OCD with Cars

Who doesn't love nicely organized lined up cars? Benjamin has been taken with lining up his cars lately. He will dig cars out of the toy chest and go line them up around the house. Jared stumbled upon this find before I did and it was pretty awesome. Benjamin even went so far as to find cars that were in other locations around the house. It seems a little OCD like his father to me.

What funny things do your children do?

Tomato's That Didn't Die

Two Friday's ago was a beautiful day. We could not help ourselves but to play outside as much as possible and hang out as a family. We decided to plant the few tomato plants left that didn't look totally dead after the weather dropped to freezing temperatures. We put walls of water around the tomatoes as well to help them grow. They are actually doing pretty well and bouncing back nicely!

Benjamin loves to run around the yard and do his thing and help us with whatever it is we are doing.

We decided to put Benjamin in the shorts since it was such a nice day. The thing though is that he didn't seem to care for them. At times I would find him pulling at his shorts trying to pull them down to his ankles. When his pants get stuck pulled up he has to pull them down and he seemed to think that was the issue with the shorts. Too funny! 

Knee in My Back

While working from home today Benjamin grabbed his Winnie the Pooh phone and put it on the desk next to me and proceeded to play with it right there. I had no issue with it and thought it was pretty funny.

After awhile he was done and decided to jump on me and knee me in the back, a lot! I decided to get smart and grab the small table for him to climb and use to jump to the couch. Success! It totally worked!

Laying Down to Read

On Sunday Jared took a new book to church to help entertain Benjamin. The Forza 4 book. I figured why not, no harm. Oh my goodness it was a great help. Then Monday while I was working from home he grabbed the book and laid down on the desk next to me to flip through the book.

Cracked me up! I had to take pictures.

It's a Girl Baby Shower Card

I am going to a baby shower tomorrow and had to make a new card to go with my gift. My friend at church is having a baby girl (I think it's the year of the girl again).

I am entering this card in two challenges:

Inside & Out at My Craft Spot

and

Pastel & Die Cuts at One Stop Craft Challenge

Happy Easter Sunday!

Easter Sunday is winding down. We had a nice morning with pancakes and getting ready for church. Once we got Benjamin all dressed I decided to take his picture (just in case it didn't last through church). I really didn't get a smile from him at all.

He is probably sitting there thinking really mom, enough with the camera.

After church we got to cooking Mexican chicken, ground beef for soft tacos, Mexican rice and refried beans from scratch. I should probably say less we and more Jared. He really is a great cook and enjoys it for the most part.

Family members started showing up and we had an Easter Egg hunt for Benjamin and my two closest nephews, Connor and Corey. It was fun. There was a "Rotton" egg that was an ugly died rotten egg and the prize for getting it was dinner with the grandparents. Connor was the lucky boy and he sure was excited.

Benjamin didn't quite enjoy being on the grass without shoes. He also didn't grasp the concept but he would take the eggs from me and throw them in his basket.

Benjamin did however get the concept of eating candy and would steal from his cousin's a time or two. We had a great evening of hanging out, enjoying great food and relaxing.

April Fools! Time to Get Up!

6am and Benjamin was wide awake on Sunday April 1st (not a nice April Fools joke, he'd been up off and on since about 3am)! Benjamin had been awake for awhile actually at this point but TV and milk in our bedroom where not enough to keep him happy. I decided to get up and see what he wanted finally (I am so not a morning person).

He didn't want his milk anymore (Jared disappeared to the bedroom at this point) and so I made him some toast with cream cheese on it (actually for both of us). He happily stood at the counter eating and drinking his milk. I took a few pictures which I actually got him to smile for me. I would take a picture and then show it to him and the pictures progressively had better smiles. Love it!!!

I went and sat down in the living room and did my scripture studies. I figured I was up and I might as well get the day going. I was going to do the dishes and get a real breakfast made next but then I decided to write in my journal as I had put it off long enough. Benjamin came out into the living room and started playing with my umbrella. He laid on top of the vent and just relaxed. I wondered if he was ready to go back to sleep.

A few minutes later he crawled up into my lap and got cozy. I was still able to write and he was able to fall asleep. I finished writing and took him back to bed. Jared and I talked briefly before falling asleep ourselves again.

Jared woke us up in time to have family scripture study and prayer before General Conference started at 9am. I was very glad to have gotten the extra sleep. Since I had slept in so much (not really...I just got the sleep at a different schedule) I made breakfast while Jared and Benjamin played in the living room and we listened to General Conference. I made us a Dutch Baby for breakfast. Delicious!!! Takes a lot of my eggs but it was so worth it (which by the way the batch of 24 eggs we had from Costco had 8 double yolks in it...so crazy!)

While that was baking I took some pictures of Jared and Benjamin hanging out. Jared had opened the umbrella from earlier that Benjamin had been playing with and Benjamin laid down between Jared's legs and pulled the umbrella down. Benjamin likes to hide under things like blankets so it was pretty cute.

We finished listening/watching General Conference upstairs and then I finished putting away my new China (another blog to come). We had some good family time before the afternoon session of General Conference which we watched downstairs. After the last session Jared made it clear that if he was to make bread again (since we were out) that the counter had to be cleaned off. So I cleaned off the top of the fridge and while I was up there Jared asked is there a reason I was cleaning that off when he had asked for me to clean off the counter and cover it with everything from the fridge. I laughed and said yes. I continued to explain that my soup bowl was going to go on top of the fridge and I wanted to clean it off before I could put it up there. He smiled and laughed at me and said at least there is some reasonable logic there tied to cleaning off the counter.

