Moving = Exhaustion

It's been a long time since I've updated the blog, but we moved into our new house on the 21st and with spending every free moment of every day either packing/unpacking or cleaning, there just wasn't a lot of things to photograph. Oh look - here's Michelle cleaning the disgusting dog fur out of her new freezer! Oh look - here's one of her cleaning dog fur out of the washing machine! Oh and these are good - here's a picture of Michelle packing the toiletries and one of her unpacking them again the next day in a different location! Fascinating! Thought I'd save you that fun stuff. How about pictures of me at the doctor's finally getting anti-biotics after dealing with a sinus infection for 5 weeks thinking it was just a pesky cold? Or a thousand pictures of Benjamin with a runny nose and a double ear infection? Didn't feel the need to take those either. Let's just say it was a stressful, not suitable for blogging kind of month.

However, amoxicillian is a wonder and luckily Benjamin and I are both doing much better. So, here are a few pics from the last week while my mom was back again helping us crazy sickies get things done. Pictures of the house itself will come as soon as things look a little more presentable.

One of my favorite things to do with Benjamin in stores is to find the toys and let him play with all the stuff I'm too cheap/too sensible to buy him. Bless all the toy manufacturers who package their toys in open boxes that say, "Try me!" on them. Free entertainment.


Just hanging out with Dad on the couch after church. (That's a pen he's playing with, by the way).


Now that we have stairs, Benjamin is learning how to go down them safely. He's done it before on smaller stair cases, but ours is pretty hefty. For some reason, he always wants to go down forward (sliding on his bum) rather than on his stomach like he goes up.


We played with bubbles at German mom's group and he loved it immensely. So we had to go buy some to play with at home too. He's definitely a fan, but even more of the wand than the bubbles. He took the wand from me and wanted to dunk it himself, blow them himself and then rub the wand all over the yard. He kind of figured out how to blow, but never thought to put the wand in front of his mouth as he was doing it.







Sometimes Benjamin insists on getting up before he's really awake. This time Kelly indulged him and provided a warm, if perhaps a slightly bony, pillow on which to continue his snooze.


Benjamin loves putting things on his head and tonight he kept doing it with a dishtowel. He'd put it on his head and then go running over to the mirror we have at the end of the hall to see how he looked, before running back to me so I could see him too. Somewhere in that process, it would inevitable fall off and so he'd struggle to replace it and go running off again. It was so adorable. My old camera and the natural delay between pressing the button and taking of the picture, caused me to miss the best shots, but here's a cute one of him running back as it started to fall off. He had so much fun. He was laughing the whole time. I love watching him developing a sense of humor like that. The little things he finds funny are so charming. During lunch it was the sound of his sippy cup rolling across the table. He rolled it back and forth about 20 times, laughing uproariously the entire time.

Happy Birthday Benjamin!!

This week was Benjamin's first birthday!! We celebrated the momentous occasion with a visit from Grandma, his first bite of cake, and a dinner at Red Robin (one of the few non-smoking establishments in this state). Later in the week we also went to a nearby beach. Benjamin seemed to have a great time. He also got plenty of cool presents and new clothes. What a lucky kid!

He also managed to fall face first on a pine cone and cut his cheek just in time for all the pictures. :) So, that's what the marks on his left cheek are, in case you're wondering.

Here are some of my favorite pictures:

We decorated the kitchen the night before and surprised him with the cake and decorations in the morning. As you can guess, the streamers were his favorite.


His first taste of cake. Chocolate with chocolate pudding on top. Guess who made the cake? :) Surprisingly, he stayed really clean. This is as messy as he got.


He got lots of birthday cards and loved looking at all of them.


Then we went to Red Robin. He had a blast playing around, but his favorite part was when they brought out the big icecream and sang to him. He clapped as they approached, but once they started singing to him, he was too enthralled to do anything but stare.




Later in the week we went to the beach and played in the grass.





All that excitement left him pretty worn out in the afternoons.


Just a few more cute photos of our fun week.

Sign Here, Initial There

Those were the words we heard 1,000 times today as we signed away our souls for the next 30 years. We are officially homeowners. This is it. We're paying on this one item until 2037!! That's insane. And yet, we're excited! Our own home! Our own lawn, garage, and basement! All our own!! :) It'll be fun. Once we get over the shock.

