the Family Elwer

Brothers

2012-01-31T11:56:00.000-08:00

I'm felling very blessed by how much Bennett loves his little brother!

He's so good with him and is happy to have him around all the time!

Some of their more recent "brotherly antics" include...

Reading with Grandpa:

Taking showers:

{I can't stop laughing at Bennett here - reminds me of the guy from dumb and dumber}

Going on walks:

But my favorite thing is just watching them cuddle and actually smile/laugh together!

It's rather precious!

Crazy Blessed!

2012-01-28T23:35:00.000-08:00

So a while ago {July to be exact} I won a fantastic prize!

I was very excited to say the least but I decided to wait to redeem said prize...

And I am sooooo glad I did!

Please enjoy my favorites from my prize! :)

My friend Leslie took all these incredible pictures ... check her out here

One Month!

2012-01-26T16:14:00.000-08:00

John-Paul {aka: Mr. Squishy} is one month old today!

It feels weird.
All at the same time, I feel like I just had him yesterday and that he's been around forever!
{those conflicting feeling may just be new baby fog ... but still ... }

And I must say that I LOVE having two kids! So much has changed and I'm totally okay with it! As all 4 of my readers may have noticed, I'm blogging less but don't take it personally, I'm doing everything less because I'm making sure Bennett gets outside time every day and that my husband doesn't come home to an absolute disaster of a house everyday {but every other day is alright - right?!} Anyways, something in my brain shifted from being a couple with a kid to being a family now that John-Paul is here and well ... I'm okay with it! And I am sooooo happy he's here!

Now for some one month cuteness:

According to my bathroom scale {I know, super accurate!} John-Paul weighs 14 pounds today and in my best attempts to measure him he seems to be about 23 inches long and he is wearing 3 month clothes.

He is a very happy baby! He is already smiling and really only cries if he is hungry, needs to burp or is ready to fall asleep.

Speaking of sleeping ... this man is doing awesome and I am so so so thankful {his brother was not so much of a sleeper at this age}. John-Paul's longest sleeping stretches have lasted for 6 glorious hours! Also, a fun note about sleeping is that John-Paul does not want to nurse to sleep - he wants to be cuddled and/or rocked. This is very lovely for me as it allows someone besides me to put this boy to sleep! YAY!

Other than smiling {and general cuteness} John-Paul's skills this month include sneezing, following a stationary object while mommy sways back and forth, nursing {he's a super fast eater which is awesome!}, pinching and beard pulling {this of course only happens to Adam}, super loud farts and burps {you know, guys stuff}, cooing and lifting his head up off of the person who is holding him for a few seconds.

Tough Guy

2012-01-21T14:54:00.000-08:00

Gotta love a boy on a pink motorcycle holding his teddy bear! :)

Tradition of Blessing

2012-01-19T14:41:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned how much I love my church?!

Just one of the many reasons is for it's traditions, especially the tradition involving new babies! Whenever a baby comes to church for the first time (and my pastor is aware of it) he brings the baby upfront and prays a blessing over the child. It's not a dedication (that's the parents responsibility) it's a blessing ... asking the Lord to guide and direct this new little one in all their days. It's very precious!

And then if that wasn't enough, the "Women of the Cloth" (our churches quilting ministry) give the new baby a quilt.

Like I've said before, traditions make my heart smile! And these two traditions make it smile 'til it hurts!

Big Boy Bennett

2012-01-16T15:21:00.000-08:00

So nothing makes your first born grow up faster then bringing home a newborn! Bennett has been rather busy these past few weeks with all his big boy things...

He went to an awesome birthday party at Sensory Time in Murrieta and had sooooo much big boy fun!

After being told that bubbles were an outside toy he let himself out onto the patio so he could play bubbles by himself
{sniff, sniff...}

While waiting at John-Paul's doctor's appointment ...he told me he was climbing the trees!

He got his first belt! He LOVES to wear it and be just like dad!
{which is really good because he reminds Adam to put his belt on!}

He got to take his Christmas money to Target and buy some things all by himself!
{He was loving it!}

He reads big boy books now with paper pages ... no more board books for this kid!

{this was one of the things he bought with his money at Target}

And last but not least ... no joke .... he picked this outfit out to wear the other day!
{Well ... technically he only picked out his underwear, jeans and sweater vest so Adam made him put the white t-shirt on first ... but still, he was looking good and was so proud of himself!}

One of my favorite things about Bennett right now is that if you ask him if he's a "Big Boy" he responds with, "No, I little boy"

Way to keep it in perspective my "little" boy!

The Boys

2012-01-13T12:52:00.000-08:00

I'm kind of in love with all 3 of them ...

Baby Fever

2012-01-10T14:38:00.000-08:00

We are very much enjoying every moment of cuteness!

If you haven't had a chance to snuggle him yet ... I'm sure any one of these people would attest to how sweet and squishy he really is

But you better hurry to get those sweet snuggles in ... I had a rude awaking to just how big John-Paul is yesterday when I realized what he was wearing and how old Bennett was when he wore that same thing!

A little more Christmas

2012-01-06T23:12:00.000-08:00

I never really looked at the pictures my brother and sister-in-law took from Christmas {can't image what I was busy with ...} but now that I have, I'm kind of in love with them. Thus I must share them with you all!

Our Christmas Eve:

no joke ... this is what 41 weeks and 3 days pregnant with a 10lb baby looks like ... not pretty!

Our Christmas Morning:

Thanks Brian and Crystal-Lee for capturing such great memories!
I absolutely adore these pictures!

It's a .....

2012-01-03T21:04:00.000-08:00

BOY!!!!!!!

{so I guess I sort of got my wish ... even though I was TOTALLY convinced I was having a girl}

Last monday, December 26th, at 5:59pm we welcomed John-Paul Athanasius Elwer into the world!

{Yep, that means I was pregnant for 41 weeks and 5 days! That's 4 less days than I was pregnant with Bennett!}

He was quite the chubs weighing in at 10 lbs 3oz but still kind of skinny because that 10lbs was spread out over 22 inches! So, yeah ... needless to say he doesn't really fit in ANY of his newborn clothes, oh well! {We'll keep him anyways}

We were home and doing well just moments after John-Paul hit the 24 hour mark {there are benefits to living so close to the hospital}

Bennett is doing great as big brother! He constantly wants to hold "his baby" and talks to him all the time ... it's very sweet!

Just like his big brother, John-Paul was also lucky enough to have a photo shoot on his 4th day of life. {To see the AMAZING sneak peak blog on our friends site, click here}

We love him a lot and his is just the perfect little man!

You really should meet him ... he really is this squishy!

Merry and Bright

2011-12-26T10:00:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas was good.

Lots of family, food and fun.

What more could you ask for?

{Well, besides a baby ... but it will be here soon enough!}

41 Weeks Pregnant!

2011-12-21T14:20:00.000-08:00

I never thought I would make it this far again ... but apparently I am a crock pot and not a microwave when it comes to making babies!

I made this last week in a hopes that I would not have the chance to add a 41 week picture ...

But now I guess I need to add this one {from this morning} too!

Things are good ... my sleep is not great, but really it's not horrible either! Adam and Bennett and I are keeping busy. Bennett found a gift our friends brought for the baby and while we were all out in the living room talking and eating and celebrating the first night of Hanukkah together, he was in our room having a great time too! ha ha! Silly boy!

And then there is Adam ... it's sooooo wonderful to have him home for these last few days before the baby comes! We are getting projects done and just enjoying each other's company before the sleep depravation and newborn craziness sets in! I love this man! He makes me laugh!
{He's never home when I take my "week pictures" I guess he has felt left out all these past 41 weeks ... good thing he was here for what is hopefully the last "week picture"}

Keeping Busy ...

2011-12-20T05:04:00.000-08:00

... so we don't loose our minds waiting for baby to come!

Our days are simple and our evenings are impromptu and it's been nice, really nice actually!

