Benny made us laugh this morning. I was in our bathroom when I heard Ryan say to Ben "you need to go potty? Okay, well come on!" then I heard shuffling and low talking and then "Put your pee pee in the toilet Ben! You have to push your wiener in the toilet!" then, "Heather! Come here quick!" all while he's cracking up. Ben in his sleepy head manner forgot to push his little "member" in to the toilet and well, at FULL stream peed on the wall. From the toilet. In the trash can, on the floor, EVERYWHERE between him, the toilet and the wall! Ryan said he was shell shocked at first and couldn't stop watching the impressive arch the pee trail was making (Ben was apparently enamored by it too), then finally Ben pushed "it" in and finished peeing IN the potty! Then started crying because either it scared him, he thought he was in trouble- who knows. Anyway, we made a joke of it, I tried to get him to laugh while I was cleaning up. But we thought it was hilarious. It was EVERYWHERE of course... but a good story none-the-less.
He's really had a struggle lately... not sure why. He does fine at home, but has been having lots of "accidents" at school. I don't consider them accidents though because he knows where to go and what to do when he needs to go potty. At first we were very upset and stressed out and took away toys and got mad at him... and now we're just kind of ignoring the "accidents" and reminding him about how to use the potty correctly. We figure at this point, stressing out is not worth it... and we have every bit of faith that he'll eventually have it done pat! We will not be sending our child to kindergarten in diapers!

I Wanna Write You a Letter...

We had a pretty good weekend. We started it off by dropping the Benster off for a night of fun with Nana and Poppy. They were supposed to go to a Basketball game for the high school they attended 40-something years ago, because one of the jersey's of a friend was being retired at half time or something. Poppy made it, but Ben and Nana did not. The weather was RAINY and Nana has some feet problems that prevent her from walking long distances with out an extreme amount of pain, and toting along a 2 year old is just not an option. So instead, they got McDonald's and waited until Poppy got home and had fun anyway! WE met up with the Kranendonk's and ate some dinner at Chick-fil-a, which seemed to take WAY too long. Then ventured downtown to the Tabernacle to see GUSTER! YAY! We first stood in the back, but then good ol' Jared talked us in to walking to the front of the crowd and jamming our way in with the rest of the people. (He's got that young spirit about him still, which I'm grateful for!) I've always had anxieties about this because I'm so small... but, we were super close and it wasn't all that bad!Until that is, a giant 20-something year old BEAST of a guy stood beside me. I swear he was like 7'12". His bent elbow was basically in my face. I made him acknowledge this fact, as I didn't want it in my eye and for his beer to be somehow spilled on me nor my husband and friends. He gave me a dirty look when I did this, but I didn't care. What I DID care about though, and the rest of the people in the general vicinity, was the RANCID smell he produced from his, ahem, backside. Someone ate a little too much Mexican food! Or something... but good golly miss molly... like, so bad my nose hairs all fell out! Besides that not so enjoyable ambiance, Guster ROCKED. Literally. They put on an amazing show. And I've never been so close to a band at a concert before! I could see the lead singers spit spray while was he singing! Eeek! One of my favorite things about concerts, is to FEEL the music in my body. To actually feel the bass vibrating through the floor and in to my toes and up to my heart is one of the greatest things ever about live music! These guys are super talented too. Just about every song someone played a different instrument. And the Bongo guy? THE BONGO GUY... WAS... AMAZING. Wowza. I can't even really describe just how amazing he was except for "he was so amazing, when he whooped those bongo's butts- he did it with his tongue out".... guess you had to be there. Anyway we had a ton of fun with the K-donks. A great grown up time!
I need to make a list of all the bands I've seen live... I used to have one written in a journal somewhere. Wonder where that went....
Saturday I took some pictures of the new arrival of a baby girl of some friends, the Hutchison's. It was a lot of fun to see them, and their little girls are just gorgeous. Both of them! Well, I mean they're all really pretty people! Even Eric! Haha Then we kind of did nothing much the rest of the day. We were all pretty tired, and have been all sick with this dang cold that just WON'T go away... so we all napped. And it was pretty nice. Then we ate dinner and I think FINALLY put the Christmas boxes up in the garage and did some laundry, blah blah blah... boring. The End. Sunday... we played hookie from church. Still feeling icky and didn't want to get the Nursery kiddos sick. Went to pick up a couple things from Nana's we left behind and then came home and made some items for the Superbowl party at the Terry's. Ryan usually is jinxed when it comes to red lights (this story has a point I promise), but on the way home from the Smith's house we hit EVERY green light! It was something short of a miracle. SO, we decided to cheer for the GREENbay Packers! hahaha! I know, we're pathetic. But we're funny huh? Anyway, they won. Yup... we're good luck charms. And apparently all those green lights we hit were too! The party was fun, SO much food. Martha made these awesomely radical cookies, she did it last year too! She's tre talented.We stayed over too late, and poor Ben had a rough day today. He's still either struggling with the potty thing, or he's just flat out being lazy... which seems to be a reoccurring theme with him (ugh... not looking forward to that combined with the teenage years... I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit). It was our fault for keeping him up so late... BAD PARENTS. BUT we got him in bed early tonight. We sure love that little booger face. He keeps us laughing all the time. And he's growing and talking and getting smarter and smarter every day! Okay... I think I'm done with you. Are you done with me? Great. Cya next time.

