Gospel Topic Tuesday (Preview): Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy

So I've totally fallen off the wagon with my Gospel Topic Tuesday. Which to be honest is because I have not been studying anything like I planned. I'm still trying to get into a rhythm with my personal scripture studies. I have been devouring the Ensign's though which count as scripture.

Anyways this week Jared and I were having a conversation about keeping the Sabbath Day holy. I learned some things that he does when he has to work. He will bring a lunch (or starve), he won't accept free food from the vendors and he won't listen to his music. He tries his best to keep his thoughts on the Lord and worship that way. Last week he did not have enough gas to get home so he stopped to get gas but only bought 2 gallons to ensure he had just enough to make it home. I did not realize he did so much to try his best to keep the Sabbath Day holy when he worked. I was very impressed and moved by his actions.

We discussed how when we travel that we always try to prepare foods to eat so we don't buy anything on the road. Jared has even not played music that wasn't Sunday appropriate while driving to show reverence for the Lord's day. I know it's hard sometimes and circumstances can be unavoidable but when they do arise we must always do our best to keep the Sabbath Day holy.

Tomorrow our son Benjamin is being blessed and we are preparing to feed anyone that comes over after church. As Jared and I were discussing the menu he commented how whatever it was needed to be simple so that we weren't doing too much work. Now normally our meals on Sunday's are simple mostly out of laziness on my part but I of course want to feed people a good meal and that would require some work. So we landed on a potato bar and I worked for a few hours today on preparing everything so it is all ready to go. I appreciate Jared's comments that made me think about my actions and lead me to prepare for tomorrow. It's not only showing respect to the Lord but it is making my prep time tomorrow after church extremely minimal and less stressful.

More to come on Tuesday about keeping the Sabbath Day holy.

Dog Food

This week for our activity with the Young Women we read a story about gifts that we give people. Sometimes the gifts we give are like "Dog Food". After reading this story we passed out flowers and the girls wrote nice things about eachother to have to read later as a bouquet of positive attributes when they have recieved some "Dog Food". I think it was a pretty good activity. We did something like this when I was a youth and I still have it today to read.

We need to realize the effects we have on people and be careful with our words and actions.

Journals and pads of paper

Earlier this week I went to the store. I was walking towards the checkout stands and went down the school supply aisle. I actually love the back to school aisle's! I love looking at new pencils and pens, college ruled paper and binders. It makes me all nostalgic and gives me a desire to be back in school (not really high school but continuing my education). Anyways I saw these cute little notebooks and almost bought one when I realized I have enough pads of paper and journals at home to last me a few more years before I need anymore. So I continued on down the aisle feeling pretty good about myself. I had not given into the temptation to buy a journal. As I was almost to the end of the aisle I saw some larger notebooks with fancy covers. My strength left me and I bought it.

I am going to use it for Young Women's stuff to help keep track of things. :D

91%

Today Benjamin is exactly 2 months old! We took him for his 2 month check up today also. We found out that Benjamin is 23.25 inches long, 13lbs and 11oz and his head circumference is 15.75 inches. Benjamin is in the 91% percentile range for his weight. He is a good eater and gets plenty of food even with his spitting up lately. So no worries my baby is a good eater! We also found out that for infants the definition of sleeping through the night is 5 hours of solid sleep... so apparently we get sleeping through the night and then some. Benjamin went down last night at 9ish and we woke him up at almost 6am. I know...stop bragging!


So with the 2 month check up came some shots. Poor Benjamin! He has had a rough day. We have Tylenol for him now which seemed to help a bit. We got a few glimpses of our normally happy baby.


I absolutely love holding Benjamin and starring down at him while he sleeps! It is so peaceful!

Filing and Bouncy Seat

Yesterday I was working on filing bills and such! I've been working on this project for over a week now. Which while working on it I came to realize I hadn't filed anything in about 2 years. So there's been a lot to sort through but I am down to two piles (car stuff and house stuff). Anyways I made a lot of progress yesterday with Benjamin hanging out next to me in his new bouncy chair I got him last week at Wal-Mart.

Benjamin really enjoys his chair. We actually found out today he loves it even better on the counter in the kitchen so he can be a part of the action while we are doing things.

Fist Fulls of Grass

My youngest cousin of my generation of cousin's had her 16th birthday last week. She had a party at Saltwater State Park near Federal Way. It was a beautiful day. Benjamin enjoyed himself hanging out on a blanket in the grass and actually getting a few fist fulls in his hands. Which I quickly removed so they didn't enter his mouth!

Here is Benjamin with my favorite Uncle Ken! I don't get to see him very often so I got two big huge bear hugs. One to say hello and one to say goodbye.

A New Treat

My new favorite treat is Nutter Butter Bites and Ghirardelli chocolate. They are so good together. I will let the dark chocolate warm up and melt a bit in my mouth and add the Nutter Butter bites and it's just heavenly. Both are dairy free and so delicious!

Very addictive!!!!

Grandpa Cook

My dad stopped by last Friday again. It was nice to have him visit again so soon., normally it's months between visits. Dad didn't get to hold Benjamin last time he visited and he didn't ask this time either. But I offered Benjamin to him and he seized the opportunity to hold his newest grandson. It was really cool to see them together. Benjamin looks really small in my dad's arms. My dad is really tall kind of like a giant. I talked to Dad about what to call him and he is fine with Grandpa Cook. I told him it might help to differentiate since Benjamin has 3 grandpa's. We shall see in time if Benjamin renames him something else though as some grandparents get names based upon what kids can say. :)

Clean Pillows and Benjamin

Today I was working on cleaning and getting chores done. While doing laundry I carried Benjamin upstairs in the laundry basket on top of the freshly cleaned pillows. He was content and smiling so I took some pictures and let him hang out while cleaning out the hall closet of jackets. Most pictures I take of Benjamin are close up shots so I took some of his whole body today as Jared pointed out I will want to see how big or small he his when we look back at these photos years down the road.