We've had soup and white elephant laughs

Beautiful mornings and family walks

Popcorn and Christmas lights

Remembering last year...

... and thinking about what next year will be like with two kids {it's hard to imagine right now, but also weird to think that by next week it will be hard to remember life without this new little one}

A Very Christmas-y Saturday!

2011-12-15T08:51:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday was a very full day but it was good full, not stressful full!

We started the morning off with breakfast (of course) and then went our separate ways. The boys stayed home to do man things and I went to my mom's house to do Christmas baking where my Auntie, sister-in-law and cousin were all coming to bake too!

So I use the term "Christmas Baking" lightly as I don't really think we made Christmas cookies but we did make cookies that our family all loves and only gets once a year ... thus making them a part of the Christmas season for us! They are called Bratzli, but we just call them Swiss Cookies and they make us all really, really happy! :)

Meanwhile, back at home, the boys were hanging Christmas lights!

Apparently, Bennett had told Adam that Pooh and Buzz needed to come out and help hang the lights too and my super smart husband talked Bennett into setting them by the window so they could watch! I love it!

They did a great job!

After a nap and some new clothes, we took off for Escondido to have a "Thanks-mas" dinner with our group of Outdoors friends, aka "Cadre" friends.
{You know since we are such "outdoors" kind of people these days! ha ha!}

We had a fabulous meal and such a great time with some of our oldest friends!
{Old as in long time - none of us would admit to being old!}

Don't miss the lovely "woodland creature" in the back! I am SOOO glad we didn't win that!

There's nothing like laughing until it hurts while catching up with friends! Such a great night!

Simple

2011-12-13T13:21:00.000-08:00

Loving the simplicity of a rainy day at Christmas time!

Big Band Christmas!

2011-12-11T14:38:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday was my churches annual Ladies Dessert Night and it is always something I very much look forward to!

This year was great and really a lot of fun! I mean how can you go wrong with Big Band music and swing dancing?

And then of course there is the food! I forgot to take a picture of dinner because it was so good and I just jumped right in and devoured my salad, Thai pasta, sandwich and root-beer float!

But I remembered my camera when the desserts came out! :)

Cutest Sound Men Ever!

2011-12-09T10:21:00.000-08:00

So my brother Brian is the Technical Arts Director for his church and I love him and he does an amazing job, but I have to say no amount of "Haze" effects in the sanctuary will ever top the cuteness of these two sound men working and singing along!!

I mean just look how cute they are!

They aren't even watching each other and they are totally dancing the same way!

And then when Bennett hold the mic for Adam to sing ... it just kills me!

"Babies" at the Zoo!

2011-12-07T09:49:00.000-08:00

Bennett LOVES the Fisher Price "Little People"

{He calls them "Babies". We have no clue why he calls them that, but he does, so we go with it!}

Anyways, the "Babies" were at the Zoo this last weekend and so we went!
{Along with the rest of San Diego county who was in Balboa Park for "December Nights" Bad planning Zoo people, Bad planning!}
He was so happy to see the "babies" AND to be at the Zoo at the same time!

Once it got started Bennett was very serious about watching the show.
He couldn't be distracted for anything!

I finally got a one smile out of him by asking him to say "Babies"
{But you can totally see that he is still watching the show and not looking at the camera}

The show was cute and every kid got a goody bag that included a DVD of the "babies" in holiday themed stories. {He's already watched it more times than I care to admit to anyone!}

After the show was over we went to visit the Elephants of course {I mean what else is the zoo for?!}.

Bennett also continued to show off his new "walk". He says he's flying and he pushes on his chest to open his wings and then pushes on his chest again to make his wings go down ... Buzz Lightyear much?!

After a great bus tour with TONS of animal spottings ...

...we called it a day and headed home via the San Elijio camp ground where we met friends to celebrate their birthdays! It was a great night at the beach with fun friends and great food and Bennett got to climb his first "tree" / large bush at the camp ground with his friend Jake!

It was a nice long day of family and friends ... too bad it didn't send me into labor ... but still, I'm enjoying every last moment as a family of 3!

Driving

2011-12-05T13:53:00.000-08:00

After Bennett's "Autopia" experience a couple weeks ago he is all about driving now!

So while being drug around Babies-R-Us on Friday morning he was such a good little man that he earned the right to have a little fun and drive the Elmo car! :)

{We've never actually put any money in any of these machines before ... hope I didn't just make a huge mistake!}

Early Christmas Presents!

2011-12-03T08:15:00.000-08:00

You may remember my dear husband made me an AMAZING bed for my birthday this year!
Well guess what he made for Christmas?!

YAY!!!!
I love it!
It's the perfect hight for me and it matches the bed perfectly!
{and I love how he put a picture of himself on it when he set it up!}

Bennett also got an early Christmas present from my cousins who came for Thanksgiving but won't be down for Christmas. If you saw my recent Disneyland post you know this is the most perfect present ever and well ... We go NOWHERE without Pooh now!

Watching Pooh while holding Pooh and working on a Pooh puzzle ... yikes!
(but at least Pooh isn't an annoying character like Elmo ... if he was obsessed with Elmo I might pull my hair out!)

I feel it!

2011-11-30T23:17:00.000-08:00

Really, I do, I feel Christmas and it makes my heart happy!

Our tree is up and decorated and beautiful!

And a few other things are out too ...

It's just nice and cozy in here right now!
Life is good :)

'Twas the Night Before ....

2011-11-28T09:06:00.000-08:00

... Thanksgiving and all thru the house every creature was hungry, longing for Yard House!

Yep... it's the truth ... and so off we went to our local Yard House to fulfill our newly established and super tasty, tradition!

You see, last year, after spending the day together, Adam, Mary Beth, Bennett and I all went to The Yard House for a dinner made up entirely of the half price happy hour menu ... it was fabulous!

So, not wanting to break "tradition" we did the same thing again.
And again, we so enjoyed ourselves.

Bennett got a water AND a milk. He was a happy man despite his face in the below picture.

Traditions make my heart smile!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-25T22:55:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving was nice this year.

I mean not that it isn't usually, but for some reason {let's just be honest, it was probably my own attitude being in check and had nothing to do with anyone else} this year just seemed really sweet and wonderful and refreshing.
No stress at all!
Gotta love that!

Ready for some food!

Could he be any sweeter at this moment?

My dad perfectly cutting one of his perfectly cooked turkeys.

Daddy love

Puzzles with Grandma

The Elwer men are ready to eat!

Our Thanksgiving group was a good looking bunch!

Passed out reading with Grandma while the rest of us watched Elf and ate dessert!

So, bummer that there was no Thanksgiving baby but really I'm happy about it because i had such a nice and relaxing day which is the exact opposite of giving birth!
But now I'm ready, the baby can come any time!
{Hopefully closer to now rather than in the end of December!}

Disneyland!

2011-11-23T08:43:00.000-08:00

So my mom's birthday is tomorrow ... yes, it happens to be on Thanksgiving this year, so... if your birthday is on Thanksgiving you are kind of locked into what you do and what you eat and where you go. Thus last thursday {one week early} my mom picked going to Disneyland for her birthday and Bennett and I got to go too!
{gotta love it when Mom pays for you to do something for her birthday!}
We had such a great time going to "Mickey's house" {as Bennett called it} and celebrating "Grammy"!

Not so sure about the giant talking Buzz .... but he loved shooting Zurg!

He was so excited to be driving!

This was my ride for the day ... yep, I'm that pregnant!

{But really it was great to have. There is no way I would have made it thru a 12 hour day without it!}

He really liked Small World too! I think he was a little overwhelmed at first, but he continued to talk about it for the rest of the day!

Making friends with the girl who was throwing sweet potato fries to the ducks

He has no idea what is coming ... he hasn't actually seen Pooh yet at this point!

The Big Meeting!

Truly the highlight of the whole day!

