2010- That's a Wrap!

JANUARY

We celebrated New Years in Vegas visiting Nana and attending a Joh

n Mayer concert.

James began his insurance licensing process, I continued working for my Father-in-Law, and Ben spent his days with either his Mimi (my mom), or his GG (James' mom).

FEBRUARY

James passed the first of three licensing exams. I turned a quarter of a century old.

MARCH

I don't really remember March to be quite honest.

APRIL

James graduated from the University of Utah with a B.S. in Economics. The whole family flew out to Utah in support of him. It was nice to see Utah again after having moved backed home to California six months earlier. It will always be my second home. So proud of James and SO happy to be done with school!

MAY

I think we celebrated Easter in May, or was it April?? Well, here's a cute pic of Ben from Easter either way.

JUNE

Ben turned two in June and I planned a great Dr. Seuss party. I obsess over party-planning and basically have his third birthday well in the works. A lot of friends and family were there and Ben had a blast opening presents and eating all the sweets.

JULY

On July 17th the newest member of the family was born, Dylan Patrick. After years of infertility and failed IVF's with a surrogate, James' Aunt Staci and Uncle Tom adopted their beautiful baby boy. Ben absolutely adores "baby Dylan," and I know they will grow up to be great friends.

AUGUST

James carrer path took a turn as we decided that insurance was not the best fit and he began his new position as an ADR for ArcSight in Cupertino. Shortly after getting hired, ArcSight was bought out by HP. James is enjoying his job and is having GREAT success. I'm so proud of him and we are enjoying life in the tech world of Silicon Valley.

SEPTEMBER

I got a new car! A 2010 Kia Soul Limited Edition. It has four doors (almost the best part of all); after 2.5 years of heaving a baby into the back seat of a 2 door coupe, you'd understand. I love my car.

OCTOBER

On October 15th we moved out of the parent's house and into this little place in Los Gatos, CA (interior pics to come).

James turned the big 26 and as usual had his little freakout (I thought that aging freaked women out the most). We celebrated with an intimate Switchfoot concert in Santa Cruz.

We went with a magician theme this year for Halloween. James the magician, myself, the magician's assistant, and Ben, the rabbit out of the hat.

NOVEMBER

We celebrated Thanksgiving and enjoyed getting settled into our new home and exploring the new home town.

DECEMBER

Christmas was very fun with Bentley this year. He was very into Santa Clause and his little heart's desire was earphones and a phone. Santa delivered with Skull Candy- Paul Frank earphones, and James' old iPhone, encased in a new ifrogz skin and loaded with kid-friendly apps and music.

The day after Christmas we drove down to L.A. for Ben's first trip to Disneyland. It was extremely crowded, but the holiday decor was beautiful. Ben loved the characters and went on lots of rides, with no fear. Can't wait to go again when he's a little bigger, it's a little less crowded, and we feel a LOT better (James and I both got pneumonia).

New Years Resolution

I was reading this great blog, when something she said really struck me. She was talking about how she has always been a journal keeping person, and how she had stacks of journals completely filled with the meaningful events of her life. However, she said that she regrets not keeping a better record of the little things. The things that make up her family at a certain given point in time. The small, seemingly insignificant day-to-day stuff that can be forgotten so easily. When I realized that I forget how mine and James' life was (other than the major things: our jobs at the time, where we lived, etc.) pre Bentley, and even how our life functioned day-to-day with Ben, both in school, with very little money at our disposal, I realized that she was really on to something. These are the things I want to record. The big stuff we will remember, because they are well . . . big things. But it's the little things that make up the fibers of our life and weave together to form OUR big picture. So, before I post a wrap up of our year in 2010 (since the last time I posted was Easter, I do have a lot of catching up to do), I am going to copy this wise lady's idea and provide our family's "snapshot."

It's funny how Ben pronounces what as "vhat," so clearly knows his v sound, yet pronounces movie as "moomie."

Speaking of, my kid has become a moomie junkie. His favorites are Shrek and Toy Story (any of the trilogy will do).

James gets to work by 6 a.m. So understandably when he comes home from work at lunch (we live about ten minutes from his office), he takes a quick nap. However, he literally sits up on the bed, three pillows propped under him, and naps for about thirty minutes. I guess he doesn't want to get too comfortable.

Rolling out my garbage cans to the curb every Wednesday evening makes me feel like a real adult (being a wife and mother didn't really do that for me)!

Saturday morning means donuts for our little family. We do walk there (maybe a five minute trek), so that makes me feel a little less guilty.

