Christmas

I know, finally! Well, Christmas for us was great. Bentley was so much funner than last year. He was really into opening all of his presents. He would make sure evrey tiny piece of tape and paper was off of every present before he even noticed the contents of the package. He also wanted us to open up all of his toys for him right away. It is so much fun having a child around for Christmas; it brings back the magic of the season and especially the magic of Christmas morning. That is one of of the most wonderful things about being a parent; you get to re experience everything from the eyes of a child, all over again!

Here is our Christmas day in photos. Enjoy!

Look at that excited little face. I bet he already dreams about next Christmas!

The Lollipop Haircut Shop

Last Saturday we took Bentley to the Lollipop Haircut Shop to get his first haircut. And boy did he need it. His hair is very fine, and sparse on the sides. It was getting so long in the front, that in order to keep it out of of his eyes, I had to part it to one side. The result: the baby comb over! His hair has been referred to as "mad scientist hair," and "Donald Trump hair;" lovingly, of course.

He fell asleep on the way there. A bad start. When we woke him up he was tired and grumpy. By the time he got into his Hummer barber shop "chair," he was NOT very happy. Basically he cried and cried elephant tears for the first several minutes. Luckily in his crying he stayed really still.
















In an effort to stop the torture, we decided that he might be better off sitting on my lap, which he was, until . . . the lady brought out the clippers. The rest of thebuzzing was torturous, but luckily it didn't last long.


























Bentley was a much happier camper when the "mean" lady handed him a lollipop. He even told her thank you.





















Check out the cute certificate he received. Something for the memory book for sure.















I think he'll do better next time; let's hope!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Told you no promises on the everyday posting thing. My weeks are just crazy now. Not only do I work from 9 to 5 now, Monday thru Friday, but I also started working out Monday thru Thursday. Therefore, my two hours in between work and working out are spent with my son and not blogging. And I think I have my priorities straight!

James was away in Utah finishing up school until the 20th, so we only had five days to celebrate the holiday season together as a family. And for the very short time that we had, we did quite a few festive things. Our first event was my family's annual Christmas party. Here is Ben participating in the children's white elephant swap. He picked and unwrapped his own present; he got a pink kitty holding a pink blanket. Luckily my cousin Chloe swapped him and he ended up with a Target gift card.

Our next order of business was making sure that Ben saw Santa this year. Last year we didn't get this milestone moment accomplished, so it was a must this year. Bentley screamed when we sat him on Santa's lap. SO we kindly asked Santa to get out of his chair, placed Ben on his chair, distracted Ben thoroughly by dancing ridiculously and singing "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer," meanwhile Santa sneaked back in next to Bentley and they finally captured this picture. The serious face is classic Ben.

Constructing a gingerbread house was the next thing on my Christmas to do list. I want to make it one of our traditions, since neither myself or James grew up doing it (it can be ALL ours). I hope to improve every year (clearly).

The last must do was a trip to see the Christmas lights at beautiful Oakland Temple. It was freezing, but the bright lights and spirit there warmed my heart and made me happy knowing that my family will be together forever, and therefore have lots more Christmas seasons together to come!

Bentley's First Trip With His Grandparents

The weekend after Thanksgiving my parents, sister, and grandparents took Bentley to LA to Knottsberry Farm (I put Disneyland off limits, since James and I want to be with Ben for his first time of course). I had to work, and James was still in Utah, so we both missed out on the fun. Bentley loves his grandparents and quickly he learned to say their names. His first was "Nana" (my grandma), and then he perfected "Papa" (my dad), but still hasn't got my mom's chosen grandma name down yet, "Mimi." He says "mama." It's funny how I couldn't say "mama" so called my mom "mimi," and Ben calls my mom "mama," and can't say "mimi." Anyways, they loved taking him along with them and they had a great time. Although Ben would not let Snoopy get too close; he did like the characters from a far.

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving begin for us like it always does, at the Turkey Bowl. Mind you I am the only woman whoever goes to this thing. James just has a thing for showing off for me. So I go for him! Prior to stepping foot on the field with him I made him lose the headgear. Clearly its as much about fashion to him as the game. AT least he backed up his appearance and played really well.

After the game we headed home to get ready; James cutting off all the tape on his cleats, and me changing Ben and myself from our matching Tom Brady jerseys, to our Thanksgiving best. So far since we've been married we have attempted splitting Thanksgiving between the two families (we might change that in the future). So first appearance of the day was at my Grandpa's newly renovated house that my dad and Uncle's have been working on for the last few months. We only got to stay for a quick visit; just enough time to take a family picture and capture Bentley and my cousin's matching Converses.

Our evening wrapped up at James' aunt and uncles house in Sausalito (also newly renovated, and gorgeous). The whole gang was there; grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. The food was delicious of course. And I ate too much, of course. The boys watched football, of course. And cousin Mary Ellen performed two of her audition songs from Little Women for us. It was a great Thanksgiving, and made me grateful to be living nearer to all of those we have loved and missed while being in Utah.

Catch Up

Clearly I am in need of doing just that. My last post was written Halloween night. Two days later I packed Bentley and I up and moved to California to start working full time as an assistant for my father-in-laws insurance agency. We moved on a Sunday, drove all day, and I started work on Tuesday. Needless to say my life got much busier, and quickly. The decision to move Ben and I back to California six months prior to James' graduation was a decision that we reached in two weeks. So everything was very sudden; including my goodbye to Utah and friends. I still miss the beautiful state and my wonderful friends, but am slowly adjusting to being a Californian again. I've been away for four years, and despite the fact that this is where I was born and raised, I am having difficulty having it feel like home again. This could also be due to the fact that I don't really have a home; not of my own. We are currently living with my parents. The house is HUGE, Bentley has his own room (ah, privacy!), there is a dishwasher, and washer and dryer, and my wonderful parents (Mimi and Papa to Bentley), and Grandma (Nana to Ben). I am so grateful to be living here, and the ammenities are fabulous (I come home and dinner is made!), but I think I'll feel more settled when we can move into a little place of our own again (probably two more months).

Other than the beginning work thing taking up my time, I sorta lost motivation to blog because I am now currently residing in the home of my most faithful and anticipated reader, my mom. But after hearing from Nana (James' grandma), among others, that they are missing my blog posts, I thought that I would take another crack at it. Besides I realized that I have no other journal, so I should make an attempt to document at least the big things on my blog.

So here is my catch up plan. I am going to write daily (no promises though) to bring everything current. Whenever others in my same boat play catch up and post like ten posts, I find that I stop reading after the third post. So hopefully a daily post will keep my readers interested. I will start with Thanksgiving.