He couldn't even look away for a picture! He was just so happy to be with his friend!

Once he was back in the stroller he was ready to map out his next move .... ToonTown!

It was about a 45 minute wait to get this picture ... good thing it's pretty cute!

On our way to the other park for Bug's Life and Disney Junior and Brother Bear, Bennett curled himself up in a ball and just passed out! Seriously, he was down for the count! So the rest of us had a great time sitting and eating soft pretzels with cheese sauce and mochas and cookie ice cream sandwiches ... it was a great nap time!

Once we finally found a place to watch the parade we had some time to kill ... so what better time killer is there than Popcorn?!

Bennett said "Mom, two Mickies!" ha ha! Opps, I guess we never really talk about Minnie that often!

Believe it or not, the Dumbo line was still ridiculously long at 7pm so this was Bennett's entire Dumbo experience ...

{I mean, let's be honest, it's not like he has even seen the movie ... he just thought it was cool that there was an elephant for him to sit on!}

Last ride of the day and he was so happy to go on the "Casey Train"!

He specifically picked out the Monkey car ... which was not easy to get into!

And to finish it all off we caught the fireworks as we were heading to the parking garage ...

This was such a fun day!

Thanks Mom for including Bennett and I in your birthday fun!

Happy Birthday tomorrow!

Celebrating Baby #2

2011-11-21T13:45:00.001-08:00

Last weekend I had a baby shower to celebrate the life of this little one that is coming so soon!
It was so beautiful and so perfect ... it really looked like a magazine!
I loved every second of it!
{I'm trying to consolidate the massive amount of pictures I ended up with... hopefully it works for you}

The decor was fabulous! I loved the bird cages!

I have ridiculously good looking friends!

So much food that all tasted sooooo good!
{did you see how cute those bird cookies were?!}

Gifts, Gifts, Gifts!
{Check out the "Starry Night" in the bottom left corner - Unbelievable!}

There's nothing better than spending a rainy afternoon with people you love, eating yummy food and opening presents!

Thank you to all my fabulous party planners who made this day so special and wonderful!
Baby Elwer and I feel very, very loved!

Guinea Pigs and Baby Showers

2011-11-18T13:58:00.000-08:00

This last monday Adam's work gave us a little baby shower after school got out! It was so nice and we really had a fun time and I totally didn't take any pictures!

{Proof I really was enjoying myself}

But after it was done and we were helping to clean up I did get a couple of Bennett playing with and talking to the guinea pigs that where in the class room. This poor kid need a pet ... oh well, he's getting a brother or sister soon so hopefully that will hold him over for a while longer! ha ha! :)

Speaking of baby showers, my cousin put together an amazing shower last saturday {along with a few other lovely ladies} but I don't have the pictures from that yet ... hint hint CL :) But you can see the super cute invitations here and I do have just a couple pictures to give you a taste of the fabulous-ness that was Saturday!

More to come ... I promise!

11/11/11

2011-11-16T09:04:00.000-08:00

We had a fabulous day last friday! Adam had the day off and actually took the whole day off from lesson planning and test grading and power point making ... it was great!

After Grandma came over {Adam's mom} we all got our camping chairs together {for the Veteran's day parade later} and got into one car to start our day out with breakfast at The Mill in old town Murrieta. If you have never been there - you MUST go! They do breakfast only on Fri-Sat-Sun and it is such a yummy treat!

There was a lot of activity out on the street because people were showing up to stage for the parade and Bennett just couldn't stay inside any longer while we were ordering our breakfast {there was no one on the patio so we let him have a moment of independence... but just a moment}.

Look at that sweet little face ... and mullet! Ha ha! {I cut his hair the next morning!}

Watching the Cub Scouts walking to me their "pack" {Adam did cub scouts... is that still something people do these days? I should look into it ...}

When breakfast arrived, Bennett sported an awesome milk mustache thru the entire meal!

Due to Adam's recent gout attack in his knee and my general huge-ness and discomfort we decided to leave the car parked at the Mill and just walk a few feet down the street and set up for the parade there. It turned out to be an awesome place to sit with a fabulous view of everything going on!

We spotted some friends from church just a few feet away so we all got a sweet "pre-game" show from these bouncy little boys!

Bennett also got to take their dog on a 10 foot long walk and he was the happiest thing I've ever seen! Almost made me want to get him a dog .... Almost! {We would have to move and have a "real" back yard for that to ever happen and lets be honest ... I don't want to ever move - so good luck getting a dog kid!!!}

The parade started with the annual fly over and shortly after that the fun started coming down the street right at us!

Bennett loved his front row seat! He waved and clapped thru the whole parade!

For the third year in a row the pageant people have had miss spelled words on their floats/cars. Last year I think it was the word "pageant" if I remember correctly ... ha ha! Do you see this years misspelled word?
{It's kind of funny and rather sad and makes you realize that stereotypes do exist for a reason - ha ha!}

After the parade, Grandma came over for a little bit but then she had to go home so we all took naps and then continued the rest of our day at our friends house! We had an amazing beef rib dinner with super yummy rice and potatoes and asparagus! What a treat to have fabulous food and company!

After dinner we played Pit {I lost horribly} and watched Kung Fu Panda

Bennett has got some mad Kung Fu skills he has learned from "Master" and "Pay-pay" {panda}!

He was more than happy to show off for us all!

Kung Fu Panda was followed with Adam's fabulous coconut oil popcorn {YUMMMMM!!!!} and Scattergories {which I totally kicked butt at!}

11-11-11 was a great day for us filled with fabulous food, family and friends!
What more could you ask for on such a "special" day?! :)

Our little Artist...

2011-11-14T13:30:00.000-08:00

Bennett brought this to Adam and said, "It me, Bennett!"

I'm pretty sure this is the best self portrait he's ever done!

Boys will be boys...

2011-11-11T16:08:00.000-08:00

Where do boys get training in being boys?

And who taught my son to tell his friend, "I'll push and you see if you can get this thing started"?!

Even though the key fit, they still couldn't get it started {maybe because there was no battery in it!} so they recruited a driver when he got home from school ...

I'm not gonna lie, having a house full of boys would be fine by me.
I am constantly being entertained!

5 weeks left!

2011-11-09T12:06:00.000-08:00

35 weeks of pregnancy has all of a sudden snuck up on me!
I have only 35 days left!

This time around it is sooo different! With Bennett at 35 weeks I had a transverse {laying across me like in a hammock} baby in my belly and this time I have a baby that is head down and ready to go. There are so many new sensations {aka: pains} that I've never felt before and so many more reasons to stay on the couch and do nothing! ha ha! But life presses on with an ever busy 2 1/2 year old so who knows, maybe staying busy and keeping active will help this little head down baby I'm carrying come earlier than Dec. 14th {but hopefully before December 28th - that would be week 42, which would make me have 7 weeks left ... we shall see}

So just for fun I thought I would do a little comparison since I still have the clothes I wore in my 35 week picture with Bennett boy!

{Okay, so maybe I have to admit I am a bit bigger this time ... but still look how much lower I am than last time! Hopefully that means this baby is going to make his/her way out without any pitocin!}

If you've seen us recently...

2011-11-07T14:10:00.000-08:00

... you've also met my "new" son, Buzz Lightyear!

He doesn't want to wear anything else, EVER!

Thoughtful Spot

2011-11-05T15:53:00.000-07:00

My son has become rather addicted to "The Many Adventure's of Winnie the Pooh" and to be honest, I'm totally okay with it! The movie is adorable and the characters are actually all nice to each other, what more could a mom ask for these day?!

The other day, while at our friends house, he noticed their fire pit and told me he needed to go think.
At first I didn't get it but as soon as he started saying "think, think, think" I of course got it right away!

I love that he even got a stick to tend the fire with just like Pooh
{not that where was fire ... but there was a pile of wood that he poked at.}
He is just too much for me some times!

