Ben, Gaby & Liam

The Halloween Happies

2008-11-12T14:20:00.000-08:00

This Halloween season was probably the funnest one ever. I just genuinely loved Halloween this year!

We have a brilliant friend named Jenny Briggs who started a community garden in Historic Sandy. As part of the garden she does a pumkin patch, which led to the annual community event "Pumpkin Fest" at which you can buy pumpkins, listen to folk music, eat way yummy fall treats, and do/buy crafts. It was so fun to go back to our old neighborhood and see fun friends. What a great tradition Jenny, thank you!

Liam had so much fun running around and checking out all the pumpkins -- and the other kids.

I love winter hats!

Snuggling up.

We love "our" Deb Bell! I don't know how Mark managed to evade the picture. . . we'll get him soon!

Liam was a lion for Halloween. He would laugh so hard when he'd see himself in the mirror with those lion mane hairs hanging out. We went trick-or-treating to Ben's work in the morning. We had such a fun day!

Liam didn't really get the whole trick-or-treat thing, but he quickly figured out he could go take candy.

His favorite part of the night was when the kids would come to our house. When the door bell rang, he would run screaming and waving his arms over his head to the door. We had a lot of trick-or-treaters which was really fun. All of Liam's favorite friends came to see us!

Needless to say, this boy is Ben's mom's (aka Granny Candy) grandson. He kept grabbing this massive bowl -- it was as big as him -- and pouring it down his chest like he was drinking all the candy. We'd have to hurry and pick up all the candy when the doorbell rang, so hilarious.

Here I am with my new glasses. After 6 months of testing, 4 wrong medications, 3 eye specialists, and endless sore red eyes, the doctor concluded I didn't have anything wrong (no, I'm not going blind like one doctor told me! Yeah) my eyes were just rejecting my contacts.
So I found these great Mark Jacobs frames. Still not sure if it was worth the money . . . but they are definitely cooler than my old ones. I really can't express how much I hate wearing glasses. It just takes me back to elementary school when I was tormented relentlessly for my glasses. Ugh. I feel like I'm 10 years old again! At least Ben doesn't call me 4 eyes!

Fun pics

2008-10-22T14:29:00.000-07:00

Nothing special, just some pictures I took the last couple of days. Liam is just growing every day!

Proposition 8 in California

2008-10-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

My cousin Katy is living in California right now as her husband completes law school. Here are just some pieces of an email I received:

"I attended a broadcast last night with Elder Ballard, Elder Cook, Elder
Clayton and Elder Bednar discussing this issue. They shared with
Californians some things that could potentially happen if this does not
pass. These things have put a great deal of fear in me as a mother and
a citizen. I will not go into all of them now but will mention 2.

School curriculum. If 'marriage' is defined as between 'whomever' and
'whomever' instead of between a man and a woman, our children in grades
K-12 will have sex-education that has to give equal treatment to all and
any unions. Because homosexuality by definition relates specifically to
the act of sex, information about sex /of all forms/, will be given out
at a much earlier age and in away contrary to our desires as parents.

Religious Freedom. This is HUGE to those of us who hold sacred our
ability to share the gospel of Jesus Christ in our chapels, homes and
elsewhere without the government telling us in what way we can do so.

In last night's meeting, our Leaders urged us to use our blogs, myspace
pages, etc. etc... to support, discuss and persuade in this cause. We
are avoiding using our family blog to do so, but I have started a
separate blog in my own attempt to obey our leaders."

Katy and her husband have a separate blog on this issue and if you have time to stop and read there are other issues they address if Prop 8 doesn't pass. VERY Educational!

http://protectchildrenandfreedoms.blogspot.com/

Thank you Katy for the important insights on what's happening in California!

Confessions of a Housewife

2008-09-04T21:27:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I admit it . . . I am one of "those." Well that's what Ben calls me once in a while. Mostly when I pull my stunts. Its like if I get an idea in my head of something I want to do (mostly home improvement related) I just have to do it, right then, without really thinking it out. I have many of these, here's just but two:

1) Ok, so picture me 39 1/2 weeks pregnant. I was huge. At home alone for 2 weeks, I got so bored and sooo ready, I thought I could induce labor by building a retaining wall in our back yard. I only had the strength to carry one small brick at a time, so that's what I did for (ehem) 5 hours in the rain on a cool May morning. Now looking back I wish I could have looked down from the heavens, I would have thought I was nuts. So I don't know a thing about retaining walls. I didn't know the ground had to be level so the bricks would stack flat . . . so of course they didn't. I didn't know you were suppose to use bricks specifically for retaining walls so they didn't just fall over . . . like they did. I called Ben and told him what I had done. He immediately came home for lunch and laughed his belly sick. When he got home later that day, we had carry each brick back to its original pile next to the side of the house.

