I have the day off tomorrow, not because I'm sick- but because I get to visit with friends! Oh and I have to go see the girl doctor since I was supposed to Monday and was holed up in bed trying to get over my previous night's bout with the flu. I plan to visit my good friend Cecilia and her little guy and Ashley's going to pick Jiznin up to come up and see us! Yay!
We've had an okay week. The beginning of it- not so much. Tuesday we were still recovering, Wednesday we had a fun time over at the Terry's celebrating Jacob's b-day. The boys played Madden and I chased the kid around a little and he played on their cute new white piano and LOVED it. And got to see a cute new little baby Olivia. She's adorable. :)
Tonight I went visiting teaching and Ryan and Ben had a manly men bonding experience. Ryan cut Ben's hair and gave him a bath and put him down to bed. I enjoy chatting with the ladies and so that's a nice little thing to do once a month. We missed one of the girls we were supposed to visit, I guess maybe she forgot! That happens!

-does anyone else hate how long it takes just to get in to your mail on hotmail anymore?
-I STILL don't like the new U2 or Pearl Jam songs... I have cannot be convinced. I'm sorry.
-I tend to agree with Kelly and couldn't have said it better!
-we live close to the Verizon Amphitheater that's in Alpharetta... all I have to say right now is why does Judas Priest have to be so loud? Ryan just opened the back door and said "Heather, come here...I know this song". That's just how loud it is. (It's Saturday now, and it's loud AGAIN.)
-I love Kohl's. And I love that I used the $10 gift card they sent in the mail today to buy and bath rug and only paid $1.33 for it.

The Itsy-bitsy Spider...

I tell you what... me, Ryan AND especially Ben will be glad when all those toofies come in. There's a pattern; teething, growth spurt, teething, growth spurt, teething... get the picture? He just finished a happy-Benny growth spurt and everything was sunshine and lollipops and pig outs and lots of sleep, and now- the molars. Ech... poor kid has been miserable today. And to boot has a HORRRRRRRIIIIIIBBBBBBLLLLLEEEE rash on his bum and poor little boy balls. :( He snuggled a long time with me tonight and I sang "Go to Sleep My Baby" and lots of primary songs to him... he almost fell asleep. I love when he wants to snuggle with me, so I take full advantage of that! He's sleeping like a champ now.He says "nose" now-only with out the "se" on the end. He says don't, no-no, shhh, and I'm pretty sure it's "poop" he says now too. Twice when he's had a poopy diaper he's said something VERY similar to the word... so I think that's what it means! Leave it to my kid to learn to say poop! He's able to feed himself with a spoon or fork, so to get him to eat his veggies I give him a bowl of (baby food) veggies and let him go to town. We remove clothing, and he eats them, has fun and makes a mess- most importantly he gets what he needs! He's all green and goobery and cute here.Not much else happening. Oh, there's a ginormous spider out on the deck right now. Kind of cool and gross all at the same time.I'm really, really ready for Labor Day to be here. I am a little worn out with work. Our friend Jennifer got home from Mongolia today. Or she's supposed to anyway, haven't heard the latest. Ashley and I are hoping to go visit next week possibly. Love to you all.

Ben eating a lemon

He's so cute.