PICTURES!

Hunter and SavannahBen and Hunter! So cute! Hunter's really starting to interact and it's really fun!Someone got in to Ben's jammies! Ally????

Nursery!

doing puzzles at his table he LOVES. ($6.99 side table at IKEA!) We have no chairs yet, the motorcycle will have to do!
crazy finger lines huh? in the light of the computer... they look like an 80 year old woman's.
triangle head, triangle head...
the birthday buddies!

Don't Mess With Doctor Dream

Why... why is it necessary for things on my body to twitch? You know that one time I mentioned my right pointer finger wouldn't stop twitching like 3 years ago? Actually, to be exact... Monday, December 31, 2007!!!! It still quite frequently does it! And now, this past week my eyes have taken turns having twitches in the eye lids. Anyone know why these particular areas are frequent twitchers? IT'S.SO.BLASTED.ANNOYING.

We've had kind of a busy and eventful week. So far not really in a good way. Ryan was rear ended on Tuesday night... luckily because he drives a beastly truck with a big trailer hitch on the back, it did NO damage to his vehicle and really, probably saved the car that hit him from having more damage than it did. It was a young kid who was driving his mom who had a broken foot. Ryan said he was pretty shaken up about it- but because no one was hurt, and the only damage was done to their car and it was their fault... they didn't call the cops. We were glad no one was hurt, it was just a little unnerving since it was POURING down rain that night and quite frankly traffic in Atlanta STINKS. (For lack of a better word...) We're hoping to get Ryan another car soon, one that doesn't suck money in to the gas tank, almost literally. We might have to sell his motorcycle and maybe the truck to get him something more reliable and sensible. I think he's ready for it, maybe a little bummed to get rid of the bike but we'll have plenty of time for toys later in life.

We also adopted a new dresser from Clint since he moved out of his apt in to a condo with a new roomie and didn't need it anymore. The one we have is a piece of poo, even though we made it look cute... so, free is good and I'm glad we will have something easy for Ben to use and more space. And better looking too. Speaking of a better looking Ben's room, we bought a shelf at IKEA for him to put some toys and books on. We took the crib out and rearranged a little. We still have the changing table in his room, mostly because it has shelves that we still use for storage but also because of the two new additions to our group of friends who would occasionally need to get their diapers changed. Although, if the dresser we now have allows for the things that are on said changing table then we will take it down for now.

We have a busy weekend planned too. Ben gets to go hang out with Nana & Poppy overnight tomorrow while we go to a concert with some friends. I am so grateful for A. grandparents who enjoy spending time with their grandkid which allows us to have some fun adult time. It's a win-win. And B. that Ryan still lets me drag him to concerts, because I REALLY love going to them. Saturday we're going to do some cleaning up around the house and an infant shoot. Then Sunday is SUPER BOWL (like I care) Sunday. It's just a good excuse for us to make lots of yummy junk food and be rowdy for a minute. I'm sure there will be some cheering on of whoever the winning team is...and a few "ooooooh!"s coming out of my mouth, but... I'm not really in to football, and Ryan claims he's not- but if a good game is on, he'll get in to it with the rest of the guys, he knows what's going on. I'll be there for the company!

This whole Winter thing is dragging on. Hopefully Punxsutawney Phil was right about Spring, cuz... it's supposed to snow again next week and the temps will not be over 50 for the next 10 days. Ugh... I'm looking forward to the cabin but looking more forward to warm weather! Not the heat of the Summer though, but really I'd take that right about now. This last weekend was a teaser... so warm and beautiful and just what I needed. Have a good weekend y'all!

