Happy New Year!

Christmas Pictures

My good friend Melissa took some awesome pictures for us yesterday. You can check out some of them at http://beckfamily5plus.blogspot.com. Check them out! I can't wait to see all of them!

Friday Evening

Friday evening we had dinner with some of my most favorite childhood friends. It was so fun to watch Brooke interact with all the boys. Ryan and Melissa have 3 boys and another on the way. Carrie and John have two boys, with a girl on the way. And Brooke was in the midst of all 5 boys (Livy had been sick all week, so thankfully my mom watched her so we could still have dinner with everyone and not infect all of their kids. And thank you Carrie, for having it at your house at the last minute.) It is always so fun to get together with them. One, to laugh about all the old times, but even more so, to see our kids starting to build the same memories as we had. I hope we all stick around long enough for our kids to be old enough to play night games at parkmont park every night (and into the morning hours) all summer long.

Sayings....

My mom picked Brooke up from pre-school last week for me while I was watching Annie's kids, and I don't have any room in my Mazda for anyone but my own kids (but that is a whole other story....). Anyway, as they were driving and taking a little Grandma date (which my mom is so awesome at,...and which is also the reason my kids know what McDonalds happy meal toys are. well her and Donna), my mom started asking her about her friends and Brooke started talking to her about her cousins. My mom asked about Cami, and said, "Brooke how old is Cami? Are you and Cami the same age?" Brooke responds, "Yeah Grandma, we are the same age." My mom, "But I thought Cami was 5 and you are four." Brooke, "I know, Cami is five and I am four, but we are the same age. " My mom again, "How does that work if you are four and she is five, but you are the same age?" Brooke in a little bit louder voice and very matter-of-fact, "We are the same age grandma. It just works out." She loves cami so much. Everyday we make so many drawings for her and wrap so many beaded necklaces and talk about her coming for Christmas. We are sad Boston is so far away.

One of Livia's favorite phrases (besides a very high pitched, loud and direct "NO") is "I tan't" (I can't). For example, Brooke asked Livy to talk to Cami and Brennan on the phone and Livys response, "I tan't." or "Livy, can you help Brooke pick up the toy room." Livy, "I tan't."
Another favorite phrase is , "mommy, I tist datin." translated: Mommy I kiss Jackson?
Thankfully it isn't "Mommy, I tidt datin" anymore, which is translated: Mommy, I hit Jackson.
Notice the slight difference?? Very slight, but it is there.

Jackson's word of choice lately, is the cutest giggle you have ever heard. He giggled the entire time through relief society today! He just smiled at me and giggled. It was so fun to just get to focus on him and not have Livy and Brooke pulling at me to hold him, or kiss him, or love him. They really cannot get enough of him. Thankfully Livy has passed the jealousy stage, and just totally adores him now. It is so cute to watch her mimick Brooke and make faces at him and coo at him.

They really are the cutest kids ever. Now I just need to remember that at 5:00 in the evening when all choas breaks loose with wining, crying and trying to nurse and get dinner done at a reasonable hour.

Jackson

He is a beast. i bought some new white onesies last week. I washed them and went to put one on today. IT WAS TOO SMALL. They are 3-6 months. He is 2 months and one week!! Ahhh!

Last night he started sucking his thumb. Ben and I were getting ready for bed and we hear this really loud sucking noise from him. He had been sucking on his hands lately. But after a few minutes, it was still really loud. So I went in and put his binky in, and his thumb was totally, all the way in his mouth. It was actually really cute! But i was never a thumb sucker, and neither were my two girls, so I am not sure if I want to stop this before he starts really liking it, or if it would be nice to have a natural plug! I don't know if the convenience now is worth the breaking of the habit later....

He is laughing and giggling a ton. He is so cute! And such a good baby!

Shopping date!

Last night Ben and I had a great date!! We put the girls down early, and thankfully they went to sleep easily. So we called our friend Colton and he came over and watched a movie here to babysit. We went grocery shopping and went to a few stores to look for house things. It was so great to walk around the store talking and not having to keep Livy from jumping out of the cart or throw things at other shoppers or knock down displays. We made it to Cost Plus before it closed and got a great deal on an entry table! I love that store. I forgot how great that store is and how much i love it. It was really fun to just get to talk, and get things at a few stores that is impossible to do with three kids at once. I was so excited about our deals!
I love to shop sales, escpecially grocery stores. I am not one of those crazy couponers that gets things for free, and then gets money back. I wish I was that dedicated, but I always plan around whats on sale and use coupons here and there when i find ones that I actually need.

Anyways, last night was awesome because I saved 62.89 and only spent 49.00. I don't know why I get so excited when I get a great deal. But it really is fun to see how much you save when you shop! My goal is always to try and save as much as I spend. So it was great to save more!! I loved it. And for anyone that is reading this, just to let you know Safeway has Motts applejuice for 88 cents. We never buy juice, but I definitely stocked up!!

It was just so great to hang out with Ben without interruptions. And to get such great deals made it even better.

Huskies in First again!!