Joel Jason Perry

2011-11-03T14:55:00.000-07:00

My friend Joel died last month.
Very unexpectedly.
He was living/teaching in Iraq.
I hadn't see him in person for a few years but we kept up on the facebook always sharing our common loves for God, Theology and of course, the Office!

Last month when I posted this picture of Pam and I on Facebook...

... he was the first one to comment!
Made me laugh and I thought to myself how much I missed laughing with him.
It was only 3 days later that he died.
It's fitting that our last "communication" was about the Office.
We had one last laugh.

Let me tell you about Joel.
He was my boss (along with Deb) while I worked for TeachOverseas and lived in St. Petersburg (Russia, not Florida). I didn't actually meet him in person until November of that year because during summer training he was home helping his mom take care of his sick father. {Yep, he was that great of a son!}
Upon meeting, Joel and I became fast friends during our "thanksgiving retreat" with the teachers in Moscow. Joel had never married and had taken a vow of celibacy and had whole heartedly devoted himself to following the Lord. He had even looked into become an Orthodox monk (He had converted to the Orthodox church while living in Uzbekistan years before ... yet another rad and random fact about his life)

Really when I think of Joel there is only one word to sum him up: love.
Joel loved God and Joel loved people.
It was inspiring! I can honestly say that I never left a conversation with him EVER where I didn't feel more loved. Even when we were talking about "trivial" things and laughing about something ridiculous. I honestly don't know how he did it. And that's probably the point, he didn't do it. I'm sure it was the Holy Spirit in him that did it.

All that to say, last week, we here in California who knew and loved him got together to share a meal, share stories and watch the memorial service they had for him in Iraq (two friends were there and sent the video so we could watch it)

Upon sharing stories, I realized that I was not the only person who would sum Joel up with "love". So many people felt just the way I did. One person told a story of emailing Joel and asking for prayer and instead of just a quick email reply, Joel send back paragraph after paragraph of encouragement and blessing. Joel was rad! His life really was a reflection of the Father's love for us.

It was soooooo good to get together and remember our friend and brother and mentor in Christ.
So many people all over the earth miss you Joel, but we are all so happy for you and know that you are home with your Lord, right where you always wanted to be!

The Elbow Journey

2011-10-31T07:42:00.000-07:00

AKA. Adam's Wenis Removal (as his students like to say)

I think it's safe to say that Adam's elbow journey has come to an end!
But here's where it started...

Adam has gout {sad but true} and sometimes when you have gout you get tophus {or tophi when it's plural}. Unfortunately, Adam has tophi in both elbows, his hand and left big toe. Well, actually, now he just has one little one in his right elbow because this is the story of the left elbow tophus' eviction!

I honestly can't remember when it started, but probably 6 months ago Adam's "Gout Ball" {as it was affectionately known around our house} on his left elbow started getting bigger and yucky-er. So after a number of doctor visits and a whole lot of bandages and blood and just plain oozing {seriously, it was so gross!} surgery was scheduled for the morning of September 28th.

In the car on the way to the surgery center
(we took "head on" pictures too, but the thing was kind of open and the pictures are WAY too gross to put on here!)

In the waiting room.
See how big it was just sticking off his elbow!
As we were waiting Bennett accidentally knocked and it totally started bleeding - YUCK!

The surgery was actually really quick, but they did knock him out because they said, "In case we open it up and we have to dig in the muscle, we want you to be asleep." {SO GROSS!!!} Anyways, Adam was home by 10 am and he was just a "happy, hungry little stoner" with all the drugs still in him but around noon'ish {after eating like a teenage boy} he pretty much passed out and slept for like 5 or 6 hours.

Here he is that night putting on a nice smile for his crazy wife :)

That first "nap" {drug induced coma} after surgery was Adam's last time sleeping in bed for about a week and a half... he didn't want to accidentally bump his elbow by rolling over so he just slept on the couch where he literally wasn't able to roll over.

Here he is sleeping on the couch and "spooning" the iPad his school lent him for his recovery since he was one handed
... pretty sweet "get well" present if you ask me!

Due to the pain meds Adam was on, he wasn't supposed to drive so for the the next week and a half Bennett and I drove him and picked him up from work everyday.
Bennett LOVED going to "Dad work" and has actually been very sad since we've stopped.

Adam's hand ended up getting really swollen from lack of circulation with his elbow in the sling for 8 days ... poor guy.

8 days after surgery it was time for the "unveiling" {we were told to not touch the bandages and we were good and followed directions} so we went into the surgeons office to take a look.

Fresh out of the gauze

Bennett enjoying the doctor's visit and his Daddy's new toy!

After the doc looked at it and said no heavy lifting for 3 weeks, the nurse came in and took the stitches out and for a couple days he had these little strips on his elbow, but they fell off pretty quickly (a day or two)

He had his last follow-up appointment with the orthopedic surgeon this past thursday and all is well!

His hand is still having a bit of a "being able to make a fist" issue, {as in he can't do it completely} but the doctor said that's normal for up to 8 - 10 weeks post surgery and he was happy with how the elbow looked. So other than keeping stuff on it to help the scar heal up nice clean we are pretty much done with this journey which is nice considering we are just 6 weeks aways from baby time! {yikes! we really need to pick a name!}

Life ...

2011-10-29T16:11:00.000-07:00

this is life right now...

... and and I don't mind it a bit!

Date Weekend!

2011-10-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

Without really planning to Adam and I had an awesome weekend of dates last weekend!

On Friday I got a call from my old boss offering us matinee tickets to Hair the next day in San Diego and since we were free we gladly accepted! After a quick phone call to my mom for a babysitter we had it all worked out and Saturday at noon we took off to one of our favorite cities on the planet!

Our seats were pretty great {honestly, I think they were the best we have ever had!} and we had some very nice ladies behind us {who snuck in our first picture} take our picture just as the lights were dimming for the show to start!

See how close we were! And right in the middle too!

{Also, side note, right next to me was the WORST case of "Denim on Denim" I have EVER SEEN! However, he was sitting in the chair next to me, so I never got a picture to document, but just know, it was soooooo photo worthy!}

Back to the story....

Not having ever seen Hair before we didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into... {awkward!} but it was a really good performance that had lots of audience involvement so that always mixes things up and makes it fun!

Then on our way home we stopped at In-n-Out and got a shake and fries, to have in the car, it was cute! :)

THEN... on Sunday, Adam and I went to see the matinee performance of the school play at the High School he works at. It was called Quilters, and seriously, it was fantastic!

I was really impressed by the fantastic performance and it made me so grateful for the things we have now {like cars and heaters and fire extinguishers}! But at the same time the play made me think crazy things like "Maybe I should find a group of friends to do a "Dear Jane" quilt with me!" And who knows, maybe I will... {Shayne, what do you think?!}

Thank you Lori for a surprise, impromptu date on Saturday and to both our mom's for babysitting Mr. B!
{It's so nice to spend time just as "us" and come home to our happy, rested sweet little man!}

33 weeks!

2011-10-26T07:20:00.000-07:00

Look who has their own dresser and shelf in the closet ...

Yes, it's true, I guess the "Nesting" has started in, or it's just my need to be organized and have everything all ready to go ahead of schedule, which is a constant plague on my day to day life ... but either way it feels good to have freshly washed and hung up little things!

Those clothes really are so small and precious!

It makes me so excited to meet this new little one!

Here we are ...

.... with mommy in her pj's and apron {that is starting to not be so good at covering my sides! hmmm....}

Caution ... Awesome-ness ahead!

2011-10-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

We went to the sweetest little boys birthday party last weekend! I could not believe the creativity of this family! Seriously, it was just perfect! Aside from walking into the house to a GIANT tower of chocolate and sweets ... the backyard was the main attraction! This place was a 3 year old boys dream!

There was LOTS of dirt and tractors ...

There was a wrecking ball...

And of course lots of tools to fix things with ...

There was even a house to paint...