Wowza. This is a photo my sister Delinda just sent from Chicago. This is looking out her family room window to the street below, and she said it's STILL snowing! Crazy!

not sure where he thinks HE'S going...

From CNN.com:

A vast winter storm brought blizzard conditions and record snowfall to large sections of the upper Midwest and Ohio Valley early Wednesday, a frosty testament to winter's fury despite a famous groundhog's forecast for an early spring.
The brutal weather gobbled up travelers trying to make their way on snow-choked roadways and snarled air traffic, forcing airlines to cancel thousands of flights again on Wednesday.
Chicago is at the epicenter of the storm, receiving a record-breaking 13.6 inches of snow at O'Hare International Airport Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
Chicago officials warn that more snow is on the way. At a Wednesday morning news conference, Chicago emergency management director Jose Santiago said there will likely be 15 to 20 inches of snow on the ground -- 25 inches in some places -- by the time the storm leaves the area.
A blizzard warning remains in effect for all of metropolitan Chicago until 3 p.m., Santiago said.
The current total not only breaks the previous record of 4.0 inches for that date -- set back on February 1, 1967 -- but it also establishes a new all-time record daily snowfall for the month of February for the city.
The previous calendar day snowfall record for Chicago for February was 11.5 inches, set on February 18, 1908.
The National Weather Service in the Windy City is asking residents not to travel unless "absolutely necessary."
"Reports from media and local law enforcement officially indicate that hundreds if not thousands of vehicles have gone off the roads," the weather service said early Wednesday morning.
Chicago's iconic Lake Shore Drive is currently closed due to poor traffic conditions, multiple accidents and abandoned cars and buses. Raymond Roscoe, chief of staff for Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, said it is unknown when the route will reopen.
The blizzard coincided with rush hour Tuesday night, producing three accidents between 7:15 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. One involved a Chicago Transit Authority bus, Roscoe said. The accidents stalled traffic on the northbound side of Lake Shore Drive and the rapidly falling snow completely immobilized the road.
Roscoe said many motorists remained stuck in their cars throughout the night, while others abandoned their vehicles. Police, fire department and sanitation crews spent much of the night pulling people out of their cars, he said. Roscoe said there were no reports of injuries.
"We know that hundreds of people were very inconvenienced and we apologize for that," Roscoe said. "While city personnel worked as quickly as possible, we certainly understand peoples' frustration."
"I want to make it clear that ultimately dealing with this storm is our job," said Roscoe.
Chicago officials warned residents to stay indoors unless it is absolutely necessary to go outside. They said wind chill temperatures are likely to drop to between 20 and 30 degrees below zero Wednesday night.

Good news though (and good job Phil):

Smack in the middle of the storm track is Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, home of a certain groundhog, who has been forecasting the end of winter for more than 100 years. When Phil emerged from his hideout early Wednesday, he saw no shadow -- meaning, according to tradition, that spring will come early this year!!!!!

The Blah-est Day EVER

It's strange the different ways I feel comfort when I miss my sister Shauna. The best is when I have dreams about her, which I did last night. This might not make sense to me later, or to anyone or maybe at all... but I dreamt she came back to life. Almost like God had given her a second chance of sorts. She looked good, like herself, I hugged her which was awesome. It felt very real... when she walked through the door I burst in to tears when I saw her alive. She was very serious, kind of solemn almost. I didn't understand why or HOW she was back... I was super confused and astonished. I asked her if she remembered where she went when she died and she said yes. I asked her if she saw Heavenly Father and what heaven was like and she said she didn't see Him, but that he spoke to her by way of a rock (? I don't know, this is a dream remember) and that she was given a mission for our family. We never got to what that mission was... but the part that stood out to me the most was the part where she said she didn't see God but that she was in a place where He could still speak to her. Then this morning, Randi (her partner before she died) had posted a video she made of photos of Shauna. So... guess what's on my mind today? I feel her with me... not to sound all weird and stuff, but I feel like she's around me today. And I'm grateful for that. I sure do miss her. I sent an email to my mom today telling her about this dream, and she too had an experience of feeling Shauna (and her dad) around her yesterday. I feel like she's reaching out to us to let us know she loves and misses us just as much as we do her.

