Introducing Eva!

Ben's newest playmate and my new job. They are so fun together, and it's hardly work at all. I have pictures that I'll post later, but here's a movie showing just how funny these two are going to be! 

Movie Monday!

Monkey Boy!

Ben learned how to give kisses. It's a hit or miss thing, actually a hit (he gives a kiss) or hit (literally hits me in the face) thing!

Schools Out For Summer!

You're probably thinking a little late for school to be out, right. Well James took summer school so that he could completely finish up by the end of the year. It was a tough semester (well term really). Most people take one, maybe two summer classes, but James took four (that's how much we want to get back to Cali). Well, at least that's how much I want to get back. James on the other hand isn't as anxious, because as he put it, "that's when real responsibility begins." I guess he didn't get the memo that he has a wife and child! Ha, ha. 

After having only two weeks off, he has been taking classes four days a week, with tests every two to three weeks. It hasn't been too crazy, because luckily teachers in the summer cut out all of the busy work, until this last week. Finals week! Finals are always stressful, and especially so when you realize that you have to spit out the information that your teachers have been cramming into your brain at four times the speed of normal classes. James was feeling pretty overwhelmed at first, but with a little bit of help from me (the flash card maker), and some help from his boss (the time off giver) he pulled it off. 

And he feels like he did great! Now three weeks to relax until Fall. We decided we are going to get in as much family fun time as we can. Starting with... (stay tuned for next post). 

Congratulations hunny, Ben and I are proud of you! One more semester!

My Baby Turned One... Two months Ago!

I realized that in my recap of the last few months, I forgot to talk about my baby's real birthday (I did post about his party). My baby turned one on June 26th at 3:12 p.m. I couldn't forgot this momentous occasion in the all-important blog, so heres to you Bentley, Happy Birthday BooBoos. 

Ben's 1-Year Stats:

*Height: 30.5 in./62%

*Weight: 21.2 lb./19%

*Head Circumference: 18.3 in./71%

*Teeth: 4- 2 top and 2 bottom

What the one-year-old Ben could do:

*Stand for extended periods of time without holding on to anything

*Take about ten steps max.

*Say "mom" "momma" "dad", and "dada" (he says "dada" the most, although he chooses not to say much most of the time. When I ask him to say "dada" he just sits there smirking at me, like he's thinking, "I can do it, but I'm not going to!"

*Eat all table food! Goodbye baby food. And my son can eat (more on that later). 

*Drink from a cup, although I still give him water in a little bottle, to keep him better hydrated. 

*Clap his hands

*Give high fives

*Wave hello and bye bye

*Has no interest in his toys, prefers ANYTHING else. 

*Figured out how to unroll the toilet paper

*Can throw his ball into his little basketball hoop

*Laughs in your face when you tell him "no!"

*And the list goes on and on. But I'm sure since you're not his mom, you probably don't care to hear ANYMORE!

Ben after his one-year checkup. He had to get shots, poor baby. But was a trooper like always!

To celebrate, we had a little party at our house, just the three of us. I decorated the house a little bit, and the upside down balloons were a hit with Ben. I made a yummy dinner (pulled pork sandwiches), and a good tasting, okay looking cake. Ben actually was better at tearing open the paper from his presents. An improvement since his party a few weeks earlier. Then we went to a drive in movie, but Ben fell asleep before we even got there. That's okay, don't tell him but the movie was really for James and I ;-)  

Happy Birthday big boy. Mommy and Daddy love you!

Cooper's Second Birthday

Bentley was invited to his first little friend birthday party. He even helped pick out the present, well, sorta. I forgot to take a picture of it, but it was a cute little golf club set. Ben held in it his lap in the cart all around the store. James asked why I didn't get Ben one too, so I guess I gotta go back and get one for him. 

It was a cowboy themed party, and Cyndi (Cooper's mom), did a great job. She got all the kids little cowboy vests and bandannas and Ben wore his the whole party and after we got home he didn't want to take it off. 

Cyndi's sister played some fun games with the kids. The first game was a relay race, which didn't turn out like she planned. They would either all run at once, or not run at all. Ben, Wells, and Cooper (birthday boy in the overalls) enjoyed playing in the barrel of dirt that marked the end of the relay course. 

Bentley also sat in the kinda circle during the "cowboy, cowboy, indian" game (like duck, duck, goose). I just told the kids not to pick him. 

On the car ride home we tried to keep all of the kids up. Because in case you didn't know, sometimes even when babies are really tired, if they fall asleep in the car for even a short amount of time, they get a power nap, and don't want to fall asleep when you finally get them home. The only one that was successful at keeping her child up was Brooke. Ben still took a great nap for me when we got home, so it all worked out!

Fun With Friends

Bentley is getting more and more interested in other kids. Mostly he plays with two of my neighbor's boys, Chase and Isaac, who are both three. He enjoys watching them play. They don't always want him participating in their play, they tell me, "he's too little." I think they got that from me, because I tell them "he's too little" to understand certain things, or not to do things, like... knock over their sand castle. But they are really nice to him, most of the time. Ben is a people watcher, so he doesn't mine watching from the sidelines sometimes. He was watching Chase and Isaac swim the other day, until they splashed him pretty bad and he had a mini meltdown... and was outta there. He doesn't like sprinklers or being splashed. 

There is another little boy in our court, Boston, who is only four months older than Ben. We should play with him more. 

I Got A J*O*B!!!

I have been looking for a job since before I graduated in April. At first I was looking for a "real" job. We were going to rearrange James' school schedule so that he could stay home with Ben. Eventually I realized that I would really love to nanny again. I have always babysat and nannied for the sweetest little girl Addy back in California. So I joined three nanny websites and have been applying for jobs for the last few months. I didn't really have much luck, until a week ago, when all of a sudden I had two interviews set up for the same day. 

One of the interviews was with a Julie G. (funny, I know), and it was for after school care for her nine and eleven-year-old daughters. I got that job. BUT, the other interview was with Liz to watch her fourteen-month-old little girl, Eva. I really wanted that job, because I was excited for Ben to have a little friend. I ended up getting that job TOO. Feast or famine, right? So regrettably I told Julie G. that I was offered another job with better hours. 

Now I get to work with Ben by my side, and James gets to cut back at his work. I can't wait to start on Monday, I think that Ben and Eva are going to be great friends! Stay tuned for our adventures in babysitting!

If you are looking for a nanny job, here are some sites that you can join and set up your own profile and search for families in your area: 

https://www.care.com/

http://www.nannies4hire.com/index.asp