I will say this: I finally got Ben to build the retaining walls I had wanted for 2 years that following Saturday. This is the trend and pattern in our family. I attempt it, Ben cleans up the mess I make. But then it finally gets done.

2) In our new house, there is a blighted area in our back yard where no grass grows. One day I decided to put all the seats down in my car (including the front passenger seat) and go to Home Depot and buy sod. So I didn't really know how much to buy . . . so I tell the girl "Give me 20 squares of sod." You should have seen the look on the boy's face who had to bring it out to my vibe, and the look on my face when I saw how much sod I had bought. We filled my car, from seat to ceiling, including the front seat. There was my little round face poking through massive tons of sod. Luckily we live close to the Home Depot, because I was bottomed out and had to drive 10 mph the whole way. This is the best part. I borrowed my neighbors plastic wheelbarrel (why in the heck would anyone buy a plastic one???) And I filled it up with 5 squares of rolled up sod, and I honestly thought I could lift it. To my horror, my neighbor was across the street watching me as I lifted the back end and the wheelbarrel tipped over on its side, I fell down in what should have been filmed as a stunt video and all the squares went unravelling down the driveway. I pulled myself together, got up, wiped off the dirt and blood, and put one rolled up square in the wheelbarrel, and headed to the backyard. After about 9 trips, I called Ben crying that he needed to come home immediately to help me unload the sod. Each square weighs like 60-70 lbs! He came home, and I actually managed to lay most of it myself through the afternoon. Now its the only patch that grows! And who knew a little Pontiac Vibe could be converted into a small pickup truck!

Its kind of weird, its like I build self confidance/esteem/exploration if I try things i would normally leave to Ben, despite the fiascos/successes they produce.

Here Comes the Bride . . .

2008-08-26T21:50:00.000-07:00

Here is my brother Richard with his darling wife Lara (the 3rd Lara Bradford in our family!) They got married August 7th, and everything was so perfect. I wish I had my camera that morning at the temple, but I only had it at the reception, so this is the only picture I have of the beaming couple! Errr! I always forget my camera for the important stuff!

Liam was so cute in his little tux that Lara's mom bought him. And Ben looked so handsome in his new suit he got for his graduation present (from himself). Woo woo.

My mom was so proud and so happy all day. She was in the best mood all day and it was so fun to see her just glowing and enjoying being with our whole family.

Funny enough, the best part for me was just being with Ben and remembering how incredible our wedding day was. The next day we watched our wedding video again for the first time since we got married. And of course I loved being in the temple for the sealing and being reminded of how powerful a bond an eternal marriage is. I love weddings! I am so happy and proud of my borhter and Lara! They are so awesome!

Liam's 1st Birthday and Top 10 Summer Fun

2008-08-01T16:06:00.000-07:00

So Liam had his 1st birthday on June 5th, so I figured I better get some pictures up. I don't know exactly why, but I have had zero desire to blog lately, which is strange because we have had the funnest summer. I guess I really haven't had time more than anything. But I am recommitting myself to keep up on my blog!

Liam somber but happy in this pic.

He got his table that has activities all the way around. Wow, best toy ever. He plays on this thing like crazy.

Ok, this is definitely his favorite toy. Its a push walker that converts into a scooter. He laughs so much when he's pushing it around. The first time he did he laughed so much, he couldn't believe his legs were going so fast.

His first taste of chocolate cake! Thanks Gma Kingery for making such a yummy cake!

So here are two list for summer

Top 10 Funnest Summer Activities so far:
10. Weekly BBQ's at our house with friends/family we love.
9. Camping at Currant Creek and spreading Ben's grandma's ashes (interesting cultural experience - probably merits its own blog entry)
8. Going to Twin Falls with my cousins for the new temple open house. Such a fun weekend!
7. Taking a walk with Ben most nights. Actually, just having Ben home every night. What did I do before??? I absolutely love having him home! :)
6. Potluck in the Park with friends from our ward, ward softball, and ward dinner groups.
5. Hikes up Big Cottonwood Canyon
4. Instituting "Zero Work" Saturdays since Ben has graduated with his MBA and since we finished our kitchen remodel.
3. Going to SL Bee's games. I love the baseball environment! Ben mostly loves the hotdogs. My dream would be to have 10 sons and have them all play baseball!
2. Home improvement projects - I know I'm crazy, but it is some of the funnest bonding time Ben and I have!
1. Going through the temple with my brother Richard and his fiance Lara. They are getting married in one week! I can't wait! Yeah! Oh, and their engagement party at our cousins' the Smoots. We had all of our side there and invited all her siblings and parents. We went around and gave advice on marriage. It was a really fun party!