It's been one of those days.... It was SO beautiful this whole weekend. The weather was perfect. Then this morning and all day it's been foggy and rainy and with all of that gloominess a lot of bad news. News of old friends whose marriages are ending, news of a loss of a friend's father, a friend's baby who was born prematurely and is a mere 1lb... I'm just so grateful for the power of prayer and how if we ask fervently the Lord will bless those who stand in need of comfort, even if it's ourselves we're praying for. I can't imagine what it must be like to go through each one of those trials, but I DO know that the Lord will bless each of His children.
There is some good in the world, not to make light of these other things- but a few months ago I bit down (pretty hard) on a rock/small pebble in my black beans at a Mexican restaurant here called Willy's. I called the manager up and told him what happened, saved the pebble and took it in as a "formal" complaint, which they logged (not sure if they kept the rock though!). But I love Willy's so much I still eat there often. Plus they gave me a free meal for the trouble. SO... fast forward a few months later, I go to the dentist for a check up and cleaning. There's a crack in my top and bottom molars in the filling... from the rock. It's going to cost around $1500 to get these fixed. Fast forward to last week... I got on to Willy's site after eating a delicious burrito and thought "meh... why not see if they'll help cover the cost of my dental work since their stupid ROCK messed my teeth up?" So I went to the comments section, typed in my email address and name and my complaint. I was nice, said I still liked their food and still visited often, etc... but that my teeth were messed up and I didn't think it was completely fair to foot the bill. I told Ryan about it... didn't think anything would come of it- but I got THIS email today:
Heather

Having to go to the dentist sure is not fun! I have had the broken tooth myself several years ago. Please send a copy of the dentist bill to (email address here) and we will start the process to get this wrapped up for you.

We will be glad to see what we can do to help.

Regards

WMG Inc.

(Some names have been changed to protect the innocent) I am pleasantly surprised by this! It doesn't hurt to try right? And thanks Willy's! You've kept my patronage! I'm not sure if they'll foot the whole bill- but any is better than none!
Anyway... I've got a nasty cough with a side of a stuffy nose and headache, so I'd better get to bed. Hopefully the weather is better soon. My poor sister is going to get PELTED in Chicago this week. First about a foot and a half of snow, then possible flash floods from Lake Michigan. I don't think she'll be particularly effected by the flood part because she's far enough away from the lake but it's not going to be pretty. I wonder what Sir Groundhog will predict tomorrow... hopefully Spring will be on its' way soon!

Can Winter Be Done Yet? Please????

It's almost over. January is almost over. Which means, we're one month closer to March. Which means we're one month closer to SPRING. I've mentioned this before, January is NOT my favorite month. I pretty much feel like we should all be like bears and hibernate for the month of January... maybe even February, and wake up and be able to pick up where we left off... nothing skipped, no overdue bills, etc. The sleep would be nice to catch up on, and well- two of the cruddiest months would have passed us by! I know... not going to happen. But how nice would it be to wake up to the earth turning green and flowers blooming and the warm sun on your face? See? Sounds good huh?! To remedy this distaste for these two month, I like to try and plan something to look forward. A little weekend trip or even something for the spring or whatever. Things weren't looking good until we all decided we were having "cabin cravings" and are heading there next month! Yay! And then we're looking at going to Florida in May which I am also very excited about, because we haven't been to the beach in a long while. And I need me some beeee-ach.

