Happy 2nd Birthday Benny-boy!

Without question, this little boy has brought an immeasurable amount of joy to me, our family, and many that he comes into contact with, in his little two years of life. I feel so priviledged to be Ben's mom every. single. day. I treasure each and every moment with him; he makes each day feel sweeter, more meaningful, more purposeful, more joyful. What a special boy Ben is. I just love him to peices. I celebrate Ben's accomplishments, his progress, and each tender mercy that is evident in his journey each day--but today, I celebrate Ben's special day. Happy Birthday (a wee bit early) to my sweet Benjamin!

Ben's Birthday Bash!

Since Ben's little brother is due to arrive on Ben's actual second birthday, we thought it was a good idea to celebrate Ben's special day a little early. Ben didn't mind; any day is a good day for a party!

Since Ben's birthday falls on the day before Easter, we decided to have an Easter-themed party. First, the kiddos decorated their Easter buckets.

Instead of a cake, the kids frosted and decorated Easter sugar cookies.

Check out that masterpeice!

After a quick egg relay race, the kids went outside for an egg hunt...75 eggs got snatched up in about two seconds!

The kids didn't waste any time inspecting the contents of their eggs....the kids hit a major sugar high, running around bananas, after basically eating all of the candy at once.

After the activities it was time for the best part of every party: the presents! The idea of wrapping paper was a little lost on Ben, but he had plenty of cousins who were more than willing to help him open his presents.

Ben loves his new musical paintbrush, cookie jar, linking elephants, see & say, and suspension swing.

"More!"

As much as I really wanted to make Ben a Easter bunny birthday cake (hahaha), I had a feeling he would throw the cake on the floor, like he does with most food offered to him. Hard, semi-crunchy, sugar cookies turned out to be much more to Ben's liking. Oh, and since my funny boy doesn't care for singing, we nixed singing him "Happy Birthday" this year. We'll save that for next year.

General Conference Weekend

This is what general conference weekend looked like at our house:

A weekend full of family time, pajamas, indulgent food, and listening to the messages of the prophet, apostles, and Church leaders. I wish I could say that the boys sat reverently and listened to every word, both sessions each day, but that would be a joke! For the most part, the boys were busy running around and playing with their cousins who were visiting us this weekend, taking breaks here and there to check-in and listen to a few minutes here and there. I do feel successful as a parent, however, because Hank and Max were both so super excited for general conference weekend, knowing what a special event it is in our family and how important it is to their mom and dad to listen to the prophet. With a few creative games and activities, the boys did listen to at least one full session with us. Baby steps, right?

I am glad that, if nothing else, my children recognize how special general conference is to their mom and dad. I hope some day, when their attention spans have grown, that they too will come to appreciate and enjoy listening to the words of the prophet. I felt so uplifted by the inspiring messages of our Church leaders this weekend; my heart is full.

Dad's Barber Shop

Aaron is very particular about his hair. He likes it kept short, trimmed close around the ears and neck, with a tight fade up the side. When he found a barber in Washington who cut his hair to his standards, he became a loyal every-three-week client--even travelling to Yelm when his personal barber moved locations. So, suffice it to say, Aaron was pretty excited when I decided to finally allow him to give the boys a home-haircut. The boys were much more comfortable having their haircut by their dad from the comfort of home...no bloody murder screaming, no drooly/snotty meldowns.

I happen to think the haircuts turned out not half-bad (minus a couple knicks and dings), but then again, I think they'd look cute bald, too.

Dirt! Concrete! Action!

Given Aaron's background in concrete pumping and the boys' natural affinity towards all things dirt and construction, the day that Nana and Papa poured the footings for the foundation on their new house was pretty epic for the boys.

39 weeks....and counting....

At a relief society function, one of the sisters said to me, "if I poked you, you would pop." So it would appear. I told her to please not poke me then.

Just to keep it real, I will share that this has been a difficult pregnancy for me (hence the avoidance of the topic on the blog)...physically its been a peice of cake, but emotionally/mentally, its been difficult for me to process. For starters, I guess my acute Type A planner personality doesn't manage "surprises" well, because I STILL look at myself in the mirror and can't comprehend the fact that I am not just pregnant, but very pregnant. Additionally, I question how on earth I will have the time/energy/attention and just plain me to go around when I already have a very active five-year old, a sweet but stubborn three-year old, and a bit of a high-maintenance almost-two-year old. I truly feel that Heavenly Father has is once again teaching me how very little my supposed plans matter in the larger scheme of things and, yet again, to trust in His will. Since I really have no choice but to trust in the Lord, that is my plan! I know, that as soon as I am able to let go of my plans for myself and my personal fears, that Heavenly Father will pour out his blessings and give me the strength I need. My own insecurities aside, I know this baby will bring sweet blessings to our family and we are excited to bring him into our home.

Like Father, Like Son

Ben may not have many words in his vocabulary yet, but he manages to communicate just fine. Take yesterday for example, Aaron was snacking on some "zesty ranch" potato chips and enjoying a basketball game on TV, when Ben crawls up to Aaron's chair, pats the bag of chips, bounces up and down, and whines until Aaron shares his chips. Yep, reading the message loud and clear.