Utah- part one

Last weekend I treated myself to a grand three days in beautiful Utah with little BMan. We earned a free flight on our credit card and for the next 10 months, Bennett can fly on a lap so he was free. Yay! It was his first time on an airplane and he was a champ!

I was really worried about flying alone with him so I overpacked our diaper bag full of snacks, games, and wet wipes. It was SO full! So full, in fact, that once I had stowed it under the seat in front of me and placed Bennett on my lap (what's left of it anyway after you account for my preggo tummy...) I couldn't physically REACH the bag!! I could get to his sippy cup in the outside pouch and THIS amazing toy that stuck up out of the bag since it was so tall:

Little hinges with magnetic animals beneath- genius.

Once we got to Utah, my BFF Arnold was picking us up at the airport, but I had to get us out to the curb in one piece with all of our stuff- stroller, jam packed diaper bag, rolling suitcase, and huge carseat. Add to the fact that the pick up area is across the street and you've got one comical situation... kind of... Anyway- we made it! First stop- Arctic Circle. No pictures because I was too busy stuffing my face with a bacon cheeseburger and fries with fry sauce!

The rest of our trip was crazy busy but SO FUN! I can't believe we packed so many things into one weekend! And so much food into our bellies... Seriously. We were eating at least every 3 hours.

Saturday I got together with a couple friends from high school and it was WONDERFUL catching up with them! We are all married now and one of them has a little girl who is just a few months younger than Bennett. We met in Provo and decided to check out the Bean Museum at the BYU campus after lunch.

I actually remember going to this museum as a kid when we lived at BYU. It is crazy full of stuffed animals and heads. Bennett put his pointing skills to good use. The museum has a little play room for kids with animal toys and puzzles and it looks exactly the same as when I was a kid! Dark green carpet, TONS of drawers, and a super neat mural that I didn't actually photograph... Anyway- here's Bennett and his new pal playing together :)

Then I ate some spaghetti. No really, this needed to be documented. Ask anyone close to me and they've never seen me eat spaghetti before. And the kicker- I liked it! My cousin makes a really killer sauce with tomatoes, garlic, onions, zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms, bell pepper, celery, and a bunch of other yummy veggies. It was chunky and delicious. We had to take a picture to send home to Ty. 

 The other really neat thing about the trip was introducing Bennett to a bunch of family members that he's never met before. My dad has a brother and a sister that both live in Utah and several of my cousins are up there too (with THEIR kids!) so we tried to see as many people as we could. One night we met up at Five Guys (my prego craving of choice) where my uncle works and got some cute pictures with my dad, his siblings, and their grandkids- never before seen in one photo all together. And apparently still not... since little Damien didn't feel like having his picture taken with grandpa. Bummer.

More pictures to come... We had a really great time! :)

For Posterity...

Two years ago in July, Ty and I were high on life. I had just completed my first year of classroom teaching and was part of a leadership team at school. Ty was working really hard and we had just purchased our first home. We had been married for almost two years and were fighting the 'baby hunger' by hanging out with friends and going on dates.

We had some extra money in our bank account as the summer approached and we decided to spend a good chunk on a big vacation to Chicago. It was so much fun!! We did our research ahead of time and got some great deals on museums, tours, restaurants, everything. We ate and shopped and just enjoyed our  vacation to the fullest!

About two weeks after we got home, bad news came. In threes. First, our air conditioning in our new house died. We had to replace the whole unit and do some duct work. Then, Ty's car had to have the entire ENGINE replaced. At the same time, my car started having all sorts of problems and ended up needing A LOT of work...

When it was all said and done, we started the summer with about $15,000 in the bank account and by the end of summer, we were borrowing money from both sides of our family.

We have not been at either extreme (money to burn or borrowing) since that summer. We manage our money well and we always have enough for our needs and a lot of our wants. I am grateful that we had that experience because it taught us several things.