As for Benjamin, he cut his 7th tooth today (on the bottom right side) and came down with a cold. Not a good combo. His gums were bleeding, he was sneezing, coughing, and he had a runny nose that required wiping every 30 seconds or so. Poor little thing was as miserable as I've ever seen him. I don't think he stopped crying all day - great day to need a babysitter! Any volunteers? :) Luckily a sweet woman from the ward was willing to sacrifice and help us out while we signed all the paper work. I really hope he's feeling better tomorrow. Here's a few cute photos of him to remind myself that he really does have good moments (sometimes after a day like today you tend to forget.)

We had a little pool party for German Mom's club. Benjamin just stood in the pool and ate the rocks that another little boy threw in.


Get a good look at this while it lasts. Starting next week that bottle is slowly going to disappear. He's already drinking from a sippy cup, but so far only water. I'm going to try to get him to take it for all drinks after he turns 1. I think it'll be as hard for me as it will be for him because I think he's so darn cute like that.

Today the desk, tomorrow the world!

Benjamin ascended to new heights today as he figured out how to use other objects around the house to help him climb to formerly unattainable places. Kelly's desk has always been a vast treasure trove of "off-limits" items. The myriad of pens, coins, papers, cables, wires, and other marvelous choking hazards has been calling to him for months now and he finally figured out how to get them. Who knew a laundry basket could be so useful? Simply pull into place, and voila - a step! Here's the result:


He just couldn't be happier!


We're also trying to have regular scripture study with Benjamin now. What better way to start, then with a lesson on King Benjamin? Kelly got out the picture and we read together in Mosiah chapter 3. He lasted about 10 seconds, but honestly, that exceeded my expectations. Not a bad start.


His favorite part was when we sung a hymn. It's always so fun to see him dancing to hymns.

You Win Some, You Lose Some

Good news first. Benjamin and I and several other moms/kids went to the water park on Friday. It was a wonderful day and perfect for the hot weather. It was cute to see how interested Benjamin was in everything and he did pretty well in the water, despite how cold and forceful it was. If only he could keep those shorts from falling off his cute little bum! :) We'll defintely be going there more in the future.



Benjamin didn't enjoy the water that he wasn't expecting, though. :)



The day left Benjamin tired, but in a very good mood.


Okay, now for the bad news. In the last month, I've managed to smash both of our cars. The first one I thought was so awful and I was so sad about it. Then I smashed the second and the first no longer seemed so bad! ;) Here's the first:



You almost can't even see it in the picture. The doors are smashed in and so the center panel juts out. It seemed so dramatic at the time and truly, it's worse in person, but then the next accident happened today and it put things in perspective. Here's the second:




There's some piece of something (forgive my automotive ignorance) that is bent outward and jutting off, there's now tape holding the hood down and the side panel in place, and yes, that's the windshield washer fluid container you can see from the outside of my car! That's not good. From the front it looks like a one-eyed pirate car. I'll never forget the sight of my headlight flying across the street and the shower of pieces as a subsequent car smashed it to smitherines. Although I think it's dwarfed by the memory of the sound of the crunch of my front end smashing into that cadillac. My first accident with a moving car in all my 14 years of driving. I guess my aim is improving - I'm now hitting moving targets! But, oh how I miss the days of hitting curbs and construction barrels. (The first accident was with a tree, by the way.) Alas, our house payment is no longer our only financial concern. Now I have the repair costs as well as the increased insurance premiums. As an added bonus, I get to spend the week stranded at home with a stir-crazy kid while it gets repaired. The real kicker though is that it happened on the way home from the temple!!! That's not supposed to happen! Well, I'm just warning all of you, steer clear, I'm on a bad streak here. Luckily no one has been hurt...yet.