When we had the convenience of living with my parents, James and I were great about a weekly Friday date night (never had that luxury in Utah with no family and no money), and we think it's really important. Our funnest date night? A one night camping trip. And if garbage cans make me feel like an adult, I can't imagine how I feel when we finally breakdown and start paying for a sitter (we are missing date night since we moved, so it may be soon).

James claims that I am the best microwave heater-upper there is. Whether it be his frozen chimichangas or leftover meatloaf; he praises how perfectly heated it is . . . I think he's just lazy myself :-)

Ben thinks it's a crack up to call his Daddy, "James," and for some odd reason, his Mommy, "Mamot." I have no clue!

We have finally implemented a successful bedtime routine for Ben. 7:15 Bath time with California Baby Calming Aromatheraphy Bubble Bath, 7:45 One episode in Mommy and Daddy's bed of show of choice (usually Caillou), 8:10 Ben calls in Daddy (usually from the living room) to say prayers and read three verses of scripture (we are trying to focus on consistency, rather than quantity). Followed by nigh-night kisses and hugs from Daddy. 8:20 Ben chooses two books for me to read. His favorites are "I'll Love You Forever" and "The Potty Book for Boys." 8:35 I turn on his Homedics Sound Spa, tuned to "ocean" and project lighted image directly above his bed. I lay on his floor right next to his opened door (we are going to be phasing this step out soon), and usually within five minutes once the heavy breathing has begun, I crawl out and close the door behind me.

We walk everywhere, because almost everything is in walking distance: parks, the library, restaurants, shops, and Walgreens. I bought a middle of the road (as far as price is concerned) Joovy stroller, which James hates and reminds me of it every time we walk. The front wheels are a little messed up and I just need to go to the store to see if they can dig me up a copy of my receipt so I cam email it to this lady at Joovy so she can send me new wheels (yah, I really need to get on that). Anyways, we love walking around our new home town (it's probably the most appealing thing about our town to me). And we have our best conversations on those walks.

Whenever music comes on the TV via a commercial or whatever, Ben just has to get up and get his groove on. His dancing is a mix between Elaine on Seinfeld and Kevin James in the movie Hitch. It's hilarious! I'll post a video once I catch him in action.

Every Tuesday my Dad, Ben's "Papa" and my Grandpa, Ben's "Papa Ron" come and visit us. We have developed a routine: first Vasona Park, followed by lunch at Hobees, where Ben always orders the Mickey Mouse "PanPans" (pancakes) and "orange ju." A most excellent tradition!

Well, that's all I have so far. I plan on revisiting this "snapshot" of our family often. Because these are the things I don't ever want to forget.

Please give me some love (aka comment) if you are reading this and care. While I want to do this for my own journal keeping, it is motivating to know that someone out there is reading :-)

Easter

A few days before Easter we decorated eggs with my parents. It was the simpliest egg dye kit I have ever used, and the results were really pretty. All you do is drip a few drops of the dye, and then roll the egg around in your plastic gloved hand until the dye completely covers the eggs. Bentley was afraid of putting the gloves on, so just sat on the table and watched.

On Saturday James and I took Bentley to our gym for an Easter breakfast and egg hunt. It was outside and we didn't dress warm enough for the windy morning. Bentley barely ate his pancakes (his favorite) because he was shivering with cold. So we asked one of the ladies working the event, when the egg hunt and activites started? She told us at eleven (two hours away). We drove to the Greene's to watch conference, planning on coming back just before eleven. When we got there, we saw kids leaving in the parking lot, baskets full of eggs. Turns out they started at 10:30. I was a little upset to say the least! They offered to throw some plastic eggs on the lawn for Bentley, but whats the point of that. We just took him home and did that. I really wanted him to run around with other kids. Oh well, next year.

On Easter Sunday, Bentley must have sensed it was a holiday, and woke everyone up promptly at seven. He was excited when he got down stairs and found three baskets full of goodies (from his parents, grandparents, and great grandma). He went straight for the candy of course. Don't you love his hair?

Later that day we went to the Greene's to watch General Conference and enjoy a yummy brunch and dinner. And that was our Easter. I love th holdiays with my son, and know they will get even more enjoyable as he grows.

