Cruising?

Ben has been getting faster at moving, though it may be a bit different than other babies, it gets the job done. Here's a little bit of how Ben gets around.

Party Time

Ben's party was Saturday and it was a lot of fun for us. It went about how you would expect a 1st birthday might go: friends and family came, there was frosting everywhere, and the birthday boy was spoiled with presents. Thanks to everyone who came and made the day memorable.

I did the obnoxious mom thing and made Ben where a hat that said "I'm one!" but only for a bit. I saw it in the party store and Carl consented. I thought it was pretty much adorable.

A nice birthday hug from his buddy Ethan. These two love playing together.

I made a chocolate mouse crunch cake for the adults and cupcakes for the kiddos. Ben had one giant cupcake, though I'm pretty sure all he ate was frosting. We stopped him early to prevent a sugar high or a stomach ache.

Ben and Mommy just before bedtime. What a long day. He's waving bye to the camera.

Sugar, sugar, sugar

And of course, what would a birthday blog be without a little cake action? I realize this video is long, but I don't have a program to edit it. So there. Just stop the video when you've seen enough, though the clapping and jabbering is cute in my opinion. Oh and you may want to turn your volume down. The party guests are wild.

Family Facts

Life continues to fly by for us, as I know it does for everyone. Ben has discovered just how much fun it is to move around and get into things, which keeps me on my toes, whereas before he was content to play in one spot. A few weeks ago, Carl decided to spoil us and bought gym memberships. We thought for sure we would only need to pay half price because you can actually see the gym from our front porch. Unfortunately, no such discount exists. It's been so nice to be able walk down the street and work out, sometimes together. Thanks to our families for always making themselves available to watch Ben for us. The first months results are in: we've each lost about 3 lbs and have toned up a bit. I've lost 1/2 inch off my arms, thighs and calves, and Carl's lost 1 1/2 inches off his waist. We've been working with a trainer that puts together lots of exercise routines for us, and we're loving it. Here's to health.

Carl is involved in several research groups at BYU and is always working on extra papers and projects. A few weeks ago, he found out he's being published again. This will make number 3, but this is the first time he is the lead on the paper. I'm so proud of how hard he works for our family. I don't know how he does it. An exciting extra, is that he gets to present his paper at a big linguistic conference this May. The conference is being held in a little place called Malta, a beautiful country near Italy. He gets to fly out, attend the conference, and tell everyone how smart he is for doing something really smart. He'll be gone a week, and I'll miss him terribly, but I'm oh so excited for him.

Other than playing with Ben, a lot of my time is spent finding new recipes and creating things in the kitchen, and it's been so much fun. Carl and I have some new favorite recipes and some not so favorite recipes including these awful lettuce wraps, and some not-so-delicious black bean soup. Thankfully, Carl said he still loves me. I just get so excited about some of the stuff you can do with food. And my Vita-Mix. If there were one kitchen thing I could not live without, it would for sure be my beloved Vita-Mix. It was a group gift at my bridal shower, and it has brought us much happiness. I use it literally every day. I've used it to make soup, salad dressing, milkshakes and smoothies... so very many smoothies. I even use it to grind my wheat to make bread, rolls and crackers. As you might have guessed, I am in love with it.

Sunday marks Ben's first birthday and so far, we've all survived. I'm a little nervous to wean him and honestly a little sad. I have exclusively nursed him and now I have to worry about him getting his nourishment by other means. We've already given him cows milk and he seems pretty happy with it. My baby is growing up. Some of Ben's favorites as of late are: light switches, his ball popper, pulling off his socks, pounding on the keyboard of the computer and piano, and dancing to absolutely anything with a beat: music, our footsteps as we walk to church, my Kitchen Aid mixer, or mommy doing her jumping jacks. But his most favorite is Daddy. As soon as he hears the garage door open and he knows it's that time of day, he stops whatever he's doing and waits anxiously, looking longingly out the door of whatever room we're in until he sees him. And in that moment, he can hold his excitement no longer. He immediately bursts out shrieking, and giggling, as he kicks and bounces until Daddy picks him up. It melts my heart every time. I love my two boys.

Avo-ghetti

A few weeks ago my sister was visiting and wanted to see Ben eat avocado because she had heard it was amusing. Unfortunately, Ben didn't perform to his full potential, so hopefully this will make up for it.

Alternatives

Recently, Ben discovered that if he were very brave, he could go from sitting to crawling and get to something that was out of his reach. He has even more recently discovered just how unnecessary that is.

Bliggity Bloggity Blah

You know how at the top of the page of the HYMNs, it gives you a suggested emotion and tempo with which to sing the song? Well since you can't hear my emotion as I think the following post, and I don't care to be misinterpreted, I suggest that you read this blog with the sarcasm and wit with which it was intended. 140 wpm.

I'm starting to realize just how huge all this blog stuff is, and how I can't quite measure up. Remember the good old days when the big thing that made moms so cute and creative was scrapbooking? Back when you could kind of fake it, cuz it's not like anyone could actually access your scrapbook through the magic of the world wide web? Well, that's all gone. Now you're a quick click away from seeing just how on-top-of-it all the other cyber moms are, and whether or not they truly have the cutest blog on the block. I really don't know how you all keep up with it. Between scrubbing poop out of half of Ben's clothes, trying not to burn dinner, figuring out the perfect schedule for nap time, and looking up where I can find the cheapest cereal and bananas, I'm supposed to find time to tell everyone what I did that day?... oh, and here's a few dozen pictures of my family? Well, the answer is: OF COURSE. And so, I must, at least if I expect to keep any of the friendships I've made throughout the years. And because I seem to offend my friends if I ask them, "What've you been up to?" and i get a response close to, "Haven't you read it in my blog?" oops. Wouldn't want to loose the closeness and personalness (I am aware that isn't a word, but my linguistic husband isn't home to give me help) of our relationship. Yes Blogging. It's what all supermoms do. Maybe it's the pressure, maybe it's a good outlet, or maybe it's this hidden and burning desire to be discovered like that Julie What'sherface, and have our life made into a movie and become loved and adored by all the world. (And rich. Let's not forget rich.) And so, I join the elite group, trying so desperately to tread water. Here we go.

Ben's Latest Feat

Many of you may know that Ben's dad may not have walked until he was 18 months, and since he seemed to have turned out alright, we're not too worried about the fact that Bens motor skills are a bit (or more) behind many other babies, like several cousins and second cousins who've mastered these skills months ago, regardless of the fact that many of them are actually younger. However, being first time parents, we have the right and duty to celebrate every little accomplishment. As you can see he is reluctent at best to find the courage to take the plunge. Go Ben go.