I guess it's time to update. I haven't been much in the mood to, although I've had a lot of really good thoughts I have wanted to share. But I don't remember them anymore now!
One thing that's been kind of hard of me is Ben is starting to have a little bit of an issue with kicking, biting and hitting. This not only makes me mad it makes me sad too. I know it's normal and almost every kid goes through it- that doesn't mean I have to like it. He's been sent home twice now with "Incident Reports" because he's bitten someone. Sometimes he'll snuggle his face in my legs when I'm wearing pants and bite my pants. He's started to kick at me when I change his diaper and has gotten in trouble with Daddy for that. And today I was holding him and he wanted down and I wouldn't let him because we were in front on the daycare waiting for Ryan to come and he slapped my face with both hands. I know it's kind of silly for me to be upset because he's so little... but I don't want this to become the beginning of bad habits and notions of how he treats people-especially his mommy. He's testing his limits and that's normal... I just want to be patient and stern at the same time and I'm assuming this will be my next challenge as a mommy! It's really important to me to make sure he and I get along but that he respects me and Ryan as his parents. And any adult really. I was taught and raised to respect my elders and I will expect that out of my kids as well.
Delinda made it to Chicago today. That girl... she somehow finds herself in a series of unfortunate events. She had a run in with a cop and an impound lot and then her car unfortunately met a pole but not in a good way, which dislodged the bumper that came undone while driving to stay in Louisville, KY that had to be tied up with the string from a mesh laundry bag! They had to sneak Kidder, her dog, in to the hotel room in a suitcase since pets weren't allowed! Then Louisville was experiencing major flooding and storms and I said to her, "wouldn't be appropriate if your car just floated off?" Luckily it didn't and they made it to Chicago safe and sound. She's starting a new adventure in her life and I'm so proud of her. I will miss her SO much. I know she's gone and left me for AZ and Africa before, but for some reason this feels more permanent. I'm just glad she has plenty of people to visit here in Atlanta so I know she'll be coming often. I find comfort in that. PLUS I've always wanted to visit Chicago so it'll be fun to go and see her digs. We got to hang out with her and Jen on Saturday night. She brought Kidder over and Ben is TERRIFIED of her for some reason, so we watched Kidder torment Ally and Ben be afraid of her for a little while. He started to get more and more used to her but still didn't really like her being around.We're counting down the days to 1. the arrival of our friend Jiznin (Jennifer G.) getting home from her mission to Mongolia. I can't believe it's already been that long, and it'll be cool because the last time she got to see Ben was when he was still in my tummy. And 2. going to Destin, FL for Labor day! I need something to look forward to and this is just the thing for me. We're going with The Terry's and Clint and maybe Jennifer if she's up to it and possibly another couple of friends. I'm excited to see how Ben does at the beach and to even to just GO to the beach. We'll be staying in the same condo that we stayed in a couple years ago for Memorial Day. So we're excited. Should be lots of fun.
This past Sunday after dinner, we headed over to Jacob's parents house. They have loads of land and it's all beautiful and kept beautifully but also very rugged. His dad had a burn permit so we went and made a bonfire and made S'Mores. It was a lot of fun. One thing that I LOVE about the summer time in the South is the lightning bugs (or fireflies)! I am so excited my kids get to grow up around them. It was kind of hot and humid for a fire, it had been raining all day... but it was still way fun and enjoyable. I didn't have the camera so iPhone pictures will have to do. It makes me excited to finally get to go camping this Fall. We love the Fall in our group of friends... there's SO much fun stuff to do. Camping, pumpkin patches, apple festivals, the leaves changing and nice drives, corn mazes, the Holidays... we're almost there which honestly freaks me out. It's AUGUST people! School starts in our county next week! Weird.
More photos of Ben playing in the pool. It was nice and toasty from being in the sun this time.
It's late... off to bed.

What we did this weekend so far:
-ate frozen pizza and then watched Bedtime Stories last night.
-we all woke up at 9am and then gave Ben some breakfast.
-did yard work and housework.
-drove to help Delinda pack her 1 million books... seriously felt like it. She could open up her own library! (Did I mention I will miss her?)
-ate lunch (kind of late, sorry Ben!), Ben got his first balloon courtesy of Miss Ann at Chick-fil-a, mommy let it slip from her hands while getting in the car and it floated away while daddy was more upset that it was gone then Ben was!
-ran some errands; went to get me some shorts/capris- found a comfy pair, shopped for some other essentials.
-rested and let Ben nap
-filled up our new pool we got him, unfortunately the water was too cold to play in and by the time we got out there to play the sun was going down... until next time.-ate at Taco Mac
-saw a beautiful sunset with the BIG ORANGE SUN.
-put "The Dude" to bed, he was WORN out but still wanted to play and laugh with me even until we left his room.-watched Food Network, went to Facebook, and now writing this post.
I should go to bed. It's almost midnight... I'm pretty worn out from a kid who has been WHINING for like 4 days straight. Tomorrow we'll do the Church thing and then have the peeps over for dinner. PIZZA NIGHT! Then it's off to another week of work....my how the weekends pass us by so quickly.

Don't Worry, About a Thing...

