Our Family Blog

Three Cute Pics Just Because

2012-01-24T20:29:00.001-08:00

Tongue out 90% of the time these day...funny kid

Devoured a whole strawberry

Pulling back the bow with his huge muscles

Cute

2012-01-24T20:17:00.000-08:00

Lately Benson's favorite thing to do has been to throw toys off the balcony down into the living room. It's so cute to watch him concentrating so hard to drop it down through the banister posts and then get SO excited when Beau throws it back up! He thinks it's amazing!

January 23

2012-01-24T20:10:00.000-08:00

It finally snowed!

The first thing he did was grab a handful to eat!
I love this little boy! He's so full of excitement.

10 Months

2012-01-22T12:53:00.000-08:00

10 things about Benson at 10 months

*Has been crawling for 2 months and is seriously speedy!
*Pulls himself up to anything and everything, and has just started walking along the couch this last week.
* Has 1 tooth.
*Sleeps from 8:30-9:30 or 10. Still takes two 2 hour naps.
*Loves to put one object inside another. His favorite toy is a cup and anything he can take in and out of it.
*Has had 2 ear infections in the last 2 months :(
*Still nurses 4 times a day.
*Smiles all day long and loves to laugh.
*Absolutely loves Josh! Josh can be coming to take a toy away from him and he doesn't even care, he just lights up the second Josh looks his way. Josh is usually very sweet to him and has recently started to play with him a little more. Watching the two of them together is my favorite thing on earth!
*Waves hi and bye every chance he gets. It's SO sweet! Whenever we're checking out at a store the cashiers usually says hi to him, and as soon as they do Benson turns on his huge smile and waves the entire time we're checking out, and just keeps on going until we're half way back to the car.

New Toy

2012-01-20T16:54:00.001-08:00

Beau got a new bow last week and basically hasn't stopped playing with it since.
Last night he got the great idea to set up a target in the basement.
Today he has already made us all go down to watch him shoot it multiple times.
He's pretty excited about to say the least! But it's fun to see him so excited about something.

Another Buzz

2012-01-10T15:45:00.000-08:00

The mullet was getting a little unruly, so we decided it was time for Benson to have his second buzz. The first time we did it I think he was about 4 months old, and he didn't mind at all. This time I was nervous because about a month and a half ago we were buzzing Josh's hair and Benson sat on the bathroom floor and screamed his little head off, he was so afraid! He also does the same thing every time he's in the same room as Beau when he's shaving with his electric razor. For whatever reason, that noise just freaks him out. So anyway....the moral of the story is, I thought this was going to be a rather traumatic experience. Thankfully, I was wrong. He didn't care at all! He just sat in the sink and made faces at himself in the mirror for a few minutes and when he started to get a little restless and wanted to crawl on the counter, I gave him my water bottle and he sat still the rest of the time. Like a champ!
I'm always a little sad when we have to buzz the boys heads, I love their hair longer, but it has to be done during the awkward growing even hair stage. Right now Benson can grow a mean mullet because it's so much thicker in the back and he's got another thick spot right on the top of his head, which also turns into a super cool mohawk when it gets long. He's just naturally a pretty awesome kid I guess!

Trip Home Pt. 1

2012-01-09T22:20:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure how to break up the pictures and blog about our trip to southern Utah for Christmas last month. It would take me way too long to tell the story behind every picture so I think I'll just post a few of the highlights.
This trip down was tons of fun....well, once we got there. The actual drive down was sort of a nightmare, but we survived and quickly forgot how bad it was. We stayed at Luke and Jana's because Grandma and Grandpa Davis just sold their house and have moved in with them as well, so it was one big party over there with almost the entire family living under one roof. The kids loved playing together from the moment they woke up until they went to bed. Josh was in heaven! We mostly spent time talking and hanging out at the house, but we did spend one day shopping for Kathy's Christmas (which was awesome!) , and a couple days helping move out of the old house. We also went over to Matt and Michon's and made candy trains with all of them, that was seriously fun! I hope it's something we can make a yearly tradition.
That about sums up the first week of the trip! I think I'll stop there and post about our time in Bunkerville tomorrow.

In January!?

2012-01-08T22:43:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe how warm it has been here lately! It's the strangest thing to me that it's January and there's not only no snow on the ground, but it's warm enough to play outside! I'm not complaining by any means, but it just feels so odd! A couple of days ago while Benson was taking his afternoon nap, Josh and I went for a bike ride, then after he woke up the boys went out and dug in the sand(mud actually)box. It was such a nice change, and it made me so excited for spring and summer. It gave me a glimpse at how nice it's going to be for me to have both my boys being able to play outside together. It seems unreal that in probably 6 to 8 months from now I will have two toddlers running around. Benson will only be 18-months-old, which is still pretty babyish, but just the fact that he'll be walking and tagging along with Josh will be so different and fun! They are already starting to play together a little bit, when Josh allows Benson to come within 3 feet of what he's playing with (which is a rear occurrence. We're working on it), and I love watching them interact.

I just checked the weather and it says there's a small chance of snow on Tuesday, I don't think it'll be much of anything, but I do think it's beginning of it. The temperature is supposed to drop into the low 30's this week as well... I guess it was good while it lasted. I'm grateful we've had such good weather this long. It makes the impending cold months feel bearable knowing there is probably only 3 months of it before we start getting the occasional warm day and only 5 months before it's summer here. We can handle that!

Mess

2012-01-08T22:17:00.000-08:00

I was feeding Benson a bowl full of broccoli when I got up to do something and not really thinking, set the bowl down on his highchair tray rather than on the counter. When I finished whatever it was I had gotten up to do and went back to finish feeding him, this is what I found.
This little monkey is the messiest eater on earth! He thinks it's awesome to grab handfuls of food and rub them all over his head. Usually it just takes a wet rag and a few seconds of scrubbing to clean him up, but broccoli doesn't just wipe off, it smears around. It was everywhere! The pictures don't show all the tiny little broccoli particles that were literally head to toe. So he got to experience his first bath in the sink, and he absolutely loved it!

It's a good thing he's so stinking cute!

Presents From Gma and Gpa Anderson

2011-12-06T20:54:00.000-08:00

On Josh's actual birthday Grandma and Grandpa Anderson's present came in the mail! Awesome timing!
He got a new Pigeon book (best one so far), an outfit, and a garbage truck!

This was his expression when he saw the book :) He LOVES the pigeon books!

And the garbage truck!

I decided to pick some cupcakes up from the Cocoa Bean and make it a little celebration (or just a good excuse to get some of the best cupcakes ever!).

This is what he has done ever since he opened the garbage truck. Seriously, 4 days later, he hasn't touched another toy since! I never knew filling a little garbage can up with torn up cardboard and dumping it into the truck could be so much fun. Apparently it is :)

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa A!

French Fries

2011-12-04T22:38:00.000-08:00

You know you never eat out when you give your 3-year-old and french fry and after he tastes it he looks at you like, that was the most amazing thing in the whole world, and then a couple minutes later he asks if he can have more of "those yellow things" HA! I laughed so hard! He doesn't know what a french fry is!

That same day I gave Benson his first taste of a fry...he thought they were the most amazing things in the whole world too! After the week this poor little guy has had, I should have ordered him his own and let him eat them all. He's such a trooper.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

2011-12-04T22:19:00.000-08:00

Decorating the Christmas tree was so much fun this year! Josh was really in to it. I let him put all the ornaments where ever he wanted, and they all ended up in one spot, so we've slowly moved them around the tree. I couldn't wait to get the tree up this year! If we hadn't had Thanksgiving at our house I would have put it up the middle of November. It's so much fun having a sparkling tree up to look at. I think it makes everyone in the house happier.

