The Hayes Conspiracy

December 2011

2011-12-22T09:21:00.001-08:00

Wow, its been so long since I've posted anything! We're all excited for Christmas this year, and even though Bennett was pretty shy around Santa, he still asked for matchbox cars and candy canes. Zoë had no trouble though, and at 13 mths has walked quite a bit. But for now she still crawls and walks on her knees, like her brother did before her. Its sort of ironic how similar and yet totally different they are. But they love to play together and make each other laugh.

Pool Party

2011-07-14T09:05:00.001-07:00

We had a lot of fun at the pool one day and so here are some pictures of it. Its just been so hot and muggy here with the humidity so we've been swimming quite a bit this summer.

Snack time with the grandkids

Squeezing in nap time

Aunt Crystal and Aurora

Cousin trio shot

4th of July Pictures

2011-07-14T08:48:00.000-07:00

We had a great 4th of July starting with a parade in Cabot and ending with a potluck dinner starring Andrew's Honey BBQ Ribs. Here are a few pictures from the holiday

Grammy and Aurora blowing bubbles

Playing with sparklers

During the Parade

Some pictures

2011-06-29T17:33:00.000-07:00

Daddy's Little Princess

Meme feeding Zoë while cousin Aurora watches

Bennett and Zoë love the swing!

Bennett with the Rock of Ages Moose, or "Mickey Moose" as Bennett called him

Summer in Vermont!

2011-06-22T08:49:00.000-07:00

The Hayes family have all been having a blast during the first two weeks of our summer trip to Vermont to visit Lauren's Mom and Dad. The Harvey house is noisier and fuller than it has been for quite a while--but the kids are loving it and I think Grammy and Grampy Harvey are, too.

Lauren has been having a great time showing the kids off to some of her old friends in the ward and spending time visiting with people she hasn't seen in several years. The week we got here, we took the kids and visited the K-12 school she graduated from and let the kids meet some of her old teachers, which was kind of fun. We were also able to visit her favorite restaurant, House of Tang, which has a great Chinese buffet. She, Rita, and her grandmother were also able to spend a day in Burlington shopping and were able to go out to lunch together, while Daddy and Allyn took care of the kids.

I'm enjoying myself quite a bit, too. I've been able to do a little cooking for Lauren's family and that's been fun, and I've also been able to play the piano a little bit, which has been awesome (Scott Joplin ragtime music sounds really good on their plonky old piano). I've also discovered croquet, which is pretty much the greatest outdoor activity ever invented and absolutely perfect for somebody who is allergic to physical exercise like I am ;).

Zoë is growing up too quickly--she crawled for the first time the day before we left Boise and now she gets into EVERYTHING. She crawls around underneath the table, under the couch in the living room, and pretty much everywhere else looking for new and exciting things to put in her mouth. She also has gone quickly from crawling to pulling herself up on things and trying to stand, which is really amazing at 7 mos. old. She has also adjusted really well to being held a lot, which is great, since she is so beautiful that everyone who sees her just wants to pick her up and give her a squeeze.

Bennett is probably having the best time of all. He loves being in Grammy and Grampy's house and has had a blast once he got used to all the strange people. He especially loves Grammy's two kitties, Tigger and Shadow (whom he calls "kiggo" and "shatto"). In fact, he loves them a little too much--he always wants to get right up in their faces and touch them, and he pulls on their tails. We've had to constantly keep him away from Tigger, who doesn't like people much and who has hissed at him a few times. Luckily he has only been scratched once (sometimes Tigger swipes at him without using his claws and just gives him a warning tap). He also has developed his vocabulary a lot more and is starting to be more understandable. He has developed a fascination with fans, wheels, and anything else that spins--he'll point at the fan and say "the fan is pinnin', Daddy!". Lauren asked him what he wanted to pray about the other night and he even said "My ears are pinnin'", so they prayed that his ears would stop spinning. It was pretty cute. He loves to "play" on Grammy's old piano, which he calls "playing the pino", and he also loves all balls--which he always calls "soccer balls", no matter what kind of ball it is. Grammy bought him one the first week we were here and he plays with it almost constantly (whenever he's not tormenting the kitty). He also discovered the joys of the swing Grammy set up for him in her yard, and it's his new favorite thing to do outside. I confess I also love it because he loves me to push him on it--in fact, if anyone else tries to give him a push, he yells for his Daddy, which kind of melts me. He doesn't know how to talk about himself, so when I say "Do you want me to push you?", then he says "Yes Daddy, push you!". He's getting so big so fast, that it's hard to believe that when we moved to Boise he was only Zoë's age. Grammy and Grampy Harvey love having him around, and I'm sure that it'll be a little hard for us all to pack up and go home when August finally rolls around.

Anyway, that's it for the long awaited update--hope it's not too long to read. At the bottom you can see a movie of Bennett playing on Grammy's swing. Hope everybody's doing well and that you're all gearing up for a great Fourth in a couple of weeks!

Zoë sitting up

2011-05-05T10:07:00.001-07:00

Zoë has been sitting up since April 29th. We put an egg crate mattress (what you put under your sleeping bag while camping) under her so that when she falls it won't be so painful. She is doing very well with it, but still prefers to spend time on her stomach.

Bennett often pull out the mattress, spreads it out on the floor, pats it and says "patiss sittin' Zoë." Then they sometimes play together, which is usually playing solo but side by side, and other times he lets her pull on his hair and face. What is so strange is that this often reduces him to tears because she pulls and scratches, unaware of her strength. When this happens, he holds still, doesn't try to hit her or pull back. He sort of endures it. That's when we have to pull them apart. I'm glad he doesn't hit her, but you'd think he'd try to defend himself a little more.

Easter Pictures

2011-04-27T10:32:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa Hayes sent some pretty fun things for Easter. Zoë got a fancy Easter dress and Bennett got a really cute matching polo shirt and shorts set. Both were a little big on them, which is fantastic because I plan on them wearing them a lot! They also got a bunny that sings while flapping its ears around. Bennett loves to hold it against his face so the ears hit him.

Zoë saying Mama?

2011-04-21T08:39:00.000-07:00

Zoë is very different than her brother in most regards, but in this instance, she's doing the same thing. Before Bennett could say "Mama" consistently, he used to only say it when he was whining or upset. And it would appear that Zoë is doing the same thing. At least I think she's saying "Mama", its either that or something very close to it. Sorry the video is shaky towards the end, Bennett crawled into my lap while I was filming.

New Zoë Pictures

2011-04-06T10:38:00.000-07:00

Here are some new pictures of our 5 mth old. We just discovered a new tooth coming in! Wow, that happened faster than expected, and makes her pretty cranky most of the time and sleeping even harder. She sleeps all through the night, but going down is pretty difficult.

Everything becomes a teething toy

Really big smiles!

Musings of a Mother

2011-03-25T18:02:00.001-07:00

Well a lot has been going on...as well as not going on. Really just depends on the day. On this day, Andrew starts his well deserved Spring Break. I think he's going to spend most of it relaxing, as he should! He's been working really hard.

As for me, I've been working on some of my new year goals. Not as faithful as I'd like, but its still progress of a sort. I'm researching more about photography. Its getting clear that just taking pictures isn't going to work until I learn how to enhance what I have. I also made the goal to get up-to-date on scrap-booking for Bennett and Zoë. They're still really young, so I shouldn't stay behind for long. I have finished Bennett's first year and have Zoë's started. I will admit that sometimes I've gotten a little carried away with it (like the time I stayed up til 4am working on them...), but I had just forgotten how much fun it was to do it!

Bennett is talking more and more. Still mostly gibberish, but more common words are appearing. This past week I learned something, kids can swear, even when they've never been exposed to it. But in this case, its more of trying to say a similar word and not getting it right. Won't tell you the actual word. I just hope he doesn't say it in front of anyone we know!

Zoë is in a unique situation. She is very frustrated with her moving skills. I think she wishes she were more mobile, but physically she just isn't. She can scoot backwards, push up on her knees, but no crawling or going forward. Just rotating in place or moving backwards. She also has not been sleeping well. She usually sleeps in her car seat, but is now starting to reject the sitting position. But if she's put in the pack and play, no matter how tightly she's tucked in, she promptly rolls onto her tummy and cries because she "can't" sleep like that. I hope she figures out what she prefers soon because I sure haven't got a clue!

Bennett and Zoë are very fun together. Now that she is a little older, I think she is beginning to become more aware of Bennett and enjoy him. He loves to say her name a lot and tries to share his toys. The cutest thing happened this morning, Bennett came into our room this morning. He saw Zoë sleeping and he started saying her name over and over. She stirred awake, looked around, saw him and burst into the biggest smile. Just melted my heart! It reminded me of what my mom used to say, how we have who we have in our families for a reason. I hope that they will continue to be close as they grow older.

