Play Time

I decided to take a few pictures of Benjamin this morning. Enjoy

Bells, Toffee, Snowstorms, and Mohawks . . .It Must Be Christmas

It's been (and will continue to be) a busy time at our house. I love all the parties and festivities around Christmas. Friday night we had the ward Christmas party which was a lot of fun. Saturday morning, our stake took over all the Salvation Army bell ringing in town and I helped at a place in the mall with some other sisters from the ward. It was fun to see all the Christmas shoppers and the kids coming in to see Santa.

Later on, Benjamin and I made toffee, caramels and three different kinds of cookies while Cameron worked on his last project of the semester and studied for finals. We listened to a lot of Christmas music while we worked and had a great time.

Sunday morning we had the Christmas program in church and were going to have a Stake Christmas concert with full-orchestra and everything, that evening. I say "were" because a giant storm blew in between the time we got home from church and when the program was supposed to start. The wind was blowing snow drifts everywhere. Nothing too bad if you are used to a good Utah snowstorm, but for people in southern Indiana, it was pretty nasty. So instead, Cameron and I finished making cookies and wrapping caramels and took plates of goodies to some of our friends in the ward. We should give more away because there are way too many goodies lying around our house right now.

Finally, here is a picture of Benjamin's latest hair-do. His hair is getting really long but only on the top.

Only one more week until we head back to Utah! We are so excited to see family and friends.

New Tricks

Here is Benjamin's latest trick.

He first did it last night and has been showing it off ever since. Hopefully, he'll clue in that there are times when this trick doesn't work so well, i.e. when his diaper is being changed, right after he's eaten and has a full belly. For now, he's just excited to have a little mobility.

He's also getting closer to being able to feed himself (Hooray!!).

Snow!

Last night that dusting of snow we had turned into 2 inches of snow and kept on coming all day long. It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas, even in Indiana.

Here are some pictures from our adventures of the first big snow.

(Cameron kind of looks scary in this one.)

P.S. See facebook for more pictures

Snow-ish

It finally snowed in Indiana! Well, just enough to dust the grass and cars, but still, it's something. It has been quite cold though. For the past few weeks I've just put layers of clothing on Benjamin when we went out, but then I found the perfect snow suit. Nice and warm, but it doesn't look like the little boy in "A Christmas Story" who can't put his arms down. Winter, here we come!!

Looking rather cold, despite the many layers of clothing.

All set to go in his new snow suit!

(Beware, this bear will eat you! or at least slobber all over you)

Hey Mom . . .

Look what I can do!

BOTH hands!!

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

He may quiet down and cuddle up with me, but when he wants to laugh and have fun, there is only one person in Benjamin's world that does the trick, and that is his dad.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I decided yesterday that I love Thanksgiving. I love the good food and being with family and friends and having a day to think about all that I am thankful for. This year was a little different since we didn't have other family around. Our day began when tornado sirens went off at 5 am, waking all of us up. As Cameron gave Benjamin a bottle and put him back to bed, I lie in bed thinking how grateful I was for the roof over my head that was keeping out the pounding rain and wind and for the warm bed I was curled up in.

That afternoon we went over to Cameron's officemate, Dennis' house for Thanksgiving dinner. His other office mate, Kaitlin, also came. Kaitlin is really nice but has the personality of a stereotypical physics grad student. Not a problem since there were three of us to fill in conversational gaps. Luckily for me they left all astronomy talk at the office. There was great food, and a lot of it. We were in charge of pies.

I love taking this. . .

. . . and turning it into this.

After dinner we played some games. Benjamin did pretty well but wasn't able to get a good nap in which made him a little cranky. We went straight from there overto some ward member's home where we ate more desserts and played games. They have a little girl that is a month older than Benjamin. We laid them down on the same blanket and they just stared at each other and then held hands and started crying together. It was kind of hilarious and I wish I would have had my camera. It was a lot of fun to talk to our new friends and I am now a part of a book club and a ward playgroup. We got home late and Benjamin was cranky but it was a wonderful day.

Now, there are few things that could entice me to get up early and join in the Black Friday craziness. However, one store made an offer I couldn't pass up. Yes, it was insane. Yes, it was crowded beyond belief. But when these are all going for a dollar each, the crowds don't matter. Let the holiday feasting begin!

Silly Days

It was a rainy, rainy day yesterday but someone sure found something to smile about. Benjamin hid in a blanket, pulled silly faces, watched "The Rescuers Down Under" with mom and dad, and laughed and laughed and laughed all day long.

(this was a very intense part of the movie)

Takin' It Easy

Here are some random pictures I took this last week.

Some days I feel like my whole life revolves around the items in this picture. Just missing the bottle and the burp cloth. Oh, and the baby.

It was a beautiful week with temperatures in the mid 70s, so Benjamin and I went for a few walks. This is when we decided to leave the pavement and go on a little trail near the house. Good thing the stroller has great off-roading capabilities.

Benjamin has learned that his fingers are great to chew on. He always puts all three in his mouth and it makes me laugh.

Here's our little roly-poly all ready for church and happy as well. Everyone at church commented on what a good, easy-going baby he is.