What's been going on in our world? Ben went to his first birthday party (outside of daycare) for little Aubrey two weekends ago. He was the only [big] boy there, but he still had lots of fun. He sure does love seeing Aubrey. He also loves his cool sunglasses and orange necklace and other little fun things he got in his grab bag. They had pizza, and cupcakes and Ben got Aubrey a My Little Pony. He did very good at giving her a present. He found the ONE boy toy there, a tractor, and held on to it for dear life while he pushed a baby doll in a stroller a little too!This past weekend Ryan and I went on a date and went to dinner and then watched a movie in the theater. The BEST part of it all (besides my incredibly hunky husband's company) was that it only cost us about $8! We had a $50 gift card for dinner, but ended up only tipping the waitress because we got our meal free. The manager felt like we had waited too long for our food, and we had to send Ryan's burger back for being undercooked. We hadn't even complained or made a stink, and the waitress did nothing wrong- so we were happy to tip her still and get to go back and use our card for reals. The movie tickets were given to us by Jennifer, who also got to hang out with Ben when we were out. We love and appreciate all of our friends who are so good to Benny. AND he LOVES them too. Especially Jennifer, I think... if I dare say, that she is his first crush. :) It's pretty cute. Saturday was a bunch of errand running. Most of our time being spent at IKEA which, I have a love/hate relationship with. I love that store. I love how cheap things are. And inventive too. We found some stuff for Ben's room that we needed but I tell you what.. That kid... made us SO angry while we there. He acted AWFUL, like the worst he's ever been in a store. Granted, he was SUPER tired and hungry... but man... people were staring and watching as if it was their business, he carried on... it was NOT fun. After calming down some, we ate at the cafeteria there, which I love to do. It's SO inexpensive and I LOVE their meatballs. I even had their Lignonberry juice and it was delish! Anyway, Sunday we spent the day with the Terry's. Literally just about the entire day was filled was Terry babyness and friends! It was awesome! Little Savannah was blessed and given a name at Church, and then we all scooted back to their house to get set up, cook and clean for the open house they had for friends/family that couldn't be at church for her blessing. Little Miss Savannah has A LOT of fans, she's already the popular girl in town. The blessing was super sweet and Jacob did a wonderful job. I even got misty-eyed. We already love her so much I could burst in to a heart cloud! Uncle Ryan got her to smile so big and cute in that picture above. I think SHE already loves us too! Yay! It was a special, fun and busy day. Both Sat & Sun, Ben didn't sleep so he was asleep in his car seat with in 10 mins of getting in the car after leaving their house around 6:30. He still hadn't eaten dinner so we had to wake him up so he could eat something before he went back to bed. He ate about half of his food before he started falling asleep in his highchair (is it bad that he still sits in one?) so I got him out and put him to bed. He was definitely a sleepy guy... which sparks tantrums and such. Oh well.
Let's see... what else. We're hopefully expecting a visit from my brother John for a day at some point soon. That's one thing I'm looking forward to! I am super homesick for family right now. And we just love John and don't get to see him often enough!
Next weekend we are going on a double date with the Kranendonk's to see Guster in concert downtown. Benny is going to hang out with Nana & Poppy at a Cross Keys (where they attended high school) basketball game they're going to. I think he'll have lots of fun! And I think we will too!
Well... we're kind of all feeling under the weather. Didn't sleep good, and this week has drug (dragged, drugged... whatever) on and on it seems. It's only Friday tomorrow? Darn. I've got some back posting to do, so don't be surprised if you see entries for the beginning of January that weren't there at the beginning of January!

Eau De Potty

So... I'm not trying to jinx us or anything, but just about a month and a half shy of the *gulp* 3RD birthday of my first born... we're about 98% potty trained!!! Yay! Go us! We have DEFINITELY learned some things we WILL try differently next time around. Like...
-a nothing but undi's weekend (plus clothing of course, especially if it's cold out!)
-not to be lazy, because if we are- the kid will be too
-do NOT get frustrated or give up
Things we seem to have done right:
-pee pee/poopy pills (otherwise known as M&M's)
-cool undi's
-being excited and happy and allowing all the bragging about "peening" in the potty he wants, which included calls to Nana & Poppy and Grandma & Grandpa
-incentives or... bribery, whatever you decide to call it!
-PATIENCE, PERSISTENCE, LOVE, frequent trips to the potty...even out at the store. Which may include crouching in uncomfortable positions while holding your pooping child because they're scared they're going to fall in!
-bringing a few changes of clothing/undi's (or Pull-ups) at all times
-acknowledging there WILL be accidents and that's it's OK. It's a learning experience.

It's quite a trip this Potty Training business. At least it has been for us. We started this when? Oh yah...August! Ugh... It's really mostly our fault I realize, but we're new at this whole parenthood thing and toddler-hood big boy thing. We have a boatload of excuses; work, laziness, work, laziness.... you know. But two weekends ago I just decided it was time. Time to stop fooling around and getting frustrated with Ben because he didn't tell us that he needed to potty and did AFTER he went or not at all. Time to stop paying for Pull-ups. Time to get this big boy of ours in undi's. So... that's what we did. Put him in undi's pretty much the whole weekend. He did pretty good. Had a couple accidents, but soon realized he didn't like how he felt. And even though taking a kid to the potty A MILLION times at Old Navy or Chipotle isn't the funnest thing in the world, it's okay... because he can now tell us, or any adult around him that he needs to pee. He likes to pull down his own pants and undi's down and find a way on the potty, he screams with joy EVERY.TIME.HE.PEES "mommy! I peening!" He loves his pee pee pills, which are NOT M&M's even though we told him they are. He says "no... they not N&M's, they pee pee pills."
Tonight we went to eat at the Zaxby's by our house, which is in the same shopping center as a Home Depot. We were driving around a little and Ben said "I need to go pee!" so he and I quickly got out of the car and went in to Home Depot. I put the toilet seat cover down, he pulled his pants down, I sat him on the toilet... he waited... and then said to me with a cute little look on his face "no pee!!" ugh... all I could do was laugh at that silly face. I said "give it a try... maybe it's still there." and he looked down, then back up and with another silly "O" face said "no, no, no! No pee!" So instead... I went! haha
We've been putting Pull-ups on him for bed, but for the last week he's woken up dry every morning! I want to make sure we've got the daytime stuff down before we go to night time, but we're going to get a mattress cover soon.

