Perfect Day

Today was simply beautiful. Part of the reason it was so great was that Ben and I didn't have the car so there was no easy way to get out of the house. Most of the time I feel rushed. Like we have too much going on. So today we just chilled at home; a much needed staycation.

Ben started off the day by making cakes with blankets and airplane wings in bowls. We cackled together as we ate it like monsters. That inspired us to make real cake! Which we did, of course. Then we ate it -  like civilized people - after lunch. Ben also made bean muffins today (he's obviously on a cooking spree!). In case you don't know how to make bean muffins here is the recipe:
1. pour dry pinto beans into bowl
2. stir
3. evenly disperse beans into muffin tins
4. put them in the oven (under the couch cushion)
5. enjoy!
There you have it.

Benjamin also potty trained like a pro today. He is sporadically motivated by the promise that once he is potty trained he can ride a real train. He will pee in the potty when asked though he has yet to poo. He likes being dry and clean but will definitely pretend he is to avoid a diaper change!

The laundry basket served multiple functions today. Once it was clear of dirty laundry it became an airplane in which Ben flew (aka was carried around by yours truly) around the house crashing into various objects. Later it was kitty's home from which she "escaped" several times - we bribed her back with treats, never fear.

Ben also watched a few episodes of Dinosaur Train - his new favorite TV show. I'm thrilled with this development because I like having a child who likes dinosaurs (as opposed to be terrified of them! which he was only a few weeks ago). This opens up a whole new world to us! I found some dinosaur toys at a consignment sale recently. In the set are dinosaurs resembling a Lambeosaurs, a Pteranodon, and a T-Rex. All of those feature prominently in the Dinosaur Train so Ben acts it out as we watch :). He also knows the first episode (of season 2) well enough that he says the lines with the characters. I could just gobble him up, I swear.

Nap time happened today too. See, I told you this day was perfect. Ben snuggled up all "nice and cozy" in a "nest" under his bed. Yes, he has been sleeping under his bed for a few weeks now. It actually works out to my advantage because I threaten to make him sleep on top of his bed if he comes out of his room. This has made going to bed at nap time and night time a breeze. Speaking of bed time, part of our routine is to read scriptures. He is very vocal about not reading out of the real scriptures. We fought him on it for months until we tried the Children's picture scriptures - you know which one I'm talking about - and he loves it! He actually is remembering what happened and knows some names. I'm so impressed!

After nap we walked to the park. Ben led the way narrating whether we were on the sidewalk or on the road because the other was too muddy, or branches were blocking the way, or we had to go around a car, or a car was coming. It was freezing so the park wasn't as much fun as it usually is. Nonetheless, Ben still didn't want to come home! I bribed him back with treats, never fear.

I love days like this. I thank God for my beautiful child and my happy life. 

Growing

Benji is a good sleeper, but who likes actually going to sleep? Once in his crib, Benjamin will ask for his favorites: milk please, berries please, candy please... before he'll accept his fate and go to sleep. He also has noticed the stars on his ceiling and wall and loves for us to "charge" a couple that he can sleep with. We always sing "now the day is over" (this is how Doug and I sound :)...) and pray together. Even if Ben is upset and screaming while we sing he sometimes stops just for the duration of the prayer, haha. It's so cute how he folds his arms and bows his head (usually only for the first part) and he's so proud of himself! During the day he will randomly stop what he's doing, pretend to pray and make sure I'm watching. Aye, I love this kid. He's such an obedient and eager to please little soul.

I think I've mentioned before that Ben really likes playing in the car. He never fails to push buttons (mine and the cars!). Three times this last month I haven't noticed that he turned on the small overhead lights in the car. So... three times this month we woke up to a dead battery. You'd think I would have learned by now.

 

Doug, for one, is counting down until December 15th when Ben will be 18 months and old enough for nursery! Lately they've been wandering the halls and looking at paintings of Jesus (aka, playing with a basketball in the gym) ;).