1. Live in the moment. I didn't regret our vacation for a second! Sure, we spent a lot, but we were smart about it and we really did have a great time. It was recharging for us as a couple and was the last big trip we took before having kids.

2. Pray. Because you don't have control over anything. No, it wasn't as bad as Job in the scriptures, but we felt pretty low and really had to rely on our faith to get us through it.

3. Trials are a GOOD thing! It was humbling to have to rely on our family for help, and the whole experience really brought us together as a couple. Each trial during that summer brought with it a host of separate issues (like my bunny dying from heat in our house while we waited on the repairmen), but just knowing that we were going through it together made us so much closer.

4. You will survive! There have been several experiences in my life that remind me that Heavenly Father won't give us trials that we can't overcome and that summer was one of them. I am glad I can look back on that experience and realize the blessings that came and how much stronger we are now because of it. We survived! And we survived together!


Flash forward to last week... Ty's car was acting funny, but didn't seem like a huge deal. We figured we would get it in to the shop on his next day off. That sweet little Mazda had plans of its own though and died on the side of the road on the way to church basketball. Awesome.

We can manage being a one car family, so we just took turns using my car and asked Bennett's babysitter very sweetly if she could bring him home a few of the days (love her) when Ty was working. No problems.

Sunday. Driving to Chandler for family dinner, MY sweet little Prius starts acting funny. And then proceeds to completely DIE about a mile from their house. Double awesome.

After towing it from one mechanic shop to a Toyota dealership, it has been determined that it will need $2500 worth of work.

To which I can only say one thing: RIP Trusty Prius.You had a good run and served me well through my last year of college, my first years of marriage, two pregnancies, one child, and lots and lots of shopping trips. Thank you for conserving gas on my way back and forth from Flagstaff, Phoenix, Chandler, and lots of other exotic locales in between including one amazing honeymoon to Mexico. You will be truly missed.

The verdict is still out on what kind of repairs Ty's car is going to need, but I'm not waiting here with bated breath or anything. We can handle whatever comes. We will be stronger when we emerge on the other side of whatever trial we are being faced with. And our family will only be blessed by the experiences that bring us closer together.



We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

Travelling on Foot

It's official, Bennett can walk.

I've been denying it for weeks now. Our friend, Blaine, told me that I was being so modest since most mom's freak out when their kid takes a first step. But in reality, it freaks me out that Bennett is growing up so quickly! Walking really takes the 'baby' out of him and I didn't want to admit that it was happening.

Even more so than having a second baby, seeing Bennett walking just reminds me that I am in a new stage of life (motherhood? adulthood? what do you call it?). Someone asked me if I had seen the new Cowboys vs Aliens movie and my response was "No. BUT I did get to see my one-year-old start walking! Yay!" He didn't get it.

Tucking in the elbows- could he BE any cuter??

Bennett hasn't crawled at all in days. He can walk without even looking where he is going. He can carry a toy in each hand. I even caught him 'talking on the phone' while he was walking around the living room. It is all very exciting, but still SO WEIRD!

ah, Life.

It is sometimes hard for me to accept that this is my life now... maternity dresses, sippy cups, and skinny jeans in size 12months.

But here I am, loving every minute! I honestly wouldn't trade this for anything :)

Veggies

Sometimes I read articles or recipes that are designed to help moms hide veggies and other healthy foods in their kid's dinners. Maybe I should be taking notes.

Ty's dinner plate vs. my dinner plate...

I think Ty's brother, Tom, said it best when he said, "that green stuff's not food- that's what food eats!"

We instituted a new rule at dinner- everyone has to eat a veggie!! Ty's favorite veggies are cooked broccoli and Brussels sprouts- the stinkiest ones! I don't cook them very often, but even still Ty is trying his hardest to eat some kind of veggie at dinner without gagging- usually corn or some iceberg lettuce.