*sigh*... wiping my brow... *phew*

Ryan said... "You know, we're going to have to do this ALL OVER AGAIN when we have to teach how to stand and pee" I told him that was HIS job and to let him just go out in the backyard during the Summer to learn!

For all the grief we've been through... I have a little blackmail.My little Pooping Rockstar

2011 Snowpocalypse

Well, this has been a very interesting week for us here in Georgia. For those of you living out west you might think it's no big deal... but we got quite a bit of snow starting Sunday night. I think there was a total of 5-8 inches in our area and then Monday afternoon was the ICE-ing on the cake... or snow... whatever. Freezing rain on top of the snow which has made the driving conditions not so favorable. That and GA is just not equipped for this kind of weather and this much snow so there is an extreme lack of plows and such vehicles to clear or sand the roads. The GDOT did the best they could with what they had, and the even pretreated the roads- but the ground temps were low and so EVERYTHING stuck, and fast. We got about 3 inches in an hour starting Sunday night before I went to sleep and we woke up to about two or 3 more. (this was Sunday night, when it was really coming down!)
Both mine and Ryan's work closed the office, which is pretty much unheard of on Monday, I didn't want to attempt the roads Tuesday because Ryan did and he had to turn around and come home- all the while driving in 4WD. Wednesday Ryan went to work and I stayed home again- there was a sheet of ice on our street in front of our house and Ryan still had to use 4WD to get out of the neighborhood so we were pretty sure that my 2WD wouldn't make it out. PLUS the daycare was still closed, and our good friend Hillary was our backup- but they live in an apt complex that's straight up hill at the entrance and that hadn't been treated. Ben and I played cars between working and napping and keeping warm. I bundled him up in jammies, jeans, two shirts, jacket, gloves, hat and socks and shoes to go out and play in the snow! (Lack of snow gear around these parts...) We made a smiley face snow man with crazy arms (pictured in above collage)!Tues and Wed I did what work I could from home and then today- we left late, but the daycare opened at 8:30 and we ventured out after 9. The neighborhood was still AWFUL, I almost didn't make it out after not being able to get up a hill. I had to back down it and go another way. Ben could tell I was stressed and in a very concerned and comforting way said "it's okay mommy." long pause.... "it's swippery." He's so sweet that kid of mine, and oh so sensitive. I hope he's always like that, he will make his wife so happy! Anyway- we made it out of the neighborhood, barely and to the daycare and me to work slowly but surely. I left work early so that I could avoid night and refreezing and to make sure I made it to the daycare on time for their closing at 5:30. It was better but not better if you know what I mean. Ryan's on his way now hopefully he will be okay and it wont take him nearly as long as it did yesterday to get home!!! Other than that- the snow has been fun, pretty, COLD, crispy, SHINY, glazed, did I mention COLD?

Family Love

I love my siblings. I love these special photos we have of us as kids. I'm so grateful my dad took so many!

(Shauna, Me on her leg, Greg, Delinda and John at our brother Brian's gravesite)

Our Kid Says the Darndest Things...