Ok, and here's my other list

Top 10 Things that should be in every Refrigerator for Summer:
10. Rocky Road Ice Cream (Dryers Slow Churn)
9. Girards Champagne Salad Dressing (thanks Kendra!)
8. Paul Newman's SouthWest Salad Dressing (amazing in pasta salads)
7. Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches
6. Target's Market Pantry drink mixes. Comes in strawberry daquiri and lime margarita. (comes as a frozen concentrate) Yum-O!
5. A bag of frozen edamame.
4. Mrs. Dash 10 minute marinade (amazing on meats and vegetables on the BBQ)
3. A fresh bunch of cilantro
2. Dole 100% juice (just add ice for a slushie)
1. Ok! All the fresh fruits/vegetables in season: corn, peas, peaches, watermelon, cherries, zucchinins, squash, there are too many to list them all.

I love summer!

Memorial Day, "I want some!", and Sleep

2008-06-05T15:09:00.000-07:00

Every year my family goes to my dad's grave site in Springville, Utah. I never really thought much of this tradition, but this year I gave it more thought. When we were driving down, I asked my mom if its a source of comfort for her. She said no. She said she still connects with my dad through so many other ways, that for her its getting us together for a drive so she can connect with us. We take a blanket and tell funny family memories, she tells us funny or poignant stories about our dad, and then we go out to lunch or to the Conoco on the corner where they sell delicious scones and other deep fried wonders.

Here's my little bro Richard being so hip with his new glasses. He's always soo into the current styles.

This is so funny. Every morning, no matter how much Liam has already eaten, he comes to the table if he hears me crunching on cereal. His little M&M eyes peering up at me "Um, mom, I want some." "Um, mom, can I have some?" For every bite I take, he has to have a taste. Its actually kind of funny because all I can usually see from my angle are his eyes. "Um, more please!"

The following is a series of my favorite sleep pictures. I think we have more picture of Liam asleep because he is SO funny with his sleep positions.

Just relaxing.
I'm sure this a yoga position.
Sunday afternoon naps with Dad are the best!
Order! Order! I demand another spoonful!
His mouth was wide open right before I took this picture.

Mahalo Maui!

2008-05-18T13:34:00.000-07:00

First, Ben finally graduated with his MBA! We are just so excited to have a normal family life, and we have been enjoying every minute of it this week. For Ben's graduation, his parents took us to Hawaii and totally spoiled us! We had such a blast! Here are some photos:

Here we are at a Luau. Yes, I bought the way touristy hawaiian dress and wore it to the luau. Me and hundreds of other women that went. Its just part of the experience right!

Here's the Liam miaster being crazy in the pool. He loved splashing and laughing and getting water all over his face. He hated the ocean and the sand. I think the ocean was so big it overwhelmed him. And the sand, well, he kept rubbing it in his eyes. Not so fun for little babies.

Ben is so funny. He would not go tanning before we went because he had too much going on with finals. So he had to lather up with sunscreen to protect his white body. One day when we went out snorkling he decided to leave off the sunscreen for a little while, and he turned from man to lobster in 20 minutes! I was crying laughing! We got out of the water and he was bright red. But the front of his body is whiter now than when we left!

Just hanging out getting some lunch. The condo we stayed in was a dream come true for Liam because the living room had tile. He loves tile -- everything bounces!

Back home just being silly!

Top 10 Favorite things about our Hawaii vacation:

10. Not ever getting ready. Living in a bun, a swim suit, and stretchy gauchos.
9. Reading and finishing such a great book - The Secret Life of Bees.
8. Shopping.
7. Coral jewelry.
6. Volleyball on the beach.
5. Horseback riding.
4. Snorkling, swimming, and boogie boards.
3. Hello! Sun, sand and salt water! There's no better combo for a sweet vacation.
2. Sleeping in while my in-laws got up with Liam (I said we were spoiled!)
1. Spending the whole week with Ben and Liam!

Roots

2008-03-21T22:35:00.000-07:00

Well, what can I say, we LOVE our new house! Its where we hope to stay for a long time. There is something about creating stability and something lasting that is so appealing, even more so for me than "newness" or adventure. I like roots. I like knowing people I don't remember not knowing. I like seeing other people's babies born and grow up. I like planting things in my yard and watching them grow too. I like being part of a ward family, and staying a part of that family. So the antithesis of all this is moving. Which is why we tried to find a house we could be happy in for a long time. Moving is hard for me. I lived in the same house my whole life. My brother has been giving my mom some pressure to move. But I want my kids to eat the food that she cooks in THAT kitchen and run around in THAT backyard like I did. Is that weird? Why is that so important to me? I have never been afraid of change or adventure or trying new things. But I like the same house, and I hope my kids will appreciate the stability like I have. On the other hand, I guess you never know what life will throw at you and cause total upheavel. All you can do is plan and hope for the best right!

