It's a Boy!

Leaping Lizards I've got another one on the way!  We had the ultrasound to tell us so this past Tuesday. I had already wiped the slate clean of having a preference for a girl or boy --  knowing either would be great.... but as I heard the news that Ben would have a younger brother I couldn't help but dream of the two -- walking in one anothers footsteps- recieving the priesthood, serving missions, finding wives... I want nothing more in the world than to have my children find their best friend right beside them throughout their lives.

I've attached a picture of the ultra sound that just makes me melt. I can almost see the features our little guy will have. Throughout the ultra sound he wiggled and jiggled and crossed his legs and stretched--- we've got a real active one in there :)  I couldn't wait to get home to tell Ben about his new little brother -- and while I know Ben has no idea what is ahead, I remind him everyday! He's going to be a big brother! I am so excited to be carrying another boy and it was equally exciting to find out so far so good- two hands, two feet, working organs and a strong heart beat.


Ben's first Easter was great. He attended two easter egg hunts and slept through both afternoon sessions of conference the next week. I got to listen to all the talks because the morning sessions he was a pro at keeping himself occupied.

As for the drama in our lives- it is all in Ben's mouth right now. He has been squawking off and on for two weeks straight so far, and finally signs of why have emerged-- his back teeth. Those molars are really killing the kid. They have come with bruises on his face, blood, and even a hematoma (aka..blood blister) on the back right side where one is trying to emerge but has not found sucess yet like the other ones. It has meant a lot of hugs for me but also very little time to do anything else but tend to little Ben. I hope his "pain" goes away soon.

We'll I better be off. I was up til 2 am last night with pregnacy heartburn--- so I can't wait to make it up tonight ;)

Summer

Lew

OK, it's high time I stop wallowing in self pity, and I start talking about the most important thing that has happened to me this year, Lew!  I am moving into month four of my pregnancy and my baby and belly are growing. Her inutero name is inspired by Will--- "Lew" is roughly how you would pronounce his name backwards. The nickname will advance to "Lew, Lew" or stay the same depending on the gender, which we will find out somewhere around April 18th next month. I already talked about the major first trimester differences between Lew and Ben-- I was a lot more tired and less nauseous. So far in my second trimester I am still a little tired by have yet to experience the back aches I did with Benjamin. I heard the baby's heart beat last week. Actually I recorded it and have played it several times since. There is nothing more comforting at this stage than hearing your baby's heart pounding! Ben of course does not get that I am carrying his new sibling in my tummy-- but he will be hard pressed not to notice his mother's weight change in the coming months ;) I plan on transitioning Ben to a toddler bed this summer- just months shy of his second birthday.  I also plan on weaning him from his binki in the next few months. Currently he only uses it for sleep… this is to cut down on binki competition when Lew is born.

As for my little rascal-- he is tearing it up.  Literally, my face is evidence of the fact. One bright and early morning I was pulling myself out of bed after getting Ben from his crib. But it obviously wasn't fast enough for my little tyke. He took and sunk his fingernails into my nose and then quickly crossed them through my cheek. I looked really funny for a few days. The pic below, you can tell my scar is on the mend, but the first few days were a gash of red puffiness.

Speaking of Tyke's I got Ben a Bike. I had scoured the DI for at least two weeks before I gave up and searched the internet for a good deal. He is now the proud owner of a tryke---  I was sooo excited for it to come in the mail, as it was sent to my mom and dad's place, I called my parents everyday to see if it had arrived, and the moment it did I ran up to claim our prize. Will then spent the next hour trying to assemble it while Ben climbed all over him and the bike parts. The next morning Ben woke up and wanted nothing to do with us, he just wanted his bike. So fun!!  I've uploaded a pic. of the bike but he is sleeping now so I'll get you a picture of him on the bike later.

As for Will and I, we are moving. In a moment of insanity, we decided to see if we could move in with Will's parents. And actually it was the first moment of sanity I felt in months.  I've been crunching numbers and moving in with family was the best option…. but my parents were out of space, Dale wouldn't let Will and I have their master bedroom and I didn't think Will's parents would be possible (a. cause they didn't have an apartment for us to live in, and b. because I'm still weary of whether or not we would be compatible under the same roof- We're sooo different :) So as for a. we offered to help build and pay for an apartment in their basement, with some of our last savings-- they didn't take us up on either offer- they did however tell us we could move in and they would build and pay for an apartment to be put in their basement. as for b. -- I don't think that will ever change. But I don't believe they are holding out for b. and I am learning to let go of b. for my own good. Really I don't believe I would have felt peace in this move if the Lord didn't have a way for us to accomplish a, and b. I'm hopeful that our relationship with Will's parents will be all the better for it. Besides- they are so sweet for making a. happen ;)

So with Will taking the test and me growing exponentially, and us moving, these next few months are going to be big ones.  Keep us in your prayers!