Benjamin was so jealous of me being up near the fridge. Daddy suggested putting him up there so we did. He had a marvelous time. Now just give it a few more weeks and he will figure out how to get up there. The pantry is the way we see it happening.

I had finished packing up all my dishes for storage and then Benjamin had to lay on top of them of course. Can you blame him?

It was a great day! And I was so excited to see my flowers blooming from my sister in law Jacki. It's almost exactly 2 years old now and still growing!!!

Need a Book Anyone?

Have I mentioned Benjamin likes to climb? Saturday while I was at the computer Benjamin started climbing the bookcase again. I quickly grabbed the camera.

It was so funny how he would throw his head back and lean back as far as he could without falling.

Getting down was not doable without help but give it time he will figure that out too.

I still think we should build an indoor climbing wall. I can see him climbing mountains some day.

The Disney Store Not for Kids

A week ago today after work and track practice we went to Bellevue to try to get new free phones. It didn't work so we walked around the mall. We are not big consumers and neither of us really like the mall but since we were out we decided to enjoy it and let Benjamin have fun.

The escalators were a big hit with Benjamin. He thought it was the coolest thing but he still wanted to climb the stairs even though they do the work for you if you don't move. Oh well I am sure he will learn that concept someday.

We walked past a store that I recognized from Bakerella.com William's Sonoma. I asked Jared if we good go inside and look around. Again we weren't pressed for time and just wanted to hang out. A sales clerk came up to me and asked if I needed help with anything. I responded no, I am just looking...I've never been in one of your stores. Sales clerk's jaw hits the floor! Again I don't do malls and I don't shop much. It was a pretty funny moment too me.

After that we walked around some more and Jared pointed out the Disney store and how we should go in there for Benjamin. So we did! Big mistake! Benjamin loved and we found him this huge Mickey Mouse doll. He held onto him for awhile and then gave him to me to hold and look at. While spinning Jared took the doll and put it back and when he came back without the doll Benjamin threw a fit. We went and found him a much smaller more affordable doll.

Benjamin was still in love and almost didn't let go of him all night. Getting him out of the car and getting ready for bed was a one hand at a time thing. When we were getting ready for bed Jared turned on Mickey Mouse for him and Benjamin just lit up! He would look at the doll and then the computer. Too funny!

Here is Benjamin with his new favorite Mickey Mouse doll.

A Watery New Home

The world through a child’s eyes is so simple and magical. There are so many things to explore and play with. I love watching Benjamin explore the world around him. It helps me to slow down and enjoy the little things in life like the 5 minutes of sunshine, the sound of a rock falling into water and rain drops falling on your head.

Benjamin was dressed and ready to go with Daddy left for school today so I took him out to the backyard and let him play. I quickly grabbed my camera to take advantage of the time together. The sunshine quickly passed but Benjamin didn’t care. Being outside no matter the weather is one of his favorite things. One of Benjamin’s favorite things to do when we are outside is to pick up rocks and throw them down the drain in the backyard.

As you can see he carefully chooses each rock and races over to the drain to throw it down to its new watery home. He gets so much joy and satisfaction from it.

Dressed Up and Dressed Down

This little boy of mine sure does polish up nicely! We put on a new suit and while the sleeves are a little long he sure looked handsome. All dressed up and ready to go to church so what do we do? We spin in the hallway and I take pictures.

After church Benjamin quickly got all dressed down. If I remember correctly he threw up at church and smelled of puke. He climbed into the toy box and I couldn't help but take his picture. Too cute! I just love watching this little boy every day!

Time to Garden!

It's that time of year again where you can start to work outside and get the earth prepared for a new garden! I love this time of year! When I look at the earth all freshly tilled up and ready it just makes me giddy for some reason. It's like I am working with mother nature to help her do her job and helping to create new life. I know weird...I don't think I am even explaining it correctly.

But I love to work in the yard. I enjoy mowing the yard, pulling weeds, pruning bushes, planting and harvesting a garden, planting flowers and cutting flowers. It's all wonderful to me! I can remember working on my green thumb as a child. I thought the rhododendrons in the front yard needed some pruning. Yea, that went a little too far. I almost killed them. My sister Cathy got me a mix of wild flowers one year for my birthday. I couldn't wait to dig up the ground and make myself a flowerbed. My favorite flowers to see each year are the Crocus and Daffodils. The reason is because they are a sign that spring is coming.

So last Saturday (March 24th) Jared and I took Benjamin outside and got to work on the garden. We even made a new garden bed!! We realized last year how much bell peppers and jalapenos really love the heat and on the back of the house is the perfect spot that gets really hot. We have a few more things we need to do but we are getting there.

28 Weeks

Here I am at exactly 28 weeks. We took this on 3/23/2012. I am starting to feel very pregnant. My body is doing okay with the pregnancy. I'm grateful the morning sickness phase passed quickly.

Our little girl is very active and kicks a lot. I'm learning a lot about how after the first pregnancy you notice more things like kicks earlier and contractions. The contractions are good thing but I do have to take a break and rest. Yesterday Jared commented to me that I always over do it. I can't help it! There's a lot to do. I just try to drink my water and stay hydrated and then pay attention to when the contractions start and take a break.

Benjamin likes to play with my belly sometimes. I am trying to explain to him that his sister is in my belly. When this little girl comes it will be a whole new world for Benjamin and our family. We are so excited!! June 15th is right around the corner. I must say I time these babies pretty well. Summer babies mean summer time at home.