Oops

Can you say, "airhead"?

I honestly don't know how that happened.

I'm tempted to not take out the 320 stitches required to fix it but to somehow patchwork it....

Please advise.

Ugh, I'll just do it.

Christmas (not so much) Surprises

Doug is too smart for his own good, it seems. And so are advertising algorithms!

I really can't think of one gift that I have given to Doug he hadn't already figured out. Wait - I take that back, I know of one. So this year I was going to try really hard and not give him any clues, intentionally or otherwise, so that I could actually surprise him! Is that really too much to ask?

I decided to get him a nice, indoor basketball. Exciting right? Well, you may not think so, but it's actually quite astonishing that we don't own one already. Naturally I look online (can I just say that I'm so looking forward to cyber Monday!). I even log out of Amazon so that they don't put it under "recent searches." Clever, right? Well later that day Doug is playing with Ben on the floor, listening to Pandora and guess what the ad is for? You guessed it - a new basketball!!!! "Sweetie, did you buy me a new basketball?" I hear from the living room. What is a woman to do? Sheesh. Instead of trying to play dumb (which I would have been horrible at) I get mad at both him and Pandora for making the connection.

Why me?

Don't worry, I have something else up my sleeve ;).

Politics

I voted! And it felt great. It really is electrifying to be participating in something with the rest of the United States!

I've always said I dislike politics, but in reality I dislike conflict. Most of the times those two go together though! I wouldn't say that I enjoy politics, but Doug would be happy to hear that I don't mind listening to (and occasionally participating in) friendly political discussions. In the privacy of my own home, when it's just the two of us, I will talk about anything and everything. That's one of the perks to marrying an intelligent, level-headed, considerate man!

So yes, I have thought through the issues (those important to me).
Yes, I have my own reasons for voting for Romney.
No, I'm not going to talk about them on my blog because the atmosphere is too tense.
No, I'm not arrogant enough to think that many of you care about why I voted how I did.
But if you do, you can ask me my reasons as long as you're respectful.
Yes, if I'm honest, I'd rather you don't ask... haha, but I'll answer you anyway.
And yes Doug would be ecstatic if you asked him :).

So, how about a picture of Benjamin?

A Night at the Zoo

Between nursing and napping it's hard to get out of the house sometimes. Doug makes it a lot easier and will watch Ben while I run errands or do fun things (hurray for an awesome husband!). Similarly, we don't go out as a family nearly as often as we used to so that Ben can fall asleep for the night in his own bed. Makes sense, right? So then you can understand why I got so excited for the Halloween ward party! Here was an activity that was all planned out for me, on a Friday night, and that ended at a decent time.

Sooo want to see pictures of some random zoo keepers and their pet tiger? 

Not so thrilled to be a tiger I guess.

Don't worry Ben, we're doing this for your own good.

It was surprisingly easy to decorate our trunk as a zoo.. seeing as most of Ben's toys are animals. Plus I only spent $5!  - on the candy and the hanging leaves. The costumes were all free too (shocker... wait, you weren't thinking, "where did she get that vintage camo shirt?"?). Speaking of, does anyone want a 3 mos tiger costume?

I'm looking back over the pictures and the trunk looked so much better in real life. Right? .... And some kids definitely reached for the toys - we got our candy from the dollar store so I don't blame them.

Happy Halloween!!

My favorite part of the day? 

Making Ben laugh

The most satisfying part of my day?

Calming his frustrated little heart.

I love being a mother.

Tech vest day

Wednesday was "tech vest day" in our house.

Also, I just have to say that I don't know what I would do with myself if I didn't like to read. And I realized that my favorite thing to spend money on is discounted books - in my case: the library book sales.  

My most recent purchase includes:

• The Story of My Life - Helen Keller
• 5 Newberry books (They all came together): 
• The Sign of the Beaver - Elizabeth George Speare
• Dear Mr. Henshaw - Beverly Cleary
• One-Eyed Cat - Paula Fox
• Island of the Blue Dolphins - Scott O'Dell
• The Witch of Blackbird Pond - Elizabeth George Speare
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - the movie.. heh heh, tricked ya!

Our little library is growing!

 PS, organizing your books by color is really fun - try it!

I love to see the Temple

This documents Benjamin's first trip to the temple! Unless you count in utero.

Doug and I like to go to the temple as a couple but it was a new experience to go as a family. Click to learn about why we have temples, what we do at the temple, and view the gallery of temples all around the world.

Flying with Angel Moroni :)

The Raleigh temple is (relatively) small but beautiful. It's one of 139 operating temples worldwide!

Did you notice Ben's favorite expression? We've got ourselves a smiler!