Sharing Time

2011-02-26T08:50:00.000-08:00

Bennett and Zoë recently got a package. Zoë got a new baby blanket and Bennett got a big bouncy ball that has something inside it that flashes when dropped. Bennett tends to play more independently, but yesterday he wanted to share it with Zoë. She didn't care too much either way, but Bennett seemed really happy. Zoë still loves being on her tummy and spends most of the day on it, until she needs to be flipped over because its too limiting. Bennett loves talking, and is copying more words. I'll try to see if I can get a video of that sometime, and of Zoë talking too. She is very vocal too! Two really talkative kids...no wonder I look forward to nap time! ;)

February Update

2011-02-15T10:40:00.000-08:00

Here are some new pictures and a video. We are all doing very well. Benny loves running around and yelling (in delight), and Zoë is such a mover. Yesterday she mastered the skill of rolling from her back to her stomach. This is typical, but still really strange. Only because Bennett was on the later end of the gross motor spectrum. It just feels like she's growing up too fast.

She loves playing with the tulle of her Sunday dress

When this picture was taken, Bennett was 31" and Zoë 21", only a 10" difference!

Zoë rolling and Bennett Singing

Bennett's First Haircut

2011-02-01T10:23:00.000-08:00

Bennett has finally reached the point where he needed a haircut. His very first one, its amazing that it hasn't happened already. Someone in our ward cuts hair, so we took him there and got a great deal. His hair is pretty wavy so it took a little while to get everything straightened. And it doesn't appear that he has really lost any baby curls, lucky us! So here is the classic before and after shots. I think he looks great!

Before

Almost a little mullet growing in the back! And what long bangs!

After

Kandid Kamera Kids

2011-01-27T12:40:00.000-08:00

A video collage full of fun things! ;)

Christmas part two

2011-01-09T17:01:00.000-08:00

Its a good thing I posted some Christmas things earlier, seeing as its taken us this long to finish! But in my defense, we've had a rough couple of weeks. Bennett really enjoyed all of his presents this year, favoring the big construction trucks and the bubble-blowing lawn mower the most. We also had Andrew's family come for the weekend. It was fun seeing everyone and hopefully they had fun in our tiny apartment. They were also able to help participate in Zoë's baby blessing on the 26th. Zoë started to cry during it, every father's nightmare, and was made a little more dramatic when I had to hold Bennett back from rushing to her side with verbal outbursts such as: "Uh oh!" "Baby" and "Help!" It was pretty funny.

Here's the holiday montage highlight:

Playing video games

Reading a book with Aunt Marlowe while wearing Monster pjs

Our Christmas mermaid

Present from Grammie Harvey

Yay for new toys!

Christmas part one

2010-12-25T13:37:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! We hope that yours was just as good as ours! We have been so very blessed this year. Andrew finished his 17 credit semester with straight A's, Bennett is learning new words nearly daily, Zoë sleeps through the night, and I lost all the weight I gained with Zoë. And those are just a few of the miracles we've experienced this holiday season. We've got more pictures and videos, but we'll post those later.

The stack of presents Santa left for our good boy

The rest of the stockings

My parents found a special Night Before Christmas book that records your voice so Bennett and Zoë could hear them reading. Its light activated, which is why I keep turning the book towards the light. Here's a partial clip. It cut short because the camera got too full.

Zoë's Newborn Pictures

2010-12-23T16:15:00.000-08:00

Just some of our favorite images from her photo session almost a month ago. There are a few of Bennett just because he kept trying to get in the way of camera, he loves getting his picture taken too. ;)

Pictures taken by Jackie Carter, be sure to check out her website jacklyncarterphotography.blogspot.com

Bennett the Birthday Boy

2010-12-07T23:10:00.000-08:00

Its hard to believe that two years have gone by already. Our baby #1 had grown into such a big boy. Bennett has changed so much, he's gone from a quiet baby content to stay still, to running around and always on the go!

A homemade 2-layer lemon cake with sprinkles

Birthday cake and song

Photography Preview

2010-12-04T09:18:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine is working on her photography portfolio and wanted to take some pictures of Zoë. Here's a sneak peek, more to come at a later time.

Special Thanks to the Flamms

2010-12-03T22:16:00.000-08:00

Front and back of baby blanket

Bennett's new shirt

This thank you posting should have been posted a few weeks ago. A good friend of mine sent us a great package with things for all of us: a baby blanket and burp cloth she made for Zoë, a t-shirt for Bennett, and fancy caramel-center chocolate for Andrew and I. So thank you Flamm Family for thinking of all of us!

The update you've all been waiting for...

2010-11-19T11:30:00.000-08:00

First Family Picture

Warming up to Zoë

My Mom with her favorite Idahoan grand kids ;)

First day in the NICU and the first time I got to really see her

One of our visits, poor girl has an IV in her head

Bennett unsure what to make of his sister

Zoë Caitlin Hayes was born Nov 5th, at 8am weighing 9lbs 4oz and 19 inches long. She weighed more than Bennett, so it looks like getting a C-Section turned out to be a great idea after all! She was in the NICU for abt 5 days because she struggled regulating her blood sugar. It was hard coming home without her, but turned out to be a bit of a blessing. I was able to rest better in the hospital, and Bennett had time getting used to me being home again before we introduced the baby. Despite his first picture with her, Bennett does like his new sister. He likes to hand her the pacifier or burp cloth, even if she doesn't need them. It's very sweet.

The Cutest Scarecrow in Boise

2010-10-29T22:13:00.001-07:00

Finding a costume for boys isn't very much fun. There doesn't seem to be a lot of options. The choices just seem to be a little limited and narrowed down to 3 genres: Hero/Villain, Animals, or
Occupational (like a doctor or astronaut). So when Grandma Hayes mentioned a Scarecrow costume she had made for Uncle Brett, I was very excited. It sounded original and very cute.

It did take Bennett some time to get used to the costume, he found the straw in the sleeves restrictive and was a little spooked by the hood. But he soon came to love wearing it. I was surprised that he wore it for the entire ward Halloween party. Last year he found his last costume too warm so it only lasted for about a 1/2 hour. The party this year was pretty fun, with lots of yummy treats, carnival-like games, and music. Bennett had a lot of fun on the dance floor. When they had a line dance, he was right up front in line and busting a move. It was terribly funny! It never ceases to amaze me just how grown-up he's getting.

Autumn Update

2010-10-06T08:48:00.000-07:00

Wow, I didn't realize just how long its been since our last update. A lot has happened since then. During the Labor Day weekend, we thought I was going into preterm labor. I was having very strong contractions, but thankfully they were able to stop them and I was sent home. Bennett has learned how to drink from a cup, and can say the following words: Dada, Daddy, Mama, Yeah, Whoa, No, Oh no, Uh-oh, and still babbles endlessly. He's been a little terrible-twosy, but not too bad.

Baby #2 is growing pretty fast and getting a little on the big side, so a C-Section has been scheduled for the first part of November. At my appointment yesterday, I've already dilated to about a 2 1/2 so the doctor thinks she might come earlier. Its hard to tell though, there's no way of knowing I'll keep dilating at that pace or not. So we'll just wait and see. She sure gives the nurses a bit of trouble. Ever since she first got checked for her heartbeat, she gives them a literal run-around. Its like she hates being tracked? All they can catch are glimpses of a heart beat as she moves all around. So maybe its a sign that she'll be a big mover, which would be interesting.

Alarming Fire Alarm

2010-08-31T12:08:00.000-07:00

We are really liking our new apartment, the space is great and Bennett warmed up to it right away. There is a bit of a down side, but we were warned ahead of time by some friends of ours who live on a different floor. There are 2 alarms in this complex, one inside your apt and one for the general building located in the hallways. They're very sensitive too, open your door to air your apt out while cooking and it'll set them off. And they can't be turned off until the fire department comes to look into it. So we're careful to not to that.

We were awakened around 4am Sunday morning by the fire alarm. We're not talking about beeps, we're talking about the kind of fire alarms you hear in school buildings. I quickly ran around our apt thinking it was in our apt before noticing the alarms in the courtyard flashing instead of ours. We took Bennett into the bathroom because it blocked some of the noise. He was shaking pretty badly. We bundled up and headed out the door to get away from the noise. As we were heading for the stairs, we came across the firemen. They asked us some general questions but not too many because it was really obvious that their uniforms, masks, axes, and hatchets were really freaking Bennett out. So we took a little drive and waited across the road for about 2 hours til the alarm was turned off and the trucks left. Amazingly, Bennett was able to go back to sleep right away and spent most of the day resting on and off. What a little trooper.

Our Little Cookie Monster...and other pictures

2010-08-14T00:12:00.000-07:00

After eating one cookie! As you can tell, he's been a bit moody. I'm just amazed he kept his onesie clean

Me with babies #1 and 2 (6 months along)

Really cute shots during bath time. I love the attitude of the last one especially!