We just spent a week in Asheville where Benji perfected playing independently. Now that we're home he is content to play by himself most of the day as long as I read him a book here or there and take him on an outing and feed him food. I have to say, it is a great thing when I can make dinner and peek over at Ben on the floor building a tower of legos. Not to say he doesn't like his tv -  Thomas, Tow Mater, and Baby Einstein are his go-to shows.

Well, I think that's enough for now. We're just chugging along.

Words Benjamin says/signs*... note that most of these words he doesn't actually say, but he has his own sound/hand combination specific to that word. That counts, right?

cat
meow
cow
moo
clock
more*
milk*
chocolate
candy
tractor*
bus*
car* (vroom)
music
please*
mama
dada
Daniel
star
ball*
alligator*
owl (hoo)
snake
bird*
that
candle
hot*
juice*
soda*
tent*
pray*
sleep*
thank you*
I love you*
Jesus*
cheese
banana
flower*
light
lotion*
water*
hat*
hide
phone*
poop
berry (blue/ras/black) *
wall
uh oh

Consignment sale finds

In addition to serially raiding the public library book sale, I like to go consignment sale hopping. Here's the loot from this consignment sale:

The cute black and white shoes were the most expensive ($10), then the car race track ($7). Everything else was under $5 and it cost me only $0.50 for all the cars!

I got Percy (the train) because Ben is going through this Thomas the train phase. He'll bring me the TV remote and sign "car" at least several times a day. I better find a better hiding place for the remote!

Benjamin is going to be so happy when he wakes up from his nap :).

Well this is what happens when you lose your camera: no pictures. Go figure. Combine that with summer laziness and you get a lapse in updates for which I'm sure you've been sitting on the edge of your seat!

The first big piece of news is that Maria got married to Jeff (hooray!) and they are now living in Wymount in the same apartment that our best friends lived in. Hah! So we've eaten more dinners, played more wii, and generally spent more time in their apartment than they have so far. Wild, right?

Secondly, while we were in Spokane celebrating their marriage, Ben decided to walk. Don't be surprised when you see him crawling though, it's still his favorite mode of transportation. [I would love to show you the video we have of him but I can't get blogger to post it - help, anyone?? Meanwhile, see facebook.] In other news, Benjamin is still as adorable as ever. His hair is getting a little unruly but he has made it quite clear that the clippers are not getting within 3 feet of him. So that's a no-go. Hopefully his hair just stops growing until he can be reasonable?

He also speaks and signs. It's adorable how thrilled he is to communicate with us. We are constantly amazed at how quickly he is becoming a kid instead of a baby. In case you're interested, and especially if you're not, here's a list of the words he says (*signs):

• mama
• dada
• aus (I want that)
• vroom
• *more
• *ball
• *all done
• *milk

So we are having so much fun. He absolutely loves steering wheels, things on wheels, and balls. His favorite things to do are go on walks in his stroller, go swimming, and chase/get chased by Doug. He hates church and restaurants (correction: sitting while in church or at restaurants).

Doug started school again. His research is going well (though not as quickly as he would like) and he always finds time to play with Ben, eat dinner with us, and help around the house (most of the time anyway...).

I'm busy entertaining Ben (and teaching him how to entertain himself so I don't have to work so hard!), reading tons, and working 6 hrs a week babysitting/cleaning houses. Side note: PLEASE go on goodreads and add me as a friend. I'd love to know what you're reading and especially what you think of the books you read. I'm seriously on there once or twice a week; I've made a goal to read 50 books this year and I'm on track to make it. Plus, book club starts next Tuesday *squeal.* I'm also starting a ballet class which starts this Saturday.

I'm a little worried I'm busying myself too much so I'm going to have to actually try to stay home or we'd be leaving the house every day - and that's just exhausting. In that spirit, you might not see another blog post for a while...so here's to not over-exerting myself!

Benjamin's First Birthday

Benjamin is one and I'm only just barely getting around to hanging up some adorable 6 mos pictures of him. hah! C'est la vie.

We celebrated the big ONE with family in New York with all the grandparents, cousins, most of the aunts and uncles (missed you, Brian!), and even some second cousins. Because I'm totally lame when it comes to picture taking all these NY pictures are photos Carrie took (thanks, Carrie!).