We Beat Mission today!!! We are in FIRST place! It was such a great match to watch. The team did so awesome. I am so proud of them!! It was fun to be back on the bench. But since I got there late, after warm ups, I wasn't in the captains meeting, so I couldn't stand up. It was REALLY, REALLY hard to stay seated the whole time. I just had to yell a little louder to get the girls to hear me.

Brooke

It is so much fun to see how much the girls adore Jackson. Especially Brookelyn. She just can't get enough of him. Today when we were getting ready to go to the park to meet some friends and I was putting Jackson in his car seat I said, "Jackson, it is your 1st trip to the park." Brooke overheard and said, "Melanie hasn't seen Jackson yet, mom."
I replied back, "Yes she has."
Brooke: "Oh yeah, but Mckenzie hasn't seen him yet." And with this huge grin and her eyes getting really big, it was almost as if she was going to open a big surprise or something, she says, "She is going to just love him. She will think he is so cute. And she will want to hold him."

It just brings me so much joy to think how much she loves him. Almost as much as me, I think.

Two weeks old

Jackson is 2 1/2 weeks old. I took him to the doctor on monday (at 2 weeks) and he weighs 12lbs. 5 oz. He is sleeping pretty good. He had some really bad nights over the weekend. But he is back on track to being a good sleeper (at least I hope so). I am determined to have a good sleeper this time around. I am starting to adapt the Babywise philosophy a bit. But some of it is a little too rigid for me. But I am really trying hard to keep to a feed/waketime/naptime schedule. Hopefully we will see good results for sleeping. He is so big, he could be sleeping through the night already!!!

Freezing Time

I just want to freeze time and bottle it up lately. This morning was such a great "saturday morning". Ben got up and did P90X and Livy woke up a bit early and just played out in the front room. I just listened to her entertain herself while laying in bed for a few minutes. After all the kids woke up, Ben and the girls made sweet potato waffles (we have an awesome recipe for pumpkin waffles from my friend Melissa. One time when making them i didn't have pumpkin, so I used canned sweet potatoes, they are a family FAVORITE!!). While Ben finished things in the kitchen, I nursed Jackson on the couch while listening to Livy's cutest high pitch singing "book-book (translation:brooke), dada, me....and any other thing she can think of to sing" while she was setting her tea set on the kids table. Brooke looked so cute singing softly to herself on the bean bag chair in her two tossled braids left in from last night at the football game, her big blue eyes looking crystal-clear with her pink pajamas and just waiting patiently for her show to begin. All the while I was just trying to soak in the moment. A beautiful baby on my lap and enjoying the girls singing. And for some reason all of this cuteness and fun continued all morning. Brooke telling us stories at the breakfast table, Livy just wanting us to watch her skip and jump (but not in her usual intense scream, but a cute high voice saying, "uh mom ook me") and play at the tea table and Jackson just looking around and being so dang cute. I just love being a mom and enjoying our family!

Sept 27, Jackson's Birthday!

8:00 am Brooke follows Ashley to the laundry room on a Sunday morning. Suddenly Ashley has a intense contraction and doubles over. Brooke says “What’s wrong mommy?” “I’m having a bad contraction – go tell Dad to start a hot bath for me.”

8:15 am Ashley is standing in bath and screaming out during contractions. The hot water has already been taken by the washing machine, so no relief from the bathtub.

8:30 am Brooke says “Daddy, we need to say a prayer for Mommy that her contractions won’t hurt too bad.” Meanwhile Livy is pretty oblivious that her world is about to flip upside down.

8:45 am Ashley yells “Ben, we need to go to the hospital call my mom!”

9:00 am Grandma Megan comes to pick up the girls. During the middle of a contraction, Ashley mutters something about where to find Livy’s socks…typical super mom.

9:15 am We arrive at the hospital. Wonderful nurse named Lisa taking care of us. Ashley is already dialated to a 9! They quickly hook Ashley up to an IV, then the anesthesiologist walks right in to get her an epideral…Phew!

9:45 am After more contractions, Ashley’s water breaks. Some fluid comes gushing out. Ben is standing at the bedside holding Ashley’s hand. When the nurse checks her, suddenly Ben feels faint. He grabs a chair and sits down, is completely pale, and in a cold sweat. Lisa yells over the intercome “Orange Juice! Stat! Husband needs help!” Other nurses rush in with orange juice and crackers for Ben, and one nurse snaps an ammonia packet in his face to bring him back to life. After a nutritious breakfast, Ben is back on his feet to support his wife.

10:00 am Ashley starts to feel the need to push. We give it a go. Some progress is made, but baby is getting stuck at the pelvic bone. Lisa is encouraging with her comments of “He moved a little bit.” Translation – he is in the exact same spot as before. After about an hour, we lower the stirrups to give Ashley a rest and see if the baby will move down on his own with more contractions.

11:00 am Dr. Wong comes in to check Ashley. She explains that if the baby does not move past the pelvic bone, then we’ll need to do a C-section. You can literally see the wind taken out of Ashley’s sails. She is so discouraged and dreads having a C-section. She begins to pray more intensely in her heart.

11:15 am Ben and Grandpa Forrest give Ashley a priesthood blessing. Ben feels prompted to bless Ashley that her body will be strong and that it will open up and relax to let the baby pass through the birth canal. All thoughts are positive and we focus our faith.