Learning how to use the Spoon

2010-08-07T22:04:00.000-07:00

We're in the process of teaching Bennett how to use a spoon. So here's a video of that. Its great because it shows his own unique style before starting to get it, as well as how talkative he is now. He doesn't say many words, but loves to babble on and on and on and on...while running laps around the apartment. He's sure to have a field day in our new place! We're trying to introduce the cup as well. I caught him drinking from a cup that I use to rinse his hair during bath time. Can't be more ready than that! But while drinking tub water is easy, its a little harder to grasp the concept outside the tub. Yesterday he looked at it (I only fill it a little), dumped it on his lap, gasped in surprise, and promptly pushed the cup away. For the rest of the day he rejected the cup. Kind of made me want to laugh, how he "blamed" the cup for the accident he intentionally caused! But that's a 20 month old for you, I suppose.

August Update

2010-08-01T17:31:00.000-07:00

Bennett is nearly 20 months old now, and we've been reading the Book of Mormon Reader to him. For those of you who don't know what it is, its basically the Book of Mormon designed for little kids. There are pictures and the text is simplified so they can understand it. Its more designed for school-age children, but he loves it just the same.

Yesterday he got it out and I offered to read it to him. I just read him a short story and afterwards he folded his arms for a prayer. I was a little surprised, partly because we don't normally pray after reading, but more for the fact that he initiated it. We've been teaching him how to pray for a few months now. And normally the scenario goes: We say, "Fold your arms for prayer time." He folds his arms with a smile. During the prayer, we can hear him moving his hands around, then when we open our eyes, he not-so-quickly folds them again. Its funny how he thinks he's fooling us. But now it looks like he's going to be more cooperative during prayer time.

As for nursery, he's doing so much better! He cries when we leave or when I have to take him out to change him, but not when I have to leave for a few minutes. There are 3 other kids, so its pretty small, but plenty of toys for them all. Some of the kids are a year older and play mainly with their imagination. One offered Bennett a "waffle" that they had made and held it out for him. Bennett had no idea what was going on. So he's not at that stage yet, but I'm sure it'll be a blast when he does get there.

We're beginning to pack up, we move in less than 3 weeks to our new 2 bedroom apt. As excited as I am for Bennett having his own room, I think I'm going to miss having him sleep right next to us. But its really time for him to have his own room. Hopefully the packing goes well, that we'll get enough help to move (I'm sure as heck not lifting any boxes when I'm 6 months pregnant!), and that Bennett will transition well. Its really nice that our little girl isn't due for a few more months. It'd be too much for Bennett to have to adjust to the new place as well as a new sibling. Andrew will be starting his fall classes at the end of this month. He's excited to be back in school after a lazy summer. Time off is fun, but it can be pretty boring sometimes too.

The Name Game

2010-07-30T21:20:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what it is when it comes picking a name for your child. At first its a fun bonding experience for both parents, looking through the name book and sharing favorites. And with today's advanced sonograms, they usually know the gender beforehand so they have a few months to prepare. So you'd think it'd take the stress off. But, of course, it never does. For some reason, never usually matters what it is, the parents start to panic over the chosen name.

Where I am going with all of this is that we've decided to change our daughter's name. We still liked the first name, we just didn't feel that the middle name fit. Normally that wouldn't have been a problem, but we were planning on using a family name. So then I called that relative and explained so they wouldn't be shocked later at the official announcement. Thankfully the relative was very understanding, it could have been a lot worse. I feel really bad, because I had gotten their hopes up now only to break them. I can now see why some people don't bother to share names until the baby comes. So now we're doing the same thing. Zoe will still most likely be the name, but the middle name is secret until then, so stay tuned!

Shaffer Butte Camping Trip

2010-07-10T21:08:00.000-07:00

We just came back from our Ward's camping trip. I was a little worried about how Bennett would handle this outing. This was his 3rd time camping, but he used to sleep inside his infant car seat before. We brought along his pack n' play and thankfully it did fit inside our tent. The start of the day was pretty rough. We had to drive to the top of a mountain just to get to the campsite, Bennett had missed his nap and wouldn't rest after we got everything set up. So we just listened to him scream for a while. But he went down very well when it was time for bed. Ironically I was the only one who didn't sleep well. It wasn't that anyone kept me up, I just was no longer tired for some reason. The following morning, the guys went paint balling with slingshots and the girls played Bocce Ball. Then the infamous Boise heat started getting to us so we broke camp. Enjoy the pictures!

The view from our campsite

Andrew -- armed and ready for paintball!

Bennett sleeping on the way home

Bright and sunny first thing in the morning

Chipmunk nibbling on a used marshmallow stick

Bennett and Bruno

Such a dirty face, very cute!

Our 4th of July

2010-07-08T08:03:00.000-07:00

Our 4th of July was pretty fun. We tried some new dishes, some working out more than others. We tried a boneless ribs crock-pot recipe that turned out GREAT! I ate it and I don't really like meat much this pregnancy again. We also tried a turtle cheesecake that was a failure from beginning to end! While cooking it in the oven, some of the cooking grease escaped the pan and baked onto the bottom of the oven so we had to really scrub it afterward. Then part of the caramel crust hardened onto the pan so we really had to dig it out only to discover that it didn't bake all the through. So that part wasn't great.

We live right next to one of Boise's many parks and noticed a whole lot of traffic coming through our area so we suspected that was where the fireworks would be set off from. We just figured we'd wait and see how close it'd be. We had no idea just how close! It looked like they were being set off right behind our complex! We could practically feel the booms! Set off a few car alarms too, that's what those sirens are during the video. Amazingly, Bennett slept right through it all, we watched from outside our door. I doubt we'll ever have a better seat again!

Also we just found out that we were approved for our new apartment! We'll be moving around the middle of August, making our time here about a year. Hopefully we'll stay in this apt til Andrew graduates. It seems we never stay in one place for more than a year and a half. Not that I haven't loved our past places, but moving takes a lot of energy. Anyway, we're really excited about our new apt, its just what we wanted -- 2 bedroom with a washer and dryer and for only $10 more rent than we're currently paying! How lucky is that?!

We are doing well in general too, we're planning on attending the ward camping trip this weekend. It'll be an interesting challenge! Never camped with a toddler before. We're taking it easy this summer for the most part, and trying to stay cool. It gets pretty hot here, one day last week it was 102 degrees, in late afternoon! So needless to say we're running our air conditioning quite a bit!

Bennett is doing very well too, he's beginning to warm up to nursery. Last week when it was time to leave, he started to follow me, then turned around and ran back inside to play some more! That is definitely progress! His latest trick is bringing me my shoes, he's figured out we only wear them when we go outside. So after dinner sometimes, we take him to the park so he can run around. Its just too hot to do so during the day. Zoe is doing well too, she's been much more of a mover than Bennett was, we'll see if that holds true when she's born too. So that's our update!

Its a Girl!

2010-06-23T22:33:00.000-07:00

Profile

What long legs!

Her ankles were crossed for this shot

In the middle of a yawn!

Kids say the darnest things

2010-06-22T22:53:00.000-07:00

Andrew and I just got back from Rexburg recently and I'll post more on our fun adventures later. For now, I wanted to post one funny thing that happened. One of Andrew's aunts just had her 9th baby and brought her and the rest of the family to a big weenie roast. One of her little ones, abt 4 yrs old I think, was showing me some goats they have. I was crouching on my knees, pointing them out to Bennett, when she causally pointed at my stomach and said, "Your baby is showing." I agreed with her that it was. "My mom used to have one of those," she continued. "Now she just has a bubble." Oh too funny! I told her dad about it later, he found it funny. Didn't have the guts to tell the mom, just in case she didn't find it as funny.

In any case, the baby is DEFINITELY showing, and we'll be finding out the gender tomorrow! So exciting, it really makes it more real when you know. We've finally narrowed down the names for both genders, Jonas Aeddan or Zoe Rita. The later would be awesome because we'd be using my mom's name for the middle. The boy's name has no family ties, just sounds and looks spunky. ;)

Bennett's First Day in Nursery

2010-06-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

There comes a time in every Mormon Mom's life where she can't wait for her child to attend Nursery. And after long last, it was finally Bennett's turn! It was so nice to be able to pick a seat in the room that I didn't have to "screen" for Bennett. Meaning that I wouldn't have to avoid seats in the aisle because it'd be harder to keep Bennett in line. He is past the stage of me being able to hold him in my life, and it isn't because he weighs about 25 lbs now. He just likes to move around and it isn't reasonable for me to expect him to sit still for 3 hours anyway.

