Our Goings-on

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!

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!

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!

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!

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

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

[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!

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!

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

Camping and Nieces

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

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!

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