11:50 am Ashley straps up the legs and begins her second round of pushing. Slowly progress is made…baby inches forward, then back, then forward even farther. Lisa is so encouraging – a perfect personality fit for Ashley. Ashley is getting tired but pushes on.

12:30 pm Ben can now see baby’s head pretty clearly now. Neither Lisa nor Dr. Wong can tell which direction his head is, but they think he is face down…normal…good. Ashley is getting tired. Now when baby begins to crown, she screams at the doctor “JUST PULL HIM OUT. PLEASE!!! PULL HIM OUT!” She doubts she can do it. Baby is right on pelvic bone but not completely past it yet.

12:50 pm Baby is pretty much past the pelvic bone, just needs one or two more pushes. Ashley is spent, she is breaking down after each set of contractions. Her prayers are now vocalized “Please God! Help me!” Both Ashley and Ben are in tears but keep hoping.

12:54 pm Ashley is at her strengths’ end. Here comes another contraction. 4 nurses are in the room. Dr. Wong is in the catching position. Ashley curls up to push, nurses are all giving advice, Ben is shouting “PUSH! C’MON ASHLEY! PUSH!” Screams from Ashley. Suddenly the baby’s head is out. He’s face up! And his head is HUGE! Ben can’t believe it came out such a small opening – there is no way it could fit through – especially with those massively chubby cheeks. Shoulders come through okay without breaking the clavical. Rest of baby slips out.

12:55 pm Baby Jackson’s official birth time. His head has a huge cone on his right side. His face is a little blue. Ashley yells “His face is blue…breathe…BREATHE!” He’s just fine…he lets out a cry. Ashley is totally relieved and smiles through her tears. She is finally holding him on her tummy.

12:56 pm They place this chunker on the scale. Numbers ring up to 5.296 kg. A nurse quickly calculates – 11 lbs. 11 ounces! Everyone is in awe. Later the nurses tell us that between all of them and the doctor, this is the biggest vaginally delivered baby any of them have ever seen! They all want a picture with him later.

After the whole experience, we just feel incredibly blessed to have Jackson here with us safe and sound. It's so fun to watch Brooke and Livy beg to hold him. Brooke can't get enough, and Livy follows suit by simply saying "Please Mommy" and holding out her arms to take Jackson.

Saturday Morning Tradition

Charity

Tonight at the RS Broadcast I had a lot of good impressions that I want to make sure I act on. But something that really stuck out to me was Elder Eyring's comments on Charity. As I was listening, I kept thinking how charitable my mom is. How much she really does serve others without complaining. She truly is an example of charity. I know that a lot of my blessings from friends and people in the ward are a direct result of my mom's charitable service. She is such a great example. Sometimes I think people are very guarded with their time and are very charitable to their own family, but my mom is so giving to everyone. Thanks mom for all you do for everyone, especially our family. I have a lot to live up to!

I was also thinking that one of the reasons I think that my ward family is so great is because of the tradition of charity and service. Even all of my mom's friends are so service oriented and truly charitable. I want to be more like those women. I want to serve out of love more instead of duty.

modge podge of feelings

Tonight when I got home from the Relief Society broadcast the girls were in bed, but came running out as soon as I walked in the door. They were so cute. Now that they share a room they always come out together with Brooke having her arm around Livy looking so dang cute that you can't help but just smile inside. My heart melted, and they just wanted to hug me. So we had our hugs (and I was feeling kind of guilty because Ben and I had just had the conversation that morning about being strict when the girls get out of bed. Not mad, and frustrated and angry like we have been, but just plain strict). So we quickly had our hugs and then I said i would come in and sit in the chair while they fell asleep. A routine we are trying to break. As i sat there, I just felt so much love for my girls. Just listening to them talk themselves to sleep. I kept thinking 'why can't I always feel like this at bedtime. why do i always have to get frustrated. I just want to soak up this joy when they are little. i want to record Livy's babbling's in my mind forever. i want to enjoy the night time routine and this time when they are little. I don't want to keep dreading it or feeling short and temperamental with my girls.' I just sat there trying to soak up those feelings and memories.

And then 20 minutes had passed and the girls were trying to get up again and Livy wanted to be rocked (which i absolutely love doing. She cuddles right into my arm and usually falls right to sleep. But I was trying so hard to say no because of the previous conversation today.) Well I finally said okay because I knew she would fall asleep immediately. But she didn't. Instead she kept talking to me, which was very cute. And Brooke kept complaining that she wished I would still rock her even though she was big, etc....But I started to get those restless feelings inside again. That calmness and joy was quickly being overtaken by anxiousness. So i calmly told them to lay down and they had to go to sleep on their own. And I left the room. Not 5 minutes later the pitter-patter came down the hall. I quickly took them back to bed and again sat in the room. They finally fell asleep another 20 minutes later.
And I looked at them sleeping and again that rush of joy and peace came back coupled with the frustration of how hard it is for them to get to sleep.