Anyway, I am feeling very settled and at home, on so many different levels. And that's a great feeling. So, let the roots begin!

The House Sold! Confessions, and Liam-isms!

2008-02-13T20:04:00.000-08:00

Maybe if I wrote in some entries a little more often I wouldn't have to write so much! YES!! We sold our house! It was crazy, we had three offers come in on Monday, so we got exactly what we wanted! Yeah! I'm so glad that's done. And the cutest couple ever bought it, which makes it even sweeter. We want good people for our ward. The stressful news is we are moving in 2 weeks! Yikes! So we'll see how packing up everything and doing everything by myself will go. Ben is back in class 3 nights a week with intense homework the 4 mights he's home, so I'm back to single motherhood. But I'm just so happy everything worked out, nothing could take me off cloud nine this week.

A quick "Confessions of a Housewife"
First, only I would do this. So our realtor is so good at selling houses, but its because he has over 60 realtors that work for him in his office, so he nextworks well with all of them. He loaded about 50 in a greyhound bus and brought them over to highlight our house last week. Yeah, that's right. 50 strangers parading in and out of the house. They just parked the greyhound out front like nothing. All morning I was freaking out. I woke up at 6 am to start the frenzie of cleaning before they got here at 10 am. I was polishing the last of the glass when I heard a knock. So everyone came and left, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief until I walked over to the sink to find that I had left all my breast pump items in the sink!!! ugh! I was mortified! All these grown men either knew exactly what they were and were probably disgusted, or they had no idea. Ben keeps trying to convince me of the latter. Everything was spotless, and I kept thinking "I got to put those away somewhere . . . oh, I'll wash them really quick . . . oh shoot that still needs to be cleaned . . . I HAD better put those away before they get here . . . ok those are next on the list . . . " hmmmm. What do you do??

The day before was a huge storm. I thought I could move our 2,000 lb. garbage can by myself over by the fence. It was so snowy and slippery, the can hit some ice and pinned me down to the ground. I was in my jammies, no bra, and my slippers. The lid flipped up and hit me in the face and heavy garbage spilled out making the lid VERY heavy. I thought "What the heck! a) please someone, anyone find me and help me! b) oh I hope no one I know finds me; c) Liam is probably inside screaming by now. So you know when they talk about that crazy adrenaline that moms get when their baby is stuck under a car and they lift the car over their heads (does that really happen??) I thought of my little baby inside by himself and some insane strength came to me and pushed the can off! I was victorious over that stinky monster!! But I was soaked and majorly bruised.

The day before THAT we went up to see the new house. I was walking to look into the main front window when I disappeared! I fell right into a window well that covered over with large bushes. The well was so deep I was up to my chin. I can't believe I didn't break anything. Ben said it looked like when people get sucked into the ground in scary movies. And you know when you get hurt so bad you either burst out crying out or laughing?? I just burst out laughing because I was so embarrassed and shaken up. Oh man, its a jungle out there!

Here are some new pics of Liam. I realized that I only seem to take pictures of Liam when he is in his pajamas, so if you see a lot of him in the same blue outfits, that's why!

He just discovered the mirror on his play disc. He spends at least half an hour every day checking himself out!

Look how funny his feet are! He just started this new thing last week where he only sits with his legs crossed! It funny because he doesn't have very good balance when he sits like that, but he still crosses them all the time.

Feet crossed. I wonder if he sees me sitting indian style all the time and decided to give it a try!

He pulls all his toys out of his basket one by one.

Yeah! A fun discovery from the toy basket!

Selling a House = Craziness!

2008-02-10T21:08:00.000-08:00

So I still can't believe we are selling our house. I am going crazy, I mean our house has only been on the market for 2 weeks and we've had a steady stream of people come and look, but I absolutely HATE the unknown and waiting. So this is the scoop: we found a house on forclosure that we fell in love with. We offered more than the bank was asking, but another guy got the house because he could move in right away. I was totally crushed because I got waaaay too emotionally invested (well, I could picture raising my kids there and Ben and I growing old there!) So we talked to our realtor and he said we should put our house on the market and see what comes along. His assistant sent us a listing for a house that was drastically reduced, so I drove the neighborhood and it was like magic. I went in the early afternoon when the whole neighborhood was crawling with cute little kids throwing snowballs at each other and just having a fun time. Its weird, I had spent the two hours prior driving neighborhoods looking at houses and nothing stuck out. But this house was just really different. Ben and I went back to drive the neighborhood that same night, walked through the house the next morning and offered that same day. Now some may say that's impulsive. But after HOURS of looking at houses online every single night for the past 4 months, and endlessly driving neighborhoods, we knew exactly what we wanted.
When Ben and I bought the house we live in now, I just felt that Heavenly Father really guided us here. And I feel that same way now, but its so hard to say that when we don't have the house yet and our contract is iffy. With the house we are trying to buy, the people moved out a few months ago because they had to relocate, so they are paying a double mortgage and are dying to sell their house. They accepted our offer, but if anyone else offers that can move in right away, they can take their offer with only a few days notice to us. Hence, massive anxiety for me! So anyone within the sound of my voice, call in your emergency prayers for us! Ha, love you all!

