Thursday, October 18, 2007

doodling






I've been scrapbooking lately, and I'm taking this doodling class that's awesome! I've never been very confident with my artistic abilities, but this class has totally made me feel pretty good about what I can do. Anyway, the class is a blast, and I wanted to post my latest layouts.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

zerberts

I love zerberts (for those of you who don't know what they are, I believe you call them raspberries - you blow on someone's skin, that makes a farting sound)! Benjamin loves them too! He has been giving me zerberts daily for a long long time. He wakes up Nick (remember he works graveyards so he sleeps during the day) everyday with a zerbert on any part of skin he can find. He's even given him one on his forehead. Too funny! Well, recently he walks up to me and pulls my shirt up to reveal my big preggo belly and gives me tons of zerberts. Well I'm not sure how Jenee is taking it. She goes balistic after he gives me one. She pushes back at where he gave me one or she starts kicking all over. It's hilarious! I don't know if she likes it and gets excited, or she wants some peace and gets angry. He hasn't noticed yet though (thank goodness - I think it might traumatize him), he usually pulls my shirt back down in between each zerbert. He likes modest girls best!

Anyway, thought I'd share the funnyness of Benji. Someday I'll make a list of all the hilarious things he does on a daily basis. If we took video of him doing all the things he does and then sent it in to america's funniest videos we'd totally take the huge grand prize - and I'm being modest. I'll try to share them with you in the future.

dessert.. yumm

You Are Cheesecake

Rich, sweet, and simply perfect.
You're not boring - you're just the best!

Monday, October 8, 2007

pictures at last!






These are from our trip to Houston - we had been playing at a water park, and then decided to dry off on the playground. Isn't he adorable!!

Sunday, September 30, 2007

been to tejas

Well, Benji and I just got back from a trip to Houston, where we saw almost everyone on my side of the family! What a blast it was! We got back and are finally caught up on all our missed sleep. I don't have any pictures from the trip: so many people were taking pictures I never pulled my camera out. Shameful! Hopefully pictures will start rolling in and then I can get them up. Who wants to look at a blog without pictures? I surely don't. Sometime soon I'll drown this blog in so many posts and pictures it'll take weeks to look at all of it. Promises promises. Well, we'll see how many posts and pictures I'll get up. I just thought I'd let everyone know we are alive and happy. Jenee' is growing in my belly quite nicely. She is a whippersnapper! Constantly moving, unless someone else wants to feel her move and then she pretends to be sleeping. Attitude at such a young age! What *am* I going to do? Pray, a lot.

See ya!

Saturday, September 1, 2007

busy busy busy

I have completely slacked off in the blog department. I'm sure many have given up on me; I apologize. I've been super busy getting the house in order: organizing, decluttering, revamping, etc. I get those "nesting" urges throughout my whole pregnancy, not just at the end and I figure I'd better do something now while I still can move around pretty easily. I make myself extremely exhausted though. I worked worked worked and then this past week I've been busy rotting my brain by not doing a thing! It's been nice, but still I feel restless. Benjamin has been having a good time through it all. I'm trying to think of something new and exciting he's done, but I just can't make my brain function at this point. His favorite thing to do is go up and down stairs, go out on the balcony opening and closing the screen door, and showing off how cool he is by coming back inside! Impressive, I know! Ha ha. He is so cute. He does it alllll day! He *loves* doors and loves being outside. He watches the cars go by and hollers at them. He presses his face against the sliding doors at me making faces and laughing. It is too funny.

I know the blog has been lacking in regards of pictures. Lame, I know. The computer with the pictures isn't hooked up to the internet: our wireless card broke. Soo, I've got to copy them on to a device and then put them on this computer, and it just doesn't sound like fun when I'm exhausted after chasing Benji around and cleaning the house and all the other general nonsense. Well, before september is up, there'll be pictures on the blog.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Let the voting being!

Well, since we're having a sweet baby girl (of course she'll be sweet) we're wanting to know your opinion. We have decided to name her Jenee' Nicole, but some of you have been overly excited (in a bad way) about how we're spelling her name. We chose this way because #1 Nick's old childhood friend spelled it that way, and she was a very dear friend to him; #2 my middle name is Renee' - so it's kinda like naming her after me without being lame and naming her after me directly (also her middle name, Nicole, is a kind of way of naming her after Nick - again without naming her after him). #3 we've always thought we'd spell it that way, so it's rather difficult to change that mind setting. Some of you have said, oh but no one will know how to say her name, they'll say Jenny instead. Well, it does have an ' at the end, and it would probably only take one time to correct people for them to get it.