I want to soak those night times in. I don't want to start really dreading them. So tomorrow is a new day. A new time to get back to the old habits when they were in separate rooms and Brooke fell asleep on her own and Livy stayed in her crib (although now she is not in a crib, so it is a bit of a challenge). But I have some good ideas that I want to implement so I can enjoy my girls at night and remember how fun it is to be a mom of two little girls that are so dang cute and funny!!!

Come on Baby!!!

Well, my contractions kind of went on and off all day yesterday and then completely stopped at about 11pm after I had walked around the block ten times. I have been extremely uncomfortable today, but not as many contractions. It has been kind of fun to compare my pregnancies. I don't know if it is because I feel more comfortable about labor since I know what to expect, or because I feel a little more prepared this time. Anyway, just this beginning part of labor has brought back a flood of memories of my first two. Which I am going to try and write down today, since I have no documentation of them before. My contractions thus far have been different from Brooke's. When I was in labor with Brooke I had so much back labor. I found out later it was because she was face up, which is also why i still have problems with my tailbone. These contractions are all in front.
We walked around Lake Elizabeth this morning to see if I could get things going again. I had a few contractions, but nothing constant. Just still a lot of pain and discomfort and pressure.

It was really fun to be at the park with the girls and Ben. The weather was BEAUTIFUL. Although it got a little hot on our way out. I love California weather. We were all in shorts and short sleeves and it is the end of September!!

3 months officially....

So it has been 3 months officially that I have not blogged. I keep making the excuse that it is because our mac crashed about a day after I posted the last post in June. Then we headed to tenessee for 8 days, then to utah for two weeks, and life just happened after that and since I don't have a computer that I can download my pictures on, I can't blog. The last few weeks I have really been thinking about why I have to blog with pictures, afterall, this is kind of like a journal for me, and my other journals don't have many pictures. So I am going to try to blog and capture the moments better with words! And try to have some sort of documentation of our life for my kids.

And since I was up at 5:30 with Ben getting ready for Seminary and a few big contractions, I thought what better way to start off this baby thing than to make an entry about the labor. Since, by the way, I haven't written one thing down about the pregnancy. Sometimes I think I am weird because I have never kept a pregnancy journal, I have never taken belly shots, and really I hate thinking about the first three months of pregnancy. So I haven't been the best at documenting each experience of my kids life inside the womb.

But for some reason this last month has been different. (not the documentation part, i am still horrible at that), but remembering, feeling, and getting excited about this last phase of pregnancy. I have been a little bit excited about the start of labor, not only because that means that our little boy is almost here to hold and cuddle and just soak in that amazing new born spirit in our home, but I think it is because I know what to expect. I know what is going to happen when labor starts, so I can "enjoy" it a little more (I know that sounds weird). Maybe it is because I feel partially ready for this baby to come. Unlike my last two, I have a crib set up, I have onesies washed, I picked up the girl necessities to have on hand, I actually have a hospital bag packed, no calling my mom to bring a toothbrush and face wash to the hospital. Anyways, I just feel a little excited about this phase. So i hope these contractions continue today and I can have this baby on my own terms and won't have to be induced next week.

I am just so excited to hold this little boy. My memory just keeps being flooded with how special it is to have a newborn in your home. Their spirit is so strong. It is like a tidal wave of memories and peaceful feelings of when we brought Brooke and Livy home. Especially Livy. I think it is because our life was in such disarray with the house remodel and ben changing jobs, me working, etc. but i can still remember so vividly the peace that Livy brought. I would just sit in the glider in the "closet" upstairs nursing and brooke would play at my feet (at least for a little while) and I would just soak in the spirit of that baby. I can't wait for this one to be here. So contractions please don't stop. I really want to meet our little boy soon!

Neighborhood balloon fight!

A few weeks ago I went to Costco on a Saturday morning with my mom. Ben was watching the kids, so he filled up a bunch a water balloons and had some of the neighborhood kids over for a balloon fight. Then they all hung out on the lawn eating treats. Ben always makes everything so fun. No wonder Brooke asks me if I am going to leave on saturday mornings.

A few of the Neighborhood gang

Cole-Tyler-Brookelyn-Livia-Emma

Here are a few pictures of the girls I tried to capture before church. These were their Easter dresses, that I never got a picture of on Easter. Hedy, these are the headbands I bought from Cheryl.

Disneyland in June

I have a lot to catch up on in the last few weeks, so most of our events will tell the stories in the pictures. The girls and I went to disneyland the first week of June with our good friends and neighbors, Stephanie and Kora. It was so fun. A very quick trip, we left tuesday afternoon and drove back thursday evening. It was Stephanie's birthday on wed. so she got in free. We were quite the sight, with two very pregnant ladies (stephanie is due the 1st week of July) and three little girls! We stayed at our friends Tina's house and luckily she was able to meet us later in the day to take Brooke on all the big rides. Brooke absolutely loves roller coasters. And since neither Stephanie and I could go on them, Tina was a life saver. We got to spend a few hours with Noelle and the kids thursday morning at a park and the beach. We miss those guys so much. Diego and Brooke picked up right where they left off and had a blast in the water and playing. And Isabella and Livy played in the sand together.