He didn't last more than a half hour, which I can't say surprises me. He cries whenever I leave the apartment without him, he's just an attached kid. But what did surprise me, was just how scared the nursery worker looked, almost panicked. He's been teething lately and it appeared that it came on suddenly for now one of his cheeks was flaming red as well as his ear which had a little blood because he had been scratching it. I calmly told her it wasn't anything to worry about and I promptly got this "How could you not be worried about this?! You are the mother right?" kind of look. Granted, I would have done the same if our roles were switched. But we smoothed it over and he spent the day with me. I'd like to say he was good from then on, but he wasn't really. He was just in a tired and grumpy mood. But that's life and hopefully next Sunday, nursery will go more smoothly. But I'm pretty sure it'll take a few more tries before he stays for good.

Bennett Walking for Real?

2010-05-21T19:48:00.000-07:00

Here's a little compilation video. Starts out with Bennett walking on his knees, then how he started really walking tonight. Then we just kept filming and talking while he kept practicing, so that's why its so long. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and that Bennett keeps walking.

Andrew's Top Ten Lists

2010-05-19T11:17:00.000-07:00

TOP TEN THINGS ENGLISH MAJORS HATE

10. Y'all/Ain't. You can't just go inventing contractions whe'er you feel like it. (That was supposed to be "whenever" only I made it into a contraction-it was supposed to be sarcasm).

9. People who treat onomatopoeia words like they're verbs, i.e. "Stop that right now or I'm gonna whop you!", "Ouch, I bonged my head!", etc.

8. People who use the word "gonna" in print, like it's faster than saying "going to".

7. E-mails that have no punctuation or capitalization.

6. Math

5. People who say, "You're majoring in English? Cool! So I guess you're going to end up teaching!" After all, I don't say, "You're majoring in Computer Science? Wow! I guess you must be an antisocial geek with a fifth grade reading level!"

4. Text message speech. It's seriously annoying. I'm not kidding. An "lol" once in a while is OK, but as for the rest, let's just say it makes me srry th4t cell phns were evr m4de, k?

3. People who say things like, "I'd like to read more, but I just don't have the time." Right. And I'd like to breathe more, but I just don't have the time.

2. People who, when answering the phone, respond to inquiries for themselves by saying "This is me." So glad we cleared that up. Good to know that it's you and not somebody else.

1. People who give their children names with unnecessary apostrophes, e.g. C'ssandra, etc. I w'ant to k'ick these people in the r'ea'r'.

TOP TEN THINGS ENGLISH MAJORS LOVE

10. The smell that comes out of the pages of a brand new book the very first time it's opened.

9. Metaphor

8. British People. Where would we be without them? They invented the language!

7. Reading indoors in the middle of a thunderstorm.

6. Reading in the bathtub.

5. Reading.

4. Intelligent conversation about a great book.

3. E-mails where the sender took the time to spell check and include punctuation before hitting 'send'.

2. Letters. Handwritten and alphabetical.

1. Libraries.

Hope you liked my top ten lists!

Bennett learning to walk

2010-05-15T20:54:00.000-07:00

For about a week or two Bennett has practicing walking. He practices a little, but never goes more than about 4-5 steps. But today he started taking some longer steps! We had a little game where he was "chasing" me, and here's part of it on video. Part way through he falls to one knee but picks himself back up and keeps going. And, of course, once the camera was off he did even more than what little was shown on video. But it seemed that he wore himself out after that and went back to walking on his knees. But its more progress! I always assumed once they learned to walk they'd never want to stop, but I guess its a more gradual process.

Bennett Laughing

2010-04-27T13:47:00.000-07:00

This video is really cute because Bennett is laughing more and more. He's never been one to laugh. He used to just smile and pant. So its nice to hear him laugh now. What is also funny is how he tries to imitate the noise at the end. What a smart little guy! Unfortunately he tended to spray all over Andrew instead. Sorry about the cruddy lighting, our living room only has lights on one end of it. Its kind of weird that way.

Some more updates

2010-04-27T12:34:00.000-07:00

This past Friday Bennett took his first few steps. He was standing up against the couch, looking over Andrew's shoulder, and then decided to move on. Once he had taken about 4-5 steps, he seemed to realize what he was doing and slowly sat down. The next day he walked to both of us and then decided he was done. So now when he does walk, its usually because he isn't thinking about it. He tends to walk mainly on his knees, we'd never heard of that before and apparently neither has anyone else we know. Its a little frustrating, but he'll walk eventually. There's no use getting hung up over a milestone.

We've been doing well, Bennett is happy and healthy now that his cold has past. Andrew is getting closer to finals week so he's pretty busy. And I've broken my old record of not being sick while pregnant with 1 bout of morning sickness. We went to our first doctor appointment on the 15th. The new baby is happy and healthy, it was so awesome to see it moving around. Sadly we weren't given any pictures or video and hadn't thought to bring our camera along. But we'll remember when we get the next sonogram. This baby is due November 10th. I like the new doctor, he seemed as concerned as I was about not repeating my last delivery. While it wasn't too bad, it sounded like it could have been. So the doctor will compare the growth of this one to the last one and if it looks about the same, I'll have to be induced with a C-section. Better that than ripping the whole way with a too large baby! As for the gender, we are hoping for a girl this time round, but I'm sure Bennett wouldn't mind having a brother either.

Its been getting pretty hot in Boise, close to 60-70 degrees some days, but we still like to go out when its cool for the occasional picnic. There's a zoo nearby that we want to go to sometime, but we'll probably have to wait till school is out first.

Brett and Bennett

2010-04-08T19:55:00.000-07:00

Brett made up this game where he gathers the eggs, dumps them, and scrambles them around. They had a lot of fun together!

Bennett Rocks On

2010-04-08T19:35:00.000-07:00

Just a cute little video with a surprise ending!

Easter in Rexburg

2010-04-08T19:13:00.001-07:00

We spent Spring Break with Andrew's family. It was lots of fun! Bennett quite enjoyed himself (once he got over his shyness) and Andrew and Lauren went on a date to Wingers! Yum! I loooove their Sticky Fingers! Also, we got to spend some time with our good friends the Siglers and played video games while eating pizza. Sorry to our other friends we didn't get a chance to see. We'll try to plan it better next time. And we got to see my brother Tom and met his awesome girlfriend. The only downside to our trip was the fact that it snowed about the whole time we were there. We weren't really prepared for it, so once we got home, Bennett promptly got a cold. And I'm not kidding, like he was sneezing a lot within hours of being home! Another fun thing was decorating eggs with the family and the Easter Bunny didn't forget Bennett thanks to the grandparents. ;)

Talk about the SHOCK of my life 0_0

2010-03-29T00:06:00.000-07:00

The computer cord exploded. That's right, EXPLODED.

Here's how it happened. I was just plugging in the cord that was attached to a surge protector. It wasn't even plugged in all the way before a bright light (about the size of a 50 cent piece) and loud bang sounded. Of course I jumped backwards and dropped the cord. Once my heart started beating again, I examined the cord more closely. The cord was severed right after where it plugs into the surge protector. Just cut in half! So bizarre! We had maintenance come over because the electrical socket wouldn't work anymore. Turns out that the electrical tape on our old cord had slid out of place so the cables where exposed. Cost us $70 to get a new cord. So learn from our example, don't leave the wires exposed!

It could have been a lot worse. For one thing, I hadn't been hurt at all, just had some black residue on my fingers. But more importantly, the laptop wasn't connected to the cord at time of shock. I usually plug in the cord first and then attach it to the laptop. Not sure why I do that, but case it saved our laptop. We could afford a new cord but NOT a new laptop!

We're also heading to Rexburg during spring break. That should be lots of fun! We'll be sure to take lots of pictures. I bet Andrew's family will be so impressed with Bennett this time round. We were last there for Thanksgiving and he just learned how to crawl there. Now he crawls forward and sideways, pulls himself up to stand, scoots along furniture, and now gabs a TON!

Expecting #2

2010-03-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

We just found out that we're expecting our 2nd baby. Or rather, we've suspected for a while but now know for sure ;) The gender and due date is still unknown, but will probably be in November which will make for a 2 yr gap which is nice.

Bennett is doing well, he has four teeth and I saw a fifth one poking through. He loves to smile and gabs endlessly. Andrew is doing well too in his classes. I'm doing well too, just a little nauseous from time to time, but I can still eat meat!

Bennett's getting there

2010-02-06T08:09:00.000-08:00

Here's a video of Bennett at another mile stone. He loves to crawl, but he rarely scoots along furniture unless you already propped him against it. He got this toy for Christmas but didn't care for it because it moves. But I occasionally prop him against it just to see what he'll do. Yesterday he started walking with it! I just had to record it! Especially because Andrew was napping at the time. He has had a pretty rough week.

Bennett's Christmas Party Pictures

2010-01-20T20:20:00.000-08:00

At long last we FINALLY got the pictures from our ward's Christmas Party! So proud he didn't cry :) Its truly a miracle because it was just at his bedtime and he's usually so faithful to it that he's a mess for a full hour before. We really got lucky!