Why is it okay that the summer is quickly vanishing away before our very eyes? It's already closing on the last week of July and it seems like time has just flown by!
I stayed home today with my Benny. He had a fever yesterday and ralphed on the way to daycare in the morning. He was fine though once we got there. Then after nap he had another fever, so we had to go pick him up. He had another one at 1am and I've been feeling a little like I'm getting a cold so he and I stayed home. He went down for a morning nap, and about 40 mins after he went down, so did I! And oh...my...gosh... I NEEDED THAT. It was a beautifully perfect nap. The bed was comfy and cool, I slept and didn't worry about needing to make sure I woke up if he did, it rained a little outside which made the snuggling even better.... ah man, it was just what the doctor ordered. We went for a little walk, Ben loves to go outside and took me by the hand to both the front AND back door trying to get me to take him outside. SO we walked up the street with the dog and it was kind of "sprinkling" if you could even call it that. But by the time we got back to the house and the driveway it started to rain again. So it was perfect timing. After his second nap he was pretty grumpy and I think in pain, so after the Ibuprofen kicked in he was happy again. AS you can see above- we did a little coloring too. He's still getting the hang of it, and got bored after a while. But that's okay, "every little bit counts said the old lady as she peed in to the sea" (as my mom says).
DJ came over to hang out tonight and that was great. She's leaving for Chicago soon, and it makes my heart very sad. I love my sister SO much and will miss her immensely. It has been great having her here in Georgia with me. I don't want to talk about it anymore, because I don't feel like crying right now when my nose is already stuffed up.
So what's new? Eh... not much really. Both of us are still working, day by day. Same thing, different day. What keeps us going and happy is our guy. He makes life interesting, exciting, crazy and wonderful. He's getting really good at saying things that sound like what he's really trying to say, like "thank you", "all done", "bee" for tree. His vocabulary is getting bigger but my favorite is still to hear his gibberish talk. Ryan's favorite is when he says "bye-bye!" and waves! He refuses to eat with utensils at daycare, but refuses to eat WITH OUT them here at home! I'm still having the "no eating vegetables" battle with him- but I need to try a different method out. I read in a Parenting magazine to wait until he's STARVED and give him those first. But he's pretty stubborn and I don't want to fight him too much. He'll at least eat the baby food kind- but he's almost a year and a half and getting too old for that. He's getting something though, so I guess that's good. I'm thinking part of his not feeling good today is from getting more teeth. I will be happy when all those little buggers come in- but I think we've got a long way to go. He whined a lot today, so Nichole- I think I know how you feel... a little! I think I'll head to bed, back to work again tomorrow.

Our Little Monkey

It's official... he knows how to climb. Oh boy...

Utah Pictures

These are all in St. George with my parents.

Zion's National Park with my parents and John & Clau's family.Visiting my sister Shauna and brother Greg and his family.

You can see in the above collage Greg's bleeding chin from when Brookie's tooth came out when she hit him coming down from being thrown in the air! She's got it in the top left corner!

(We also stopped at the temple too.)This was Ryan's birthday. We went with the Webb's and Andrea and Travis up to the mountains and saw a moose and had a pizza pic-nic and enjoyed each other's company! I really miss those guys and having them around. AND I miss just taking a drive up to the mountains so easily too.

This is when we went back to Las Vegas and met up with the Christensen's. I am so glad we got to see them and meet Nichole. I hope we are friends with them for years to come. They are great people, and Chris in particular changed our life as a family FOREVER! Score for you Chris!

How Lovely to be a Woman...

Ashley and I had a lunch date today, we went and got pedicures. I was afraid the little ladies there were going to reject me because my feet are so nasty and just messed up. BUT they didn't! I got in! They allowed me to sit in the comfy massaging chair and pedicured away on my itty-bitty nasty feet. While we were there, we enjoyed the names of the nail polish to choose from; Copper Mountain Copper, Berry Berry Broadway, To Eros is Human... what in the world? Who names those things anyway? One was a silvery purple kind, and it was called Russian Sage. Why?
Anyway, we also enjoyed the music if you could even call it that. It was nothing less than amusing!!! It seriously sounded like what Ashley said, a "Nokia ring tone circa 1999"! It was so annoying! But funny. We giggled a lot, and it was lots of fun. At one point, before the lady painted my toes she put the paper towels in to seperate them and it made it look like I only had 4 toes. It made us laugh too! I had to capture the moment.

The point is, I am pretty much a big fan of Ashley and having fun moments like that with her and just being silly girls, because WE CAN. :) She makes me laugh and I am so grateful for her! I would be a very sad girl with out her... a girl's gotta have friends too.

Count Your Blessings, name them one by one...