We've made a poll for you to vote on, you'd better only vote once (mom!) or you'll ruin it completely. Feel free to leave your thoughts on your vote as well. I'd actually like to hear them. We are in no way guaranteeing that we will choose the final result, but after much contemplating and debating, we will decide. That is why your comments would be particularly helpful.

http://click.babycenter.com/b/?le=7Zgj&cn=emailafriend&en=20070806&pe=0&t=0

Thanks for your help!

Thursday, July 26, 2007

boy or girl??

We are having a healthy baby! It is due now around December 21st, instead of the 9th. We'll see though. Hopefully it'll be born sooner rather than later. We got some cute little pictures too. Okay, okay I'll tell you. It's a girl! We're having Jenee' Nicole!

I haven't posted this because I'm having trouble with the computer that has the scanner attached. The internet to that computer is wireless and is hard to get it to connect all the time, anyway - it's lame! So, I'll finally announce the great news, and then get the ultrasound pics up when I can. I'm sorry that I didn't let you know you sooner, I really planned to! (It says I posted it the day of the ultrasound - see I really did mean to announce it sooner - but really I posted it the 12th of August)

Monday, July 23, 2007

finished

Well, I finished Harry Potter today, and it was fantastic! I can't believe the series is over! I feel as though I've lost a dear friend or something. I'll definitely have to reread this last book again so I can process it better. Some parts moved so fast I could hardly breathe. I loved it! Nick and I have spent just as much time discussing it as we did reading it!

Saturday, July 21, 2007

harry potter!

We have begun to read the 7th Harry Potter book, and so far I love it! We're reading it a weird way. I'll read a few chapters, then Nick'll read a few chapters so we each get to read it at the same time. I'm ahead of him though - I started reading the book several hours before we came up with the idea. It's nice I guess, we get to discuss it as we read, but it's torture waiting to get to keep reading. It may not be a good idea in the end, but it's too late now to go back.

Benji's sleeping on the floor while we read; he's so adorable, he's sprawled out on his back while clutching one sock in each hand. too funny!

I've got to go back now and sit and watch Nick read the book, willing him to read faster! I just finished a really long turn (he was so nice to let me read way more than I should have) so I'll have to try hard to be equally patient.

If you haven't started reading it, what are you waiting for??

Thursday, July 12, 2007

thermometers lie!

Here we are sitting in our apartment boiling away and the weather stations have the audacity to say it's only 84 degrees outside! Hello! We're dying! There is no way I'm dying in 84 degree weather! I'm not that much of a sissy! I sweat if I move faster than a sloth. If I breathe too rapidly I break out in a sweat too. Benjamin is sweating like crazy and he only has a diaper on. We've got one fan in the front, one fan in Benji's room, and Nick's hogging the best fan in our bedroom while he's sleeping. Can you tell I'm bitter?? Ha ha! We're living on otter pops and watermelon. The plus side is, we might be losing weight. That'd be nice, but honestly I'd rather not lose weight this way. Benji has been sick lately. I'm not quite sure what it is. Apparently a lot of babies his age are ill. They're all dying from the heat! There is a pool at our apartment complex, but there are so many kids in it you can't see the water. A few women in the ward have offered for us to come swim at their apartments' pools. I'm definitely going to be taking them up on that offer next week! We're going down to Medford tomorrow to visit Nick's younger brother who just came home from his mission in Philly. Plus, almost all of his siblings are there, so it'll be a blast! They have air conditioning and a pool! Wahoo! I might not leave if it's really nice!

I'm out of here, I've run out of otter pops for this blogging session!

Sunday, July 8, 2007

ticking away


well, we're just hanging out right now. Nick's younger brother comes home from his mission on tuesday, so we'll be driving down to see him! Nick and I have been reminiscing about our last week of our missions - what a crazy mix of emotions! It's crazy to think I've been home for so long, it feels like a dream. The baby is doing good (I think), I feel he/she move every once in a while, but it's not big enough to really make an impact. Benji has been using his little walker thingy. It's like a car he pushes around. He has been scared of it for a long time, but lately he's been pushing it around, but he does it backwards without using the handles. The whole time he just giggles and giggles. It's funny!

Friday, June 29, 2007

what kind of soda are you?