Christmas Pictures

2009-12-28T21:01:00.001-08:00

Very eager to open his presents

His Christmas pjs and stocking, from both of his grandmothers :)

Bennett Crawling

2009-12-14T17:34:00.000-08:00

Here is a video of our big boy crawling!

Bennett's Birthday and the Christmas Party

2009-12-07T15:57:00.000-08:00

Bennett with his present from Santa

He was more excited about the wrapping paper than the actual presents!

Bennett had a great birthday on Saturday. He got some great presents from his grandparents: a little Sunday like outfit (the one you see at the beginning of this entry), Christmas pajamas, and some new clothes for him to grow into. Andrew's been really sick lately with a bad cold, Bennett's returned to his nightly screaming, so I've been a little exhausted to say the least. I didn't bother to make a cake. He didn't seem to mind, and hopefully he wouldn't in the future. But its not like most boys look at their scrapbooks.

Bennett and I also went to the ward Christmas party that same night. Andrew missed it, but I didn't want to miss the chance to get a picture of Bennett with Santa. I was a little worried at first, because the party was very close to his bedtime. It was a fun party with lots of food. Bennett was very well behaved over all. Someone asked what I did to make him sit so still, they had never seen the like before. Bennett is a parent's dream, never even had a cold or even the sniffles so far. Can't think of many parents who can brag about that.

We sang Santa in with "Here comes Santa Claus," and its hard to describe how I felt. I felt like a little kid again, excited to see Santa and trying to get Bennett excited too. He wasn't sure what to make of him. He didn't cry when held on his lap, just looked at him oddly as if to say, "And who are you supposed to be?" He got a little present of treats and bubbles. Santa (not sure who played him) commented that he had never held a better baby. The next few just screamed on his lap. I don't have the pictures from that party yet, they'll be emailed to me eventually. I'll post them once I get them

Thanksgiving Vacation

2009-12-01T11:09:00.000-08:00

We went to Rexburg for Thanksgiving Vacation, it was weird seeing snow there when there isn't any in Boise yet. We had a great time visiting family and a miracle happened--Bennett learned how to crawl! I can't believe it! I never thought it would happen. It happened the day before Thanksgiving, I was reading a New Era magazine and he was reaching out for it. I just moved it out of his way, and kept having to, then I realized he was actually crawling! It was so exciting!

He also seemed to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner as well, he especially loved the rolls and yams too, but didn't care much for the turkey. I think it was just because he only has 2 teeth still and it can be hard to chew. He tried some of my family's pistachio pudding pie and seemed to like it too. So the tradition lives on!

In his Thanksgiving Onesie, his cousin wore a matching one

Just about asleep while drinking his nighttime bottle

Uncle Brett and Bennett

He spent a lot of time with Aunt Marlowe

Hanging out with Grandpa and Marlowe

Morning snuggle with Grandma

Visiting Great-Grandpa Clements

Perfect shot with Great-Grandma Clements

Big Talker

2009-11-24T18:01:00.000-08:00

Bennett is such a big talker! Here's just a taste of it. Sometimes we can't hear ourselves talking over him! Still, what a happy little boy. :)

November Pictures and Video

2009-11-24T15:54:00.000-08:00

Check out our little Tummy Sleeper! Who would have ever thought huh?

Bennett is doing very well. He's seems to be past his "wake up at 2am and scream for 3 hours til I fall back asleep" phase and back to sleeping through the night. He also tends to sleep on his stomach too, how ironic since he used to hate being on his stomach even a few months ago! I guess lots of things change over time. We'll be leaving for Rexburg to spend Thanksgiving with Andrew's family. We look forward to it! We'll be sure to take lots of pictures and we'll post them when we come back!

Some new pictures

2009-11-08T12:12:00.001-08:00

Bennett eating finished green beans in his new high chair! Thanks Grandma Hayes!

Our Halloween pumpkin this year -- the Headless Horseman

Here are just some random pictures I took a long time to upload. The night before Halloween we went to our ward's party. It was pretty fun and cool to see all the creative costumes this year. There was a tin man made out of tin-foil, a couple from Rexburg who dressed as a windy day (glued leaves on their clothes, the guy had his tie starched up, an umbrella blown backwards, it was great!), and lots of other fun costumes! We didn't stay long because Bennett got really fussy again. Since then he's been teething still and has become moodier than a girl on her period! We also got a fun package from my family with toys and games for all of us, and also a high chair from Andrew's family. Bennett seems to like it all right, loves drumming on that too. ;)

Bennett's Halloween Costume

2009-10-29T10:05:00.000-07:00

Grandma Hayes wanted to buy Bennett a costume for Halloween this year and here it is! Its a spider and its cute! This is one I definitely wouldn't squish! ;)

Just another update

2009-10-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

Caught snuggling with The Cat in the Hat right before bed

Reminds me of those "Get Caught Reading" posters ;)

Some random video clips we never got around to posting. Enjoy!

Big Boy Bennett

2009-10-11T16:11:00.000-07:00

Bennett is 10 mths now and doing very well! He is much more vocal and his favorite noise is his "shivery giggle." I managed to capture it on camera! Its at around 14 seconds. Makes him sound like a little villain! He also has 2 bottom teeth just barely poking through! So exciting! After all of his teething we're seeing the result!

I wanted to capture his bedtime "Heel Stomp." He used to do it in the Pack n' Play, but now he loves to do it now because he bounces! The music playing is the Beatles Piano-style accompanied by nature sounds. We like to change the music every now and again and this is what happened to be playing. Bennett's feet really aren't that big, I thought I should mention...its just his sleeper.

Drinking sideways?!

You know he's tired when he does this! He won't do it any other time.

Our Ward's Got Talent!

2009-09-25T20:22:00.000-07:00

Tonight was our ward talent show. Andrew and I had both signed up to participate. Normally we'd be more interested in just watching, but we really want to make an effort to be involved in our ward. Anyway, I had signed up to perform some poi ball tricks I learned from a visiting Maori group back in the 5th grade; and Andrew played The "Minute" Waltz by Chopin. We really enjoyed some of the acts. Our Bishop wrote and sang a love song for his wife. My favorite line was about honoring her kisses! :) So sweet! He was accompanied by someone playing the cello. Then our Relief Society President showed a slide show of pictures from a trip they took to South America (for the fun of it...can you imagine?!). Another girl solved a Rubix Cude in 1 minutes and 5 seconds! Even the Bishop's little dog did some tricks and jumped through hoops and over 2 people. Sadly we couldn't stay long because it was close to Bennett's bedtime (even though we had let him nap right up until we left) and the loud applause and cheering really scared him so he cried and yelled. I'm glad at least that we were able to perform at all.

I also wanted to add some news about Bennett. He doesn't fight tummy time as much as he used to. He can scoot backwards basically by just pushing backwards, and he can move around in a circle too. Somehow he can rotate around while sitting too, but I'm not sure how he does that.

P.U.!

2009-09-21T10:53:00.000-07:00

All curled up in the corner!

Its so hard to get a video of him giggling since the stimulus changes. But for some reason he found the word "P.U." really funny that day

Greetings once again! Its sure been a little while since we posted anything. Not too much has changed. Bennett got his hands on an envelope and ate the entire thing while I had fallen asleep. He then promptly threw it back up with only the stamp remaining as evidence! It was so scary then but a little funny now. But now whenever I want to take a nap, I put him in his playpen.

In more recent news, Andrew appears to have a really bad cold and I am beginning to feel the effects of it myself. We're keeping an eye on it since there has been an outbreak of swine flu on campus. My main concern is keeping Bennett healthy! So we're opening the windows (you can feel fall in the air now) and trying to keep our distance from him and he's not happy about that at all! Hopefully we'll both be feeling better soon!

Bennett's Stats and other updates

2009-09-10T11:32:00.000-07:00

Andrew and I had a great birthday weekend last week. For those of you who don't know, Andrew and I are only 4 days apart. The first big Boise State football game was on Andrew's birthday. They were playing the Oregon State Ducks. We didn't go to it, but we heard about it. One of the Oregon players flipped out bad-sportsman like, punching a Boise player and trying to get into the stands to attack his booing fans. He got expelled from playing for the rest of the season and it was his Senior year too. My birthday was on labor day and we didn't go anywhere because everything was closed. And today I got my present from my family, a scanner/copier/printer. I've wanted one for a long time and so it's finally here! I can't wait to set it up!

Bennett was due for his 9 mth check up, so I got a referral from someone in our new ward. Its really close by and I love it so far! The rooms are all themed and ours was "Under the Sea." With every visit, Bennett will get an age-appropriate book. And here are his stats with the percentiles since some people ask for those:

Height: 28 3/4 inches (60%)
Weight: 22.8 lbs (75%)
Head Circumference: 18 3/4 (97%)

The visit went very well. Bennett seemed to enjoy himself. He tore at the tissue paper he was laying on and kept trying to pull on the doctor's stethoscope. The doctor was mildly worried that he doesn't crawl or scoot along furniture. Crawling isn't such a big deal since not all babies do, but he should at least be scooting. So now we're to give him more tummy time and prop him up against furniture. Its gonna be hard to motivate since babies do whatever they want. But hopefully he'll want to.