Ryan and I have SO many things to be grateful for. We have a wonderful house, good vehicles, food, clothes, beds, running water, air conditioning, etc. I think of lots of people in the world who have MUCH less than we do- and realize just how luck we are to be young and have the things we do. We are blessed beyond belief. It's good for me to have reminders of this occasionally, and last night I had a few of them. First, we had wonderful home teachers come by with a watermelon and to share a quick scripture with us. We had our usual "Sunday Dinner" with our friends which is always a wonderful thing for us. I'm grateful to have wonderful in-laws that we get to see often, but I miss my family SO much. And although no one can replace my family- it's good to have friends around me who understand me and my humor, etc. They have also become my family here in GA (especially since Delinda is leaving me for Chicago soon...) and I love each one of them for their differences and individuality. I feel very lucky to have such good friends that take such good care of us. And not only us, but our Benny. They are good "aunts & uncles" to him. (To Ally too, they're nicer to her than I am!) I just really enjoy knowing that we have a little family of friends to have Sunday dinner with every week at someones house... with good food.

Another reminder I had was watching a movie about bad things that happen in other countries (that I didn't finish watching because it was too much for me) and realized how lucky we are to live where we do and to feel a lot safer than a lot of people around the world do even just walking down the street. I am grateful for A LOT of things today. My sister in-law Clau has a quote on the end of her email, "Life is Good!" and it couldn't be more true.

We had a good weekend. We did something Friday night, but I don't remember what. HA! Saturday we spent cleaning the bathrooms and running errands, then we hung out with the Terry's and Clint and his friend Will. We went to this restaurant called Chicago Pizza and well... it left much to be desired. It also put Ryan in the bathroom at 4:30am puking.We also had a not-so-fun encounter with the Wii Fit. Okay, it was fun- but it told us we were fat and we had just met. I'm still getting over it. But decided, it's time for a change. I'm just having a hard time letting go of the sweets... I WILL CONQUER THIS. :) What a good definition of what we need to do: to gain mastery over or win by overcoming obstacles or opposition.
Delinda (my sister) was able to go to Chicago this weekend and find her a place to live. I am grateful Jen went with her so she didn't have to do that all alone! She found a place thank goodness, seeing as though she's moving at the end of the month! And, again... HOLY CRAP it's the middle of JULY! Sheesh! Where is the Summer going? Anyway, I am so happy for her and am excited to go visit someday!
We along with our friends the Terry's and the Elton's have so far had 2 FHE nights and hope to do this together once a month. It's been good for us- because lets be honest, we're not good at doing it on our own! I am grateful for the Spirit it brings to our friendships too, we can talk about spiritual things and it uplifts us. I like making and keeping traditions that we can hopefully carry on for a long time to come!Ben's getting two more teeth in, but they sure are taking their time. It's like one day on and one day off. I think they're just about through though, so hopefully some relief for us all is soon coming our way. He's also taking a liking to using a spoon for when he eats. And if he sees us with one- it's over, he HAS to have it and wont let us feed him with it. He MUST do it himself. Even though he usually ends up picking the food up with his left hand while holding the spoon in his right! I've also pretty much stopped going to visit him at daycare which is becoming harder and harder on me. I MISS HIM! A lot... but they're on a tighter schedule now in his new class and they have nap time about the same time I go to lunch. So even if he's asleep, if I have time I'll pop my head in. It was nice to walk in the other day when I was picking him up to see he and the other kids in his class sitting around their table "reading". I thought it was SO cute. I'm pretty sure he's starting to sing "A, B, C, D" in his own little way. We're working on where our teeth are and he got a new pair of shoes he loves, OH and sunglasses too! I'll take some pictures soon.
I promise I'll get around to getting the UT pictures up. Life has been busy.
I am grateful for all that I have. I am a lucky and blessed woman.

Please Excuse Our Dust...

Last week Ryan and I got to go to the temple before it closed on July 1st. They are doing renovations and it will be closed for 15-18 months. It's kind of a good reality check, because we take advantage of how close we are to it and now will have to drive 2-3 hours either to the Birmingham, AL temple or Columbia, SC. Ben and I literally drive past our temple everyday. It's also a little sobering because they are downsizing the space of the temple too. It will operate as a "mini" temple. No more clothing rental, we'll most likely have to make appointments... etc. We're all very curious to see what they do inside, and probably secretly wish they'd do something outside. It'll be cool to (hopefully) go to our first temple dedication too when they finish.
Anyway, I am glad we got to go last week though, it was a neat experience for us and I also enjoy being in the temple with my man. The temple worker we were with said that when he came in at 4pm that day there were 450 endowments done, which is probably a record for that temple in a day. It truly is a special place, and brings a smile to our faces while we are there. I realize that it's so important to be there because it brings us closer to each other and reminds us of our covenants.