A First Balloon, a First Swim Class, a 27th Birthday, and an Engagement

2008-01-16T13:49:00.000-08:00

Wow! Who could have known that a balloon would bring such joy to a 7 month old! So we went to the dollar store yesterday to buy a little gift for one of my sunbeams. When Liam saw the balloon in the store he burst out laughing. He didn't stop laughing the whole way home. Liam has been playing with this balloon for HOURS since I brought it home. He refuses to play with anything else. When he woke up this morning he woke up looking for it! He will not let it go. He wraps the ribbon in his small fingers, pulls it through his two bottom teeth, bounces it all over the place, stares at it, accidentally lets it go, then cries for me to get it for him. He has figured out how to run the ribbon in his hands so he gets to the balloon and then back down to the very end of the ribbon so the balloon is touching the ceiling. I finally had to lay him on the couch today where he could reach the bottom of the ribbon if he happen to let go. He has been mesmerized. I couldn't help but think of that old movie "The Red Balloon." Such simple things can bring such happiness to a child. It has been fun to rediscover whatever it is that is that makes a balloon so magical.

Here is Liam in his swim trunks! We had our first Parent-Tot swim class on Friday. It was so fun! Liam really loved being in the water and surprisingly took very well to the swim techniques we learned. All the other babies were screaming their heads off but Liam seemed to be really enjoying himself. We had another class today and he was laughing through most of it. We learned to scoop water with our hands, kicking, floating on backs, finding the wall, and of course the famous dunk. I love how this swim program calls the babies "Diaper Dolphins." Its actually pretty crazy to see how good some of these little kids can swim! Anyway, I am really looking forward to these sessions of swimming with Liam, so far it has been a blast.

Ben had his 27th birthday yesterday. We had a lot of fun. I went into his work because the ladies there planned a little surprise party and ordered a delicious Hawaiian guava cake (best cake I've ever had!) and I took in a fudge cake and a fruit tart. It was really fun. Then we had dinner with our families at the Asian Star, Ben's favorite restaurant. I got Ben a really good surprise for his birthday -- and iPhone. Actually everybody pitched in for it. He really loves it! He doesn't know it, but I'm beginning what I call the "Mac-tifying Project." We have an ongoing war in our house over Mac vs. PC. I am one step closer with the iPhone!!

My last peice of news -- yes my little bro finally got engaged! We are so excited for him and Lara. He proposed on their one year anniversary. Richard did such a good job. He took her up to the Homestead for a carriage ride, dinner at the nice restaurant, and then a dip in the crater. Its been fun to see him so excited and giddy, and I really loved helping pick out the ring! And she loves it! Congrats again you two!!

Simply said . . . What a wonderful Christmas and New Years!

2008-01-03T20:32:00.000-08:00

I have to admit, I am so mad at myself. We got some video of Liam opening his presents but we forgot to get photos! These are some pictures I took of him on the morning of Christmas Eve. Ben calls them the "shepherd boy" photos. He was just so cute rolling around with his blanket.

Christmas this year was so great. We had so much fun. Liam made the holidays so much more meaningful. I spent more time reflecting on what's really important and what I want my children to know about Christmas. This year just felt really special to me. I'm sure it helped that I did all my christmas shopping online, so I wasn't ever in a bad mood from hectic holiday shopping!

For Christmas Eve we went to my mom's and had a huge seafood Paella with shrimp, salmon and crab legs. It was such a feast and sooo good. We stayed and hung out and watched movies. Then everyone (Ben's parents and my mom and brother) came over to our house Christmas morning to open presents and have Christmas brunch. I recently inherited Ben's grandma's fine china, so it was fun to have our brunch on nice china. We hung out all day eating treats, singing karaoke, doing puzzles, and watching movies. It was so fun to watch Liam open his presents. He had more fun with the paper than any of his toys. He got some fun toys. He has loved the musical toys he got. He got a guitar and maracas that sing in spanish and english. He is so curious and interactive now, he really enjoys playing and looking at books and watching people's faces and the sounds we make. He is such a little cutie! I just love how fun he is!