Welcome to January of a new year! Yikes! Where does the time go!? Ben's been cracking us up lately, especially with the things he's been saying. Yesterday Ryan called for him to help bring the trash and recycle bins back to the house while I was getting him out of the car. Ben yelled out to him "Just a minute! I gotta get out of the car first!"
We've been trying really hard to get him to go to the bathroom when he's gotta go, and to help him acknowledge what it feels like and all. He's been letting himself out of his room lately, which he usually always waits for us to come get him... and this morning he emerged in to the bright light and came in our room. Ryan said "do you need to go potty? Let's go to the potty..." Ben said "I gotta wake up first..." hahaha!If he's eating something he likes; he'll raise his eyebrows, nod his head and smile saying "mmm, that's really good!"
On Christmas we were driving around trying to find SOMEWHERE that was open so we could eat. I said "Hey Ben, what do you want to eat?" to which he replied "Um....... (long pause).... I don't know!" like he really just didn't know!
The other day I said "you're such a big boy" and he said "I'm Ben Smith". (Kind of like "duh Mom, my name isn't big boy it's Ben Smith). He even knows he lives in Georgia! He's super smart even if I do say so myself... not biased or anything.

2010 a year in review

January- had our visit to "the cabin" (Thundering Waters) near Helen, GA in the north GA mountains. We fell in love at first site and have been visiting ever since!

February- we had our "Snowmagedon", and lots of learning about what toddler-hood was going to be like!

March- one of the hardest months of our lives. We lost my oldest sister Shauna and made the long cross country drive in our little CRV to Utah for her funeral. The reason for the drive was not thrilling of course, but being with family to say goodbye to her and seeing our beautiful country was awesome. We celebrated lots of birthdays and (oops) forgot about our 3 year anniversary!

April- (end of March) we went to the cabin again, and celebrated Easter with the Smith side of the family. Ben and his cousins had fun doing their Easter egg hunt!

May-had a baby shower for Hillary, photographed a wedding, went camping and got rained out, heard news of the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico as well as some other catastrophic environmental events like the volcano eruption in Iceland. Also, my big sister Delinda graduated with her PhD from Emory and had visits from her and my brother Greg to celebrate!
June- Ryan's birthday! Had a week of "staycation" and went to the zoo, swimming, saw Little Hunter E. at the hospital, made a blanket fort in the family room, and lots of other fun things! Planted our first (vegetable) garden and were oh so proud of it's development!
July- we had a SUPER fun 4th of July with lots of fun activities like watching fireworks with friends and going to a parade with Nana. Lots of swimming and playing. We spent the day with Nana & Poppy at White Water. They were kind and treated us to a FUN day of water slides and pools! Watching our garden progress and produce the first signs of veggies! Ryan and I had our visit whole weekend away to St. Simon Island to do wedding photos for the Kranendonk family. Had a little stop at the beach and enjoyed the beautiful scenery there.
August- Ben started really changing a lot and growing up including using the potty more often than not. We traveled to South, south, south Atlanta area to pick out a Lhasa Apso puppy for Nana and Poppy and ended up with this cutie that we all named Sofie. She's not even a year old and is much bigger than our Lhasa! We think Ally must be a "miniature" Lhasa... and Sofie is not.

September-went to the cabin, again... and had SOOOOO much fun swimming and tubing in the Hooch. Went to the Sesame Street show at Philips Arena, our A/C went out for a whole weekend, saw some old friends.
October- Ben FINALLY has finished getting teeth. For the love of all that's holy that took forever. The Chilean miners were rescued, there was a TORNADO in my hometown of Flagstaff, AZ (which is so weird still...), we went to the pumpkin patch, Ben sleeps in a big boy bed (The "school bus"), Ben is a pirate for Halloween. We went to the ward Trunk-or-Treat, trick-or-treated in the neighborhood and at the Terry's house. Ryan and I went to the Weezer concert and got like FIVE ROWS away from Rivers Como! ACK! (jumping up and down screaming like a teenage girl!) Had a baby shower for Ashley!
November- my cousin Laura and her two kids came for a quick and fun weekend visit, we spent another COLD Thanksgiving with Delinda in Chicago and had a blast. We got a fun new little point and shoot camera.
December- well, you know... full of holiday fun! We had a very fun Christmas time with our little guy who really seemed to be "in" to Christmas this year! Little Savannah was born!
We had such a wonderful and busy year. A lot of good things to help drown out some of the bummer things. This year taught us more to love our families and friends and to cherish them and every minute we get the privilege of spending time with them. Hopefully 2011 will bring us lots of fun new adventures!

My Dream Man

I'm so grateful that the Lord has sent me the perfect man for me. I am so grateful to have someone who makes me LAUGH on a daily basis. Like the kind of laugh that makes you happy all over. He's a terrifically FUN daddy and has the best sense of humor. I love my man. I am so happy I have him.That face he's making is one of my favorites... isn't he so silly? I told him that was Ben's towel and no he couldn't have it, as cool as it is...

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!