On Saturday early early morning, ohhhh around 12:28, we were driving home and stopped to think about this time 12 months ago. Okay, so we actually missed 12:28, it was more like 12:32 haha, but let's just pretend here. I would go through pregnancy, labor and delivery all again ten times over because he is so worth it. (11 times is pushing it though...)

Ben doesn't really like being thrown, but we do it anyway ...

That evening we celebrated with cupcakes (the mix inherited from the Blevins!) topped with whipped cream and raspberries. YUM. Benjamin liked it too!

Benjamin's personality shining through:

• He's beginning to tantrum 
• His favorite food is/are raspberries 
• His favorite book is How do Dinosaurs go to School (this SAVED us on the airplane!)
• He definitely understands the words: Benjamin, Ben, diaper, light, milk, outside, bath, pacifier
• He probably understands the words: bottle, Momma, Dadda, park, stroller, food, eat, book, TV, fan
• His best friend is Zack Ransom - though he likes any kid under 2 that walks through our door
• He still loves his paci
• His favorite game is toppling over towers or getting chased

I am so looking forward to this next year with my boys. We have such a wonderful little family :).

AZ trip

Hello from the hot and sweaty land of North Carolina. We just got back from a three week vacation - one week in Arizona, two in New York. We had a great time and Benjamin sorely misses the constant entertainment and lovins :).

Here are some pictures from Arizona. We stayed with the Lemmies (Miriam and I are besties from college) and she graciously acted as our tour guide.

skyping with Doug

Doug was afraid Ben would forget him! He didn't forget, of course, and Ben would often only leave me for Doug.

cousins and second cousins

We visited lots of family. Ben met his second cousins and his great grandparents. He was such a trooper with all the traveling every day. Which reminds me - the transition to Arizona (ie: 3hr time difference) wasn't nearly as bad as I predicted. He actually slept better in AZ than he had the few weeks before in NC haha. Maybe it had something to do with playing with his little roommate all day long (see below). Ben's crawling speed legitimately increased several mph!

Great Grandma Standage

Josh and Miriam spoiled me with delicious chicken tikka masala, steak, burgers, pasta, pie, chocolate covered almonds... need I go on?

Josh's signature steak. yummm

Strawberry and rhubarb pie

Benjamin at his Uncle Jonathan's grave

Great Grandma Driggs

Sporting a brand new quilt from great Grandma!

at the pool in Miriam's complex. heavenly.

Phoenix Zoo

Benjamin's "little roommate"

Benjamin after the splash pad was done with him :)

We made some awesome memories and I'm sad it went by so quickly. We look forward to next time :).

Surprise visit from Grandma and Grandpa! (and Aunt & Uncle, of course)

I can remember three (maybe four) times my family drove to go on vacation. So imagine my surprise when my family decided to drive to visit us in North Carolina! I was thrilled to have them come and they did not disappoint - we had a blast.

This is essentially the only picture I took while they were here, but it sums up their visit nicely - playing with Benjamin. He absolutely adored his Uncle Daniel, frequently preferred Sarah over me, cackled with his Grandpa, and snuggled with Grandma. I absolutely love visiting and being visited by family. Plus things are "accidentally" left at my house: chocolate covered blueberries, milano cookies, a $20 bill, apples, yogurt, Twix, a pair of darn tough socks (??). Does everyone's mom do that? :)

Our weekend (and bellies) was filled with food from Durham's best eateries: Q shack, Tonali, Sitar, Ox and Rabbit, and homemade pizza. We toured Duke Gardens, went swimming, and watched General Conference.  My favorite talk was Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's talk from Sunday afternoon. I can't wait to read it again. I don't know how anyone gets through 8 hours of conference without busying their hands or "resting" their eyes.  This year I worked on burial gowns for UNC hospital. The pattern I used was quite simple and it went faster than I anticipated.

I think it looks precious though my heart aches for the parents who need it.