It was a very fun road trip with a few hiccups (poopy diapers not even two hours into the trip, all the girls crying at once smashed in the little mazda, etc...). But we had a miracle on the way back and all three girls slept at the same time for over an hour!!

Livy still doesn't like the rides, but she loved climbing on everything.

Thanks Stephanie for asking us to go!! It was a great trip!

Bear Country, Brooke loves all the characters and Livy can't stand them.

All tired out!

Brooke and Tina on Splash mountain. Brooke begged to go again and again, and again....

Livy's "cheese" smile. THis is where she was happiest. Climbing, not riding.

We told them Brooke was 7 so she could go by herself. (Hey she is tall for her age.)

Starting off the day on the Tram. Livy clung so tightly to my neck even on the tram that I couldn't breathe.

Good ole' Minnie

Diego and Brooke at the Beach

Lovin' the sand

At a rest stop on the way back. We just let them run!!

Regrets

We just came back from an awesome fireside that James Grant put together on his mission. It was amazing!! It was all different songs depicting the Saviors life with a slide show in the background. Most of the songs were sung by elders. It was narrated with scriptures between songs and a few new converts shared their testimonies. Dave Clark gave an awesome introduction about the life of the Savior. The spirit was so strong. Even with the girls there and trying to entertain them, I felt so uplifted by the message. I am so glad we went.
But as I sat there, I had the same regrets I did when I attended the Gladys Night Concert a year ago with my friend Noelle. I just kept wanting to kick myself for not inviting more friends. Fortunately for the Gladys Night concert, i had invited Noelle (I couldn't have gotten in without a non-member), but I sat there wishing I had invited ten other people because it was so great!! And it happened again tonight. In defense for myself, I did invite my friend Danielle, but it was just this afternoon and she already had plans. So I am committing myself to being more missionary minded and inviting friends earlier. I always invite friends to enrichment activities, and I often do it weeks in advance. But for some reason when it comes to things that are specifically planned for sharing the Gospel it takes me a little more courage to muster up inviting people, and in the end I usually do it last minute. So I don't want to have anymore regrets of not opening my mouth earlier and to more people to invite them to awesome events where they can feel the power of our Savior and learn about His atonement through the spirit that is felt. I am making a pact with myself, that I am going to be a better missionary when it comes to inviting friends to spiritually uplifting meetings or church, not just family-fun activities.

Gualala Pics

Bikes and Scooters all week!

Go Liv!

Boat ride with Poppy off of Point Arena.

Kids at the River

love this little Liv!

Our little fish - can't keep her out of the water.

Heading for the "Deep End"

Jack and Brooke - 2nd generation Bodily & Beck buddies

Tyler, Jenny, and Brookie

Livy has always been more timid around the water. Hopefully she warms up to the idea!

Bodily Grandkids

The daredevil jumping off the log to Uncle Taylor. After this jump, she got back on the log and went just a bit higher. Looking down, she said "I don't want to jump from here." So we all thought she would move down closer to the water, but instead she marched up to the tip top, and proceeded to do this...(stick with the clip below to the end)

Some places are forever special because of the traditions and memories we create there. Gualala is one of those places...so many things to look forward to each May.

Gualala

It was another fun-filled awesome year at gualala. I just love that place. No matter what the weather is or how many bugs there are it is still one of my all-time favorite places. And I know it is because it holds so many fond memories of growing up. Everytime we drive into the park, I think of being a kid and itching to get out as soon as my parents would stop to check in. We would beg and beg to get out and run to the playground or campsite. Its as if as soon as I see the river when you make the turn off stage coach road a flood of memories come back like a tidal wave. From exploring in the ferns behind campsite 208, wars in ewok village with heidi, micah and I vs. Amber tyler and Jared, sleeping in the trees, hunting banana slugs (and seeing who would kiss them or watching my dad eat one), finding frogs at the river (and then roasting them ove the fire...I know not very animal friendly, but we were young), grandma smith with candy or sparklers and always some kind of "treat" for the weekend, christmas lights at grandma's camp to find our way back, jumping off the log in the river, the HUGE rope swing that isn't there anymore, ab diving, bike rides on the tandem, biking in town to get the yummy ice cream at the "house", church in the little house... and so much more. It is part of my childhood. Part of my family memories. It is where so many of us cousins connected and bonded!!! I love that place! And it is even better now to see my kids making the same memories. Brooke talks about it even more than disneyland. There is something about being in such a beautiful setting for a few days that just rejuvanates you!
This year it was beautiful weather and no too many mosquitos! We got to go up thursday evening and came home tuesday afternoon! It was so relaxing and fun. We played at the river almost everyday, went to point arena to meet the guys after diving and got a ride on Boppy's boat, had many fun bike rides and walks around the park with Brooke on her bike, many hours pushing Livia on the swing, eating such good abalone (for some reason this year it seemed to taste even better than the last few years), campfires and more stories! It was a great weekend. Brooke was so sad to leave. Thank you grandma smith for making gualala a priority trip in our family and starting this awesome tradition. Thank you mom for keeping it up and organizing it for everyone!! I am so glad my kids will get to have similar memories of my childhood!!!