Summer

Back again

Whoa, I missed all of February blogging….. this can only mean one thing….. My little grumpy pants self was trudging through a first trimester of pregnancy. And boy was I grumpy…. at least when I was awake. I won't even tell you of the number of phone calls I sent to my message machine and times poor Ben brought me a blanket because he knew the bed is just where I hung out. I am thirteen weeks and due September 13th of this year. Just a couple of weeks before Ben's second birthday. I decided I suffer less with post partum and more with first trimester partum. I can't decide if my least favorite trimester issues was that I had to sleep 11+ hours a day or was grumpy 88 percent of the time. On a great note though-- I wasn't nauseous at all!!!! I did throw up once out of the blue at midnight once, but that was not repeated.

So let me catch you up on my little star. He is talking up a storm lately. He repeats most things we ask him to. And says words I didn't teach him…. like "cool." Whenever he reads his books he knows at few words (aka pictures' s name) on each page. He loves to read and O he loves his belly button.  I know we weren't on the topic of belly buttons but I thought I would seg-way into it. The kid walks around with his finger in his belly button. Especially when he is tired or sensitive.  And I'll let you in on a little secret if you promise not to tell anyone. I am a belly button lover too. I have always found comfort in touching my belly button…. who knew stuff like that was genetic :)  Ok well I better get to fixing my little man and my big man their dinner.  Stay tuned until next time… I'll try not to skip any more months of blogging.

CAR

My little man Ben is really doing the toddler thing as of late. He walks wherever he goes, screams when he doesn't get his way and his favorite word is "CAR."  Its the first word he says when he wakes up in the morning and the last word he says before he goes down at night. Speaking of sleep.... I have felt like an ubber cool mom as of late. Without any intentional training my little guy can go down for a nap and or bedtime with his eyes wide open... he will then either sleep or talk for the next 30 mins than go to sleep. I kinda sorta gave up on any of that babywise train of thought -- it was too stressful for me to feel like I was making my little man sleep when I wanted him to sleep.  I wanted him to sleep because he wanted to sleep. Not saying anything about the sleep methods out there but anything too planned in the realm of naps and sleeping, freaks me out because then that means I can or am doing something wrong when plans fall through.... Anywho I just feel cool cause Ben sleeps close to 11 hours at night and 2 to 3 hours during the day without any pre-programed plan!

Also another baby moment that has me feeling like I'm doing an OK job is Ben eats with a spoon almost better than I do!  He is detailed like his dad. He takes the time to look at the food and carefully lift the spoon to his mouth, once the food is in place on the spoon of course. My neighbor couldn't believe the difference between her 18 month old and 16-month-old Ben. They ate lunch together and Ben kept all of his taco soup in his bowl until devoured with a spoon... meanwhile her daughter's dinner was spread all over the table.

Listen to me blabber... I may be boasting it up too much-- my only consolation is that this blog is more private so the world doesn't know how Bencenteric I am ;) As for the rest of my life... we have an offer on our condo-- but it will take another few months to be approved--- as it is a short sale.  In the meantime I've been planning life after this condo and it looks a little tight. Honestly though I have no idea how we've made it this long (close to 3 years without a job) and we still have some savings!  I know the Lord has blessed us and I know he will continue to bless us. Here's hoping for a  prosperous year!

Summer

The Perfect Day

Will and I spent our anniversary at the Hotel Monaco in SLC.  My brother Ryan and his wife gave us the reservation for our Christmas present. This present actually beats out my all time favorite gift - a black mountain bike - I asked for it back when I was 10 years old and three years later I had given up hope -- than stumbing into the family room at 3 am that Christmas morning the beautiful creation was next to the tree. I was smiling for the next month. Well this years gift, of a hotel stay, will have me smiling for years. A day and a half, with just Will, we started off by wathcing MI 4, and later wandered the streets of Downtown Salt Lake, we spent our time eating way too many calories at the local resturants, and played a highly competative game of checkers at which I barely lost--- he only had about six kings left. Soooo close! We than finished up the evening with a bunch of episodes of "the Middle,"(our favorite tv show right now) and the next morning we sipped gourmet hot chocolate, while reading a pictoral book about Utah's history. I only had one real "panic moment" the entire stay away from Ben, a few hours into our trip I missed him so much I almost canceled the whole extravaganza, but I stayed strong and had the time of my life.