Then every little worker (and the big workers too) got a brown bag lunch ...

And to top it all off the little workers got to break open the wreaking ball with hammers...

...AND dive into the giant pile of chocolate goodness that was waiting inside!
{seriously, when you walked inside, the whole room smelled like chocolate ... it was pretty rad!}

Happy 3rd Birthday Sweet Cade!
Bennett loved your party and is still telling people about the tractor he got to take home from your house!

Nap time

2011-10-21T08:26:00.000-07:00

Two days a week I have a little side job I do from home during Bennett's nap time {usually around 1pm} This day, however, things were a little different and Bennett didn't get into bed until about 2. I was thinking that he would go right to sleep because he was up past his normal nap time. So, I left him with his pile of books like usual and made my way to "the office" to start working.

For about an hour and a half, while I was working 3 feet from his bed {there is technically a wall between us, but our walls are more for looks and not so much for keeping noise out/in} I listened to Bennett "reading" books to Buzz Lightyear and rolling around and making tents with his blankets ... the kids was NOT tired! But he stayed in his room, never came out once, and I got all my work done, so I wasn't really that worried about it.

For about the last 15 minutes of my working I didn't really hear much coming from the room, so when I was finished I went in to check on him.

Poor guy, when I picked him up he was so freaked out!
I don't think he had realized he had even fallen asleep!

Like Father, like Son

2011-10-19T08:15:00.000-07:00

We went to the park to celebrate "Baby La-La's" 2nd Birthday...

... and our son "Adventure Boy" had so much fun!

Take note of the fireman's pole to the left in the background....

Who taught him how to do this? Not me or Adam!
We were rather surprised by his "go get'er" play ground personality!

So... ya know, it was a pretty typical playground, and the only people at the park were with the birthday party so yeah, we might not have been watching "adventure boy" every second as we were sitting in the shade on the picnic tables talking with friends ... that is until we heard the cry! {you know, the real cry, the "I'm in pain cry"}

The first thing I saw was Bennett crying and falling into the sand each time he tried to stand up and take a step towards us! It was about the saddest thing I've ever seen! As retold by Gunnar (and eventually Bennett when he calmed down) Bennett had decided to go down the fireman's pole but missed and basically just jumped about 4 feet down and then landed wrong on his ankle! He kept telling me, "Me jump, down, down, down!" {complete with hand motions of course}

The next couple days our sweet, usually fast moving, little man looked like this ... it was pretty pathetic {but still, so cute}

Harvesting Fun!

2011-10-17T07:39:00.000-07:00

We always love to get an invitation out to the picture perfect Taft home and this time was no different! We had a great time with our sweet Shelton friends (and their families too of course)!

This was Adam's frist time on a horse since leaving Texas (he was 10 when he moved), and what a handsome "Country Boy" he is!

It took Bennett a few hours {no joke} to decided that he did in fact want to get on the horse. Up until this point he enjoyed looking at it, feeding it and petting it but every time someone asked if he wanted a ride he quickly responded with "No!"

But once Adam offered to get on with him ... I didn't even offer {I'm a really nice mom, I know} he changed his tune and finally said "Yes!"
So here he is, first time on a horse ever! YAY big boy!!

They had a bit of a ruff start getting the horse to even want to move but once they got it going Bennett and Adam were all smiles for their one lap around!

The horse fun of course continued and the funny {I mean sad} thing is this little guy is the horse he fell off of!

Jenny's family pretty much goes all out for anything so of course they had all the typical cuteness you would expect from a Harvest party all set up!

This picture is quite possibly the funniest family picture from the scariest hay ride {we for some reason kept going up and down hills} that there ever was! I can not get over my "city girl" pearls, Adam's "Country Boy" shirt and Bennett's Hillbilly "smile" full of cookie!
I seriously crack up each time I look at this picture!
{If we were doing Christmas cards this year, this one would be in the running! Ha ha!}

All the kids got marked down on the chart ... made me happy, 'cause this means it's going to happen next year too! :)

And what Harvest party is complete without decorating your pumpkin to look like a sparkly pirate! ha ha!
Bennett loves his pumpkin and tries to pick his "pun-kin" as his toy to bring in the car every time we go somewhere!

Taft family, thank you once again for a fabulous afternoon/evening full of great family memories!

We Heart DeJong's!

2011-10-15T09:00:00.000-07:00

Last week my sweet friend Leslie, invited Bennett and I to join her preschool group on a field trip to our local dairy (they were doing a unit on where your food comes from). We have been to the dairy a number of times to buy milk of course and some times we get out and look at the petting zoo they have but this was our first time getting a really good look around and it was fabulous! I got to talk with lovely mama's and Bennett got to wear boots and run around and feed cows! ha ha! All were happy!

Who taught this kid to stand with his hands behind his back like that?!
Haven't seen that in a long time!

Bennett got real brave and wanted to feed the mommy cows.

After the mommy cows we headed down further to the baby cows - all the kids LOVED the baby cows!
One baby cow even gave Bennett a big lick/kiss before quickly slurping down a bottle! Bennett is still talking about how the baby cow licked his shirt!

More cow kisses!

Bennett told me later that cows eat grass but elephants still eat noodles! :)

My sweet boy spent a lot of time talking with this one lonely calf.

(Not mine of course, but so precious!)

After spending a good deal of time outside we headed inside to see how the milk gets from the cow to the bottles. It was basically an episode of Mr. Rogers and I was in heaven! (I still love the episodes where they went to the crayon factory and the cheese factory ... makes my heart smile)

And then we went and feed the animals in the petting zoo and we even got to feed ourselves a bit too! (with a good hand washing in between those two activities of course!)

NOTHING better than DeJong's Chocolate milk!

Thanks so much for inviting us Leslie, we had a great time!
If you have never been to DeJong's you MUST go! (It's in Wildomar off of Corydon) Their milk is fabulous and their chocolate milk will change your whole world! :)

Crackers...

2011-10-14T07:37:00.000-07:00

It's such a shame when you can't keep your eyes open long enough to even get your hand in the box.

Frog Jacket

2011-10-12T08:45:00.000-07:00

When we first got this jacket he would cry when I even tried to try it on him (it was a hand-me-down) but now he LOVES it and I am so so so so happy each time he puts it on!

Last week's rain was fabulous for so many reasons, but I think the frog jacket was at the top of the fabulous list!

Bed Time

2011-10-10T08:24:00.000-07:00

Without really trying to Bennett and I have created a bedtime routine that I am rather in love with.

First we read a book or two or three... then we pick out people to pray for (said list can include anyone from Mommy and Daddy to Uncle Casey to his monkey or trains or even himself - I think it's pretty stink'n cute when he picks himself!). After praying for them we always sing the same two songs which are usually followed by requests for more books to which I kiss him and say, "You can read books but mommy has to go get ready for bed too and I'll be back to check on you." and without a doubt he's asleep within 15 min with a giant pile of books next to him!

The other night as I walked out of the room I was thinking, "Oh I wish I could get that on video so I don't forget how cute he is singing those songs." After a week or so of thinking that same thing each night I figured I might as well try and it worked perfectly! I was worried the camera would throw him off and he wouldn't want to sing but he didn't even notice that I set it on the edge of the bed and I captured a very typical evening with my sweet boy... this video makes my heart happy, I really could watch it like 100 times a day!!!

Love this face...

2011-10-05T08:32:00.000-07:00

... and his sweet little folded hands too :)

for the love of puzzles

2011-10-01T23:16:00.000-07:00

So Bennett kind of has a problem right now... he is obsessed with puzzles. Like he cries if I even attempt to put them away! At least 5 to 10 times a day I hear ... "Mom, help me puh-puh" and the funny thing is, he doesn't need my help at all! He really just wants me to sit with him and say "good job" every time he gets a piece in the right spot (which is constantly because the kid is kind of a puzzle master)

Last week, Bennett wanted to spend time with Adam but Adam needed to work so Bennett brought his puzzles to Adam ... pretty creative solution I think! :)

A couple days ago, the poor kid (after skipping a nap to play with some friends) sat down to do "puh-puh's" and he totally fell asleep! Dedication, I tell you, dedication!