Our mac is still down, so i can't post pictures, but you can check out Melissa's or Melanie's blog for some pictures. Hopefully I will get some up soon!!

Young Again

Thursday was Ben's Birthday!! We knew it was going to be a crazy day, I had a baby shower that my friend and I were giving for another friend and I had two volleyball lessons. Luckily we had a fun birthday breakfast and Ben opened his gift from the girls (waterguns). Aunt Gloria and Dana stopped by in the afternoon and we had so much fun visiting and seeing baby Jillian that I didn't get a chance to make a birthday dinner that I was going to try to squeeze into the hour between getting home from work and getting to the shower. So I stopped and got Chipotle for Ben (I think he liked that better anyway. When you never go out to eat, it is such a treat to get take out from your favorite place!!) So needless to say it was a crazy birthday, but Ben is such a great guy that he enjoyed it anyway. His seminary students played a joke on him and had cake for him too!! So all-in-all he had fun!

But since we knew ahead of time that we wouldn't have much time to celebrate, we planned to go to dinner friday night for his Birthday, just the two of us! When i went to get Amanda and Megan (our unbeliavably, awesome babysitters that both girls absolutely adore...you know your girls are well taken care of and loved when they ask you to leave if you are taking to long to say goodbye! and when they are constantly saying, "when do we get to see Amanda and Meghan"), Ben called the Hess', our neighbors, and asked if we could borrow THE JEEP for the evening!!! It was so much fun! Now if you just look at this jeep, you would think 'why in the heck would you want to take that thing on a date, or why do you think that jeep is so great...' But it is AWESOME!

Let me just fill you in on some background with this jeep. This was the jeep ben drove in high school. It was his brother Sam's before that and then Aaron drove it for five years, too. A few years ago Ben's parent's were going to get rid of it because it was pretty much falling apart. It leaked, it needed new tires, the mirrors were all off, most of the time you couldn't get it into second year, and nobody was driving it anymore because Aaron had gotten a new car, etc. We took it for about two years and Ben drove it to bart or to Mervyn's, if he was driving to work that day. It was our second car for a little while. But right before Livia was born we sold it to our friends, and now neighbors, the Hess'. It wasn't practical at all for us since the kids couldn't ride in it, we didn't have anywhere to park it and it needed a bit of work. It was a sad day, but we were happy for the Hess' to have it. We knew Ashley would love it and at least we could still see it around!

But even more than that history, that jeep was how I remember Ben! I used to watch for that jeep around town in high school (I was in love with Ben even in high school, although he didn't know it.) My hear would skip if I saw the jeep in the parking lot for a church dance. I would look for it at high school basketball and football games when we were playing mission. I always had my eye out for him and his jeep. We went to different high schools and lived on opposite ends of town. One time after a church dance, he took me driving in th eparking lot in the jeep. I was so nervous. I really didn't know how to drive clutch, and he showed me how. I did horrible, and i know it was because I was so nervous and giddy that he was actually touching my hand to help me shift (even back then, it was hard to get it into gear, you really had to muscle it in). I can remember when ben would stop by, which was rare, but you could hear the music from his jeep coming around the corner in the court, and my heart would kind of skip a beat. He was carefree with the doors off and his hat backwards!!! When we were a little older (seniors) he would let me drive the jeep around the block (I was better at clutch by then). My heart would just melt when I would see Ben in his jeep. And even when we had the jeep for that short time after we were married, I just felt so young and carefree whenever I would drive the jeep and especially when Ben and I would take it somewhere together! There is just something about an open air jeep that makes you feel a little more carefree! Especially when you have som many fond memories of such an awesome guy driving that jeep!!

Last night, except for crossing the dumbarton bridge, it was so awesome!!! (and even getting totally wind blown while driving across the bridge was great). Ben still new all the tricks on how to get it into gear and keep it from turning off (which it used to do quite often). Looking at him sitting in the drivers seat took us back 10-12 years to high school and I still got that same giddyness. He always looked so "hot" in his jeep and he looked even better now. (Although he still looks like he is 17 sometimes and last night you could tell he felt like he was 17 again!!) Ben was in his comfort zone again, back as a teenager and loving every minute of it! He even made the comment, when the Hess's want to get rid of this jeep, we are going to buy it back again.


Thanks Hess' for letting us have a great evening of being young again.

Favorites of the morning

My three favorite things of this morning were Brooke's pitter-patter feet out to the family room, cuddling on my lap and saying, "Mommy I slept so good. Don't you think, too."

When we went into my room to change for walking, Livia was sleeping on the bed, and she started opening her eyes and stirring and brooke slowly got on the bed and layed next to her and said, "Good Morning, Lu-Lu." I don't know where she got it from, but lately Brookelyn has been calling Livy, Lu-Lu. It is actually really cute!

Livy was really cranky when we got back from our walk, so i was trying to read her books and play with her and she lifted her arms up and showed me her belly button. I poked it and she makes the cutest little "pppah" sound and then giggles. Everytime you change her diaper, she points to her belly and wants you to poke it. She makes the same sound and then laughs. She likes to poke Brooke in the belly and tries to get her to make the sound as well. It is sooooo cute. I just love it. I was really trying to soak in the cute things this morning.