You Are Coke
A true original and classic, you represent the best of everything you can offer.Just the right amount of sweet, just the right amount of energy... you're the life of the party.
Your best soda match: Mountain Dew
Stay away from:Dr Pepper
What Kind of Soda Are You?

baby update

Well, we went to our first baby doctor appointment (yes, we are a little late in the first visit), but it did take a while to find a new doctor up here. I was pretty nervous that he just wouldn't be as great as my old doctor and then I started worrying about everything. Ahhhh... how fun to be a worry-wart sometimes (not really). So... we went and he was amazing! We totally felt at ease, and he is so approachable and he seems to really care and value our thoughts and opinions. He doesn't put off the -I'm the doctor and that means I'm the best-vibe at all. He has his own children too, I don't know why that matters to me, but it's nice to know that he's been there (well, his wife was mainly). We talked a bit about VBAC and cesarean and he sounds really positive about the possibility of having a VBAC and such. We haven't made our decision, but we'll take our time and really think about it some more and pray about it as well. This is serious stuff, we don't want to just go on a whim.

We heard the baby's heartbeat, it was around 150 bpm. Plus he did a ultrasound, it wasn't the full-blown one, mostly just to measure to see how far along I am because we weren't exactly sure. I was right, I said I was 16 weeks, and I'm really like 15 Weeks and 6 days or something --- 1 day off, not bad! We saw the baby, sooo cute and sweet! There's nothing like seeing your baby for the first time inside of you. The baby was just kicking and moving its arms all around, so fun! He couldn't see the gender. It's too young, and it wasn't that clear of an ultrasound, it was on one of those portable cart ones. We saw it's tiny little heart beating! The only clear picture we got was the top of its head. it's 3 cm across (width) how incredibly tiny! Can you believe that, such a tiny tiny teeninsie person!! I'm so excited. Nick is really excited and Benji's oblivious. We'll find out the gender at the end of July at the real ultrasound, and we'll have some pictures to post too!

Sunday, June 24, 2007

delicious weekend

My itch to cook has come back, but only with baking. I am cooking us dinners now, but I still have to be cautious about what I cook. I made cinnamon rolls this morning, they were yummmmmy! They were so rich, I tried out a new recipe, the brown sugar/cinnamon/butter mixture crisped up on the bottoms of each roll and it tasted almost like toffee. You had to have a glass of milk with the rolls (and that's saying a lot since we don't really like milk, except chocolate) to get them down. So we had candy for breakfast. wahoo! Then, I made some Amish white bread - my first time to make bread (without a machine to do it for me) - and I loved it! It was so much fun and so easy! I'm going to start making tons of different kinds of bread, I'm so pumped! Why buy a loaf when I can make it myself?? We're never going to lose weight, but I'd say we'd be healthier without all those preservatives and maybe when I get tired of making it all the time, we'll never have it! Then later tonight we're having some divine chicken and corn-on-the-cob with some homemade lemonade! Can life get better than this? I submit that it cannot!!

Yesterday we had a feast too. We went on our first official family picnic! It was so much fun! We made huge sub sandwiches, had chips, homemade lemonade, and fruit. Next time we'll take some cookies though. We walked to our favorite park and spread out a huge blanket. Benjamin thought it was the funniest thing. He would crawl all around the blanket, but wouldn't get off of it. I'm going to enjoy that while it lasts. Soon he'll think he's supposed to stay off the blanket. We lounged and enjoyed our food. We had a tickle war and then collapsed and cuddled. Benjamin had a shirt on that had a hoodie and he hates it when we put it on his head. Nick would put it over his head and he would try to pull it off, but he pulls it forward which really frustrates him! Then he started crawling around like crazy. Our theory is that he was trying to crawl so fast that the wind would blow it off his head! We went on a beautiful walk through the forest, where Nick tried to scare me to death by letting go of the stroller down a steep side trail that led straight into a river. Nick nearly lost his life after that little incident. He's safe and sound now, and so is Benji.

well, that was our wonderful weekend! thought I'd rub it in!

Sunday, June 17, 2007

happy father's day!!