Nice Long Weekend

We have had a very fun and relaxing weekend, although we've kept ourselves pretty busy. We had Friday off, which was nice. Since we were in UT for Ryan's birthday and didn't get the chance to celebrate it with our friends here, we decided it would be fun and go to Chucky Cheese's Thursday night! Thanks to everyone who came, Ryan had lots of fun. And so did Ben! He was so mesmerized by everything that was going on. And he LOVED the merry-go-round. (He wanted to go like 3 times!)

Friday we woke up and did some yard work and then in the afternoon went swimming with a bunch of our friends. It was a nice day, the pool wasn't too busy and we had a lot of fun! Ben LOVES the pool! That night we hung out at our house and ate nachos and watched Better Off Dead. Good stuff! Yesterday, the 4th, we headed over to the Terry's early afternoon and started cooking while some played golfing on the Wii. We had a AWESOME plethora of food and gobbled it up! After hanging out and letting all the food we cooked/ate settle, we headed near Marietta Square fireworks and got a good spot and watched the works. Ben was intrigued and I think almost fell asleep! We had an encounter with a mangy stray dog jumping in the car and me and Ben scouted out fireflies. And, oh yeah- remember that one time Clint made homemade ice cream and it had raw egg in it? Yeah, me too! It was pretty tasty though I have to say...Now it's Sunday... we hung out with Delinda today and had fun. I personally am bummed the nice long weekend is basically over. This week is going to be pretty crazy with work and I'm not excited about that. AND, no more long weekends until like September! BOOOOO! Well everyone else is napping... why not me?

Blue Eyes

A lady, Rene, I work with has a son and when she heard I had one, she suggested (and reminds me on a daily basis) that I should take pictures of him all in white. SO... I thought I'd do it. She said I'd regret it if I didn't and even threatened to take him herself somewhere and buy him an outfit. I thought I'd save her the trouble, and while we were outside this morning playing I changed his clothes and took some. I am glad she suggested it! (Oh and my big boy is 16 months already! Where does the time go!?)

1 Year Eternal-versary

While we were in UT we were hoping to get to go to the temple, but time didn't allow us to. June 17th marked our 1 year anniversary of being sealed! I can't believe it's already been that long. So to remember that special day, we drove to the Mt. Timpanogos Temple where we were sealed and took some pictures... Ben wasn't having it, so we only got ONE of all of us. It'll do though- we marked it down in history at least.
I am so grateful for this little (for now) Eternal family we have. I am so excited to know that even though it's hard at times, that I get to spend FOREVER with these guys. And can't wait to meet who else will be apart of our family! (No, not pregnant.)

June 17th, 20081 Year Later

Holy Moly! It's already the end of June!

How did that happen? It's not quite the end, but almost! There's only a week left! Sheesh... time flies.

