookies I brought... his teacher said to me "If Ben S.'s mom made those, hide them!" haha! I guess... they've had my cookies before but I don't remember taking any to them?? It's quite possible, because I just don't remember much these days... Here he is with one of his teachers Miss Jessica.

Anyway, after we left we went to the Kroger (a grocery store, like Smith's for all you out West) to pick up some stuff for company that night. They were having all sorts of activities for kids there, unfortunately we couldn't stay long enough to participate in any except for face painting. Ben got a pumpkin on his face and he loved it. He wanted to call daddy and show him! I had to explain that we had to take a picture to show him, not call him. :) Anyway, that night the Terry's and the Elton's came over for dip night. I just have to say that I am so grateful for our friends. I know that I mention that a lot... but with my family so far away I really feel so grateful for our friends who are like brothers and sisters to me. They all love and take care of Ben like he's their nephew and just part of the family. And he ADORES them too. Anyway, Saturday morning I just have to remember a great moment- I had the window open because it was a nice cool night so I was all warm and snuggly in the covers. Ryan woke up way before I did that morning and so did Ben. I woke up to a cute little dude crawling on top of me to lay next to me. I slept a little more and Ben watched cartoons. He gave me lots of kisses and we giggled a lot too. I just love that kid. And I LOVE moments like that! it was like the perfect morning. Because of that, it was hard to get out of bed. But I had a family photo shoot that morning and then we kind of took easy that afternoon. That night we went to our Church Trunk-or-Treat. We had lots of fun, wish we could have stayed longer but for the time we were there I got to meet a few new people and Ben got to show off his cute costume and hang out with his buddy Aubrey. They had delish chili that I enjoyed (not Ryan; not a big Chili with beans fan) and cornbread and they had a costume parade I walked with Ben in, and a jump house that Ben sadly missed out on. There were too many big kids in the big one and not enough room in the small one. Ane then... we had to leave RIGHT as they were starting the trunk-or-treating because Ryan and I had tickets to Weezer at 8pm. We took Ben to Nana and Poppy's house for a slumber party.
We had a good time at the Weezer concert, specifically Ryan. We saw them at Chastain Park Amphitheater this time and it was a little cool that night. Luckily we brought a blanket and were able to cuddle up. We moved from the lawn seats down to the regular seats too because the show wasn't sold out and well... the seats were better! The lead singer Rivers Cuomo kinda went a little crazy and walked around out in the audience a lot while he was singing. He came within a few rows of us... um yah, we're totally cool old people. It was funny to see the girls who touched him holding their hands up screaming they'd never wash their hands again. Oh to be a kid again.
Sunday morning, we decided to welcome the idea of sleeping in and did so... well until Ryan couldn't stand being away from Benny anymore. We took it easy that day I think... I think our home teacher came over, yes he did. Then we prepared for the trick-or-treaters that night. We didn't get to hand out too much candy because we took Ben out to a few houses and then over to the Terry's in Marietta. This time I remembered to draw him a goatee and mustache on. (Was that proper English? I don't think so... but I'm leaving it!) It was a FUN and busy weekend. But it was one of the funnest ones I've had in a while, where I truly enjoyed myself!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! ARG MATEY!

Updates

For no particular reason, other than looking at decorations, I just got SUPER excited TO decorate for Christmas! I know, I know... it isn't even Halloween yet... or Thanksgiving... I'll wait. I just got excited.

So, more on the thunder triggering Ben to want to sleep... last night he was wired up pretty good. Well, I mean he's 2 and is a little boy and is just always in the mood to play. We had all the lights off in the family room except for the tv, and were down on the floor with him talking to him and playing and getting ready for bed. I was having to roll him back over to his back about 5 times just to get his diaper off and a new one on. He escaped between the off and back on period... rolling around like a crazy naked monkey! After diaper and jammies were on he was sitting on Ryan's back watching tv and Ryan suddenly said "Was that thunder?", instantly... he ran to me and sat in my lap and cuddled up to be and said "I got to sleep mommy". He then hurried and got up for his "Duh-reeky" (Translation: Blankey) and we all went to his room so he could go to bed. So now... 1. is he afraid of the thunder, and feels like the only way to make it "go away" is to sleep? OR 2. does he just feel so comforted by the rain and thunder sounds that it makes him WANT to sleep? And so he thinks that he HAS to go to bed when it's like that? When and if it's REALLY raining outside, he sleeps like a ROCK. If it's during nap time, he sleeps for like 3 hours. I don't know... but whatever it is, we think it's HILARIOUS! And quite cute too. Because I really don't want him to be afraid of the thunder and lightning. I was as a kid; I'd sleep in my parents room on the floor, like practically under their bed when it was like that outside. I just don't want him to fear it like I did. So what are your thoughts? Should we get him the rain/thunder soundtrack as before mentioned by my cousin in the comments? I think so... you know, mixed in with his normal nighttime music! So quirky... I love it.
-Right now, Ben is talking A LOT. And really well. He's starting to be helpful too which is good. He's really getting the hang of his colors, I was worried for a minute. He likes to quiz me like I quiz him. I'll ask him what some colors or shapes are, and then he'll start asking me and he'll even occasionally say "good!".