THREE!

2011-12-04T21:02:00.000-08:00

My little Mr. is 3! Every year I say the same, I can't believe I have a ___ year-old! And every year I'm honestly shocked! Three is an even bigger shocker than the past 2 years though. Josh suddenly seems like such a big kid. He's definitely not a baby anymore :( I'm going to write a post later all about him and what he's up to, but I have to do a few things first, so I'll just post about his birthday party.
We had a little party for him the weekend after Thanksgiving while the family was here. He's at an age where he cares about having an actual party and he was really into what kind of cake he wanted, so I decided we better do it while his cousins were here since he doesn't have a lot of friends yet. He went back and forth between wanting and tractor party and a firetruck party. I pushed for the tractor party because I knew I could throw something really simple together quickly.
The party started by going swimming at the hotel Luke and Jana were staying at, then we had a bbq at our house and then cake. Josh was way excited about his dump truck cake! I think it turned out pretty cute for 10 minutes of work.
It was fun having everyone here to celebrate Josh's birthday, and to help him feel special on his big day!

More on Josh as a big three-year-old later...

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-04T20:10:00.000-08:00

This years Thanksgiving was extra special for us because we had it here at our house! It was SO SO fun having Beau's entire family (minus Kody of course) in Idaho with us! It's rear these days to get all of us together, so it was fun spending 3 whole days relaxing and hanging out, just enjoying each others company.
Cooking Thanksgiving dinner was tricky cooking everything here and with only one oven, but we all pitched in and pulled it off nicely! It was delicious if I do say so myself!

The adult table, Thanks to Tierra for decorating it.

Kid table. I covered the table in craft paper and gave them crayons, and Jana brought little boats filled with candy. I also made little turkey finger puppets. It was really cute and fun, but did not look like this for more than 20 seconds after they sat down. They loved it.

This was so funny. Of course by the time I grabbed my camera to take the picture they had moved, but after dinner we were all sitting around looking at the Black Friday adds and I looked over to see all the kids totally exhausted and cuddling on the floor. Kate was the community pillow and she loved it.
That night all of us girls went Black Friday shopping. We hit up Toys R Us first while we waited for the mall to open. We got in the store and started picking a few things up and then realized that the line to check out started at the front door and wound around the entire building...so we dropped everything and left. There was no way we were going to wait in that line for hours and miss the doors opening at the mall. We totally scored at the mall though! Tons of great deals on clothes and shoes for everyone. We shopped until 4 am and then headed home to get a few hours of sleep. It was really fun introducing everyone to the world of black Friday shopping. Can't wait until next year!

Rara's Glasses

2011-12-04T20:08:00.000-08:00

Doesn't get much cuter than this!

Frestival of Trees

2011-12-04T20:02:00.000-08:00

We went to the tree festival with our good friends Steve and McKenna. We always have a blast with the two of them! The festival is small here but there were some cute trees and really good food. It was a pretty sweet little FHE.

Another Pinterest Find

2011-12-04T19:45:00.000-08:00

Yet another awesome activity I found on pinterest that was a huge hit with the kids. Pipe cleaners and a colander. Josh loved making designs, and Benson loved eating the pipe cleaners.
Total hit!

I think this winter is going to be so much better than the past 3. With all the activities I find on Pinterest and the fun toys both kids will get for Christmas, I'm sure we can stay pretty busy.

Stabilizers

2011-11-20T22:25:00.000-08:00

Today we were out in the hall at church and an elderly man using a walker came walking by. I was holding my breath as I watched Josh observing the man very closely just hoping he didn't say something embarrassing to him. After the man was a good 10 feet away Josh looked over at me and exclaimed, "Mom, that boy has stabilizers!"

Haha! This kid eat, sleeps, and breaths all things tractors!

Growing Up

2011-11-20T22:23:00.000-08:00

This morning when josh woke up and climbed in bed with me, he snuggled up and whispered, "mom, I'm gonna grow up soon, and when I grow up I'm gonna dress up like a fireman!"

Maybe it was just the way he said it in his sweet little voice, but I thought it was the cutest thing I've ever heard.

I hope he doesn't grow up soon! I'll miss sweet conversations like this :) However, I am glad he's setting his sites a little higher, because last week he told me that he wanted to be a garbage man when he grew up.

Family Pics 2011

2011-11-17T14:26:00.001-08:00

I'm really excited about our family pictures!
We had a girl from Rexburg named Vivian Mathias take them. I liked what I had seen of hers and she was priced so well that I thought I would give it a shot, figuring we wouldn't be out too much if it didn't work out.
I was pleasantly surprised at how many good shots she got, because let me tell ya, it was NOT easy keeping these boys from crying. Benson never did give her a single smile, and Josh only gave a few. They were both SO cold and miserable!
I loved the location and the fun fall look! We had them taken in The Gardens on BYUI's campus.
Our outfits did coordinate until we got there and it was way colder than we expected so we just had to throw on whatever coats we had with us for the boys, but that's ok, I kinda like it.
Here are just a couple of the cuter ones that she edited. She gave us around 200 unedited pictures, and now that I have photoshop, hopefully I'll be able to edit some of them. It may take a while though, I just got a mac and photoshop last week and it took me a half hour just to figure out how to open a picture up in photoshop! It is most definitely not the easiest program to learn on top of learning how to run a new operating system.

I really like this one, even though Benson was being a grouch :)

Isn't that the prettiest apple orchard you've ever seen!?

Halloween

2011-11-07T20:33:00.000-08:00

We got to celebrate Halloween a few different times this year. Holidays like this get better and better the older Josh gets. This year was the first year he understood what was going on. He totally dug being dressed up, and Loved trick-or-treating. It was really fun watching him! The Fam at the Roberts' halloween party!

Cute little mummy

Getting ready for Trunk-or-Treatflexing!

Flexing again.....He l.o.v.e.d the built-in muscles Trunk-or-Treating (we forgot his bag so he carried our bowl around...haha)

Benson munching on some candy...or just the wrappers, but he was totally ok with that.

The second Josh got in the back of the jeep Benson pounced all over his candy! Josh was not having it!

Josh and his best buddy Jace

Halloween night, all ready to go trick-or-treating!Spiderman and Captin America!

Toes...mmmmm

2011-11-07T20:23:00.000-08:00

Bens LOVES chewing on his toes! It's super funny to watch, but can make diaper changing difficult.

Both feet at once!

Today

2011-11-02T19:32:00.001-07:00

Josh started gymnastics today! He LOVES it. All day he's been telling me that when he gets bigger he's going to be a flipper :)

We had family pictures taken. It was pretty much a nightmare! It was FREEZING! Neither one of the boys would smile because they were too busy shivering or crying because they were cold. Blah! Why do I even try?

Josh just started singing his abc's out of nowhere! Didn't even know he knew them. Little smartypants.

On the way to gymnastics this morning Josh yelled out, "look at all the trees! They're naken!" (because the leaves have fallen off)

Benson is going to take off crawling any day now. He spends at least 70% of the day on his stomach/hands and knees trying to get moving.

It's been one of those days! Other than in the car I haven't sat down since 7 this morning and I am tired!! I need to blog about Halloween but it's going to have to wait another day. It's 8:30 and I am off to bed. Wish my poor husband could come with me...the homework has just started for him tonight :(

Pumkin Patch...Again

2011-11-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

We went to the pumpkin patch again, but this time we went with Jerrica and Jace. The boys were so cute together and so excited to be there. They had so much fun!