2nd and 3rd Cousins

This was a busy week of cousins coming to visit. My cousin Theresa and her kids came over on Monday (no pics). They got to meet Benjamin for the first time. As well as my cousins Ashley and Sam on Tuesday (only 1 pick because my battery died!). It was fun to show off my super good and handsome baby boy.

Swing Into Sleep

Benjamin is so cute. I love watching him sleep. Sometimes he will smile in his sleep which is just too precious to me. Below he is sleeping in his swing, which Jared fixed yesterday (there was something stuck in the mechanism...so now I no longer have to rock him in it every few minutes)! Spending all day everyday with Benjamin is wonderful and amazing. His smile brightens your day!

Can You Blame Me?

Benjamin really enjoys hanging out with me outside. So I took advantage of it again for another photo shoot. I played with my camera settings trying to see which ones I like best (still not sure). I wound up taking 76 pictures of him. :) Obessed?! Yes, but can you blame me?

Soap Collection in Use

I've been realizing that I have too much stuff and need to get rid of some things. One of my issues is that I get sentimentally attached to things that people give me. So things like soaps that are fancy I have a hard time using. But here's the thing...they sit on a shelf collecting dust and only being admired by myself when I remember to dust them. I was cleaning the hall bathroom today (it's finally clean from top to bottom) and found my fancy soaps and dusted them. I was going to put them back to be on display when I decided they just needed to be used. But then my sentimental side spoke up and said they couldn't be used! The thought came to me though to take pictures of them and write about who gave them to me so I didn't forget about them and then they could be used and appreciated by other people while being effective soaps.

My dad (I believe...pretty sure) got these for me many years ago. There was a collection of 4, the 4th is in my bathroom being used, it's pink and it got wet so I had to use it. I like the fish because they do remind me of my dad since he is a fisherman.

My dad also bought me this lighthouse soap. I really love it. It's funny how I used to buy my dad lighthouse items and then turned into a lighthouse collector myself and he know adds to my collection. I can be quit honest this one will be hard to use because it is really awesome! It's a pina colada scent. YUM!!!

My mom got me this star shaped soap dish with angel soap and stars. There is a white angel in the back at the top and then the Cherub picture soap and the stars. I opened it up today and placed it on the counter in the hall bathroom to be used. I do also enjoy angels...though my collection of angels is not anywhere near as extensive as my lighthouse collection. (Hmm...I wonder how many lighthouse things I have...would pictures count that are hung? Or just knickknacks?)

Alright I have my angel soaps ready to be used and I will start using the others as there arises a need for them. There is one bar of soap I was given that I used and have almost finished with. It's a bar that my sister Megan gave me. She but these little shoes in them and gave it to me for Christmas (I believe) one year. The reason I used it was because I wanted my shoes out of the soap. They are really cute.

Blessings

I feel really blessed. I went to have lunch with a friend from work and visit my old team yesterday. A job opportunity fell in my lap. I was a bit surprised at how soon they wanted me back. I feel it's a blessing from Heavenly Father. I was hoping that Jared would get a raise and that his boss would magically disappear and he be promoted but since that is not happening (fingers still crossed) this is a huge blessing to our family.

Last Fast Sunday at church a Sister in the ward bore her testimony and it hit home. It was about mother's and having to work. She was counseled by her Stake President to make a goal for how long she needed to work and then on that date to quit. When that date came she did quit and it was hard but things worked out and her family was blessed. Her testimony was just what I needed to hear.

I really don't want to work if I could afford to but this opportunity is really great because it's part of my old job part time and from home. The details are being worked out so there's nothing official yet but if it does work out it would really help. I'm so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who knows better than us and constantly blesses us.

Sleeping through the night

Benjamin is a really great sleeper at night. Last night he slept for 7 and half hours. Jared woke him up at 5:15 because he hadn't gotten up yet. So I fed him and then he was awake for a bit. So we spent some time with Jared this morning before going back to bed for 3 more hours roughly.

An afternoon in the shade

Our front lawn is looking very nice right now. Jared and fertilized it and overseeded the yard so it's growing lucious and green. I have it fairly trimmed this week so I decided to spend an afternoon outside with Benjamin waiting for his Dad to get home from work. We sat in the shade near my favorite flowers, the dragonsnaps!

I couldn't leave this picture out. It's just so precious! It was earlier in the day while Benjamin was hanging out in his swing.

No More Monkeys...

Actually a ton of monkey's! Sunday I dressed Benjamin for church in a monkey outfit. There was a onesie, pants with a monkey on the butt and a jacket. I even had a blanket to match. It was super cute! I called Jared on the way to church and told him about the matching ensemble and he laughed. I said if I have the accessories to match why not. :)

Can you find Benjamin?

Dairy free birthday cake

I had been craving rice krispie treats for a few days. I finally made a trip to the store with the idea in mind of a special treat for my birthday. I was going to make a cake out of rice krispie treats!!! Benjamin and I went to the store and had to go to Woodinville because all of Monroe was without power (apparently they cut the line and then buried it where they are doing construction). I think my dairy free birthday cake turned out pretty cool!

Now the next morning Jared went out and laced my cake with red vines. Too cool! It was a fun little project. I am going to go eat some of it in a moment!