Let's Go Outside Today; See what We Can Find Today

Benjamin loves being outside. He stands by the window all the time, pointing at the things outside and babbling excitedly. Once outside, he'll cry if I take him in too early. So, often I let him play on the balcony where there aren't so many things he can stick in his mouth and I don't have to chase him as much (as I do at the playground). He loves it! He watches the cars and people passing below, the insects flying by, and the trees waving in the wind. He also never tires of sticking his hands in my planter boxes and pulling out handfuls of dirt. In fact, today he was so riveted by the goings on that he actually let me take some pictures! He only rushed the camera once. I can't wait until we have our backyard. Speaking of which, only 12 more days until the house is ours! We still have no idea what colors to paint the basement but we found someone in the ward who is willing to be our consultant and apparently good quality, inexpensive carpet can be found in Dalton, Georgia, of all places. So we're going to check that out. It's all so new and so much to deal with, but we're getting there. Baby steps, baby steps.







Our little bibliophile can regularly be found examining his books. He scatters them on the floor and then proceeds to examine the pages, pointing at objects, babbling and turning the pages back and forth. It's enough to make a mother gush with pride. :)


He sure loves his daddy. In fact, I have a special ringtone on my phone for Kelly and when Benjamin hears it, he regularly yells, "Da!"

Dance Dance Baby

I tried all day to get a good video of Benjamin playing DJ and rocking out but alas, the camera is a bigger draw than anything else (other than the laptop) and so whenever he'd see the camera, the dance ended. However, I happened to sneak a quick snippet of a sitting dance he was doing while I was checking my email. Luckily the camera was next to me and so I managed to catch a few seconds before he came for me.



Here's a quick one of him walking with his other favorite toy - the remote control. It's not anything special, but I realized that those of you in Utah haven't seen him walking yet.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Benjamin attended his very first MLB game on Thursday - Detroit Tigers vs. LA Angels. The Tigers won 12-0, so apparently Benjamin is a good omen. Kelly's entire department at work went and he took Benjamin along while I had a few hours to myself! Glorious! You can't tell by the picture, but Kelly says Benjamin had a great time. He even clapped when others around him were clapping. He's a sports fan already!

Benjamin has also become a music fan. He's figured out how to make all his musical toys play, so he can start them whenever he wants. Yesterday he had several out in front of him and was making them play simultaneously. Then he started to dance. Benjamin's dance consists of bouncing up and down while pointing both index fingers in the air and moving his arms up and down or out in front of him. It's hysterical. Whenever the music on one or more toys would stop, he'd reach down, start them up again, and then continue his dance. We couldn't be more proud of our up and coming DJ. He now dances to any music he hears - at church, during choir practice, any musical toy he owns, etc. He's so much fun to watch. If he'd ever continue doing it after I've started the video camera, I'd post a clip.

He's also adopted another adorable habit. Whenever he wants to read a book, he'll get one off the shelf, and then sit himself on the nearest available lap so that person will read to him. He first did it at the library, but since then he's done it at home to both me and Kelly. When he gets bored with the book, he'll get up, grab another, and come sit back down. He's got to be the cutest boy there ever was.

Like Father Like Son

In case there is any doubt that Benjamin is Kelly's son, this proves it. Benjamin managed to climb onto the back of the couch by himself today and proceeded to knock over or pull down all the books and pictures. So it begins.



Before I got too scared that he'd fall (he never did - just climbed down when he'd had enough) I decided to also get a quick video. By the way, the noise in the background, that catches Benjamin's attention, is a kid outside.

Hanging out

We've found that Benjamin really loves his backpack carrier, so why limit its use to hikes? We occasionally set it up and let him hang out it in while we're at home. He always stays in it happily much longer than in anything else.



Studies show that children are more likely to read on their own if the father (not the mother) reads to them, so I'm always happy when Benjamin and Kelly read together. Benjamin loves it too. His favorite books are "Der Pummilige Panda" and "I'm Reverent When..." I've also noticed large increases in his attention span. It's no longer just a page or two before he's done - he'll now stick around for an entire book. What a genius! :)




Other news: We bought a house! We're excited and terrified. It's a great house, though, and we're looking forward to having a yard and a basement for Benjamin to play in. It was only 2 weeks from the time I called the realtor to the time we signed the paperwork. I looked at about 1000 homes on line and about 40 in person and narrowed it down to two - my favorite and Kelly's favorite - and Kelly's won. So here we are. We close on June 22 and move in sometime before our current lease expires in July. All friends and relatives are invited to come see it in person. :)