Full Of It

2011-10-28T13:52:00.000-07:00

All morning, whenever Josh would leave the room and then come back in he'd say, "I'm back! You didn't let the pigeon drive the bus did you?" lol! He is SO full of it lately.

Pulling My Hair Out!

2011-10-23T22:25:00.001-07:00

This little stinker has been waking up at least 2 times a night for the last week! Not because he's hungry, or cold, or teething, or sick....but because he rolls over on his stomach and gets stuck! He's 7 1/2 months old and cannot roll back over!!! Haha! He's so lazy. When I think about it, or when I'm telling someone else about what's going on, I think it's actually pretty funny, but in the middle of the night when I wake up to a smothered scream for the second time, I kinda want to pull my hair out. Homeboy better learn how to roll himself back over, and soon! Mama needs her sleep...

Sequence

2011-10-23T21:23:00.000-07:00

I love this sequence of pictures.

Josh found a lady bug in the grass and sat down to show Benson (it was super sweet),
so here is Benson's checking it out...

Then he pounces...Look at the determination of his face.

Then he tries to pull Josh's finger closer to him...he probably wants to eat it.

And finally Josh has had enough. You don't mess with Josh and his lady bugs.

A few minutes after I took the above picture the lady bug flew away. Josh was all upset because he still wanted to play with it so we spent a good 5 minutes looking all over the yard for the thing. Then, just when we'd given up and I went over to pick Benson up to go in the house, look what I saw! It had been crawling all over him the whole time.
I love that Josh and Benson are starting to interact more and more all the time. It makes me so excited for the day when they can start running around and really playing together. It's going to be so fun watching them become best buds.

A New Game

2011-10-23T21:07:00.000-07:00

I'm kind of obsessed with Pinterest... I LOVE all the great ideas I find for keeping Josh busy and other fun activities for us to do together, not to mention good recipes, random tips, and so much inspiration.
This little game was something I found on pinterest, and I knew when I saw it that Josh would totally love it. And I was right, this kept him busy for so long! Plus, it's great for his motor skills and only cost a couple dollars.

The Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-23T20:45:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my parents came to visit! It was SO fun having them for a couple of days. I always love having them here! We relaxed around the house, shopped, ate too much, and went to the pumpkin patch.
The weekend went too fast and I already miss them. I wish we could spend more them with them. Soon enough I guess...

Grandpa's Bobcat

2011-10-23T20:34:00.000-07:00

Grandpa stopped by on his way through town this week and he was pulling his Bobcat with him. Josh was beside himself with excitement to see both his grandpa AND the Bobcat! It was seriously funny. He loved looking at it, but didn't know how he felt about sitting in it. I was worried it was going to roll off the trailer.

Bath Time

2011-10-23T20:12:00.000-07:00

This little guy, LOVES his baths!

He's the cutest thing! I just love him, and his huge smile.

Funnies

2011-10-22T22:51:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but this made me laugh SO hard!

Oh, and this one too.

Me too T-Rex, me too...

Funny Josh

2011-10-10T20:41:00.000-07:00

Beau went goose hunting last Saturday morning and when he got home he laid the geese out on the driveway to clean them. Josh can over to inspect what was going on. After he watched for a minute he asked beau if he was changing the birds bums.
Haha! We got a pretty good kick out of it. He sees me get in the same position to change Benson's bum all the time. It makes perfect sense!

Really? In October!

2011-10-10T20:28:00.000-07:00

We had a crazy snow day last week! It snowed ALL day! Pretty crazy (lame) for the first of October, but even I'll admit that it was a pretty fun day. It was so pretty and fun to watch how excited Josh got about it. As soon as he knew what was going on, he could not wait to get outside and play in it. Lets hope his enthusiasm for snow lasts another 7 months.

HAHA!

2011-10-09T21:07:00.000-07:00

This is what I got tonight when I told Josh he couldn't have another cookie...

He was seriously SO mad!
I'm so glad I happened to have my camera right next to me :)

First

2011-10-09T20:41:00.000-07:00

First haircut!

He did really well until the very end, then he started to get a little scared, so I gave him a sucker to distract.

For it being his first taste of sugar, I thought he'd like it more than he did. He only sucked on it for a few seconds and then started to play with it. But....it did the trick, and we finished the little trim with no tears.

.

2011-10-09T20:30:00.000-07:00

Sometimes Josh has a hard time distinguishing between what's to stay inside and what can be played with outside.
Little turkey!

Getting So Big!

2011-10-09T19:57:00.001-07:00

I got the camera out a couple days ago to take a picture of Josh's blue tongue then afterwords I was looking through the pictures and could not believe how old he looked!

Look at this big boy!

And this boy....he keeps getting bigger and bigger as well.

Double Horsey

2011-10-04T20:09:00.000-07:00

Dad's got skills! Two horse rides at once.
I wonder which leg got tired first?

Visitors

2011-10-04T19:37:00.000-07:00

Last week we had visitors!

Jana, Stacia and and the girls came to stay for a couple of days and we had a blast!
Josh was in heaven the whole time they were here having "buddies" to play with 24/7. He did SO well all week minding and sharing his toys. I was really proud of him :)
While they were here we went to the zoo, played at the park, did a little shopping, worked on our quiet books, made a couple kid crafts, but mostly just hung around the house and played together. It really was so relaxing and so much fun.
I love those girls!

For some reason I only got my camera out one time all week and I didn't know it, but it was set on a weird setting, so the pictures I did take are over exposed.....dang it :(

Here are a couple anyway...

When I was looking through these pictures trying to decide which one to post, I was cracking up at the whole sequence of pictures. So funny! It's seriously impossible to get a good picture of these four!

Best Purchase Ever

2011-09-20T19:44:00.000-07:00

It's been more exciting than Christmas morning here today!
I ordered Josh a Cloud-b ladybug a while back and it finally got here. I knew he was going to like it, but I had no idea he'd love it so much! From the second I got it out of the box and showed him what it did, he's been bouncing off the walls with excitement and hasn't put it down. We've spent half the day in the closet or the bathroom because those are the spaces without windows.

This is a conversation we had this afternoon.
Josh: that mailman is SOOOOO nice!
Me: Oh yeah, how come?
Josh: Cuz he gave me this present.
Me: Um.... Yup.....

He thinks that the mailman is pretty much the greatest person in the world.
I've tried to explain to him out how the mail works before, but he's still not really getting it.
Every time I order anything and it shows up on the doorstep (which is a lot lately...I've decided ordering online is WAY easier than going to the store), Josh get's so excited and yells, "the mailman brought me a present!" He's in love...

And I think I'm tired of the mailman getting all the credit :)

I also think the mailman is going to have a hard time topping today's present.

This picture was taken right before bed, after a whole day of playing with it, and his face shows just how excited he still is about it.

Coloring Rocks

2011-09-18T22:13:00.001-07:00

While we were down visiting family last time, I was baby sitting my nieces and they asked if we could color rocks. It's something that I introduced to them a long time ago, and they think it's fun, so it's become something we do a lot when we visit. This last time we were down, I let Josh try it for the first time and he loved it! We hadn't done it since our visit home, but the other day when I asked Josh if he wanted to paint, he said he wanted to paint rocks. It took me a minute to understand what he was saying, because you don't actually paint the rocks, you put the rocks in the oven for about 10 minutes and then color on them with crayons and the crayons melt. Once I figured out what he was talking about we went outside and he picked out a couple rocks to "paint." He had so much fun that now he asks me every day if we can paint rocks :)

Going on a Safari

2011-09-18T22:02:00.000-07:00

We've had lots of sick stay-in-your-pj's-and-don't-leave-the-house days this week, so in order to not get too bored, I had to come up with some new activities. I didn't take pictures of any of the other things we did, but I did take pictures of our safari. We made binoculars and went hunting for wild animals.
Josh was SO cute! He was 100% in character the entire time. I'm pretty sure he thought it was real. The binoculars never left his eyes.