 

 

Speaking of Benny Boy.  He is cropping right up.  Will and I were starting to lose hope of ever having Ben take more than three steps without prompting and in the last few days he has taken five steps and even more (with prompting).  I can't believe our little angel is on his way to becoming fully mobile! He also said his first sentence last week--- it went like this "if I ever get out of this home I'm going to buy me a red rider bee bee gun".... just kidding.... He said "Go Outside!"  he loves the word "Go" and "Car" - I believe he uses those words most frequently. Will and I-- "mommy and Daddy"  are close seconds.  Now whenever he screams I can tell him to please quiet down and articulate-- and HE DOES!  It's sooo cool. Of course I don't use the word articulate-- I just tell him to ask for what he wants instead of scream ;) Below are pics of Ben in his first trip to the Zoo...We were able to reunite the little monkey with his real parents... you know the ones he learned his little arm leg scoot from...



 

 

Well I believe I've written enough about this year's Christmas to give you a good idea of it's wonderfulness. Ben did open one  present this season-- it's just too bad it wasn't his and it was a few weeks before Christmas. Besides that his cousins, parents and uncles and aunts did most of his present opening. I think if he could talk he would say his toy truck from his uncle Nate was his favorite. Well I best be off to the new year-- lots of resolutions to fill ;)

Christmas Eve at my parents

 

Guess who is older...You'll never guess ;)

All I want for Christmas...

All Will really wants for Christmas is a walking baby boy.  He set that tentative date in his mind in hopes for a Christmas miracle and last week he started hanging up those hopes when what to ones wondering eyes should appear - santa and 12 tiny reindeer - O I mean, Ben's has taken his first steps! Will also walked in on Ben watching signing times yesterday and instead of sitting on his chair Ben was standing in the middle of the room. It's been soo much fun to watch our little elf progress onto his daddy's Christmas miracle :)

Another notable moment was when I was stalling Ben from pulling us out of bed one morning, by showing him flash cards on the phone, and I couldn't believe how much he understood.  Every time he saw a card that he knew the sign for he would use his signs. Ever time he saw a body part he would point to that part-- eyes, ears, hands, feet... I know Ben understands a lot more than he can really communicate and the entire process just blows me away.

All I want for Christmas- I already have. Will and Ben have managed to already bring me the best Christmas I could ask for. You can never really forget the 12 years spent as a "young single adult" --the tears/fears/Independence and great friendship. But now to move onto creating a family. I could hold my two boys forever. There is nothing better than being Will's wife and Ben's mom.  My Christmas miracle is smiling me in the face everyday, and I will forever be grateful.

Don't wanna miss

The last few weeks have been some to write about. I wish I could say they were filled with holly berries and tinsel, but they weren't.  It seems as if every minute Will wasn't out cutting up trees and fences from the crazy hurricane wind storm we had here, we were in bed sick.  In fact Will and I both slept most the day on his birthday a couple a days ago sick with two totally different viruses. Minus a few good health days, we've been down for the count since Thanksgiving. I spent a little time upset at the situation-- but then it just made my headache worse.  So I've been soaking in the days in bed listening to my cute little prince rumage in the medince cabinets and tuperware drawer.

I hope our bad health days are done now. I look forward to actually getting some cleaning done and looking for presents for Will. To bring you up to date. We're all moved in now-- and have a couple of boxes left to unpack, but are pretty much settled. We haven't heard back on Will's Ohio interview-- but I have come to peace with whatever the outcome there.

Ben is doing new things all the time. In fact in the time it took to write the last few paragraphs Ben learned how to turn his walker around. He is wandering through the house squealing with pleasure over the whole event. He says "Da Da," "Ma Ma," "No," and "more" consitently now, and mimics other words.  Hubby is still hoping for a Christmas miracle-- that Ben will take his first few steps on his own. I was shooting for him being potty trained for my Christmas miracle--- but I guess I'll take walking too. Ben shows more interest in reading all the time. And he continues to forget that he has parents whenever his friends are around. Not even a needy-- "give me food look." He just steals the food off of whatever his older cousins had gathered for themselves. His fetishes are hats and gloves, if those are missing than it is not uncommon to see him scooting around the house with shoes on his hands and a carrot balanced on his head. I love Ben with all my heart and I love his dad even more. It's good to be back in Bountiful.

Summer

p.s. Yes this is what it looks like, dad tearing up the front yard to show the grandkids a good time on a tarp. Ben loved every minute of it.