Well, Sunday's rolled around rather quickly. ahhh, the week's over and a new one's on its way. Dinner's in the oven (I'm cooking again!), Benji's knocking everything off the shelves, and Nick's sleeping. Nick's graveyard shift begins tonight so he's trying to get some type of rest so he's not passing out on the job or the drive there and back. It's been a wonderful week since getting back to the regular comings and goings of family life at home. The men at church got a cool father's day treat. The primary children sang in sacrament, then the men were all asked to get up and sing "Ye Elders of Israel" - it sounded wonderful! I love all men choirs. Benji clapped while his dad sang, it was too cute. Then during the last class of the day (priesthood) the young women set up the gym with tables, balloons, and such. They had a ice cream buffet - vanilla ice cream with all the toppings you could dream of to go with it. Then there was soda to make floats and just to enjoy. They had the young women sing too. Sheesh - what a nice treat! I heard some of the women laughing saying - wow they get a heck a lot of treats and the women get a dead petunia for mother's day! - they did say it laughingly (they weren't really complaining).

Since Benji's turned one he's been consumed with energy! One night he kept crawling as fast as he could back and forth the room. He wasn't chasing anything or going after toys, just crawling and crawling as fast as he could. At church he was all over the place climbing on us, pulling things out of his bag, gulping his water, banging on the chairs, trying to pull the chairs over, pointing at everything and jabbering in his cute little language, clapping yelling out: it was hilarious! I'm sure other people didn't so much like it, but I couldn't help but laugh. Next sunday I'll control him a bit more, but I couldn't this time it was too fun to watch. He's happy, so as long as you can still hear the speakers does it really matter?? I guess it does to some extent.

I'm going to go enjoy the rest of my relaxing sunday and set the table for dinner.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

vacation photos

Our Prodigy


re*group

Hello all, I'm back from vacation! Nick, Benji, and I went down to Medford for Memorial Day weekend, but only Nick came back up so he could start his new job. Benji and I stayed down there for 2 whole weeks! I had tons of help while my body started recovering from morning sickness and got some sleep! Benjamin had a rough time too - we had to wean because I had no more milk, he got a cold, and he started teething too. Poor guy! Even though he was not feeling his best he was spoiled spoiled spoiled by his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and anyone else that came over to play! So, I'd say he had a blast!


While we were down there Benji had his first birthday! I can hardly believe it! The week of his birthday I could remember vividly that very week a year earlier and all the emotions of anticipation. The experience (pain - contractions, relief - the epidural, scared - C-section, complete joy - holding Benjamin) was always on my mind the whole day before his birthday and the day of. What a crazy week it was! I can't believe he's grown so much. He's still so tiny, but his personality is huge! He is one crazy kid! I'm so excited to see him get even older and I don't like it all at the same time! I miss my tiny baby boy! Oh well! I am excited that there's another one on the way! My morning sickness is pretty much under control, the only time I struggle is at night when I start becoming tired.

Friday, May 11, 2007

who me?

A - Age: 24 years, 8 months.

B - Bed size: Queen

C - Chore you hate: laundry!! Arg!

D - Dessert you love: ice cream – dryer’s nestle toll house cookie dough ice cream with cookie bits, chocolate pieces, and sWiRlS of cookie dough!!

E - Essential start your day item: shoes on my feet and moisturizer for my face

F - Favorite actor(s): the cast of Best In Show – pure genius!

G - Gold or Silver: Silver!

H - Height: 5' 7”

I - Instruments you play: The piano, clarinet, and for a few months the cello.

J - Job title: Wife, Mama, Student

K - Kid(s): one and another on the way

L - Living arrangements: 2 bed 2 bath apt in Oregon

M- Favorite month: September (my birthday – duh!) I love spring and fall months.

N - Nicknames: Shelly, Shell Bell, hey you, and I’m not going to repeat my lame childhood ones!

O - Overnight hospital stay other than giving birth: none
P - Phobia: the Phone! I have to coach my way through phone calls! Snakes and worms! I hate worms more than snakes!
Q - Quote(s): She designed a life she loved.

R - Right or left handed: RightS - Siblings: two brothers, and a whole bunch of step siblings.

T - Tattoo(s): Nope

U - Unique talent: anything you can do I can do better, I can do anything better than you! Jk.