I really love the age Josh is right now. He's so much fun! I love that I can come up with things like this and he actually gets it now. His imagination is huge! It's awesome to see him develop and grow.

State Fair

2011-09-18T21:56:00.000-07:00

It was another fun year at the state fair!

Lots of animals to pet, tractor to climb on, and awesome food to eat.

What's not to love?

Labor Day

2011-09-18T21:47:00.000-07:00

On Labor Day we decided to take Josh to play at Blast Off again. Beau wasn't with us the first time we went, so I wanted to go again on a day when he could come too. Josh has so much fun there and it's really fun to watch him! He was a lot less timid this time, he just took off on his own and had the time of his life.

A Fun Saturday Morning

2011-09-18T21:32:00.000-07:00

Our favorite thing to do on Saturday mornings is to go to the Farmer's Market. I love the Farmer's Market for a couple different reasons, but mostly because of the food (obviously), and the type of people it attracts. I love hanging out with the hippies :)
This year it's especially nice to have the Farmer's Market since we don't have a garden, it's awesome to be able to go buy fresh produce.
We've made it sort of a tradition that after we do our shopping we walk around down town looking through the little antique shops and end up at Great Harvest for some bread and then go across the street to the toy store.

Saturday mornings are the SO nice!

A couple weekends ago we also decided to go to the library while we were down town. That's where these pictures were taken. I'm really excited that Josh loves the library so much. It will be nice to be able to go there a lot this winter.

Benson at 6 months!

2011-09-18T20:42:00.000-07:00

HOLY COW! I cannot believe Benson is already 6 months old! Time's going way too fast.

This little guy is SO much fun!
I get comments almost every time I leave the house about what a happy baby I have because he is always laughing and smiling, no matter what! He just loves life.

At 6 months Benson:

Weighs 19 lbs 8 oz - 85%
Is 27" tall - 68%
His head is 18.5 cm - 99%
Sits pretty well by himself, but I always put the boppy behind him just in case
Sleeps from 8 pm - 6 am, then eats and goes back to sleep until 8 or 8:30
Takes 3 naps, one and 10, 2, and a short one at 5:30
Eats baby food like a champ, but still loves hit oatmeal the best
Still taking AR meds morning and night. I've tried to ween him a couple times, but as soon as he misses one day he starts having trouble eating and spits up tons. On the medication he has no problems.
Wears 12 month clothes.
Is in size 3 diapers.
Rolls over the second I put him on his stomach. I'm pretty sure he's never going to crawl, and I'm totally ok with that. I don't want him to, mostly because church is a nightmare when that starts and it goes down hill from there until 18 months.
Loves his dad! All Beau has to do is walk into the room and Benson starts going nuts, squealing and flailing his arms around for him.
Loves to blow raspberries.
Smiles constantly.
Wakes up SO happy in the mornings. I love going up to get him because he's so happy to see me.
Nurses every 3-3 1/2 hours.
Is content to sit on the floor with the simplest toy for a long time.
Doesn't like the jumperoo for very long. I think it's too much exercise for the chunker.
Absolutely loves to read books!
Doesn't like Bananas.
Lays his head on my shoulder when he's tired! I always wanted Josh to do that, but he never would.
Doesn't take a binki at all. I finally gave up trying to force it on him.
Is very curious about everything I'm doing.
Doesn't fall asleep very often outside is crib. It's always a sad day when that happens.
Thinks Josh is just so funny.

We are so grateful for Benson and can't imagine our lives without him. He is such a good little guy and melts our hearts daily with his sweet smiles and hugs.

Sept. 15

2011-09-15T21:04:00.000-07:00

It's been a rough few days around here! We have all had the stomach flu for going on 4 days now and it just doesn't seem to be getting any better for Beau and I. Josh is finally over it, but just when Beau and I think we are, it hits us again. And on top of that, I came down with a cold 2 days ago. I probably shouldn't even be writing right now, I'm on so much medication I can't even see straight, but if I don't now I'll get too far behind.
Beau's had a good first week of school, other than being sick. He likes his classes a lot and has one particular professor that he really likes, his names Bro. Earl. Of course his favorite class is a business class, Beau loves what he is learning in college and is able to apply it to his businesses.
I've been in survival mode all week. Just trying to get over this darn sickness and take care of kids. I've had 2 nights this week with less than 3 hours of sleep because I was throwing up all night one night and then next I just couldn't breath. It's totally drained me. I haven't done much other than the necessities, and I haven't done a very good job at that. Today I needed to run to Sams to get stocked back up on fruits and veggies and after I put a hat on to cover my greasy hair I went to get Josh in the car and realized he was still in pajamas. It was 5:30. Then we came home and had the saddest dinner ever because it was all I felt like I could hold down, and Beau felt the same way so it was pointless to make anything. I guess as long as he doesn't care, I shouldn't. I do feel like we are starting to get better though. So hopefully in a couple days we'll be back to normal.
Josh has been so good this week, thank heavens! The end of last week when he wasn't feeling very well, he was having a rough time minding. I didn't realize he was sick for a couple days and was worried about him, then when he stopped eating I figured it out. Now that he's feeling better he's back to his sweet little self. Man, he makes me laugh all day long! He's so funny! I'm going to write a whole post on the funny things he's been doing and saying lately.
I think Bens has had a bit of a stomach bug too, just not as bad as the rest of us. He hasn't really been himself the last couple days....but today was better than yesterday.
A friend of mine just had a baby 2 days ago and she was born with a heart problem so she had to be flown to Primary Childrens. I haven't been able to stop thinking about them. Just hearing about it brought back so many memories of the day we got the news and had to go to Primaries. The first 2 days were so hard because of the fear of the unknown. I have so many good memories from those two weeks, and over all when I think back on the experience I just remember feeling so at peace and loved...other than the first 2 days. All I remember about those days is being so scared and worried, and stressed about what to do with Josh, and where we were going to stay, and for how long. And that is what my friend and her husband are going through. I feel so bad, and wish there was something I could do. It's been two days now and the baby had a persidure done today that went really well. From the sounds of it, they'll be going home soon. I'm so happy for them and hope everything goes smoothly.
This weekend should be nice. It's supposed to rain, and I love the rain. I think Fall is coming soon! Fall is my favorite season, I love it, but hate that winter follows. We'll be spending as much time as we can outside the next few weeks. We need to soak in as much sun and warmth as we can!

September 11, 2011

2011-09-11T20:24:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling the need to update...for family history purposes.
I've been thinking a lot this week about how I can make this blog more of a journal and not just pictures of whatever the boys are doing at the moment. Although I LOVE that and don't plan on ever changing it, I just think it needs more. I don't like writing information about myself and my feelings or thoughts; however, I think some day I'll look back and be sad that I didn't document more details about our current situation. Because I'm uncomfortable about putting everything out there for the whole world to read, I've considered going private, but honestly, a huge motivator for me to blog all the time is because it's the only way our extended families get to see our kids as they are growing up, and I know if I go private a lot of those relatives wont be able to see it anymore. I love that my dad bookmarked my blog on my grandpa Hulet's computer so all he has to know how to do is open a browser and click one button. And I love that my grandma and grandpa Anderson can check it too. My grandma tells me all the time how much she loves reading this blog, and sometimes when I really don't feel like posting, I think of her and how she's probably waiting for a new post, and it motivates me to do it. There are others too, that I know would miss it if they didn't know how to sign in to look...
My point is, I'm really going to try to put more details of our life into this blog because I want it to be in our family history forever. Even if that means I sit down and just write about something I've been thinking about that day, or a big change in our lives, or something that I've gained a testimony of, or even something that I'm struggling with right then, because that's what a journal is for. Some day hopefully me or my posterity will be able to look back and maybe learn something or at least get a good laugh.