I finally captured a bit of the puzzle master in action a few weeks ago ... watch and enjoy the cuteness (I'm pretty sure we need to start math flash cards next week with him! ha ha!)

This morning I pulled out the camera after watching in amazement as he just worked his way right through a 48 piece puzzle. Granted he knows the characters well, so it wasn't like he had never seen the pictures before but still, I'm pretty sure he's off the charts in spatial reasoning skills for a 2 1/2 year old (proud mama talking here of course)!

By the time nap time came around, our kitchen table was full of "puh-puh's" that Bennett was soooo proud of!

(You have to hear him say "sting -ray" he totally thinks its two words and it is sooo cute when he talks about his Sea-Life puzzle!)

Balloon Surprise!

2011-09-29T16:36:00.000-07:00

Daddy brought home ballons the other night when he came home real late from Back to School Night.
Bennett found the balloons first thing the next morning ... he was a very happy man!

Tent boy

2011-09-27T08:30:00.000-07:00

So, I wasn't in the room for this but my understanding is that while Adam was making the bed, Bennett got on it and said he wouldn't get off because he wanted Adam to make a tent. Sooooo, Adam, being who he is, just kept on making the bed. All I got was a hand motion from Adam of "come her quickly" and I grabbed the camera on the way .... this boy is just too much!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

2011-09-24T10:37:00.000-07:00

Last week due to a perfect storm of a birthday landing on a saturday and with out asking for it, getting that saturday off, we had a whole day to spend celebrating Mary Beth!

The birthday girl picked a fabulous outing to a place she had never been before ...

... and that I couldn't be more fond of!

Seriously, have you ever been to the Getty? There is nothing like it! There is beauty in every corner of ever building, inside and out, it's stunning!

Okay, but let's be honest, it's a long drive from our house, but we all did rather well (only one bathroom stop for this pregnant girl!)

We were very glad when we arrived and were finally on the tram for our lovely view of the 405!

One of the first things we looked at were old Bibles ... totally facinating!

Especially this part where they laid the process and materials out.

I'm pretty sure we made it through each building and had a great time just wondering around and looking at all the art - there were so many different things to look at!

Bennett of course loved the pieces that had iPad's accompaying them ....

... and wasn't into a whole lot else while we were inside

... but then oddly enough, he seemed rather taken with this vase. He stayed to look at if a really long time and told Adam all about it.

But being that he is 2 1/2, his favorite part of the day by far was the elevators and their buttons!

Okay and can I just share my favorite part of the day too?!

If I lived in this part of the Getty, my days would consist of sitting in this room...

... or maybe this one.

... while drinking tea from this lovely set

...while I stared at this painting

... and then when I got tired I could go rest on my couch

...or if I really needed a nap, I would retire to my bed!

... ha ha! Okay, thanks for indulging me! :)

Back to reality.

When we made it out to the gardens Bennett was in hog heaven! He was ready to run and jump and play so we let him, a little... it is still the Getty after all.

We thought it might be nice to try for a family picture like we took back in Nov. of 2009


Still that same crooked smile of "I'm not sure if I like this"

Then without even realizing it, I kind of re-took this picture too

The rest of our time outside is what could be expected ... you know, lots of running and saying "Bennett, No!" Oh well, such is the life of this young man right now.

We couldn't go see our bench (where Adam proposed) because that part of the garden was closed for work - but it still looked good from afar!

On our way out we had a moment of clarity and remembered to ask someone to take a picture of us all together and this really sweet old man did a pretty good job!

Oh and one last Getty picture ... One of the highlights of the Getty (besides the art, architecture and gardens) is the people watching! There are so many people from all over the world, you never know what you are going to see!

Unfortunately I didn't get her husband in the picture with her ... but really, what went thru her mind that morning? "Giant bear attack whistle, check! Pearls, check! Extra elastic sleeve covers, check! All right, I'm ready to go look at art!"

Okay, enough with the Getty ... Everyone needs a fun birthday dinner to make the celebration feel complete! So where could be more fun than Disneyland?! (which by the way, Mary Beth has never been to, so this was her first Disneyland experience ... a cry'n shame I tell you!) So we made our way to Down Town Disney to have a fiesta at Tortilla Joe's. We had a fabulous dinner and probably ate way too much guacamole but it's okay, we were celebrating!

Bennett LOVED the Mariachi band the roamed the restaurant and had a very hard time staying in his seat while watching them!

After a fun song and a little dessert...

... we made our way out and about in DownTown Disney! Bennett was in love!

Buzz and Woody costumes!

Is there red 40 in a green lollypop? I don't know, i figured it was the safest :)

a "Raff" made out of blocks!

Hugging Woody!

Anyone still reading? ... you get a prize!

What a great and fun day but we were all rather tired by the time we got home! Here's hoping next year we can actually get Grandma inside the real Disneyland for her birthday! :)

Happy 54th Grandpa!

2011-09-22T16:29:00.000-07:00

Dear Grandpa,

You are the greatest!

Thank you so much for letting me help you blow out your candles!

And for picking such a yummy pineapple cake for dessert!

I love you very much,
Bennett

2 and a half

2011-09-20T16:38:00.000-07:00

Last month we got some 2.5 year pictures taken of Bennett with our favorite photographer at JC Penny's in Temecula (not favorite photographer ever ... just favorite at Penny's, really, she is such a sweetheart! I love to see and catch up with her each time we go!)

Anyways ... I was looking at Bennett's 2 year picture at my neighbors house and realized how different he looked and well, I look rather different too, so we took some pictures to document this phase in life our life.

Cold!

2011-09-18T13:38:00.000-07:00

We went to frozen yogurt the other night for dessert ... Bennett was of course happy as a clam!

That was until he suddenly grabbed his face with both hands and yelled "COLD!"

Poor kid got his first brain freeze!

But don't worry, all is well now.
It was nothing that a little "Fruit Ninja" couldn't fix!

Trains and Buzz

2011-09-16T13:30:00.000-07:00

Trains and cute Buzz butt ... it was a good day!

Three More Months

2011-09-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

... hopefully!

So it's September 14th and my due date is December 14th thus I am officially in my third trimester!!!!

And well... lets be honest, I have my hopes up.
I have them up for an early/on time delivery! I mean I'm willing to wait, I did it for Bennett and I'll do it every time after this (if there are any more) but I'm not gonna lie, having a baby in December doesn't thrill me. Especially in a December where Hanukkah and Christmas over lap! I love our Hanukkah traditions and I'm realizing we can't plan a thing or invite anyone over because we have no clue what that time will hold for us! And then when I think about missing our Christmas traditions because I'm in labor or sitting in a hospital room recovering ... well, I get more than a little sad! Or even worse... listening to people say "You're STILL pregnant" while participating in all the traditions (both Hanukkah and Christmas) would be the worst of all!!!!

So all that whining above is to say... please pray for this baby to come at the time the Lord wants it to come and in the manner He wants it to come (naturally or c-section) and please pray for my body and mind and spirit to be gracious towards when and how this baby comes no matter what day it is. Pray that selfishness would not reign in me (I realize that's the problem here, but still, I want MY traditions). Pray that I will be brave and peaceful when talking with my doctors who seem so bent on robbing me of the birth I so desire for this sweet child I'm carrying. And last but certainly not least, pray that I would be kind and loving and gracious towards the "your still pregnant?!" and "you're so big" comments because they have already started and well... just pray, for me to keep my mouth shut! ha ha! :)

And now, a belly recap of the first two trimesters ... let's be honest, that's the only reason you checked this post! :)

Tissues

2011-09-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

Gotta love a church that provides tissues in the sanctuary ... even if they are just used to entertain!