V - Vegetable you hate: squash, asparagus, mushroom, olive, okra, soggy spinach, beet, radish, broccoli, and others equally nasty

W - Worst habit: eating everything in front of me (that’s not on the bad list)

X- If you were told to Xerox a part of your body what would you agree to: elbow

Y - Yummy food you make: everything I make is divine. :)

Z- Zodiac Sign: virgo.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

re*fresh


Happy thursday! This week has gone by quickly, and I'm happy about that! I'm doing a little better in regards to morning sickness - yay. Benji is teething like a fiend, he's got his bottom two and top two teeth slooooooooowly pushing their way out. They couldn't go any slower, but they're there and they make themselves known every hour of the day and night! Arg. As you can tell the blog's appearance has changed, and I'm very excited about it! I plugged away at it for a bit and there's some more things to add, but I don't have the time to do it all in one day, unless I lock Benj in a closet (not likely). I'd at least have to turn the music up real loud! I've got a new link list titled "barlow's bites" - as you know I love to cook and love food. I put only 4 good recipes out there for ya. I didn't come up with them, unfortunately, but I am a pro at enjoying them. The cowboy spaghetti is particularly one of my favs! I almost put more up there, but I thought - hey, let's keep 'em guessing - they'll never know when I'll change them or add more. Plus, I'm still wanting to be selfish about my favorite ones. We certainly can't have everyone cooking my favorite recipes, there'd be no need for me! Well, I think I'll dink around and do some more maintenance!

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Gonna Be A Brother


He's chewed on his shirt a bit, but hopefully you can get the idea.

Monday, April 30, 2007

Ok, I lied...

I lied when I said nothing was going on in our neck of the woods! Last tuesday I was thinking to myself, "gee I don't feel so hot," but I just thought it was from all the traveling we'd been doing. I was very tired and could never catch up on sleep. Then I started feeling worse that morning (tuesday) and tossed my cookies. Then I started thinking, when was my last "moon cycle"??? I couldn't remember, but I thought hey, that was at the first of March! So I went to the store and took a test, and sure enough... we're pregnant! I did a dance and Benji giggled (b/c I looked crazy I'm sure). I made a shirt for Benji that said "I'm gonna be a big brother" and put it on him for when Nick came home. Nick walked in the door and I told him, "go get benji so we can eat dinner" he did and totally missed his shirt (it was very obvious). Then I asked him if he noticed anything. He said, "you cooked dinner and did Benji's hair?" I always cook dinner and I always do Benji's hair! "Look at his shirt!" He looked, but he didn't read it. "Read it Nick!" He read it and then I saw the wheels turning, "really!?" That's that. How funny, Nick is usually observant, but I'm not sure what happened to him that day!

The morning sickness has come full force and I'm doing everything I can to keep my food down. I'm feeling very weak, but at least this time some foods do sound good to me. Most of them sounded good to me last night (sunday) when I couldn't go to any store and do anything about it! Lame! You bet your boots that I'll be getting some of it today though! I'm going to have to postpone school until July, when my morning sickness should be pretty much gone. If not, then I'll go after the babe is born.

No we don't have any idea or hope if it'll be a boy or girl or twins even. I asked Benji through a series of tests and his conclusion is one baby boy. We'll see. If he gets it right, then we may have a second income coming our way - psychic readings.

Fun huh!

Friday, April 27, 2007

Just to let you know

Just to let you know, there's nothing going on here. Still on the hunt for a babysitter. Anyone want to move up here and babysit? I'll cook for you! School starts in a little over a week, it'll be awesome if I get to go! Benjamin is teething and is still wild and crazy. I'm sorry I have nothing to share with you, I just had to make sure y'all didn't think I would forget you for another month or so. Pictures to come soon!

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Settling In

I apologize to all for the extreme slacking that's been going on in this lack-of-blogging blog. We've been busy, yes, but not that busy. I've also been recovering from all that's been going on and allowing myself to read and watch a bit of Matlock. I posted several videos to show the huge changes Benjamin has gone through. I'll try to get some video of him pulling himself up, cruising on the furniture, and just being so darn cute! He is a mad man! He wants to be everywhere all at once! He doesn't like to sit still that much. He's getting a lot better at sleeping at night.

Nick and I have been going on walks late at night around the parks and he falls asleep on those trips. Heaven!

I'm now starting school May 9th and am incredibly excited!! Now all we need to do is find a babysitter for when I'm in class.

Nick is now the gospel essentials teacher and I am young women's secretary. We're both so excited about our new callings! They couldn't be more perfect!

Our new home is cute and we've got most of the pictures on the wall. I don't know what it is about the last 1/4 of pictures that I just don't put on the walls. Our last apartment we didn't have all the pictures up until the month before we moved (after having been there a year and a few months)! Silliness! I blame Benji. I got most of them up a lot quicker this time. Now I just have to do a few more rearrangements of furniture and I think I'll be set.