Starting today!

Sept. 11, 2011
Beau starts school again tomorrow. I have mixed feelings. It's been so nice being able to spend time with him the last month and a half, but the sooner he starts again, the sooner he finishes. The count down is on! As of right now our plans are to move back to S. Utah when he graduates next July, but we will have to wait and see what happens. Recently whenever I think about moving back it makes me so sad to think about leaving here! I never thought I'd say that, but it's true, I think Idaho Falls has grown on me. It feels like home. It's almost all Beau and I have known as a married couple, and it's all our kids know. We love our house, our neighborhood, our ward, and have really made some good friends who will be hard to leave behind. I think for the first couple years we were here, we lived with the mentality that living here was temporary and we were just doing our time, and I think that really kept us from ever settling down and establishing ourselves here. We didn't care to get involved or go out and make friends, because we were leaving soon. However, in the last year that's really changed. I'm not sure why or how, but we are established. This is our home. It breaks my heart to think about leaving...so for right now (and for as long as I can get away with), I'm just not going to think about it :)
Beau's really excited to start school. He's a total nerd and has spent the last couple weeks reading his texts books at night. Seriously, from cover to cover! He makes me laugh. I'm glad he's so excited about what he's learning though.
He's still as busy as ever with work. He gave Netmark his notice last week and has agreed to stay on and train his replacement over the next 60 days. After that, he'll be doing a little internet marketing and running he and his dad's trucking company. So here we go, starting another new adventure. I have a feeling our lives are going to be full of new adventures. But that's ok, change is good.
As for me, I'm just busy being a mom. I feel like I've gotten the hang of having two kids. I had myself pretty psyched out that it was going to be the hardest thing ever, but it hasn't been near as hard as I thought. It took some adjusting, but that didn't take long to get use to and now I feel like having two kids isn't all that different than one. I've started decorating the house a little bit. Last week I made drapes for my room and finished the nursery, and then on Saturday I bought a dresser to refinish and turn into an entertainment center. It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm excited to have a project. My next project is going to be turning the basement into a play place for winter. We're going to move the tramp back inside and probably come up with some sort of indoor sandbox. I've also thought about making a ball pit and setting up a class room down there too. I'm really going to be more proactive this winter to keep us from going too crazy. Other than the occasional project and everyday mom and wife jobs I don't have time for much else. If I do have free time it's at night after the boys are in bed, and I usually like to get on the internet to check blogs and pinterest for more project ideas and new recipes to try. My life is pretty exciting, I know. but I love it! I love being a mom to these two boys. It's the most important and satisfying job there is.

The Beards

2011-09-01T22:13:00.001-07:00

Check out these grizzly men!
Man I wish I could have been there when Kathy saw Gary for the first time today!

Trickster

2011-09-01T21:59:00.000-07:00

Benson is getting super tricky these days!

Here's Josh at the same age.
They are definitely brothers.

The Ice Cream Truck

2011-09-01T21:39:00.000-07:00

Beau heard an ice cream truck outside and decided to take Josh out to get a treat. They chased the truck down and got him a push up.
Boy was he excited!
It was so cute.

Huge!

2011-09-01T21:23:00.000-07:00

We laid the boys down next to each other to compare their size, and just about died laughing! Other than Josh being a foot taller, they are almost exactly the same size.
Benson is huge!

I think that he might be able to beat him up too!
Check it out

Or maybe he'll just eat him.

Another Trip to the Zoo

2011-09-01T21:11:00.000-07:00

Going to the zoo is one of our favorite things to do during the summer. We have a membership and live 2 blocks away so we go quite often and love it. If we move away next summer, it will be one of the things we miss the most.

First Foods

2011-09-01T20:46:00.000-07:00

Benson boo had his first taste of real food! And surprise surprise, he love it, even though it was green beans. He didn't know what to think for the first couple of bites, but quickly warmed up to the idea. Now he's a BIG fan!

I also gave him a biter biscut one night while Beau was out of town so I could get dinner made...he was very serious about the whole thing :)

Ladybugs

2011-08-27T22:00:00.000-07:00

Josh LOVES ladybugs! He's really into pretending right now and if he's not pretending to be some kind of tractor (which is the case 85% of the time), he's either being an alligator or a ladybug.
We like to go ladybug hunting in the backyard and then let them crawl on us because, "it tickles."
After we had played with this little ladybug for quite a while, Josh informed me that it was sad because it missed his family and needed to go be with them in the grass. So that's what he's doing in the last picture, sending it home...

Couch Potatoes

2011-08-27T21:51:00.000-07:00

I put Cars on for Josh to watch while I made lunch on Thursday, and when I looked over a couple minutes later, Benson was just as into the show as he was. They both stayed like this for at least 20 minutes.
My little couch potatoes.

Cheese

2011-08-27T21:42:00.000-07:00

Every time I get the camera out to take a picture of Benson, Josh comes as close as he can to me and starts saying "Cheese!" over and over and over until I take his picture.
So we have a lot of pictures in our files that look exactly like this :)
Such a cutie!

Little Mover

2011-08-27T21:30:00.000-07:00

It's kinda funny how one day they're not mobile and the next they are.
Benson is sitting up, rolling all over, and is trying to get out of everything.
He wont sit back in his bouncer anymore! It cracks me up.

He wigs out when I lay him under this little thing! SO funny! He'll lay there and do 360's trying to get every inch of it in his mouth.

Having Some Fun!

2011-08-27T21:06:00.000-07:00

Things around here are starting to get fun!

Now that Bens can sit up and is starting to show us his little personality, he and Josh are becoming good buddies.

It's SO cute!

I love it!

Here they are playing in the sand box together.