On a happier note, my sister got engaged! Wahoo!

Congratulations you little lovebirds.

SEVEN months?

I know that I really haven't posted in a long time when Doug (he reads the blog? Who knew.) said to me in the middle of the day, "you haven't done a blog post...just in case you're bored." To which I responded with a bored? hah! here's my long to-do list. I've thankfully completed that list, but you know how lists are, they just keep multiplying. So basically what I'm saying is I don't know how anyone blogs anymore. Especially with a broken dishwasher.

I would love to tell you about our delightfully long vacation to NY. Essentially, Benjamin was adorable, got sick and developed some naughty night-time habits (fortunately he's back on track now!), learned that wrapping paper is really fun to play with, was loved on by grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, and went sledding! Did I miss anything? It's hard to remember without pictures and it's hard to take pictures when you leave your camera in NC... So much for adorable first Christmas pictures.

I can't get enough of him! 

• Ben is loving real food. Absolutely loving it. He coos and hmmms while eating or when he sees it coming. I gave him a taste of ice cream last night... he loved it, of course. Other than that we feed him healthy food, I promise! I think his favorite foods are grains, no seriously, this kid loves his carbs. If he doesn't like a food (ahem-carrots!), I mix in some barley or rice and he's game. Or I'll top off a meal with some cereal and he's the happiest kid on earth.
• His preferred toys are that triangle toy pictured above, baby spoons, and pacifiers. Go figure.
• Ben's new name is Kicking Legs. He kicks his legs when he's excited (happy or upset). i.e.: I sat him down next to Elsie Wilson and he couldn't stay upright for his excited kicking legs! He'd fall over every time we tried to sit him back up. Apparently she's the cutest girl around :).
• We have a pterodactyl in the house. Hopefully this phase doesn't last too long.
• Ben is still sleeping 4 to 5 hours during the day and 11-12 hours at night - L.O.V.E. Hopefully this phase lasts forever.

He is the most pleasant child. Maybe we'll have another? Maria's just eaten up all the deductible so why not. Doug, what do you think?

Oh yes, and Doug sprained his ankle. We have pictures of that, but not Ben on his first Christmas morning. Something's wrong here.

Lovely, honey.

Am I eating because I'm bored?

Blog- what's a blog?

Update - oh, you can't read my mind?

So I've been horrible at blogging lately. I can't promise it's going to change, especially since we're spending a good chunk of time on vacation soon. But I thought I'd update you on a key change to Ben's lifestyle: FOOD!

YES! Ben is eating rice cereal, pears, avocado, and we're trying banana later today. He's loving it. And so am I. Who knew introducing new foods to your child could be so much fun? Only parents probably. Ben stares at us when we eat, eyeing the food (and drink) from the plate (or cup) to our mouths. Does every baby do that? Yes, and you don't care, I know, but really, it's so much fun.Try it. Get a baby, and you'll find out.

Lack of updates: Ben doesn't seem motivated to move around. Hence no sitting, crawling, rolling, nothing. Actually I'm sure he'll be sitting pretty soon, he's almost got it. I'm not worried - I think mothers worry too much. Oh, he's walking already? Your child sleeps through the night? You let him suck his fingers? She's still in diapers? You don't nurse her anymore!? You're still nursing her!!?? You don't buy organic food? You bought her clothes at the store?!  I mean, really, it gets a little ridiculous. I'd be lying if I didn't think those things ever (I mean, who doesn't exclusively sew their children's clothes?) but I don't like thinking them.

Didn't think you were getting a rant, did you? 

Anyways, apparently we don't take enough pictures, but here are a few from Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving, by the way! 

What I've always wanted - a baby on my lap.

Sporting his fav NZ slippers

Peek-a-boo!

Good

Better

BEST!

nom nom nom

Now on to Christmas...

In a few days I'll show you a BIG, I mean really BIG surprise.

That may or may not have to do with Christmas presents.

You'll never guess so don't even try.

I wouldn't have thought Doug would take the plunge.

But he has.

And I am thrilled!!!

So stay tuned.

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?