Happy and Sads

Happy: I had a great Mother's Day. Ben made me eggs benedict and gave me an hour to myself to write letters to my girls! It was great, thanks Ben. We went to my parent's house for dinner and the guys made filet mignon and an awesome meal. Luke Champion is a great Chef! Vanessa and Vai Lousi gave me the sweetest Mother's Day Card also! Just them giving me a card made me cry.

Happy: The Cruise was unbelievably AMAZING! I'll post pictures later. (Our mac computer kicks you off the internet after 5 minutes, so i can't upload any photos. If anyone knows why that is happening...any help is needed). Brooke and Livy had so much fun at the Serex's and ben and I had such a nice break that it was really fun to come back to the girls.

Sad: The Cruise is over. It was so fun to look forward to. All the excitement and anticipation and getting ready for it was so fun!

Happy: GUALALA IS NEXT WEEK!!! (ever since Grandma Smith passed away sometimes I get a little sad thinking about her not being there), but the incredible memories there and all the fun we have overrides that tiny corner of sadness.

Happy: Brookelyn's favorite thing right now is to hug...especially me! She has said to me a few times this week, "Mom, do you know what my favorite thing is?" Mom: "Rolly-pooly bugs?" Brooke: "no." Mom: "Livy?" Brooke: "No" Mom: "What?" Brookelyn with a big smile and her arms wide open: "Big, tight hugs!!!"


Sad: I have finally come to the conclusion that I really hate folding and putting away laundry. I don't mind sorting it, srubbing spots, washing, rotating....but I hate actually folding it and putting it away. (I have a few great pictures of pile ups that I will post when I get the picture thing worked out.) One time Ben helped me fold 8 loads of laundry in one night. And the reason it is even more sad when I think about it is because....it will never go away. I will be doing laundry for the rest of my life, even when my kids are grown and out of the house.

Happy: We planted our garden finally. The backyard is starting to look a little bit better!

Happy: Safeway and Smart and Final had awesome sales this week on meat and produce!!!

Happy: I love the stage Livia is at. I get such a kick out of just watching her. She loves to wrestle with her sister, play dress up, ride bikes, jump off things she climbs on (not such a great thing), and even better is that she is a cuddler!! She loves to lay her head on your shoulder for about five minutes to help her wake up from her sleeping!! I eat that up!!

Sad: Probably the saddest thing in the last week is that Mike and Elisha moved to Boston. We miss them so much already!

Happy: I really have the Best Husband Ever!!! I am really trying to notice everything he does. He is amazing!!!

The Suspense....

SHOCKER OF ALL SHOCKERS...IT'S A BOY! Put away the pink, here comes the blue!

Fleeting ideas...

I always have grand ideas of everything I want to write on my blog and journal. And everytime I sit down to write something, something else comes up and I can never finish. And now I feel like I have so many entries in my drafts but the are all half finished thoughts and ideas. Does anyone else have this problem? Or do you just get used to writing small amounts at each time. It is so frustrating. 

Loves

Thanks Cheri for the pics.

I absolutely LOVE the Beach! I was looking so forward to it all week long. It was a beautiful day yesterday. Although it was a little windy that brought a little chill, the sun was shining and the sky was so blue! No matter how cold it is, the kids always love it. It was so great to be watching both my girls love the outdoors with pure joy in their faces. I don't know a place where Brooke is that happy all day long and never asks what else there is to do. We had been there for five hours and it was still a battle to get her to leave. (Of course there are always the little melt downs or small tantrums because her hand is still sandy and she is trying to eat her sandwich, but they don't last long.) Livia didn't nap all day and she was as happy as could be. Even when she would drop a cracker in the sand and then eat it, sand and all, she never cried. I am pretty sure all kids love the Beach. There were 21 kids in our group with 9 moms and I don't think I heard more than five or ten minutes of crying or fighting or whining put together ALL DAY LONG! It was so much fun to watch my kids enjoy th eoutdoors and play in the sand with them. Although Brookelyn rarely wants anything to do with me while we are there because she is so enthralled with swimming, friends and building and digging in the sand, it is nice when she wants a towel because she is freezing from the water and then curls on my lap to eat her snacks, then goes right back to playing. Livia on the other hand was so fun to play in the sand with and watch her try to be a little daring near the water, but always chicken out! (thank goodness). I can't wait to go to the beach all summer!

I think my mom instilled this love for the beach by taking us there every week in the summer. No matter how cold or foggy it was we were always at the beach. And we always stayed even if it was cold. When we were getting ready to leave yesterday morning it was pretty cold outside, it brought back a flood of memories of getting ready to go to the beach when I was a kid. I always remember it being cold in the morning before we left. For some reason as I was packing the lunches and rounding up the towels I started thinking of when I was a kid and all the little jobs each of us had to do to go to the beach. Jobs around the house, but more like the jobs to go to the beach. One week I was in charge of getting towels for everyone in the brown leather bag, or boogie boards, wet suits and sand toys, or chairs, or making sure the ice chest was cleaned out and ready to pack, etc. I can still remember the bickering of who wasn't doing their job or my mom having to get on us 500 times to get the towels in the car. But no matter what, we always went and we always had a blast when we were there! Even when our big brown van would break down on highway 17 packed with kids (and I mean packed!), we still made it to the beach. 