Our Summer Trip Home

2011-08-24T22:10:00.000-07:00

We went home to southern Utah/Nevada the end of July. We were there for 3 weeks and packed as much fun as we could in to it!
We started the trip in Tropic, camping for the 24th with the Ott's. Of course we loved camping and Josh especially loved being outside in the dirt for 3 days straight. The first night we slept in our tent and had the worst night EVER! It got down to freezing temps and I had no idea what to do to keep Benson warm. All 4 of us ended up on one queen air mattress and the whole night I was doing whatever I could to keep Benson warm without smothering him. Needless to say, I didn't sleep a second the entire night. But the second night we slept in a trailer and everyone stayed nice and toasty.
We spent the majority of the trip just relaxing, playing with family, and spent lots of time swimming. Beau and I got to go to Vegas and stay a night for our anniversary. It was SO nice! I of course stressed about leaving the boys overnight, especially Benson because he's still nursing, but they were fine and we thoroughly enjoyed getting away just the two of us for the first time since we had Josh almost 3 years ago. Thanks mom and Tar for watching the munchkins.
I went to see The Little Mermaid at Tuacahn with my Mom, sisters (minus Tara), and Grandparents. I loved it! We sat about 5 rows up from the front and to the furthest left side, right next to the orchestra. I think I watched the orchestra half of the show, not because the show was bad, but the orchestra was amazing! Such talented musicians. They acted like they could all do it in their sleep. It was such a fun night.
The last 2 days of the trip, Beau went to Lake Powell with his family to stay on uncle Kim's houseboat, but the boys and I stayed home. I know, I'm a total party pooper for not going, but after 3 weeks of traveling, I couldn't even handle the thought of packing up one more time, driving more hours in the car, having one more bad nights rest, being in a panic the whole time worrying about Josh getting out of my sight, and then adding 2 more hours to our already 8 hour drive home. (Pessimistic much?) When Beau got home and told me all about it, it did sound like a blast and I'm excited to go next summer.
On our way home we stopped in Provo for Jeff and Lindsay's weddding. It was Beautiful! Probably the best sealing I've ever been to. Elder Bruce R. McConkie's son performed the sealing, and gave great insight into the whole ordinance. Everyone left talking about how much they learned from him. Jeff and Lindsay are such an awesome couple, and Lindsay was a stunning bride for sure!
It really was a fun 3 weeks, being with family always is, but both Beau and I agreed that it was probably a week too long. It's so rough being away from home and having no schedule for that long with 2 kids. Nights were hard and mornings were early with all of us sleeping in one room the entire time. Josh did really well for the first two weeks, but in the last few days, the lack of consistency really started to show in his attitude. He is most definitely a creature of habit, that boy. I wonder where he gets it from....probably from the mother who was having an equally hard time functioning those last few days.

I took tons of pictures, but here are just a few:

Benson Boo

2011-07-17T20:51:00.000-07:00

I was feeling bad the other day when I posted Benson's 4 month update because when I went to add pictures to the post I realized I hadn't taken very many of him lately (like almost none). So this week I tried a little harder to remember.

Here are a few from the week...

Trying so hard to get his toes in his mouth.

Dad helped him out.

Love his open mouth grin!

Such a sweet boy.

We went to the park on Friday and he had the biggest blowout ever! I always carry an extra onsie with me, but when I pulled it out I realized I hadn't replaced it with a bigger size in a while. It was still a 0-3 month! There was no way I was getting that on this chub! So...he hung out naked the rest of the time and love it!
(That reminds me, I need to switch that out)

I'm not sure what this picture is about. I was making dinner and Beau had the boys outside playing, he came in and told me Benson was doing something really cute so I asked him to grab the camera, and this is what I found when I uploaded the pics. I think he was swinging his legs around and chatting, but I'm not sure. Either way, it's just cute :)

Learning To Roll

2011-07-17T20:45:00.000-07:00

Tummy time starts out like this these day...

and ends like this.
He wants to roll over so badly! He's done it on accident a few times, but still gets stuck and frustrated most of the time.
It makes for some cute pictures though...

Raisins

2011-07-17T20:41:00.000-07:00

Check out these raisins!

Benson LOVES his baths! Some times he gets to stay in long enough to get all wrinkly :)

4th of July in Pictures

2011-07-11T14:46:00.000-07:00

Began the day at the parade

Watching the airplanes and helicopters flying over the parade

Benson thought his toes were way more interesting than the parade

Waiting for the fireworks to start (isn't my mom pretty!)

Keeping Josh entertained

Still waiting... But having a good time talking and people watching

Amazing fireworks, yet again. We had the BEST spot this year too! We're getting the hang of this after 4 years.

Josh thought they were a little loud at first

But decided they were pretty "neat" after a few minutes.

4th of July in Idaho Falls really is a treat, and spending it with family makes it that much better!

4-month-old

2011-07-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

Benson is 4 months old!

At 4 months Benson:
*Weighs 16.6 lbs- 76%
*24 inches tall-32%
*Head circumference in the 90%
*Is extremely happy ALL the time.
*Is wearing 9 month clothes.
*Just got moved in to his own bedroom 3 nights ago and is sleeping SO much better!
*Takes 3 naps a day at 9, 1, and 5.
*Still wakes up around 4 am to eat.
*Nurses every 3 hours and just started oatmeal this week, once a day.
*Sits up with a little support.
*Is getting his 2 bottom teeth! TOTALLY opposite of Josh. At this rate, Benson could have all of his teeth before Josh. Josh just cut his 4th k9 2 weeks ago. Haha!
*Takes AR medication twice a day, which is working wonderfully!
*Loves LOVES to be talked to.
*Rolled over from front to back for the first time today!
*Loves his taggie
*Has to be holding on to something all the time (especially likes mom's hair).
*Likes to be read to and especially likes touch-and-feel books.
*Thinks his dad is so funny and will laugh at anything he says. It's the sweetest thing!

Benson really is an amazing, go with the flow baby! He's so happy and loves to be involved in everything we're doing. He'll give a smile to anyone who talks to him. He's patient with me as I'm still learning to juggle two kids. I'm beyond grateful for the chance I have to be his mom. He was sent to our family for a reason, and has taught (and continues to teach) us so much everyday. Every once in a while I'll think, what if he hadn't made it through those first 2 weeks of life!? It makes my heart hurt just thinking about that. It's funny how quickly it felt like he had been a part of our family forever. It's only been four months and I can barely remember life without him.

1st time eating oatmeal

Loved it of course

Snoozing in the stroller

Cheeser

2011-07-03T21:58:00.000-07:00

Bens thinks this is so funny! Every time Beau does it, he just smiles and smiles. It's adorable.

Moobs

2011-07-03T21:53:00.000-07:00

I can't get enough of this chubby little cutie!

He is ALWAYS this happy!

Swimming Party

2011-07-03T21:37:00.000-07:00

Last week we had a few friends come over for a little swimming party. The kids played in the pool, on the slip'n'slide, and jumped on the tramp. I think they all had a blast. It was really cute to watch them having so much fun together.

Josh and his best buddy, Jace

Slip'n'sliden

This was after all the kids had gone and I was changing Josh out of his wet clothes. He escaped, and ended up back in the pool! He still cannot get enough of his little pool.

A Pro

2011-06-28T11:22:00.000-07:00

Josh is officially potty trained!

About 3 weeks ago I woke up and decided that that day was the day. So we put big-boy panties on, and 3 days later he was potty trained! He had 2 accidents over the 3 days, but by the 3rd day he was telling me when he needed to go, and we never had another accident after that. For the first couple of weeks I was putting him in pull-ups for naps and bed time, but he woke up dry every day, so I'm not even doing that anymore. He acts like he's been doing it for years. It was SO easy! And yes, I know that every child is not going to be like him, and that I've officially been spoiled.

Hurray for Joshua!

Snacks

2011-06-17T11:59:00.000-07:00

Today for snack time I asked Josh what he wanted, his response was, "string cheese, orange cheese, and cottage cheese."

So that's what we had (plus an orange)!

The kid likes his cheese!