And finally, here he is just playing. He just learned how much fun it is to pull both feet way up and even to grab them with his hands.

This and That

Here are a few odds and ends that we've been doing lately.

I took our camouflage car seat cover and made it reversible by adding these cute red straps to the brown side.

I'm working on the embroidery on a quilt that I started a year ago. This is what part of it is supposed to look like when I finish.

I created a Mii profile for Benjamin on Wii Fit and wouldn't you know it, they have a baby mode. It only weighs him and gives "fitness" tips like "In a while you will learn to use the potty. Please remember that the Wii Balance Board is not your potty." or "Everything on the floor is not meant to go into your mouth." It's nice because it can keep track of his weight and growth for up to 5 years. Right now it says he weighs 15 lbs even.

Benjamin has learned how to reach for and hold things . . .

. . . and how to put them in his mouth. Luckily he's still immobile so I don't have to worry too much.
And this picture, just because it makes me laugh.

The Things I Love

- When Benjamin first wakes up from a nap and looks at me warily and then breaks into a big smile

- Grandma Hatch's chicken pot pie recipe.

- Unexpected "I love you" texts from my wonderful husband

- Warm, fuzzy blankets and a good book

- Little hands that won't let go of mine

- Laughing

- Christmas everything

- Working hard to clean the house

- Sitting down after the house is all cleaned and the laundry is done

- Looking at pictures

- Talking with family and friends

- Watching Benjamin's 15 minutes of stretching that always follow a very good nap

Blessings

We were able to visit Utah this weekend and had a wonderful time.

We were blessed that we had an extra seat next to us on the flight out so Benjamin just slept in his car seat the whole time (until I woke him up with the flash).

We were blessed to be able to go to the Salt Lake temple with all of Cameron's family - so special.

We were blessed to have lunch with my Grandma and Grandpa Hatch - and especially blessed that Grandpa is doing so much better after his surgery.

We were blessed to have wonderful mothers that looked after us and had everything ready from diapers and wipes to cribs and socks.

We were blessed to be able to spend time visiting with family.

Benjamin was blessed on Sunday by his dad. His great-grandma Briscoe made his cute blessing outfit and great-grandma Neenee made a blanket for him.

We were blessed to have such a wonderful time with family and friends.

We were doubly blessed to have an extra seat next to us on the way home, allowing Benjamin to stretch and play the whole flight. All the people around us commented on how good he was the whole flight. (sorry the video is upside down)

Thank you all for blessing our lives so much.

Happy Halloween!

We had our ward Halloween party the other night. It was a lot of fun. Dinner, games, costume contests and trunk-or-treating. Cameron and I didn't come up with a costume in time (that and Cameron refuses to dress-up) but Benjamin made a cute little ghost.

Our First Tornado Warning

It was a dark and dreary morning here in Bloomington. I was making our bed and Cameron was just getting ready to go catch the bus when a VERY loud siren started going off. Then suddenly the winds picked up and the rain started pouring down in buckets. Cameron got a text that all students at the university were advised to go to the lowest level of their buildings. We watched and waited and wondered if we should go somewhere or be doing something. After 15 minutes the storm passed without incident.

It did get me thinking about putting together some emergency supplies - might be a good idea. This was Benjamin's reaction to the storm and the sirens.

Family Art Project

We decided it would be fun to do a family art project the other night. Benjamin loved it at first but doesn't have much of an attention span yet and didn't find it entertaining for long.

At his two-month checkup he weighed 13lbs 14 oz and was just short of 25 inches. The doctor said that developmentally he's around four months which as she said, "Is good because your such a big boy, otherwise people would think you were just slow." The next steps on the little development chart: roll over, sit up, feed self. Yikes!

Horrified

So, last night we hit Benjamin's fussy time - around 8 pm, and I could tell he was going to want to be held. I figured we'd do what I usually do (as long as Cameron isn't home) - dance around and sing songs. Well, I put on Mary Poppins thinking I could just sing along when I realized that I had to go to the bathroom. I will spare you the details and just say that I could tell it wasn't going to be the fastest trip. I could set Benjamin on the ground on his blanket. . . or maybe I could grab his chair and set it by the tv and he could listen to the music. I grabbed the chair and put him in it and as I took care of business I heard not one peep from him.

I went back into the living room to see . . . my two-month old son hooked to the tv. He was starring at it like Cameron stares at WWII aircraft. I grabbed his bottle and as I tried to feed him he kept trying to look at the tv until I turned it off.

Am I a terrible mother!? He's two-months old and can't even be a couch potato yet because he can't sit-up and already he is a tv junkie. And I thought this parenting thing would be easy. Hahaha

What I've Been Up To

I decided it was time to start doing something with all those pictures from the hospital. So, here is what I've done so far.



It's been a lot of fun. Here are some new pictures of Benjamin as well. He's really started to talk (well, as much as a baby can).



Cameron's hand sure tasted good as we had family home evening.

My Little Photo Shoot

I had no plans for the day. No errands to run. Really nothing. So, I decided it was time for me to get some great pictures of Benjamin in all his chubbiness. These are some of the favorites.