Bennett and I are also enjoying the local library. There's a weekly program called "Bloomin' Babies" that we're starting to go to. They read books, play a video, and sing songs. We even met a girl from our ward there too. Bennett didn't pay a whole lot of attention. He mainly stared at the ceiling fan and touched the brick wall next to him. But he did very well considering it was close to his lunchtime and nap time as well!

Some new pictures

2009-09-04T14:57:00.000-07:00

Spending time with Daddy before school

There's a big smile!
Reminds me of one of Andrew's Senior Pictures..

Free fun!

2009-08-29T17:14:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine is doing this and it sounded like fun! So I'll give it a try:

The first 5 people to comment on this blog with receive something made by me, but there are limitations:

1. I have no guarantee that you'll like what I make
2. What I create will be just for you
3. It will be done this year
4. You have no clue what it will be: poetry, clothes, paper goods, or a little invention of my own. I may bake something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you! :)
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange

Here's the catch (as well as a way to have more fun!), post this on your blog too as well as a picture of what I made you; if you can (if you have no blog, no worries then). I look forward to making your special something!

Sigler Family Portrait

2009-08-25T14:41:00.000-07:00

Right before we moved, I wanted to experiment around with my photography hobby so I talked some friends of mine into letting me take their pictures. Here are some of my favorites. Lemme know what you think!

New in Boise

2009-08-24T13:04:00.001-07:00

Wow! What a weird week! We officially moved out on the 14th. I was worried about the cleaning, but we had so many volunteers that it went by quickly. We then went to stay with Andrew's family for a few days. It took Bennett a little adjusting to, he's scared of his grandparents or something. He would cry for a few minutes whenever they held him, but he soon got used to it. We did have fun there.

Roasting Marshmellows over a candle

Right before his nap

On the 17th we went to Jackson Hole with Andrew's family and went to see some wildlife: A black wolf and a bear eating a bison! Pretty far gone by the time we saw it.

We waited for a while for the loans to come in and they didn't for about 3 days. We meant for it to come in direct deposit but they mailed it instead (?) Weird. Well, we moved on the 21st and we really like it so far. Its smaller than we're used to and its much warmer here than it is in Rexburg. Bennett had a really hard first couple of days, he would scream every time we put him to bed and fussed all day. So we've tried to cuddle him during the day more often and feed him barley cereal so he sleeps better through the night. Driving in Boise is kinda scary, I haven't driven in about 5 years, maybe 7, so going from almost none to driving in 4 lanes, more than a little scary! But its getting better.

Packing, Reading, and maybe some cleaning...

2009-08-12T17:34:00.000-07:00

We move out in two days and its sure been interesting! I've packed a lot of things only to discover that we need them and I can't remember the box! I try to pack things we don't need, but of course suddenly they're absolutely needed and can't live without...even though we haven't used it in about a year. But the packing is winding down, I hope to be done by tonight, leaving out what is needed for tomorrow of course. I'll tackle the cleaning tomorrow, it normally wouldn't be too bad except for the major mold build-up we've had all year. No matter how often you clean it, it just comes back. Thankfully we won't be charged for it, but we need to clean it as best we can. Bennett is still a big sitter which is nice given all the clutter around him, we just have to keep it out of reach.

In between packing, because its exhausting, I've done some reading too. I found a lot of Pride and Prejudice "sequels" and just devoured them. A cool one was a mystery, but the ending was lame because it incorporated magic. Victorian England and magic don't really mix well. Anyway, so that's what has been up with us. When next we blog, we'll be in Boise! Here's a cute picture in the meantime.

Baseball Bennett

2009-08-07T12:28:00.000-07:00

These pictures are dedicated to my brother Nick, best of luck next season!

2 cute videos

2009-08-05T10:55:00.000-07:00

Back and better than ever!

2009-08-05T10:03:00.000-07:00

Wow it's been a while since we posted anything! A lot has been going on, so we've got some catching up to do. We are changing our moving plans slightly so we'll be moving twice-ish, we're getting set up with our phone and power, finding new Internet service and insurance since the school one isn't meant for families. Then Bennett finally got his first cold ever (still has it), Andrew had the flu one week, then a cold and sore throat the next (he's getting over that), and I've been struggling with depression-like moods. I am feeling a little better, well actually much better but now I'm just tired all the time! Which I guess isn't too different :)

Here are some cute pictures of what's new with Bennett

Our Little Drummer Boy

2009-07-22T11:07:00.000-07:00

I don't know what it is, but something about being a mom makes you so fascinated whenever your baby does something new. Maybe its a just a first-time mom thing. Anyway, here's a cute new thing that Bennett does now. I hope you find it cute too. He sure is growing up, our little 7 mth old!

Things are pretty slow around here, just waiting for the move to start, less than a month away! I think I'll really miss Rexburg, but Boise sounds like lots of fun too! Bennett and I intend to explore it via stroller. Speaking of which he rides in it regularly now. He's a real straight sitter, but he just enjoys reclining in the stroller, but it makes it look like his neck disappears. He's also been enjoying the cool shades his Grandma Harvey sent him as well as the hat too. Sure keeps him cool!

We're also looking forward, ok so its mainly me, to getting Bennett's new car seat! Its been ordered at Walmart.com and should be arriving at the store any day now! I'm not sure how much he weighs or how long he is, but last month he was only 2 inches and pounds away from the limit. It might be safe to say its time to upgrade.

Andrew is a little stressed with work and not feeling very well. He seems to be on the mend though and hope that he continues to be. And so far he's been able to donate on schedule, so thank you for including us in your prayers.

What an odd day...

2009-07-16T20:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon, I called the police on our upstairs neighbors. A regular family rents above us and they have some teenagers, but usually they're not too bad. But with all families, sometimes they argue. Well this arguement went from rather silly to full out brawl with what sounded like hitting and throwing stuff, but definate screaming, swearing, and death threats. And of course this took place in their one bedroom that is on our level so I pretty much had a front-row seat. I banged on the door to kind of remind them others were listening in. That stopped them for about 30 seconds. Well it just kept getting worse and worse so I called the police to make sure they were ok. By the time the police showed up, they'd calmed down a bit. The police asked if I wanted to file charges or complaints or something like that. I didn't, I just wanted to make sure they were ok. While I'm glad everything turned out, I'm a little afraid of retaliation. The last time I called police on neighbors, we got a mysterious plate of cookies the next day that had ex-lax or something of the kind in them. We couldn't prove it, but the only person who didn't get sick was the one who didn't eat any of them. But then again that was in the dorms on campus where high-schoolers never mature. These neighbors have tried to get us in trouble on false charges before. I'll be really glad once we move away, hopefully our future neighbors will be better.

The day at least ended well, we went to the Rexburg Temple with Andrew's grandparents. I wish I could have done something like that with my own, but that never happened. Anyway, it was a great ending to a stressful and scary day!

Talk about nails on a chalk board

2009-07-10T09:12:00.000-07:00

Not all baby noises are cute, and this sure isn't one of them! This video is Bennett's newest sound, and sadly it doesn't quite do it justice! With this one he reaches an impossibly high pitches. But I think you get the idea!

In other news, we finally found our apartment in Boise and our tentative moving date in August 14th. We're really looking forward to it. We have experienced a bit of a set back, Andrew and I were both donating plasma to help with costs, making an additional $100 a week. But yesterday, something happened while I was try to donate. I tried using my left arm, which the vein is hard to find so once they stuck the needle in, they kept adjusting the stupid thing! I felt like saying, "Give it up already! Let's just switch arms!" Eventually they did, but the blood was clotting in two places. Nothing bad happened to me, but basically I was just being bled. They consider that a blood donation, the amount that I lost while they were trying to fix things, so now I can't go back for 8 wks, meaning now its all up to Andrew. I hope things will work out so he can, sometimes he gets turned away for his high pulse. But I know something will work out since we know Boise is where the Lord wants us to be.

May The 4th Be With You

2009-07-04T20:50:00.000-07:00

It sounds weird, but holidays are way more fun to celebrate when you have a baby! Last night I decorated a onesie for Bennett with a flag and the words "Born to be Free" around it. I feel so grateful that we truly live in a nation where we are free.

We went to the Rexburg Parade and enjoyed the floats and vehicles and other sights. We were afraid that Bennett was going to cry because of the loud police and fire truck sirens, but he only cried when he accidentally poked himself with his flag. His aunt (Andrew's sister) was playing in the marching band so it was fun to see her perform. I put a check mark above her head.