Cardio Check Up

2011-06-14T22:00:00.000-07:00

Today Benson had his 3 month check up with Dr. Judd, his cardiologist. He did SO well! During the appointment he had an ekg and an echo done, and didn't make a peep during either. Well, I guess he made some noise, but none of it was crying. He found his voice yesterday, and hasn't stopped using it since :) During the ekg, he stared up at the nurse and cooed and cooed the entire time, and if she ever made eye contact with him, he would give her the biggest smile! Such a little flirt already.
The results from both the ekg and the echo came back good. He's doing perfect! He obviously still has the bicuspid valve, and will until it's replaced later in his life, but it is functioning just fine for now. They will watch it to make sure it doesn't begin to leak or develop any other problems for the rest of his life. There was no visible scare tissue where the aortic arch was repaired (it'll probably be years before it's visible) and everything else on the repair looked like it has healed great as well.
I asked Dr. Judd if he could still have some pain under is left arm where the incision was, because if I ever pick him up by grabbing him under his arms he cries like he's in pain. She said the he will still have pain from scare tissue build up in that spot for about 6 months (good to know now). That was something no one had told us, and I really didn't expect it to still be painful, but after she explained it, it makes sense. We'll just be careful for a few more months.
The main thing they look for at this point is that he's growing has he should, and Benson is definitely growing! He's such a little chunk, and happy as can be.
I just realized that I haven't posted an update on him for a while now, and a lot has changed.
We now have his acid reflux totally under control. The new medication he was put on the first of May has been awesome! As long as we give it to him, we can treat him like a normal, healthy baby.
He's been sleeping laying down now for a couple of weeks.
He's on a pretty good schedule. It's not exactly the same every day, but it's really predictable at this point.He goes to bed at 8:30 pm and sleeps until 8 am, waking to eat at 5 and then going right back to sleep. He'll stay awake until 9:30 or 10 and then goes down for his morning nap for about an hr, then he's up from 11 to 1 and takes a good 3 hr afternoon nap. The evenings are when his naps are still a little inconsistent because we're always doing different things and a lot of the time we leave the house, but he'll usually take another hour, hour and a half nap in the evening around 5:30, and then back to bed at 8:30.
He's a seriously easy going baby! He's so good to go with the flow and entertain himself when I'm busy with Josh. I found out this last weekend that he doesn't really love to be away from home for too long however. I'm sure he'll grow out of that though.
He just started to giggle about a week ago. It is SO cute!
I think his hair is going to be brown. Probably the same color as mine. When I was a baby/toddler my hair was brown but looked red in the sun. I've noticed that with his hair.
He loves Josh and thinks he's so funny!
He's a mama's boy and I love it. He'd lay his head on my chest all day long if I'd let him. And I do as much as I can :)

Getting his ekg

Out cold during the echo! What a trooper...

Quote

2011-06-02T21:34:00.000-07:00

From a Distance

2011-06-01T21:32:00.000-07:00

One of Josh's favorite things to do is mow the lawn with Beau. He gets his little mower out and follows Beau around with the most serious expression on his face, like he is doing something very important, and he's loving every second of it. But when it's time for the weed eater to come out, this is what we get...

He prefers to watch from a distance.

Another New Trick

2011-06-01T21:27:00.000-07:00

Tricky Tricky!

Taggie

2011-06-01T21:11:00.000-07:00

I made this taggie for Josh when he was a baby and I don't think he ever even looked at, but Benson, he loves it! It keeps him entertained for at least an hour at a time. It is his goal in life to get one of the tags in his mouth! He loves to hug it and rub it on his face. It's so funny to watch him go crazy over it.

I took all of these pictures in about a minute. That's how much he twists it around.

I LOVE this picture! He finally got a tag in his mouth and was so happy.

Chubby Baby

2011-06-01T20:57:00.000-07:00

I sat Bens in the corner of the couch today and just loved how chubby he looked! I love it!

Feeding Bucking Bronco

2011-06-01T20:47:00.000-07:00

A couple of mornings ago, I was in getting ready for the day when Josh came in to inform me that Bucking Bronco was "so, SO hungry!" I asked him what Bucking Bronco wanted to eat and he said carrots. So we fed him some carrots...and they were both happy campers :)

Then Josh sat on him and ate a bowl of peanut butter.

After I snapped this picture I sat on the bike to eat a banana and we were just chatting when Josh looked at me and said, "This is so fun mom!"

Such a sweet boy.

Funny Kid

2011-05-24T18:42:00.000-07:00

For whatever reason, Josh didn't want to eat his strawberries at lunch today. I told him he had to stay at the table until they were gone.

So he grabbed a book and made the most of it.
This kid cracks me up all day long!

Stinker

2011-05-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

This little stinker is impossible to keep awake when he wants to sleep! This is him after I tickled his feet, put him on the floor with no blanket or anything, changed his bum, and wiped his face with a wipe. Totally out! STINKER!

2011-05-24T16:51:00.000-07:00

In the last 3 weeks, I have only changed 1 poopy diaper for Josh! He all of the sudden loves to go poop on the toilet. I never have to ask him or remind him, I actually could care less if he does it in the toilet or not, but he wants to. He does it on his own. I know this means he's ready to potty train, but I'm not quite ready yet. I think I'm going to shoot for the middle of June. Maybe by then I'll be getting some sleep at night and will be up for the challenge. I'm glad I waited a little while longer to potty train him (I attempted last January), because I think it's going to be really easy now that he is ready.

Sitting in the Bumbo

2011-05-24T16:37:00.000-07:00

I put Bens in the Bumbo for the first time yesterday. I was surprised at how well he does sitting in it already. After a few minutes he got tired and his head started bobbing around so I put a towel behind his neck for some support and he was good to go! He loves it, but has to concentrate super hard, so there are no smiley pictures yet :)

PirateTreasure

2011-05-23T20:24:00.000-07:00

Josh has a new book called How I Became A Pirate, and in it they talk about pirate treasure. So a couple days ago we made our own pirate treasure to bury in his sand box. He thought it was pretty neat!

Out Cold

2011-05-23T20:18:00.000-07:00

Josh isn't allowed to get in the baby swing, so this afternoon when I was in the shower, he took advantage of what he thought I couldn't see. He might have gotten away with it if he hadn't fallen asleep before I got out.

Yikes!

2011-05-17T12:55:00.000-07:00

We got the bill for Benson's Life Flight yesterday.

Guess how much it was?

$40,000!

Yeah, we were pretty shocked as well.

It's been really interesting to watch the bills roll in. We've only received a couple so far and we're well over $100,000. We haven't even gotten the bill from the actual surgery yet.
We expected the hospital bills to be outrageous, but we had talked about how we figured the Life Flight bill was probably going to be around $15-20,000. We were WAY off!

Poor Sick Josh

2011-05-17T12:43:00.000-07:00

You know Josh doesn't feel well when this happens. In fact, I don't think he's fallen asleep on my lap since he was 8 months old.

You better believe I lived it up! I rocked him as long as I could and loved every second.

Or Not

2011-05-17T12:39:00.000-07:00

A little freezing cold weather isn't going to stop him from playing in his new sandbox!

(Lets just pretend that his coat isn't 3 sizes too small)

Benson at 2 Months

2011-05-15T22:27:00.000-07:00

Benson turned 2 months on the 7th!