Labor Day!

2011-09-09T11:43:00.000-07:00

Despite the weird rainy and humid day, Labor day was not a wash for our family - We had a great day!

Instead of cooking breakfast we decided to go out for breakfast (with the rest of Murrieta, I'm pretty sure) so we had a lot of time to kill at our table. Of all the things we could have done with our hungry little hippo, Adam decided today was the day to teach Bennett about shooting straw wrappers at people ... Bennett thought it was about the coolest thing ever!

After a yummy breakfast and a quick drive down to Carlsbad ... we arrived at Lego Land! But since we were not interested in spending $70 a person to look at blocks quiet yet (I'm sure we will at some point, but just not today) we went to just the aquarium portion of the park!

It wasn't huge by any means, but I must say, it was fun and Bennett really enjoyed himself, so pretty much that counts as a success in my book!

They might have freaked him out a bit in the beginning, but the bubbles where you could go "inside" the water were pretty cool!

Even Adam and Mary Beth had a good time with them!

I didn't realize how yucky octopus' really are!

Totally coveting these prints ... so wish they were in Bennett's room!

A little Lego play station of course!

We did a lot of looking and pointing, but Bennett was not interested in actually getting his hands wet!

Bennett loved looking at himself! He just kept laughing and running and then checking to make sure he could still see himself!

Good thing he was paying attention to all those beautiful fish right behind him! ha ha!

We ended our time at the aquarium with Bennett's super fancy 32 cent souvenir of "Nemo"
Gotta love a simple kid!

After the aquarium we went and walked the Carlsbad Outlets and actually got some awesome deals on a few things so that was a nice bonus to the day we hadn't expected! After a phenomenal meal at King's Fish House and a little overheating of our car (yep, cracked radiator here folks! It's in the shop as we speak) we headed home under the beauty of this amazing double rainbow!

We heart Balboa Park!

2011-09-06T16:30:00.000-07:00

During the summer we always love to go down to Balboa Park in San Diego to catch an organ concert or two. (as seen from the past few years here, here and here) And this year was no different!

We went to silent movie night with Brian and Crystal-Lee to watch the 1924 Peter Pan and listen to the organ.

And we were right, Bennett totally got into the parts of the movie where there were pirates and indians but other than that he just wanted to play with his dad and run around!

Even still, fun was had by all!

We got sooo lucky! Who gets a great picture using the self timer on the first try?! We do!!!

We went again for the finale last week ("A Tribute to Hollywood" sounded like a fun theme for the night) and we left kind of early and realized as we were passing the 8 on the 163 that it was 6 and the concert started at 7:30 so with a very coded conversation (we didn't want Bennett to hear the "Z" word) we decided the zoo was a great place to kill the next hour and a half. So I turned around and asked Bennett what he wanted to do before we went to the park to have dinner? He just kind of looked at me like, what? and said, "Uhhhh..." and I said, "where would you like to go right now?" And after a second of quiet he said "Zoo!" He was totally shocked and started yelling and clapping when I said that that sounded like a good idea and that we would be there in a couple minutes!

He was beside himself as he realized we were going in with no sunscreen or stroller or anything! He just got to walk into the Zoo with his dad like a big kid!

We know who the big guns are as far as animals are concerned for Bennett so we went straight to the Sky-fari and then on towards the Elephants!

He was so happy (and there was hardly anyone around) so we let him run ahead to the elephants - he was just so excited to be there!

No joke, he asked me to take this picture of him and the "Eh-Eh"

Once in the Elephant area we were reminded again why we so so so love the Zoo during the summer when it's open late for "Night Time Zoo" - there is hardly anyone there AND the animals are all out and about, not taking naps like you normally see during the day.

As we were walking I asked Bennett what the Elephants were eating ... if I had only had the slightest inkling of what was to come out of his mouth I would have video'ed it - but alas I did not. So a few minutes later we asked him again so I could hopefully get it and yep, he said it again:

What in the world?! Where does he come up with this stuff?

There was lots of running - I think he was just that excited!

The giraffes were our last stop for the evening before we headed to the concert (and our picnic dinner)

Adam captured a good baby belly shot as Bennett was walking along the curb.

25 weeks

Another good thing about Night Time Zoo - all the normal crowded things aren't crowded! So we stopped at this lion by the entrance to see if Bennett would take a picture next to it, after a couple failed attempts ... I'm in love with this picture!

Once we had dinner and were enjoying the concert laying on the grass listening to all sorts of random things (music from the God Father, the Pink Panther theme...) We tried to take a picture together. I think I was still feeling lucky from the last time when we got that awesome one with Brian and Crystal-Lee ...

ha ha! We told him to look up - we ment at the camera - he just didn't get it!

Adam and I called it quits after the second song of the second half (we were both too tired) so we missed the tribute the Sound of Music but other than that, it was such a great night!

Thank you Summer Organ Festival and Balboa Park you never disappoint!

The Joy of Cards

2011-09-03T13:37:00.000-07:00

So last week sometime we had my brother and sister-in-law over for dinner and cards and while eating and setting up the game (Hand and Foot, of course) Bennett was playing with the cards and the card shuffler, yes, we own a card shuffler, and having a great 'ol time! So, being who I am, I grabbed my camera to take a picture of him...

Then he wanted to show me his cards ...

Then he wanted me to take a picture of everyone ... ha ha! Love him, he's a future blogger for sure!

And then finally, my super smart husband takes the camera and records this video
This had already happened a few times but his reaction is still just as good as the first time!

Makes me laugh every time!

Baby Paisley

2011-09-02T12:03:00.000-07:00

Three weeks ago today this precious little thing was born!

I was lucky enough to get to meet her at one week and man oh man, she was just as sweet as she looks!

Her mommy is my long time friend Gwen whom you may recognize from here

Paisley, you are so sweet and I'm so glad you are here!
Hopefully you and baby Elwer #2 get along really well so your mommies can get together all the time! :)

The Last Day of Summer

2011-08-31T14:33:00.000-07:00

School is in full swing for us here and last week, the day before Adam had to go back, we took one last summer trip to the San Diego Zoo!

We parked next to this! Seriously? What the heck?!

Our little tour guide

He's so big and brave now!

Bennett's first penny print was of course of an elephant!

He loves "Eh-Eh"'s soooo much!
I'm so glad I caught this totally spontaneous act of love!

The polar bears were out playing!

He just took off running when he saw the "hop-hop"!!!!

Happy Man!

Waiting for the train

3 generations on the train

Train riding is serious stuff these days!

Showing me his "Lie-lie" his Grandma bought him!

What a perfect end to a great, great summer!

Now bring on Christmas break and baby Elwer #2!!!!

Fresh from the Garden

2011-08-29T14:27:00.000-07:00

Bennett has a thing for cucumbers! He will eat them any time, any where! He loves them! But until recently I didn't realize that he would even take them off the counter and just start chowing down before I could cut it up!

I wonder how long it will be before he makes the connection between what he's eating and this guy:

Swimming @ Grammy's

2011-08-28T13:49:00.000-07:00

So we have taken to inviting ourselves over to my parents at least a few times a week to go swimming! There is pretty much nothing else Bennett would rather do (well, except for going to the zoo) and it's just good, free fun - so we're always game!

Helping Grammy water the "plants"

Celebrating Robert!

2011-08-26T14:28:00.000-07:00

I met my friend Robert in high school and we have been friends ever since! Here we are in 1997, celebrating his 16th birthday...

That's not Bennett, that's my brother Casey who just started his senior year of high school!

... So of course we had to celebrate his big "three-oh"!

In true Robert fashion there were bubbles and a jumper! So, needless to say, Bennett had an awesome time!

It was a great party at the park! We got to sit and talk with great friends who we don't see often enough and play games with said friends too! (we're all a little competitive!)