We just got back from our trip to UT on last Saturday. We had a lot of fun and I'm so grateful we got to see all the people and family we did. We got to see my parents, my brother John and his wife Clau and their 3 kids, we got to see my other brother Greg and his wife Samantha and their three girls (and Rosie and Larry), my sister Shauna and Randi, Trish and Bobbie (two sisters I used to work with in Orem), Andrea, Travis and some of the Green family, Emily, Marin, Kate and Ryan Webb, the Christensen's (minus their dude)... it was awesome!
The flight in wasn't great. We were both super apprehensive of how Ben would do since it had been a year since we'd flown with him last. He fussed for about 45 mins and then crashed. He probably would've kept sleeping but I moved him too much I think and it woke him up. He was happy/content for about an hour and then started freaking out again. Then right at the end... as our plane was descending and I couldn't get up because of the seatbelt light being on- he pooped. And it STUNK. I felt so horrible for submitting our sitting neighbors to this. BUT, he was quiet from then on. It was just a long day of traveling. We flew in to Vegas, had to get our luggage then a rental car and then get lunch and THEN drive another hour and a half to St. George. But once we got there it was awesome. We had a really good visit with my parents and John, Clau and the kids came over to hang out with us too. I couldn't believe how big they've all gotten. Especially JC... he is so tall!!! It's very strange to think I am an Aunt of a 16 year old sometimes.
That night we swam with the kids and then in the morning we went to Church with my parents and then had a nice restful Sabbath with a little play in the park and then a BBQ with the family. Ben got hot playing at the park so we put some little swimmers on and let him sit with the sprinkler on the back porch.
Monday we went to Zion's National Park. I tell you what- that is SUCH a BEAUTIFUL place. My brother John and Ryan rode motorcycles up there while I drove a car and my parents, and Clau. We went through the tunnel and up to the East enterance and then had a picnic in a nice little area. Ben had fun playing with the rocks, he was sick of being cooped up in the car. It was so nice though, it was a perfect day and we had a lovely time with each other. I have to say though, one of the best parts was the twist ice cream cone we got there. Oh man that thing was good. YUM. After Zion's we ate dinner and sang a little Happy Birthday (early) to Ryan with some cake, then we went swimming again. We didn't get Ben in to bed until pretty late and I think he was overtired and possibly had water in his ears because he woke up in the middle of the night not a happy camper. We gave him some love, Tylenol and a snack and he was ready to go back to sleep. We woke up the next morning around the same time I wanted to be on the way up to Utah Valley but that was okay. We got up there around 4:30pm and went straight to Greg's house. We spent some time with them and went out to eat. I'm going to just put this tid bit in for our sake, because we all thought it was humorous... but remember that one time? "SIR!" "THANK YOU!" "Sorry everyone!!!". It's okay if you have NO idea what I'm talking about, but some of us do!
We stayed at Andrea's house for our visit up that way, and so we got to see her and Travis that night. Wednesday we went to breakfast with Bobbie and Trish and had yummy French Toast and Buttermilk Syrup at Magleby's. YUM. And then Ryan, Ben and I went to SLC to see Shauna and Randi. The weather was kind of stinky that day, it was a little chilly and it was sprinkling on us pretty much the whole time- which kind of stunk, but it could've been worse and it was so fun to spend tiem with them. We went to the Gateway Shopping Mall and temple square. Shauna had never been to the top of the J.S. Memorial building so we went up there and she thought that was pretty cool. It's a beautiful view from up there! On the way back from SLC we stopped and hung out with Greg and the girls again for a little while. Greg's middle girl had a loose tooth, and right before we left he was throwing her up in the air in the foyer and when she came down (this is what I recall...) she hit her mouth on Greg's chin and the tooth popped right out! It freaked her out a little until we all assured her that's a good and quick way to get it out and most importantly now the tooth fairy would visit! She was good after that! Greg got a little cut on his chin and I got to be a part of the moment and snapped a cute little picture with a somewhat bloody mouth! That night we went and got MEXICAN FOOD! I'm sorry, but I haven't yet found a genuinely good Mexican food restaurant here in Atlanta yet. But out West, they know how to do it- so we went to Joe Vera's and The Webb's, Emily Hatch, Marin Bryce, Travis and Andrea all came. It was fun! We started to try and watch a movie that night... but I was pooped and kept falling asleep.
Thursday was Ryan's 28th birthday!!! We went for a drive up the Alpine Loop starting on the American Fork side. Travis rode with us and we followed behing Ryan and Kate. We stopped at Tibble Fork and Ryan and Ben fed the little ground hogs chips and took some pictures. After we drove the loop we met up with Andrea at South Fork park in Provo Canyon and had pizza. We had a moose run through the park right near us and it kind of freaked us out a little! The Cottonwood Trees were doing their "Cotton-thing" while we were there, and it looked like snow. Me and that stuff don't go together very well, I'm kind of allergic to it. However, it was a lovely day- perfect weather again, beautiful scenery, good friends, and good to be in the mountains again. I wish we could've made it to the Uintas, but there was still snow up there and it was a no-go. Oh well, maybe next year? We had cake at Andrea's that night for Ryan and watched Bolt. Friday we woke up and drove back down to my parent's to say hello and goodbye, luckily John and 2 of the 3 kids came to see us too- because we had left our check book at my parent's house earlier in the week and when we got to their house, NONE of us could find it. Nick was our helper, he went through everything and couldn't find it either. We'd all kind of given up and were taking a "brownie break" when the kids decided they needed a can of Rootbeer, and low and behold- Nick found the check book in the rootbeer box. Why or HOW it was there? We'll never know, prayers answered I guess!!!
We left for Vegas again that night and checked in to our room at the Hilton and then took the Monorail to The Forum Shops to meet up with Nichole and Chris Christensen for dinner. Chris was the Elder that spent the most time teaching Ryan. He unfortunately went home before Ryan got baptized, but Ryan never felt more comfortable with any of the Elder's that taught him than he did with Chris. Chris means a lot to Ryan and we were both excited to hear that we could meet up with him and his CUTE/AWESOME wife and meet her! I felt like I already knew her because we blog stalk each other! :) We had also heard so much about her while he was still here on his mission, so it was exciting to meet the girl he got to get home to! We had a lot of fun that night, dinner was good- but my Monkey was tired and didn't feel much like eating. But he was very good in his stroller and enjoyed watching the water show at the Bellagio with us. We didn't get the poor kid in to bed until 11pm though. We had a really fun time. I have to say though- I really don't like Vegas. Too busy, hot, dirty, smokey, nasty people passing out nasty naked lady pamphlets... just not my kind of place. BUT it was a heck of a lot cheaper to fly in to that airport than it was to the SLC airport. And again, it gave us the opportunity to meet up with the Christensen's which have now moved to Northern Arizona (my old stompin' grounds) and may not have had the chance to meet them otherwise! Ben was a CHAMP on the plane ride home. Didn't cry ONCE. Slept for most of the time, ate when he woke up, and played and sat nicely the rest. He was so ready to be home. And so was I. It was so fun, but I missed our bed and having him on a schedule and in familiar places, etc. We had a wonderful trip though, it was one of the best trips we've had! I've got like over 500 pictures... so I might just do a slide show with a few of them.
This week has been crazy and busy and I'm actually quite exhausted still from all those nights we stayed up so late. Luckily we have a four day week next week! Peace out y'all.