About A Boy

I realize that I seriously need to catch everyone up on my sweet, not so little baby. Bentley amazes me every day how much he has grown and learned in such a short amount of time. He is growing up so fast, and it scares me that I might not be cherishing every precious moment that I have with him. I feel like I need to record more of his milestones on paper, and take more pictures, and capture all of the funny little things he does on film. Most importantly though, although those things are all great, I think mother's loved their babies just as much before all of that wonderful media, I want to really be in the moment with him. Rather than beating myself up about my recent decline in picture taking, I just want to enjoy each moment more. I want to hold on to him at each stage for as long as I can. Take mental pictures of him in my mind; holding on to every feeling he inspires in me, in my heart. I ask him all of the time, if he will stop growing for me; to which he replies, as always, "No!"

Since he refuses to stop growing, here are some of the things that my growing boy has learned or mastered lately:

• He folds his little arms for prayer.
  
• He understands threats to be sent to his room, and immediatly stops whatever bad behavior warranted the threat (at least for a little while).


• He can climb anything the park can throw at him, and slides down the tall twisty slides all by himself.


• He says sorry when we ask for an apology and gives hugs and kisses, just to make sure we REALLY forgive him (of course we do).


• He can almost take his own clothes off, until his head gets stuck in his shirt (he has a big head), and gets his pants to his feet (at which time he trips, and looks to me for help).
  
• When we tell him we are going somewhere, he goes straight to the door, and gets upset if we don't immediatly follow.


• He has mastered the art of persuasion, especially over the three grandma's in his life. He leads them around all day by their fingers. and gets them to do who knows what for him.


• He figured out how to befriend his Grandma Greene's little dog, Chloe (who used to growl at him). He feeds Chloe all day, and they are quote the twosome now. Chloe is always at Ben's feet or underneath his high chair.


• His list of words: mom, dad, nana, papa ("bapa"), no, thank you, all done ("all dah"), mornin', ball, dog, and the latest: animal (surprisngly enough, he says it very well).
  

Like I said I haven't been the greatest picture taker lately (mostly because I lost our camera's charger, so I have to use my parents), here is one picture of my sweet, growing boy. His very first bubble bath. I was always afraid he would eat the bubbles. Again, I underestimated his new found maturity.

Love Day 2010

I love my family so much. James and I started the celebration yesterday. We went to a Mandarin temple session at the Oakland Temple (just to change things up; no, seriously, we were just late)! Then we went and shared a delicious burger and an even more delicious Sunday at Fentons in Piedmont. Haven't been? You have to go!

Today we went to church. Came home from church an hour later because Bentley dirtied his diaper twice, which has been going on for over a week now, and we decided we didn't want him to spread this lovely bug around nursery. We ate lunch. Then took a family nap. It was lovely. Bentley snored REALLY loud though (he's congested now too). Bentley sat on the counter while Mommy baked heart shaped cupcakes, frosted heart shaped sugar cookies, and baked a heart shaped strawberry, white chocolate pizza for Bentley. While on the counter Ben discovered one of the joys of childhood, liking the batter of the beaters. Then we went to the Greene's for a yummy dinner.

Hope your Valentines day was just as wonderful as ours!

Ben's First Words

Ben has a vocabulary bank of about ten words currently. I know that will take off soon, since he has started to repeat more and more of what we are saying. Like a couple of days ago he said "mornin'" to his Papa, after my dad greeted him with a "good morning" as he was crawling down the stairs.

G Diapers

Obviously the big trend is going green these days. And I am all for it. I'm not extreme or anything, mostly because being gree takes more green than not being green, but I do like to do my part. A stylish way that Bentley does his part everyday is with his g diapers. WHen I was pregnant James became curious about diapers. He thought that it was such a waste to change and throw away a complete diaper every time our future baby were to wet it. He had this idea of an insert that could be removed in layers. depending on how wet the diaper was. One day James' Aunt Staci wrote us that she found a diaper similar to James' idea. What she found was g diapers.





















They are cloth diapers, with disposal or flushable inserts that you stick inside a plastic liner. Staci graciously offered a continuous supply of these adorable and environmentally friendly diapers as her gift to Bentley, and to us! We have loved them, and will continue to use them in the future on all our children's little bums. Bentley has super sensitve skin, and he rarely gets a diaper rash (only when he has continuous bad dirty diapers for several days).
















They are really cute in all there fun colors. And they can be flushed down the toilet, meaning no waste. Even when they aren't flashed they biodegrade like ten times faster than normal diapers.

















Thank you Staci for keeping Bentley's bum covered and green for all these months. We can't tell you how much we have appreciated it. Now, I wonder if they'll start making training pants. . .