-We've been working really hard on not allowing him to ask for things with "I want...", that's not okay. So we've been teaching him he needs to ask "Can I have a cracker" or "Can I have more water" or whatever. For a long time we'd say hoping he'd repeat after us "Can... I..." and instead of repeating he'd nod his head and say "HAVE..." we could do this over and over again!! So funny. But now he's got it and when he says it right I usually say "yes you can!" so now he says "Can I have cats, please? Yes you can!".
-He's counting pretty good, although after 4 he starts saying 7 or 9 a lot. For example: "1...2...3...4...7...9...7!" He was playing with Play-dough yesterday and I made some "snakes" for him, 5 to be exact... and he counted all of them correctly by himself!
-He WAS doing really good on the potty at home, and not so well at school. Now it's turned the opposite way. Good at school, and maybe I'm too lax at home. Either way- he'll get it when it's right, when he's 3 and not completely potty trained I'll worry. My hopes are obviously, that it wont get to that point!
-He's kind of in to pirates right now. He has a pirate towel and he's going to be a pirate for Halloween and even the other night when I was changing his diaper on a blanket, he took the corner and covered his eye with it and said "Look Mommy! I a pirate!". I turned on Pirates of the Caribbean the other day, and decided it wasn't worth letting him watch it because I had to skip through a lot of parts so he wouldn't get scared. He didn't seem scared, and actually really enjoyed it- but it's still a little too grown up for him. So I think I might get the Muppet's Treasure Island.... that should be pirate-y enough!
-He says a lot of things with a Boston sounding accent... like his "R's" aren't a true R sound. It's cute. I'll have to see if I can get some video of it. Like he says "Duwty" instead of dirty and "whoa whoa whoa your boat...", but not all of his R's sound like that. I like it though... of course.
-He loves Cars the movie and the song Life is a Highway from it. He can sing it pretty good, well the chorus anyway. He really loves music. He loves singing, and has pretty good pitch. Which, I'm so happy about. He likes the songs "Sound of Settling", "Could You Be Loved", "Life is a Highway" (obviously), primary songs, "C is for Cookie", and a lot of others.

-Ben is beginning to recognize his family in pictures and learn their names. The other night he was looking through a photo album picture frame we have sitting out and I heard him say "my mommy!" and "Uncle John" and a few other people. I was super proud of him when he could show me everyone in our family picture I have in his room of my family. I make sure to make it a point that he knows who Shauna is also, even though she's gone now.
-At night lately when we says prayers, he's been starting to interject who he wants me to bless next. It's usually "Ben, Mommy, Daddy" and then maybe Ashley and Jacob and Grandma and Grandpa. Last week during Sacarment meeting he said "Amen" really loud during a talk when he thought that the man speaking was finishing up, but really wasn't! At least he knows!

-oh! starting almost two weeks ago, we got Ben in his big boy bed at night! Well, he calls it his "School Bus Bed". He insists that it's a school bus, not a car bed. So Please... don't call it a car. He's done really well! We decided not to make it a big deal, so he didn't- and he's rocked it. Other than not being able to take naps on it on the weekends sometimes, he's slept really well in it. One night he couldn't find his blankey and woke up crying and screaming for it. I went to his room to find out what was wrong and he cried saying "My duh-reeky! My duh-reeky!". We still need to get him a Cars blankey, because we promised him one- but he hasn't asked, so maybe for Christmas. (this is one of the few times he actually napped, but he wasn't feeling well...so that's probably why)
-He loves his pets. last night he asked for Ally to be on his bed. Then about 2 mins later wanted her to get up, and she wouldn't because she was comfy and he said "Tell her mommy! tell her!". But this morning he got her a treat all by himself. I didn't even have to ask him either- although he asked me to make sure it was OK. It's just what we do every morning. He turns off the TV and gives Ally her treat. Those are his responsibilities. :)

-One of his new things, because I apparently say it A LOT is saying "Mmm-hmm!" instead of yes. I just asked him if he was eating and he said "MMMHMMM". He's cute.

There are a lot of other little things that are so cute that he does. There's A LOT of not so cute things he does too. He's full on in to the tantrums and cries EVERY TIME we say "no" or anything that resembles no, which usually ends up with him in time out in his room or something. He's definitely turning into a little boy, sound affects and all. So far, he's not mischeavious though, and I'm REALLY grateful for that. I have to remember sometimes... that boys are not the most gentle cuddly things in the world though- and that's OKAY!

VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!

I saw this contest in my emails a while back and wanted to enter it, but didn't feel like I had the right picture to capture Ben. So I took some yesterday really quick and entered him in the GAP Casting Call contest. Eh- why not? Go and vote for Benny please!
http://www.gapcastingcall.com/GapCastingCall/EntryDetail.html?id=966065
THIS is the picture I wanted to submit, but didn't work for some reason.
So handsome huh?