Although a little crazy toward the end of his life, a music legend has just died. I wanted my kids to know about this one day...funny thing is Ryan's mom was the first one to tell us.
Michael Jackson

Holy Crap it's already June!

I guess it's time to post something new! It's been quite a busy week for us. It's been kind of crazy at work- but that's a good thing, it makes the days go by faster and in turn the week goes by faster as well. Ben's daycare has been a little bit in shambles. One of the pipes in the sink busted and so their room was flooded and wet all week except for today. It made things a little chaotic, but luckily he's really flexible and doesn't really have a difficult time with change. Plus, the classroom they were moved in to had a lot of really cool things to climb on and toys to play with. He also started his new class, which means a lot of big boy activities. I felt like he wasn't quite ready to NOT sleep in a crib, and in his new class they try and have the kids all nap at the same time and on little people cots. One of the crazy days there, they couldn't find another crib not being used with wheels, so they decided to give the cot a try. He was a champ and with a little back rub, fell right to sleep and didn't ever roll off (which is what I wondered if he'd do or not).Luckily, I was able to go in to check on him and got this CUTE picture. It was a bitter sweet moment for me as a mommy... my little guy is getting so big and I have no good reason why it makes me a little sad, but it does. BUT at the same time really happy because it is so much fun to see him grow and learn new things and become more and more of his own little person.

We've had a good weekend too. Friday night everyone but me fell asleep pretty early. Saturday morning Ben woke at like 7:30am and I was still pretty worn out and Ryan was OUT, so I went in and gave him his binky and told him to lay down and he did- and went back to sleep until 9:15! So we were able to catch a few extra Zzzz's. And on top of that, he went down for a nap two more times through out the day. We also cleaned our room and discovered there's carpet in there... I went and got my hair colored, then we packed up and went to the Roswell Park Pool for an hour before it closed. Ben was afraid of the kiddie pool, cried a lot. Maybe because the mushroom umbrella is loud, but was fine in the big pool. The clouds were covering the sun so he got the shivers so we didn't stay in too long- but he liked it. We plan on going back a lot. It's a huge pool and really nice. We're about ready to go over Clint's house to eat dinner with the Terry's and his parents... possibly other people. So... it's been a relaxing weekend, and we need it. This week will be crazy in preparation for our trip to UT! I am SO excited. I can't wait to see my parents and siblings and friends. And to have a week off work (with out being sick). Hopefully Ben will behave well on the plane, Ryan wont be too nervous, and we wont die from the heat in St. George! We went to the doctor for Ben's 15 month check-up on Friday and he's still itty bitty. Not even 21 lbs yet. Has a big head... and is in the 5-10% for his height and weight. I'm not worried about it though, uh consider the source! He also has thrush for the first time ever, which kind of sucks... but we've got it taken care of. He's got all 8 teeth now, and we've figured out he calls his binky "nigh-nigh"... I guess he associates it with going to bed. And "mo-more" we think he says because we always ask "want more" and that's kind of what it sounds like to him I guess. Anyway- I'm going to go now because Ryan and I are arguing whose contribution in the creation of Ben was more important.