Fortunately, Bennett is turning out to be a GREAT eater despite genes he has inherited from dad. He loves avocados, carrots, and even beets! He and I have been known to share slices of supreme pizza with a salad on the side. He even likes snacking on cucumbers and tomato slices. The only veggie this kid won't eat is green beans. Go figure.

Do black olives count as a veggie? Either way, they are one of Bennett's favorites! I like slicing them into little rings and putting them on his fingers!

Hide and Seek

B's new favorite place to play...

He hides his toys back there to play on the window sill and has attempted to crawl up on to the ledge a few times. Can't wait to start building blanket forts for him to play in! :)

Hair Cut!

Due to a *small* misunderstanding between mom and dad, Bennett got his first buzz cut! Here is a before and after shot...

Yes, I will admit he was getting kinda scruffy in the back (our friend called it the old man 'horseshoe'). I was excited to trim it up a bit and get him used to the clippers! Ty got him ready to go while I got the camera ready.

It was at about this point (see above photo) that I realize Ty doesn't have ANY attachments on the clippers! Bennett is quickly losing ALL of his hair!

Me: TY!!!! OMG you are shaving him BALD!!!
Ty: Yeah. So his hair will grow in more even. Right?
Me: I AM NOT EMOTIONALLY PREPARED FOR THIS!!!

Well, seeing as how Ty had already shaved half of this little guy's head, there was no turning back.

Thumbs up, Mom! Nothing to worry about!

Of course, this little man will be handsome no matter what. And hopefully his hair will grow in thicker and more even.


But in the meantime, his head is prickly like a French lady's legs...

Happy Birthday Bennett!!

I have put this off on purpose because I still can't believe it's true- Bennett turned ONE!! It really seems like its only been a few months since I was feeling that kid doing acrobatics in my tummy whenever loud music turned on... Now I get to see his angry eyebrows when he thinks something is too loud =) cute kid!

We decided to go all out and throw him a birthday bash complete with grilled burgers and an inflatable water slide for all his pals! More than 50 people came! Whoa! It was so much fun!!

I put my craftiness to the test prepping for this party. It took a long time, but I think the decorations turned out SO cute!! The picture above shows the "Bennett's Favorite Things" wall- puppets, mac n cheese, playing ball with Dandy, fingerpainting, going to the zoo, reading with mom, watching sports with dad, and avocados. I also put together a year in pictures from each month during the last year (although he hasn't really changed much since about month 5...). Party favors were these adorable M&M tubes with a little coordinating tag at the top (wish I'd taken a picture!). There was also a cute little activity to do (see Papa Dave, above) where guests could illustrate a picture of Bennett on a paper that only had his head printed. We got some GREAT ones! I'll see if I can scan some on here...


And then there was cake... My friend Kathrin volunteered (or was guilted... I don't remember now) to make Bennett's cake! It was incredible! I can't believe we forgot to take pictures of the cakes before they all got cut! She had multiple sizes that were all frosted in white with a different texture on the outside. She made little flags for the top that coordinated with the decorations. And the inside... Oh, the inside... 

Bennett got his own little cupcake, but had no idea what to do with it! Especially since he doesn't like having dirty hands...

MOM! I need a bath!!

Then Grammy stepped in with all of her Grammy wisdom and cut the cake for him so he could see the inside... Brilliant woman.

omg dad- this is CAKE!

no going back

proof that he will use anything as a phone! haha- just calling his girlfriend on his cake phone

Once he had finished his cupcake, Bennett went for a dip outside.

And finally, PRESENTS! This kid is set for life! (assuming all he wants or needs for the rest of his life consists of plastic toys and board books...)

giant bowtie and fake dog poop from uncle Chris... what kid doesn't need that combination at age one?

Bennett got hyped up on sugar and ended up staying up wayyyy late (10:30 I think!) and was just playing and smiling the whole time. What a happy kid!

I still can't believe a whole year has gone by and that he is leaving the 'baby' stage already! He has definitely brought more joy and smiles to our home than I could have expected. Baby Number Two has a lot to live up to =)

Love you, BMan!