This New Year was really different. Every year my family goes down to Mexico and we celebrate New Year's with a big party eating lots of meat, downing 12 grapes right before midnight and then shooting rifles. Ben and I decided not to go this year and had a very quiet New Year celebration. We had some of our friends over for dinner and then just hung out and had some great laughs. After they left, we were both struggling to stay awake to see the ball drop in New York. It seemed so anticlimatic. Right after that we went and got in bed! The quietest New Year's ever!! I still wouldn't want to be anywhere else than right here on the couch next to my honey!

Dear Life

2007-12-16T21:00:00.000-08:00

Dear Sara,
Thank you for inspiring me to start "Dear Life" which is a blogger letter to the person/thing you love and why. I love the idea of sharing the things I am most grateful for. You are always a great inspiration to me. Thanks for being so awesome, this one is for you.

Dear Christmas,
Thank you for all the magic that you bring. Not necessarily presents, but moments in time when the world seems perfects. Thank you for:
Little girls and boys in their Christmas outfits (especially the big frilly dresses)
The 12 days of Christmas
The Advent Calendar (I love the little treats each day)
Festival of Trees
Gingerbread houses (even if I did order premade gingerbread online since I can't make it!)
Lights at Temple Square
Caramel apples
Christmas concerts (Peter Brienholt, Kirt Bestor, Forgotten Carols)
Receiving Christmas cards in the mail (finally something that's not bills)
Watching/reading the Nativity Story
The blooming Amaryllis Flower

This is the Amaryllis. I took this picture on the night that it snowed all night. There was so much light outside and it was casting a beautiful shine on the flower. In the past this flower only has one bloom, but ours had four flowers that came out this time. It is so fun to watch it bloom in the middle of winter.

The other two pics are recent ones of Liam. One with the hat that has stayed on his head all week whenever we go out since its been so cold outside. The other with him drinking from a glass. He loves drinking from a cup way more than using a sippy. We'll see how that goes!

Confessions of a Housewife

2007-11-26T18:46:00.000-08:00

I start out with a disclaimer that these confessions are just my random thoughts put into words. Mostly for the girls I used to work with and my other housewife friends who completely sympathize. Thank you for not judging me by this or any future confessions I may make.

So I think this might have to be a regular part of our blog. Ben can update his life with "Confessions of a Professional." A professional what . . . well that's up to him. Anyway, so I will just start telling my stories. So the last 3 pots of rice I've tried to make have gone to pot. I've either burned, undercooked, or not added enough water. So yesterday Ben had the great idea to make rice pudding for breakfast. I was suppose to be watching it, and all the milk overflowed into the burner. No, the rice pudding did not turn out. So today when making lunch, I was left to attend Ben's family recipe for Mac N Cheese, when the stove top caught on fire because yesterday I forgot to clean to burner. Of course I was freaking out and laughing all at the same time, and Ben was not available to help (ehem, he was occupied on the can) so I was running around the kitchen waving my arms with dish towels so the smoke detector would stop, while trying not to pee my pants. (All the while Liam didn't even blink at the alarm - weird) The Mac N Cheese did turn out, luckily. But I did spent a good 45 minutes cleaning out the pot used for the above mentioned dish. Oh yeah, and I pulled the blinds in the kitchen down, and they came unscrewed and fell down on top of me. That was fun too.
Then this afternoon, I was changing Liam's diaper -- which as a side note, when feeding your baby solids for the first time, go easy on the prunes -- his poop was so liquidy when I went to clean him the wipe slipped right off his butt and spread poop all over my pants. Good times.
Oh, and by the way I'm never watching reality TV again. I am going to fight for the return of the sitcom. Any old loser can be on reality TV. I will admit, I am sorely bitter about the results of "The Bachelor." There was a part of me that loved watching these girls fall in love with Brad, I don't know, something cute and romantic. Whatever. No more reality TV.
Ok, maybe American Idol, but that's it.
My little baby is still napping. Normally that would be great, but now its 8:15 pm. I've gone in and turned the TV on, walked around making noise, nothing. He is conked. He's just so snuggly and peaceful. He won't be snuggly and peaceful tomorrow morning at 4 am! I guess I better sign off and get that boy up!

We have so much to be thankful for

2007-11-26T17:55:00.000-08:00

Even though our Utes didn't win, at least Liam looks cute in red!

Check out how long the chompers are getting! Yikes! I'm scared.

So for anyone who doesn't know, our favorite neighbors Robin and Troy adopted our little weiner doggies. Look how spoiled they are with their sweaters. And yes, they each have more than one.

Having fun on the slide at our friend Liz's house! Look at the mini rock wall for the kids. Hilarious.