Then afterwards we just napped and later rejoined Andrew's family for dinner. We decided not to go to the fireworks (either in town or in Idaho Falls) because it would mess with Bennett's bedtime which he's beginning to fight anyway. But all in all, it was a fun holiday! I hope you all had fun celebrating with your families, I can't wait to hear about it. :)

Bennett's Big Smile

2009-07-02T16:25:00.000-07:00

It is sooooo hard to get a picture of Bennett smiling! Because whenever the camera is about to go off, it makes a noise so its very distracting. So we turned the flash off and Andrew kept singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which makes him smile every time. Also here's a video I meant to post a while ago.

Our Goings-on

2009-06-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

We've done pretty well this week as far as things go. We hope to find out more about getting into an apt this week though we can't move until the middle of August. Bennett and I went to the ward's play group down at Porter Park. Bennett was the youngest one there, most of the babies were walking and wanted to play at the Splash Park. I didn't try my luck with that one, Bennett likes warm water, not sure he'd like cold. He is still practicing sitting up, takes a lot of work because we need to sit along-side him, he's not able to support himself too much on his own. But its great to see him growing up. He's sleeping better now that we let him cry himself to sleep, its hard to listen, but after 20-30 minutes he's fast asleep! He's a regular side-sleeper now, its really cute to see.

We invited the Pooles over for dinner and FHE last night, I knew the husband from my freshman year of college and he sure found himself a stellar wife! We go to their Preach My Gospel class now and they're excellant teachers too. Andrew made lasagna with both hamburger & italian sausage so it tasted great! We also ate it with our new china dishes. After dinner, we just sat around eating ice cream and talking. We sure like hanging out with others, its lots of fun!

Bennett Sits Up!

2009-06-27T12:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry its blurry, but here's a monumental picture of Bennett sitting up on his own! He held the posistion for about 30-40 seconds, so now we're trying to get him to practice more. Yay for our boy!

Progress!

2009-06-27T10:07:00.001-07:00

This is what I saw when I went to check on him during his nap. He obviously looks really cute, but its also obvious that if he's able to roll onto his side, he'd better not be swaddled anymore. So last night, I tried to leave him un-swaddled and of course he pitched an initial fit until I felt prompted by the spirit to turn him so his head and feet touched the sides of the crib and to put the spare pacifier in his hand so he wouldn't want to grab the one in his mouth. And it worked out really well! He slept very well and actually is as I write. I hope it continues to work out.

Baby is Silent, Parents are Astounded!

2009-06-26T11:35:00.000-07:00

Just a few new things this week, but the most important one of all is our trip to Green Canyon Hot Springs. Andrew really wanted to go 2 days ago, but it was pretty last minute so no one was available to watch Bennett. I was hesistant to bring him because he screams whenever he's in the big bathtub. But we thought we might as well try it, the water is really nice and warm so there's a chance he might like it. It was a really nice experience, he never flat out cried, just whimpered if the wind blew on him or if we held him away from us. He didn't care much for the weightless feeling. He preferred to be held close. So that was pretty cool.

We also got his new sleepsack from my mom, the long awaited cotton one. We sewed up the arm holes, but the neck is a little wide so he can sometimes put his hands out, but if I tuck it back, it works well. He wasn't sure what to make of it at first, since his arms are free. But it went much better than expected. Bennett also really likes to try to sit up, whenever we put him on his back, he strains to sit up, doing a kind of sit-up in the process. He'll have an amazing 6 pack when he finally can sit on his own!

Here are some pictures I thought you'd enjoy

We actually took this a church with a camera phone, I know you're not supposed to take pictures during church, but his reverent pose was so cute! This was back when he was around 3 mths

Oh so tired!

Lets Make some Noise!

2009-06-22T11:40:00.000-07:00

We hope you all had a great Fathers Day! I had hoped to get Andrew a present, but we're trying to save up money for our big move sometime in August. Its been a little stressful! But I did make him a really big breakfast! I made sausage gravy and biscuits, bacon, and hash browns. Andrew really seemed to like it. It was also exciting to know that my older brother was celebrating his fatherhood too, I hope he had a good day too.

Bennett is growing fast and strong: At his last appt last friday he weighed 18.5 lbs and was 27.5 inches long. He's fast outgrowing his old clothes, it was hard to back up his newborn clothes(0-3 mth ones, he skipped the newborn size altogether). Now he's beginning to outgrow some of his 6 mth clothes, he'd be chubby if he wasn't so long! Anyway, he has some new noises now. I managed to catch them on video, the last one is his favorite, especially in church! Andrew says if he keeps it up, he'll make a great brass instrument player! Its a bit of a pain when I try to feed him rice cereal though.

From the Mouths of Andrews

2009-06-17T17:48:00.000-07:00

Hi all! Lauren and I are doing great lately. We are so excited to be getting back into school finally-I am a little worried about taking 16 credits, but hopefully things will work out well for us. Lauren and I have been talking a lot lately about how our relationship has changed since we got married-in some unexpected ways. I would have never thought when we married that I would enjoy so much something as simple as a back rub while I'm falling asleep. (Lauren should have been a professional masseuse!) I was thinking today how right now is one of the most stressful times in our marriage-a new baby, demands on our money, looking for an apartment, and all the stress that comes with moving. Yet we feel closer right now than ever! I think that's part of the reason we have those stressful times-to make us depend on each other and draw closer to each other and to God. I just want everybody who reads this post to know that I married my perfect girl and that I am thankful every day for the woman that Lauren is. I hope one day to deserve the blessing of being with her. Hope things are going well for everybody, and in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!

The Same but Different

2009-06-16T10:27:00.000-07:00

[First off, I know one of the followers of this blog is the one who had the party I'm about to describe and I want to start by saying that I really did have fun and enjoyed myself ]

Last week, I went to a friend's birthday party and it was lots of fun. But it was also awkward in a way. Although I was the only married person there (I think), it was kind of weird being surrounded by PDA. Now it wasn't gross or anything, but more than I'd seen in a while. It got me to thinking though, Andrew and I were like that when we were dating too. But we don't really do that kind of stuff anymore. And with the revelation, I couldn't help but wonder; why was that? We were becoming old fuddy-duddies? Some people say the flame dies during marriage, so could that be true with us?

So I asked Andrew about it last night since it'd been on my mind for a while. And I was surprised by his answer. "Its not that our love has changed, its just that we show it differently than we used to." I asked him to elaborate. "When we were dating we did a lot of hand-holding, cuddling, and kissing, and we still do sometimes; but we show our love in other ways too. You show me you love me by rubbing my back when I start to fall asleep, running to the store late at night to get Sprite when I don't feel good, making my lunch for work, etc."

And I have to admit, it made me think. And I have to say he's right. We do show our love differently. Back when we were dating, we weren't as busy as we are now, and especially with a baby things got busier. So I've come to wonder if its true with other married students. But I know that their public PDA usually isn't the same as single daters. I wonder if its because they show their love differently too. I encourage my married readers to leave a comment with your thoughts, I'm curious how you feel.

Bennett says Blah!

2009-06-11T07:04:00.000-07:00

It is always so hard to get a video of Bennett doing anything because he clams up when he sees a camera! But this time luck was on my side! So here is Bennett's newest sound.

Bennett teethes for Boise State!

2009-06-11T06:53:00.001-07:00

This is what happens when mom's stay at home :)

Camping and Nieces

2009-06-10T13:34:00.000-07:00

Bennett at 5am

Bennett and Daddy snuggling

We decided to go camping yesterday, the 3 of us. Andrew has been wanting to go camping at Palisades Creek ever since we got married, but we've never been able to get a spot. Its about an hour's drive from here, so its always frustrating to have to turn back. I was pretty convinced we wouldn't find a spot either, especially with the frustrating road construction where we waited for 20 minutes and then poked along for 10 more. But we did succeed in finding a spot! As soon as we started getting settled, Bennett wanted to go to bed! Though he found it pretty hard to in a tent at first. He slept in his car seat and succeeded in sleeping all through the night again! Good boy! He's done it for about a month now. Andrew and I managed to eat some hot dogs before it started to rain. So we retreated to the tent where the boys slept and I read Dilbert comics...I think I'm becoming addicted :) And since this was our first camp out as a bigger family, I really wanted to make it momentful and worthy of scrapbooking. But of course life intervened! :) I had packed everything for smores, only to forget the marshmallows, but more importantly, I forgot to pack our pillows! Good thing I packed extra blankets! We still had fun, even though it had rained the whole time.

When we woke up we decided to break camp early and come home. I was eager to come home for another reason. Before we left to go yesterday, my older brother called to let me know that his wife Crystal had gone into labor. The baby was coming about 2 wks early, she is soooo lucky! Then I was asked if I thought they were going to have a boy or girl, the family was taking a poll. Shawn and Crystal have always wanted to know the gender, but in every sonogram the baby's back was facing the camera. So we've all called the baby Spense because its suspenseful trying to guess the gender. Well, we listened to the messages to find out we had a niece! So exciting! And what is even cooler is that this baby and Bennett are only 6 mths apart! I hope they like each other when they meet!