Kris (my little brother) was recently in a car accident. Last week he was driving and something happened and he hit a couple trees and landed in a huge ditch (the details are hazy). He broke both femurs, one a clean break, the other had several breaks. He broke a bone under his knee, punctured his liver, fractured his wrists, broke his nose, has cuts and bruises all over, and I'm sure something else. It was very scary! He was life flighted and he's had mom and his dad tending after him since it happened. He is in a ton of pain, but is being very strong about it all. He is still himself - giving everyone a hard time. :) don't we love him! There's a lot more to the story, but I didn't want him to find out I wrote all this and be mad at me!

Nick is enjoying his new job and is getting used to the differences from his old job. The people he works with are very nice, which is especially nice since there's only 4 or 5 other people at his branch.

I guess this is what happens when you get behind in updating everyone, you have to write a novel. Which reminds me, Lee Child's next book comes out May 15th! Can life get better? I submit that it cannot! Well, then Harry comes out in book and in film in July, but that's a long time from now.

Adios, I gotta make dinner, I'm starved!

playing catch 2

playing catch 1

bucket time

crawling- bird's eye view

Crawling

Sunday, February 25, 2007

wedding maddness

Wedding Maddness is OVER!!

The cakes finished baking thursday. Friday they were frosted, pecan-ed, and assembled. They turned out perfect! Saturday was the big day! Becky looked gorgeous and Phil looked very handsome! They couldn't be happier. The final touches were done to the cake and the pictures were taken (of the bride and groom of course!). The reception began and was beautiful! Those who were there were blown away by it; it was enchanting!

We are exhausted, drained, and have no time to rest... we're moving this week!! Yikes!

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Hodge Podge

Wedding Cake Countdown

It begins, the baking of the wedding cake. Today (tuesday, the 20th)I'm doing the 6" and 9" tiers. So far, it's going well, but incredibly slow. Benji is being very clingy today. Perhaps that's because he's fallen twice and is now scarred for life. He will be frightened of heights - a mere 2 inches will drive him to wetting his pants and sobbing himself into asthma attacks.

Saddness aside, the cakes are coming out quite nicely.

Ribbon Cutting


Here you go; stop your whining! It's the grand opening of the phone replacement! Now I don't have to call anyone, I can just blog you to death. I'm not quite sure what goes in a blog, or if you're even going to look at this, but it's the end of the headache-inducing complaints of "you never stay in touch," or "you're absolutely shameful at calling me," or "you obviously hate me, you never talk to me." Now folks, I do care (I can hear you now, "if you really cared, you'd call" - stop it), I just detest the phone. We did get new phones today, so that's a good sign - we still use them. This blog has been created so you can be informed of our lives. Check whenever you like, or don't check at all. You can watch Benji grow up and all the other kiddos that come our way. You can even see what we're up to, but let's not pretend, we know you'll skip that stuff. Be patient as I learn the ropes and figure out what's boring and what's incredibly boring and I'll settle somewhere in the middle. Apparently you're supposed to share your opinions on these things, I may do that every once in a while... if I muster up the courage. Feel free to reply back (not on the opinion thing though, if it's my opinion you're not entitled to a different one) and let us know what you think and what you're doing as well.

All my bags are packed... or not!




Well, we have just a little over a week until we move upstate! It is so exciting to be going up there, though it will be also hard to leave our family and friends choking on our dust, weeping and wailing, planning their demise. However, it must be done, greener pastures await us...

We spent much of the weekend packing and getting things ready, Benji's is sooo incredibly active now! He never wants to sit, just stand. He holds onto any ledge and just giggles for minutes (what probably seem like hours to him)... but when I say minutes, I mean 30 or longer. It's quite impressive. He is going to be a climber: I have visions of him climbing on our roof and knocking on the skylight. Benji's favorite thing to do is to grab my shoulder trying to climb up on top of, wiping his drool and food crumbs as he goes. He is done with soft food, bring on the chewy stuff! He chews and swallows almost as well as I do, even without a single tooth. He drinks from cups and eats bananas like an adult.

This week we're packing and getting ready for Becky's wedding. She's getting married saturday; we're super excited! Most of this week I'll be packing and baking the wedding cake... I'll post pictures of the wedding and cake later. Benji will be super cute in his suit, so will Nick in his tux. There's soo much going on this week, it's incredible!