This is Liam trying to get out of a nap by laughing and being cute.

This Thanksgiving was really special for me. I realized how great it is to have the most simple things of life. My father-in-law was over the other night and he told Ben how happy he was to see our fridge full of food. Not because we are eating well (and our bellies are starting to show it!) but that we are able to provide for ourselves. He said he can remember going to his sister's to babysit her kids when he was younger and they had NO food in their fridge. It really made me reflect on how good it feels that we can provide our little family with a warm place to live and that we've never gone hungry. We have clothes on our backs and loving families that surround us. It is so easy to get caught up in all consumerism this time of year, and all year really, so it was refreshing to take a step back and recognize all that we already have.

We all went over to Ben's parent's house for Thanksgiving dinner. I am soooo grateful both of our families get along so well and we are able to share the holidays together instead of splitting the day. Liam had fun throwing his toys on the ground and watching me pick them the whole time. He is to point where he loves holding his toys over the side of the high chair and dropping them. We have staring contests in the mornings, I think he's waiting for me to lose it!

Ahhhhh, and then there was the football game. So much for the "All Red Weekend" . . . we had face the hecklers at our ward on Sunday . . . errrr . . . that's why we may have to move out of the southern end of the valley! I just can't take some of BYUers. Oh well, hopefully next year . . .

Rock on Mike

2007-11-17T11:25:00.000-08:00

Ben is always playing jokes on me. The other night, he fell asleep in bed while I was making Thanksgiving cards. So I climb into bed and lay my head on my pillow and feel this strange crinkling sound. I reach into my pillow to pull out a picture of Michael Bolton. Ben burst out laughing and said he thought I would sleep better if I looked at Michael Bolton's swaying curly mullet and lushous chest hair. Michael Bolton just epitamizes romance doesn't he! So I called Ben's assistant and asked her to put his picture as Ben's screen saver. Ben thought I snuck into his office! The office was in riots. So any of you have any good office jokes I can play on Ben -- email me directly!

Chomp Chomp is Right

2007-11-09T21:54:00.001-08:00

So on Liam's one week anniversary of getting his teeth his took a divot out of my nip! (Can I say nip online?!) So I did everything that I had read I was suppose to do - scream (that was easy) bop him on the face (softly of course) and say no sternly. After all that, he just looked up with his big sparkling eyes and started laughing! I yelled for Ben to come get his son. Man I was so mad. I think that was the first time I was really so mad at Liam. I would take all the sleepless nights in the world over what is now termed "the bite". Those little chompers are razor sharp. I can't wait for when he's old enough for some meat -- I'll give him a big hunk of steak to gnaw on!

The Little HalloWeenee

2007-11-01T12:16:00.001-07:00

Here is Liam with his girlfriend Bianca! She is such a cutie, her and Liam are only a few weeks apart and have been cuddling from the start. I love seeing these two together, they are so funny when they see eachother.

So anyone who knows us well knows how crazy Ben and I are about the TV show "Arrested Development." This show introduced me to "The Blue Man Group" which I didn't know was the real deal until our last trip to Las Vegas in August where they were performing. I went to a Halloween party on Tuesday, and I was so excited when no one could recognize me! It took all I had not to laugh, but as soon as I did it gave it away who I was. When I got home, it took a good 40 minute shower to get all the blue out. But it as worth it to tribute these hilarious mimes!

Liam was a Pea Pod for Halloween! He was so cute. I looked quite a bit online for a costume, and when I saw this one I just busted up! I think he really liked wearing it, he didn't put up a fight one bit. On Sunday we had a family Halloween party at Ben's parents house and we did a mini trick or treat for all the kids. On Halloween morning we went to the parade at Sandy Elementary and then over to Ben's work to show his officemates Liam's costume. Our friend Teisha took this picture and touched it up, she did such a good job! Thanks Teisha!

Chomp Chomp

2007-11-01T12:08:00.000-07:00

Liam got his two bottom teeth in! I can't believe it. The first one came through on the bottom right on Saturday, and the one the bottom left came through on Sunday. I was so surprised!

Growing strong!

2007-10-26T12:36:00.000-07:00

Here is Liam enjoying some time with his uncle Richy Rich. Que Guapo!

Liam getting some loves from his papa before leaving for church.

Liam's first day of his new high chair. Yes folks, he is moving on to solids and loving it.

Liam's first taste of rice cereal. He kept trying to steal the bowl away -- he just wanted to drink it up! Yummy!