Our Little Dude

You can move on if this is boring stuff to you... Ben will be 15 months old the 3rd. Quite honestly, I can't believe how fast time flies by and how big and smart he's getting. It's so exciting to see how quickly he learns something we teach him.He holds the sides of his head when you play peek-a-boo!

• Just now I was doing something on Facebook and he was sitting at the front door with a book and I could hear him repeating a word and then I started paying attention to what it was. He was saying "eye" and pointing to his! We've been working on that for like a week or so, and so I am proud of him! He got really excited when I told him good job. I said "You're so smart, I'm going to call Daddy and tell him what you just did!" He giggled and giggled! We're working on where his nose and ears are... but he's close!

• He loves to put shoes on people if he finds them laying around. On meaning, upside down or backwards!
• He's a little character. Right now he's standing next to me holding on to my chair and has his mouth wide open just cackling at me... like he's the funniest person alive.

• He's starting to not want his food torn apart or broken in to pieces anymore. In fact, he wont eat it unless he can bite off it himself or take it apart himself.

• His new words he's saying are "juice", "eye", "happy", he tries to say thank you although it's more of the syllable sound instead of the actual words. I've heard him say "please" too.

• He likes to lead us to places; like to his room when it's time for bed, the bath, outside to play in his farmhouse... it's pretty cute.

• He still loves his blankets for the crib and the car.

• Has a huge aversion to vegetables right now, which mommy is NOT happy about.

• He just got his 6th & 7th teeth up on the top this last week. So he's still lopsided on the bottom with only three down there. That 4th bottom tooth is trying SO hard to break thru.

• He will be advancing to the next class up at daycare in the next week or two, which means he gets to play outside and sit at a table with his friends to eat, he'll learn how to eat with a spoon all by himself which I think he's really ready for. I think this will be an adjustment for me than him.

• He got a Thomas the Train for Christmas and it came with a tall red handle that comes off and he LOVES that thing. He will take that EVERYWHERE with him. It's hiding right now... and he knows where and isn't happy with me about it!

• He loves to give 5 to people, and he's learning to give mommy kisses.

• Ben loves to WALK. He just walks and walks and walks. He'll stop to play for a second with a toy or a book or an empty container or cup. Then he takes it with him while he walks. I'm convinced that's another reason why the kid sleeps so well at night.

• He likes to be in the same room as mom or dad. He likes to follow his daddy around like his little shadow. If it's just him and I at home, and I'm on the computer he plays in the room with me.

• Ben gets a little bit of a temper, but is very well behaved. If he wants something he cannot have, he gets angry- but usually gets over it pretty quickly. I am grateful for that.

• We have recently found out that he prefers the slide at the playground over the swing now, and has NO fear of going head first! He in general, has no fear...well of certain types of dogs and cats, yes... but of most other things, no.

• We also discovered that he can climb stairs on his own too with out any problems.

• Ben loves to be outside. I am so grateful for that.

• He is starting to have a preference in the music he and I listen to in the car. It's funny to look back at him and see which songs he likes to dance to.

• After bath time I put lotion on him since he has eczema still, and he LOVES when I rub his legs and feet. I'm sure they're tired from all that walking!

• He likes to put his legs out for his pants, and is learning to put his hands through the arm holes now. If he finds a shirt or a tie, or even one of Ryan's soccer socks, he'll put it around his neck like he's trying to put it on.

• He STILL only wants his daddy when he wakes up in the morning. If he's not there, then I will do!

• Ben loves to pick on Ally; he'll get on his hands and knees and head-butt her, he's learning to "pet" her nicely, he thinks it's funny when he hits her tail and she jumps, and they are starting to chase each other around. She's VERY good with him, and puts up his teasing and picking on her very well. She's a good girl. He loves her, and still calls every dog he sees "A-yee".

I was reading my blog book from when he was born and a few months old and I was looking at how little he was. It's so fun the stage he's in now. And just like then, I STILL love watching him learn... watching him explore and talk and express himself. I love seeing what an awesome little person he is and will be. He's so smart, and sweet and just seems to have come to Earth with a personality that our little family REALLY needs. I think that someday (no time soon...) he will be such a good big brother. We are SO blessed to have such a wonderful, good, handsome, funny, HAPPY son. We are two VERY lucky parents, and don't you think for one second that we don't know that!
Here's a silly video from today. He woke up from his second nap really annoyed and grumpy. It's funny because he knew exactly what I was saying and what it meant. And usually when I sing the Happy Song he dances and smiles... not so much this time. Little Stinker.