I took him to his checkup a few days ago and he is doing great! He's 12.6 lbs! He is chuncking up nicely :) The Dr. is really happy with how well he's growing and said that his heart sounds amazingly strong. He wasn't even able to hear a murmur this time, which is incredible. We have another appointment with the pediatric cardiologist mid June where she will do an echo and an ekg so we'll really be able to see how he's healing then.
For the most part Bens is a good little baby. With his condition comes challenges, but nothing we can't handle. The hardest part has been dealing the acid reflux. 95% of heart babies end up with AR, and Benson didn't luck out on that. He has some really bad days, but he also has good days. After his 2 month checkup, his Dr. put him on a different medication and although it's only been a couple of days, I think it's going to make a huge difference! We're really excited about that. It's nice too, because the first medication was $85 for 15 pills and the new one is $14 for 90 dosages. Way better! It's different having a baby with AR because so many things that you naturally do with babies, can't be done with them. For example, Benson can't lay down flat (kinda a big deal), especially after he eats. So the natural pattern that most moms fall into is to feed the baby and then change the babies diaper. With Benson I can't do that. If I lay him down to change him right after a feeding he screams and screams and then he throws up. So I have had to change my routine to where I change his bum and then feed him. And if he poops while he's eating, which he does a lot of the time, he has to sit in it for a half hour before I can lay him down without it being too painful for him. Also for sleeping, he can't lay flat so he sleeps in his bouncy chair. None of that is a big deal though, just things we've had to learn and as long as we keep him upright, he's a happy kid.
I think the biggest challenge with Benson's AR is that it hasn't allowed us to get on any sort of schedule. There are times when it's too painful for him to eat a full feeding, so he'll eat as much as he can and then be hungry again 2 hours later. Then there are times when he's fine and he'll eat great and go the full 3 hours. I'm usually ok to go with the flow, but that's because I don't usually have anything else to do. Although on days when we have appointments or I need to run to the store or something, it's hard because I never know when he's going to have a good feeding or a bad one and I can't leave the house if he wasn't able to eat well. I try not to worry too much about the future and just think, we have to take it day-by-day, but I'm the type of person to is always thinking about creating good sleep habits and other good behaviors while babies are young. So not being able to put him on a schedule is pretty hard on me. I'm really trying to not let it get to me, and just come to terms with the fact that I'm probably not going to be sleeping through the night anytime soon, and he might be a little more difficult down the road in certain areas, but we'll deal with that when it comes time. Right now, there isn't anything I can do, but try to keep him comfortable.
I hope I don't sound like we are all totally miserable, because we aren't. We have tons of really good days with no crying at all and really good eating, but we do have rough days and nights occasionally. He is generally such a happy baby, and we are really enjoying him.

At 2 months Benson:
*Weighs 12.6 lbs-64%
*Is 22 inches-15%
*Goes to bed at 9 and wakes up at 8, eating 3 times in between (see why the no schedule thing is killing me! I want to do Baby Wise SO bad).
*Is wearing 0-3 month clothes
*Loves to talk and smile, and especially loves to be talked to. No matter what, if someone talks to him, he smiles.
*Likes to sleep bundled tightly
*Doesn't take a binki. We are officially a binki free home. He kind of took one for a while, but wont anymore. I think if he'd take a binki, he'd sleep through the night....BUT...he wont :( trust me, I've done plenty of forcing to no avail.
*Really loves his bath time.
*Doesn't hate tummy time :)
*Just figured out how to get his hands in his mouth and sucks on them any chance he gets.
*Sleeps better the noisier it is.
*Prefers to nurse over taking a bottle. We have to give him one bottle a day with probiotics in it, and he eats it well, but would still rather nurse.
*Is getting seriously chunky! I love it! I hope he keeps it up.

We love this little munchkin to death and are so grateful everyday that he is a healthy, happy part of our family.

A Sandbox

2011-05-15T22:05:00.000-07:00

Beau built Josh a sandbox yesterday, and he is absolutely in heaven! His favorite thing to do in the whole world is to dig in the dirt. He is so cute, after Beau dumped the first load of dirt in the box, Josh yelled, "YAY!" and jumped in! He wasn't going to wait one more second before he started playing. It's going to be awesome too, because we used sand from the dunes, so he wont be dirty or muddy ever...it's like beach sand. That's what I'm the most excited about, well that and that it makes Josh so happy. I'm considering making an umbrella cover for it. I THINK it would be pretty easy, but we will have to see, I'm not the best seamstress in the world...I'll probably just end up staking our beach umbrella in the dirt to shade him. Yep, that sounds like a good idea.
After watching the weather tonight I think we probably should have waited another week to build it though, it's supposed to be cold and rainy all week this coming week, so it's just going to sit out there and torture poor Josh. Lets hope the weather man is wrong this time (he usually is).

More & More Smiles

2011-05-15T22:00:00.000-07:00

Benson is full of smiles lately! He gets especially excited when his dad talks to him. It's so cute to watch his little personality come out. Just in the last day or two he has become quite the little jabber box. I think baby coo's are my favorite sound in the world!

A New Bike

2011-05-15T21:57:00.000-07:00

Beau got another bike recently and Josh has loved to go on rides with his dad. It'll probably only be another year or so before he has a bike of his own, then they'll really be able to go on rides together.

How To:

2011-05-15T21:54:00.000-07:00

Entertain a 2-year-old for hours!

Give him an electric pencil sharpener and a pencil.

He's Awesome

2011-05-15T21:15:00.000-07:00

Look what Josh did with his string cheese!

He cracks me up!

Just some random thoughts...

2011-05-09T17:31:00.000-07:00

Josh has been out in the garage playing in the Jeep for almost an hour! I remember when I was a kid and Loved to play in my dad's old blue Toyota truck for hours.

Benson always sleeps with at least one eye half open, sometimes both. Kinda creepy.

It's May and it's still in the 30's. It's official, I hate Idaho! Ok, maybe that was official a couple years ago, but today it was reaffirmed.

Also official, I'm ready to start working on losing this baby weight. I haven't cared until the last couple days, but now I want it gone. I want to be able to wear all my clothes again. Losing the weight should be doable now that I've eaten every single treat in the house....all in the last 2 weeks.

Josh just came in the house whining and saying, I wanna go bye-bye! I asked where he wanted to go and he said he wants to leave Idaho. Haha! I guess I'm not the only one going a little stir-crazy.

Lastnight after dinner, I was clearing the table while Josh was finishing up. When I walked by him to grab a plate he looked up and in the sweetest voice said, "thanks for dinner mom." He can be the sweetest thing! He's always very genuine with his please and thank you's. I love him like crazy.

Sleepyhead

2011-05-03T13:08:00.000-07:00

Josh was so tired yesterday, he couldn't even make it through lunch.

Blast-Offs

2011-05-03T12:39:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I took Josh to play at Blast-Offs with my friend Jerrica and her little boy Jace. Josh and Jace are best buddies...and Jerrica and I are glad they have each other. Both boys were having a hard time with nursery, until they met. They are super cute together. I love watching Josh play with another boy his age. He's always been surrounded by girls.
Blast-Offs is so fun! It's a huge building full of ball pits and foam obstacle courses. Josh loved it! I can't believe we've lived here 3 years and haven't heard of it until now. I can't wait to go back with Beau.

Josh would stand on the edge of the ball pit and pump as high as he could into the balls.

He's so cool!

Cousins

2011-05-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post some pictures of cousins from our trip home last month. We miss them and love them tons!

Easter

2011-05-02T13:40:00.000-07:00

For Easter this year, we were able to go on the annual camp out with my family and the Toblers out on Utah hill. Josh had a blast, to say the least. Playing in the dirt, being around cousins, riding 4-wheelers and eating way too much candy is this little man's idea of a good time.

This little goat is only a couple weeks old. It was so cute! Josh thought it was awesome that it would suck on his fingers.
The egg hunt! It's getting bigger and bigger every year. I think we hid around 300 eggs this year.

Love Anni.

Bens taking a nap with Gpa
Easter morning at Gpa and Gma Anderson's.
Josh fell asleep the night before, before he had a chance to color his eggs. So the Easter bunny hid plain white eggs this year :)

A Buddy Hut

2011-05-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

Josh is obsessed with building huts! He calls them buddy huts...he builds them for him and his buddy, Dad.

Sometimes he gets creative.

Cute!

2011-05-02T13:25:00.000-07:00

Someone has a new trick!

These are all really bad pictures...but this little man's smile can light up a room! It's SOOOO nice to see him smile. After everything he's been through and as fussy as he has been, seeing him smile really makes me feel good, and like all the work is worth it. Man, I love him!