While playing bocce ball ... Bennett made a great friend in Megan (also known as May-May to Bennett) because she was pushing him around in a little car but he really started enjoying her when she started pushing him down the big hills! He loved it!

Robert hope you had a great birthday, all the Elwer's (and Howley's too) love you and are so glad we've known you for so long! Blessing upon you friend!

Peanut Queen!

2011-08-24T09:18:00.000-07:00

So I mentioned in my last post that my friend Jen had come and helped me with a few projects around the house this summer. Well that mention reminded me that I had a few pictures to post from her visit!

Jen has always been my "allergic to nuts" friend and I've always made sure to be extra careful not to kill her! However, in the last month (after lots of allergy tests) Jen came to find out that she is allergic to tree nuts but not PEANUTS!!!! So after all the projects were done and we were talking about getting dinner and decided Jen's first Pad Thai was what we needed to do that night!

We went to our favorite Thai restaurant in Temecula, Aiyara, and had a peanut-rific dinner!

Here's Jen's first bight of dinner (Pad Thai)

and here's Bennett with his favorite Jen (whom he calls "Jay") at dinner!

Thanks for coming out to help Jen and we are so glad we got to eat peanuts with you!

Summer Projects!

2011-08-22T13:47:00.000-07:00

So besides the amazing bed Adam made this summer, there were many other fabulous "around the house" projects that were done as well!

We'll start in Bennett's room ...

As I was laying Bennett down I put my knee on the edge of his bed and Snap! One of the boards broke! Dang! But that was an easy fix! Unfortunately Bennett was not happy the board was a different color from the others, but I was super happy we had the board just laying around the house so it was a totally free fix! YAY!

Adam finished up his three paintings for Bennett's room!

My friend Jen and I rearranged Bennett's room a bit and gave him a "reading corner" - it's pretty stink'n cute!

Then moving out into the living room area we had some great projects out there too!

Adam replaced the loud, old, wobbly ceiling fan with a brand new little quiet one! We love it!

Also, random thing ... when pulling the wire's down to hook up the new fan ... this came out with them!

Yeah, it's pretty much a petrified mouse ... that thing could have died like 10 years ago! I don't even want to think about what else could be up there! Yuck!

With a few extra side jobs from this summer we were able to get a new flat little TV and get rid of our big bulky TV and cabinate! YAY! With some furniture rearranging, some wood, some paint and a cute little helper ...

we went from this:

to this!

Pretty great huh?! I love it!

And then along the same lines ... we also "repurposed" the other window seat in the living room to be our video cupboard (and my friend Jen totally alphabetized and labeled all our movies too!)

So we still have painting to do (our room, the video cupboard doors, some touch up's in Bennett's room) but for the most part our house got a fabulous face lift this summer!
Gotta love handy husbands!

When Grandpa's Attack!

2011-08-20T08:22:00.000-07:00

Lessons on Sharing from Bennett

2011-08-18T15:11:00.000-07:00

If your friend gives you a ride...

... then you should give them one too!

Happy Birthday to Brian!

2011-08-16T09:28:00.000-07:00

We celebrated my brother's birthday a few times and had a great time every time!

On his actual birthday, we met up a the duck pond so Adam and I could run errands and Bennett could have some fun with his Aunt and Uncle.

Later that evening, we met up for dinner together at Chipotle followed by dessert at White Lime! Bennett LOVES White Lime, he's pretty funny there!

Trying to hold his ice cream in and say cheese at the same time! Talented kid!

After ice cream we all went and watched the season premier of Project Runway together! (Super manly, right?! ha ha! Adam said that he was going to watch "the Gunn show")

We didn't all have our astronaut pants on but we all did make it work! :)

Then a few days later we celebrated again with lots of friends, family and carne asada!

Mostly Bennett just enjoyed the fact that the people's house we were at had a doggie door!

When it was time to sing to "Uncle Brian" I put Bennett up on a stool so that he could see better ... but without realizing it, I'm pretty sure he thought I was putting him in front of HIS dessert! haha!

And well, then when we sang, our suspicions were confirmed!
He for sure thought it was his birthday!

Lucky for Bennett he has a very nice Uncle Brian, who doesn't mind sharing and even let Bennett help him open presents!

Happy 25th Brian!
Hope you had as much fun as we did!

Saturday Morning Fun!

2011-08-13T13:40:00.000-07:00

Some saturdays you just need to be out front with your friends in your PJ's!

But then if you are out front in your PJ's on a saturday morning, you will have to eat breakfast in their fort!

And if you eat breakfast in your friends fort, then you'll probably also have to go on a motorcycle ride!

And if your friend is really nice, they may even let you drive the motorcycle too!

But then if you have gone a motorcycle ride, you will of course have to have some music time!

And then after music must come play-do!

But then after play-do and music and motorcycles and breakfast in your PJ's, it's pretty much time to clean up because your fun saturday morning has all of a sudden become saturday afternoon!

Duck Pond

2011-08-11T09:46:00.000-07:00

We love a good trip to the duck pond and this time we got to bring some friends with us!

Notice the "billy goat" in the background!

"Hey that's for the ducks, not you!"

Good afternoon with good friends, what more could you ask for?!

Zoo, Zoo, Zoo, We love the Zoo!

2011-08-07T08:05:00.000-07:00

Bennett discovered the joy of the map during this trip! He carried it around with him the whole trip and would show us where he wanted to go! (Basically, it was always the Elephants or the Giraffes but he did point some other stuff out too - mostly it was just cute to see him looking at it all day)

Adam and I waiting in line for the Sky-fari (thank you again Shayne for your tip about taking the stroller on with us - made the day so much better!)

Notice my hand right next to his head ... one of my first real mommy freak outs with him not strapped in!

The panda's were out and about! We got to watch them for a really long time and Bennett LOVED it! I'm sure he would have stayed there all day if we would have let him!

So I jokingly said to Bennett when we were looking at the "big cat" section of the Zoo, "Bennett make sure you tell them, 'No, no, you can't eat me for lunch!' "

Here he is walking back and forth with the Cheetah telling him, "No, no, no..." apparently he was really listening to me when I was being silly! :)

After the big cats of course comes the "Eh-Eh" section (also known as the Elephants)

He's saying "Mom, Eh-Eh! "

It was at this point in our afternoon that the pregnant mommy in the group started to get very tired from walking, so we took a rest (which included ice cream as all rests should), and then went straight to the bus tour so that I could get more rest. And as always the bus tour did not disappoint! It really is the best!

I don't remember what he saw, but isn't this the best picture!
Cracks me up every time I see it!

"Hi, Eh-Eh's"

Bennett's thinking, "Mom, no pictures now, there are Elephants right there that I must talk to and wave at!"

It's sort of become a "tradtion" for Bennett to get to pick out one animal each time we go to the Zoo or Wild Animal Park but this time he found something else:

He told us all about it with the "Pay-Pay" (panda) and the "Ty-Ty" (tiger), he was soooo excited!

And well since it was $13 and the single animals are usually about $10, Grandma got it for him! Lucky kid!

We also learned something new during this zoo trip (well actually I guess two things if you count the stroller on the sky-fari thing) If you buy your tickets for the Balboa Park Train inside the Zoo (at the bus ticket station) they are half off! (only $1.50 instead of $3) so that was pretty rad!
We always save the best for last!

Look at that little noise poking right over the edge of the train ... his cuteness kills me sometimes!

The 4th

2011-08-04T10:49:00.000-07:00

No, not the 4th of August, the 4th of July :)
(still back blogging, don't judge)

This year on the 4th we kind of had a repeat of last year, and I am totally okay with that!

We had a really restful day and had a lovely time snacking and catching up with people we hadn't seen in a while (some of them we hadn't seen since last year on the 4th)

Here's the pregnant mommy section for the day, out chatting and watching everyone else do stuff

Once the sun set and the playing and eating had slowed down, we all gathered together and had a moment to celebrate the sweetest little "Audrie - girl" there ever was!