Aurora Josephine born on June 9th at 6:42pm; 6lbs 3 oz

My brother Tom sent me this picture, I love how my brother is just beaming! He's always acted like a big tough guy, but I'm sure he has a big soft spot for his little girl! :)

Losing battles and midnight frights

2009-06-06T08:06:00.000-07:00

Well, I'll start this off with good news first: Bennett has finally figured out how to use his teething ring! And about time too! He's been teething since he was 2 months old, but still nothing popped through yet. And he also turned 6 mths yesterday, officially the age for potential spoiling. He's starting to get it down. He really is a cuddly bug and hates being put down, but he's a bit too heavy for me to carry around all the time. So he'll usually cry until he finds a distraction to play with. Then I come back into the room and he begins crying as though to say, "I never had fun, I've been just as upset as when you left me!" It'd be really funny if his cries weren't so heart-wrenching.

Now onto the tough parts of this entry. Its been pretty hot here so we've worried about how best to put Bennett to bed. Ideally I'd like to put him in a onesie and tuck a blanket in, but he won't have any of that! He has a swaddler that's fleece since we got it in the winter, but I fear that its too hot for him! And it is a little, so we strip him down to a diaper then wrap him up. We'll be getting a cotton swaddler soon, thanks to my mom. But in the meantime, I worry for him. Over-heating is a SIDS risk. Oh how I'll breathe much easier once he hits the year mark! And then by then I'll be holding my breath for another reason! But I wonder if every parent is like me, when I get Bennett ready for bed, I can't help but wonder if this is my last night with him. Its a terrible thought, I know. I just hope it never happens. But anyway! Sorry to get off topic! So despite what I want, Bennett knows what works best for him---swaddling. He prefers it so I decided to let Bennett win this battle. He'll give it up when he's ready.

So that is the losing battle, now onto the midnight fright. In all actuality, it was 5am when he wanted to feed, but midnight fright sounded cooler title-wise. Anyway, Once I finished feeding him, I noticed there was blood on my arm, it had come from his ear! Lately, he's been getting into the habit of clawing his ears, mainly the right one. His swaddler is a little small so sometimes he can get his arms out. I'm not really sure why he claws at it during the night but never during the day, maybe its like teeth-grinding? Anyway, it totally gave me a shock! I woke Andrew up, after he barely fell asleep (poor guy) and showed him. Then I cleaned Bennett's ear, it didn't seem to hurt him, which was good, then we all went back to sleep. I hope this day gets better from here!

Trot Trot to Boston!

2009-06-04T07:54:00.000-07:00

This is one of Bennett's favorite games! Here Andrew is playing with him right before he leaves for work.

Road Trip to Boise!

2009-05-30T10:27:00.000-07:00

On the 28th, we headed out on our way to Boise. Andrew has been accepted for the fall semester and wanted to attend New Student Orientation. We were able to spend the night at a friend's family that lived near there. I still marvel at how willing they were to take us in (even when we showed up at their place around midnight---when we said to expect us at 9pm) and how well they treated us, despite us being complete strangers.

The orientation started at 9:30am, and man was the campus big! We weren't able to tour it, or rather it was so hot that day we didn't want to bother :( But all the same, it was fun and definitely an eye-opener. We definitely weren't in Rexburg anymore! Lots of the people had tattoos, piercings, immodest clothing, a lot like the rest of the world (go figure!) But it did make me miss Rexburg. We were also the only couple that had a baby with us. I have always been happy to hear Bennett babble since he's pretty quiet, but it sure was awkward during the orientation! And of course during his feeding he had to burp the loudest and deepest he ever had before! Luckily people seemed to think it was cute. But still it felt a little awkward being around a group of people who weren't new parents. Rexburg has sort of spoiled me I suppose. Ironically Bennett was dressed in the school colors, but more by accident, but he got praised a few times.

On this trip, I did a few things I never had before. Like drinking from a corn cup. Some of you may have seen this before. But for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, its a regular plastic cup that happened to be made from corn...somehow. Its one of those recycled things. Its a little odd to tell you the truth, but hey whatever works. Another thing I have never done was buy gas on an Indian Reservation. Now I'm sure that's a pretty common thing out here in the West, but I'm an Eastern and couldn't tell you where the nearest one was. Its just not a common sight.

We aren't any closer to finding a job or apt either, which is a little disappointing, but we'll get one eventually and hope to move by July if possible. So say a prayer for us!

Things have changed

2009-05-26T12:04:00.000-07:00

Andrew and I took Bennett out on Memorial Day for a Hot Dog roast at Beaver Dick Park. It brought back some memories because thats one of the places we went on our first date. While we were sitting by the fire as the sun was setting, we were thinking of the ways we've changed. Like for example, I used to hate reading Dilbert comics because they didn't make any sense, but now I find them really funny! We've been married 2 and 1/2 yrs now and I feel pretty different. I look forward to the future changes, I hope I'll be a much better person.

Not much has been going on around here. We are planning on going to Boise State for new student orientation this week, and hopefully we'll be able to find a job and leads on apts while we're there. I just watched the Nancy Drew movie, its really good! I never read the series before but I thought I'd give it a chance. I have become a fan of murder mysteries (not like CSI, but like Hercule Poirot) and this one had a really awesome plot! So if you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it.

Andrew and Bennett reading the scriptures

2009-05-19T16:07:00.000-07:00

We are currently reading about Nephi's family crossing the sea. We try to include Bennett whenever we read, but sometimes his teething interferes. Still, I really wanted to get a picture of it! I hope that Bennett will come to love the scriptures just as we do.

Just some thoughts

2009-05-19T15:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we went to a picnic with some friends at Smith Park. Its going to be one of the last few things we can do with these friends of ours before we leave to move to Boise at the end of the summer. We had a lot of fun eating sandwiches, deviled eggs, cookies, etc, and playing Imaginiff, the same game we played when we first started hanging out. What I think is a little sad is that Little Mac and Bennett won't get to play together after we move. But that's what happens when you live in a college town, people move in and out a lot.

I read a friend's blog today and she was worrying about how getting her son out and about has begun influencing him and sometimes not in the way she expected. It made me stop and think about if I feel the same way with Bennett. And I have to admit, I don't think its changing anything yet. Bennett really keeps to himself, he's really chatty with us, but not really around others. But my friend is right, the day will come when Bennett will be more influenced by others his age and I'm curious how I'll respond.

I was able to make it to the temple this afternoon, its really nice having a temple so close by. I wonder how close we'll be to the Boise Temple....I am still enjoying Family History, its a pleasure and one I try to do as often as I can. But I can't very well neglect Bennett so I don't do it as often as I used to. But some is better than nothing. Well, those are my thoughts for the day.

Wet Church

2009-05-18T10:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday when I made my weekly phone call home, one of my brothers asked how the church was doing in the west. I told him in one word: wet. Then I proceeded to tell him how that was possible. Bennett is a very spitty baby, but less so since we changed his formula. Still, he has his moments and he had 3 of them yesterday. He spat up enough to flow off his bib, down my nice sunday clothes and onto the carpet of the Relief Society room! About twice during the lesson I got up to get a napkin to wipe the floor, luckily the third time was between classes. Its times like this I'm grateful for being in a married student ward. Something like that was understood and also not as noticable. I got weird stares from my home ward when I burped him during sacrament meeting! I can only imagine what they would have done if this happened! There aren't very many babies in my home ward. Still, it was funny looking back on it. Bennett practiced pouting the other day as well, now that he's coming of age to be spoiled, perhaps he's hoping to use it to his advantage.

I've been very involved in family history lately. I used to have a nice fat PAF file until I forgot to save it when Andrew had to wipe his laptop to keep a virus from spreading. So basically I'm starting from scratch. But with the new family search program, its gotten a lot easier. When you see a name, you see the multiple spellings and info, that way the same person doesn't get their work done several times just because one letter in their name was omitted. Also, I find it interesting that the temple that did a lot of the work was Idaho Falls! That really makes the fact that Andrew and I were sealed there all the more special.

Back online

2009-05-14T16:33:00.000-07:00

This is our new and improved blog. Its easier to keep up a blog when it looks appealing. We'll see just how long I keep writing. So what's new with us, nothing much really. Bennett is still teething and depending on the day its either really bad or really good. He's big on mumbling through his fingers in his mouth. I'll try to post a video, but its hard. Once he sees the camera he just stares at it and stops whatever he's doing. But I did suceed in getting a video of his rolling over, and good thing too since he won't do it anymore!
Andrew is still working hard, though with wedding and graduation rush, it can be stressful sometimes. We'll be heading to Boise State in the fall, Andrew has been accepted to school there. Not sure when we'll be moving, but we're hoping its soon.