Yes...Bennett does have parents...and they have lives...

So, I am aware that there has been quite a lot of Bennett posted on this blog lately. And as cute as he is, I am going to just mention a little bit about what Matt and I have been up to in our own lives!

August 10th was our second anniversary, and what an exciting day it was! We woke up at 5:00 in the morning, and I immediately drove Matt to...the hospital! It just so happened that this was the day his PRK eye surgery (like Lasik, but better) was scheduled. I spent the next five days taking care of him by converting our home into a dark cavern and bringing him meals in bed. It was so worth it though! He is back at work now and, drum roll please.........NO CONTACTS! He still has to wear dark glasses if he's out in the sunlight for the next six months or so, but he calls me everyday telling me some new thing he noticed that he had never seen before. He is so excited, and I am so excited for him!

Oh, and for those of you who are feeling sorry for our anniversary, don't, because I gave him his present early, and Matt made me a delicous dinner and brought me flowers and candy and the whole shibang the night before. He is wonderful and I am excited to spend many, many more anniversarys with this fabulous guy!

I have also been kept quite busy this last week doing some freelance graphic design jobs for a woman in our ward. She sells jewlery (like a Mary Kay person, but with jewlery) and wanted me to make her a magazine of her products. It started out looking like a pretty good deal, but I am no business woman and I think I now understand the term FREElance a little better. In the future, I will be a little more firm with my pricing and hours. Oh well, you live and learn, right? And besides, I love doing this kind of stuff, so it wasn't that bad.

Anyway, that is what we have been up to. And now, because you have made it through all the boring stuff, a word from Bennett. He has a lot to say lately...

He will do this for hours. Literally. Hours.

OK, let's face it. Bennett rules this blog.

Going Out With Our Boots On!

Matt was wearing his "good" cowboy boots to church this last Sunday (yes, Matt wears boots to church) and he decided Bennett should too. It was pretty dang cute.

Bennett has also discovered his feet. He checks them several times a day and is always thrilled to find that they are still there.


The big news this week is that we are trying out some solid foods! Just a little cereal before bed.

Why is it that you can never feed a child without making silly faces?

Always a fun and a messy affair. :)

And last of all, I FINALLY CUT MY HAIR!! I tried it long for awhile, but just couldn't handle the constant spit-up in it and the pulling. I love it short!

A Week Too Fast!

Holy Cow, time has flown these last couple of weeks and I have gotten very behind on this blog thing! Sorry! So much has happened though, I think I will just post a bunch of pictures and try to explain later.

Matt went to the long-awaited Scout Camp from Wednesday to Saturday afternoons. He was giddy.

But Me and Bennett are not ones to just sit around, so we took off on our own adventure. We spent the first day visiting Mary and Wayne, aka: Maime and Pop. While there, we also saw Aunt Bekah and Uncle Nathan, Aunt Sarah, Uncle Joe and Aunt Kim, and some other friends. Bennett tried hard not to let all the attention go to his head.

We sat in a highchair for the first time and loved it. Matt and I are now in the market for one of our own.

The next day we drove a little further South and visited Aunt Rachelle...

...and Uncle Jess.

And we played with some of our favorite boy cousins, Barrett, Marshall, and Walker.
P.S- The little girl in this picture is a family friend, not a boy.

Barrett and Bennett. Barrett thinks it's pretty cool that they almost have the same name. He also thinks we named Bennett after him. :)

This is one of my favorite pictures of Bennett and Walker. Walker will be two years old in October and Bennett is a little over 4 months.They are almost eye-to-eye.

Even the cat was fascinated with this new little person, and Bennett was just a curious. At one point she actually crawled into the carrier with him...until Bennett tried to grab her face.

My toes received great treatment here! (Notice the crazy cat eating my nasty foot water.)

The "practice calf." Barrett and Marshall drive while Jess practices his roping. Only in Texas.

We drove home Saturday afternoon in time to meet Matt from his Scout Camp. He was exhausted (duh, no sleep and seven 14 -year-old-boys in tents...) be he had a great time and so did we!

Silent Nights...

I know it is not Christmas for a few more months, but a miracle has occurred at our house.

For the last four months I have put Bennett down for bed around 9:00pm, knowing he would wake up to eat around 5:00am and then sleep again until I got him up at 8:00am. Well, Friday night Bennett must have decided this was getting old. At first I wasn't sure if this change was just a one time thing or if it would last, but he has been consistent for several nights in a row now and I am convinced that this is going to be the norm. Bennett will now sleep from 9:00pm to 8:00am without making a peep, and what can I say to this except,

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"


Sleep in Heavenly peace, sleep in Heavenly peace!

Oh, The Joy of Toys!

Bennett has officially become bored with laying on blankets and staring at the ceiling all day. He expects to be entertained, dang it, and if we ignore his demands he becomes quit persistent. So I decided it was time to pull the toys down, and he loves them! It is fun to watch him play and squeal every time something moves or makes a sound. The World is a grand and a wondrous place when you are four months old.

He has become fascinated with faces, too. He likes to "touch" everything, which basically means pull at anything he can get his chubby little hands on. I think I have almost lost my earlobes a few times, thanks to some dangley earrings I will no longer be wearing until we are done having children. It's just one of the hazards of the job, I guess.

My cute boys

We also felt it was time to exercise our right as parents and feed our innocent, unsuspecting child lemon juice. (C'mon, you know you've done it, too.) Don't worry, there seem to be no long term effects. :)

It's Always Fun When Grandparents Come!

Saturday afternoon we got to have a fun visit with Matt's Mom and Wayne, and Wayne's parents, who we fondly refer to as Grandma and Gunny. We spent the afternoon talking, eating lunch, and saudering together pieces of the monster TV in our bedroom. It was a great visit!

Gunny was a Marine in the Vietnam War and has a TON of stories for anybody who will listen. He is a crack up! This is a shirt they gave to Bennett that says "Future Grunt" on it. Pretty dang cute.

Pop, Maime, Grandma, and Gunny. Thanks for visiting, we love you all so much!

Party Time!

I know last week was a little slow, but this week a lot more happened, and I actually have something to say!

For the last couple of weeks Matt has been busy at work planning a huge party for the 600 soldiers in his unit along with their families. This Thursday was the Big Show, and I have to say, he had done a great job. Catered food from a fantastic BBQ place, bounce houses, dunking booths, rock walls, DJ music, raffle prizes...I think he had a lot of fun playing with the military's money.

This is the line for cotton candy Matt was spinning out. It was pretty entertaining to watch, because the humidity was so high on this day the cotton candy was melting about as fast as he could get it on the stick.

Yummy.

Bennett's famous little half grin.
(This boy can get away with murder.)

This is Andrew, Natalyia, and George. They are the people we hang out with at Army stuff, and sometimes just because we like them. :)

This party had something for everybody...literally.

The next night we had a Hail and Farewell for the Colonel--like a going away party, but boringer-- and Bennett stayed with his Argentinian Abuela (Natalyia's Mom). She is so good to him, and we love her...even though we have no way of telling her this, since she speaks no English whatsoever.

But the real party started this Friday when it finally, FINALLY rained for the first time in over a month! Yay! And boy-howdy did it rain! Thank you!!!