This month has been way fun! Its so true that every stage gets funner and funner. So Liam got his 3rd haircut already! His hair grows so fast. I spike it up, but if I let it get too long his hair gets crazy! Too bad its not curly.
So when I took him to the doctor's office early this month for his 4 month check up, he said Liam was ready for solids. I don't think I was quite prepared, I kind of got a tear in my eye. My babes is getting old! I was planning on exclusively nursing until he was 6 months, but the doc says the boy needs some food. It was so funny the first day, because I expected him to just open his mouth and start eating. Most of the cereal was all over his face and on his jammies. But after about 3 days he started opening his mouth big to eat a spoonful and is loving eating . . . well, not green beans. He does an awesome bitter beer face with green beans.
Not a whole lot new with Ben and I, I just finished reading Freakanomics -- I highly recommend it. It was such a good book, I could hardly put it down. Ok, and I hate to admit it, but we are totally hooked on "The Office" this season. Ben had a class on Thursday night scheduled for his next session, but I think he secretly changed it so we could have our Thursday ritual of oreo shakes with "The Office". I'm pretty sure we'll be buying the previous seasons because we never had time for TV before. I'm kind of having this mixed emotion going on because we used to always pride ourselves on not watching any TV, but when Liam goes to bed I just find that I can't get enough of reality TV! Horrible. Confessions of a housewife . . . more to come in a few weeks.

Aaah Aaah Aaah Chooo

2007-10-25T20:10:00.000-07:00

This night was so funny. I wish we had thought of recording when he was laughing hysterically, but this is still a pretty good clip of Liam having one of his laughing attacks. He was suppose to be in bed, but he just wasn't tired. When he got his second wind, boy he got it! Ben and I were sitting talking and playing with him, then I sneezed. It was over -- for the next 1/2 hour we were all laughing. Needless to say after that laughing fit he wasn't tired one bit. What do you do. But what a fun night!

Liam is now 4 months old!

2007-10-07T21:37:00.000-07:00

Liam is just getting funner every day. This has been the month of squeals! Liam is cooing and squealing non-stop. He seems to always be saying “Look at me! Look how cute I am!” Then when we look over he gives us a huge smile showing off his gums.
When he’s sitting in his bouncy seat, he gives loud outbursts of coos, and seems to be saying “Look at how strong I am,” as he pumps his legs and arms as fast and hard as he can. He also holds his arms out stiff with his hands fisted and it looks like he’s riding a motorcycle. When he does this he purses his lips out like it takes all the concentration in the world to perform such a feat of strength.

Here is Liam snuggling with mama under some blankets!

Ben has started his balancing act with Liam. He will hold Liam in sitting position in his palm and balance him. At first it scared me to death because I was sure he was going to fall. Liam actually really loves it.

Drools! I think Liam will start teething soon . . . drool is everywhere now. His shirts get soaked now, and so do mine!

Another major development this month is Liam has found his thumb! He loves sucking his thumb! He also will suck any combination of two fingers, three fingers, four fingers, or even all five at a time. He does a pretty good job getting that whole fist to fit in his mouth too!

It has been so nice having Ben around more. He had 3 classes the first session of the semester so Liam and I were really missing him. Now he only has 2 and it seems so much more manageable. We are just clinging to the last days of warm weather. We have all really loved going on walks every day to the park or around the neighborhood. Its so beautiful outside with the leaves starting to change colors.

Well, we'll show you more next month!

2007-08-29T14:47:00.000-07:00

Enjoying family time together.

Liam is enjoying every minute of his tummy time.

Liam's favorite time of the day is bath time! He loves to splish splash!

Hello everyone! We finally gave in to the trend of the bloggers too! I'm really doing this to post pictures of Liam instead of emailing them a million times. Things are going well for us, Liam is just loving life. He's laughing a ton now and he thinks Ben is the funniest guy ever.

We loved having Ben out of class for a few weeks. He is back in school now, finishing his MBA program. He only has a year left, so next summer he will be done! It will be a huge relief for him and us.

I love staying at home with Liam. We have lots of fun activities we do throughout the day. I am amazed at how much he loves looking at books and playing games. He is so fascinated with the outdoors and loves being outside. He also really likes going for hikes in his pack, and he's already proving to be an outdoorsman like his dad.I think his favorite thing to do is watch the kids run through the fountain at Liberty Park. He laughs and yells - he's pretty anxious for his legs to start working to get him places!! He pumps and pumps them when he sees the kids running by, its so cute!

Its been a really great summer. We took Liam on his first road trip to Las Vegas for Ben's work. We were really worried about him, but he did great! He slept a lot and enjoyed the red rock scenery when he was awake. We also took him camping and it was his first time being bundled in warm clothes. I'm not sure if he liked that too much. It was pretty funny to see him squirming to get out of his little sweats.

Its been so good to see so many family and friends lately. We hope this is a good way to keep in contact with more of you. We love you and hope to hear from you all soon!