But I think it might even go even further to my grandma Smith. It seems like almost every family vacation was centered around a place near or at teh beach (or at least near water, like Villa Grand on the Russian River, and Gualala!)  Over thanksgiving she rented condos on the beach with all the cousins, I even think we went for Easter one year. I remember camping with all of the cousins at Sea Cliff and one year at New Brighton. My Grandma was so good at making so many memories for us grandkids and my mom carried that tradition on. I think the beach is such a great place for those memories because it is inexpensive, always a stress reliever to be near the water, and pretty much no clean up, and all kids every age love it!! 

Thanks mom and grandma for always planning opportunities for our family to have so many great memories together!! 

Easter

Minus the fact that both Ben and I had to speak on Easter Sunday, it was a great day. And actually for all the stressing I did before my talk, it turned out fine and it really helped me focus on the amazing reason why we celebrate this Holiday. The girls loved looking through their easter baskets, and Cindy and Ashley Hess helped out in Sacrament meeting so it actually very enjoyable. Most days sacrament meeting is just like a circus on our pew. And I know some people say bring this and this snack, or this kind of activity, but the bottom line with our girls is that it really is a circus. I think they will grow out of this stage quickly, but for the most part it is a wrestling match with Livy. But with Cindy and Ashley helping I got to actually listen to Ben's talk. He did absolutely amazing as always. No wonder his seminary student love him as a teacher. We spent the afternoon at Mike and Elisha's with a yummy meal of ham, potatoes, asparagus, salad and rolls. It was great to watch the kids play, but also bitter sweet knowing there were going to be very few more moments like this with the kids, once they move to Boston. Family Reunion time will be so precious. Brooke and Cami really are the best of friends. They get along so well. And just love being together. 

Conference Sunday

I enjoyed so many of the conference talks this year, I enjoy them all every year, but this year I really feel like a few of them really jumped out at me. A few that I can't wait to re-read are Elder Hales, Elder Eyring, Elder Bednar's on Temple worship, and the last talk before I got to Elisha's on sunday morning (we were listening to it on bens iphone over the radio and I didn't catch who was speaking). 

I always forget to upload my pictures first and then write...so here are the pictures and you can read the stories after...I am still getting used to this blog thing. (Thanks Elisha for the Pictures.)

Ben, Dana and Me (yes I chopped my hair. It was a lot shorter than i had wanted, but it has been three weeks, so I am finally starting to get used it a little.)

Getting ready to go outside and hunt!

Decorating eggs

Brookie so excited to be hanging out with Brennan and Cami again!

For conference on Sunday we went to Mike and Gloria's (Hedy's sisters house) in Brentwood. We drove halfway to livermore and watched the last half of the first session with Elisha and the kids. Then we all drove out to Dryden's together. It was so much fun. Gloria was waiting for the kids and she had dye and eggs all ready to decorate. She made a beautiful easter bunny cake. It looked and tasted amazing! After the afternoon session of conference she had an easter egg hunt for the kids. Livia loved hunting for eggs (and of course eating the candy). The kids loved feeding the ducks behind their house as well. Gloria was so nice I think she let them go through two loaves of bread to keep feeding the ducks. 

Dana and Aaron had their dog, Max, there and Gloria and Mike have a dog named Louie. Brooke finally warmed up to them and was playing with them yesterday. So today when we went to Annie's house to meet her for walking, Brooke kept asking if she could go in the backyard and play with the dog and let it lick her. When she went to Kora's house today, she immediately asked Stephanie if she could play with Avi (it is a really small dog), but not Lola, "because she is too big." So now Brooke is in love with small dogs, hopefully she doesn't start asking for one already.

It was really fun to hang out with Elisha and the kids and Mike and Gloria and Dana and Aaron all day yesterday. We got to be with baby Jillian. She is such a GOOD baby! Thanks Gloria for making it such a great day for the kids!

Livia update

Livia is growing up so fast! She isn't much of a talker except for "ba ba ba" which means book, Brooke, bottle and food. She understands everything you say. She will start yelling ba at the top of her lungs and pointing at something. IF you are aware of what she is pointing towards and ask her if that is what she wants, she immediately stops yelling and shakes her head yes, but instead of just her head shaking, her whole body bobs with it. It is so cute! 

Favorites of Livia: 

Wearing Hats, throwing away her diaper after you change it (and now throwing away anything in the garbage including her sippy cup, toys, food, etc.), raisins, grapes and apples, DANCING! (to keep my sanity in the morning, after breakfast I turn on a CD of sing-a-long songs, Livia LOVES it and so does Brooke. It keeps them occupied for about half an hour while i clean up breakfast adn shower.) She also loves to wear shoes, her shoes or anyone else's shoes and she is constantly wanting to put on a different pair. She absolutely loves bikes. She screams and points to the backyard, when I open the door she immediately goes to get the helmet and brings it to me to put it on and then grabs my hand and takes me to Brooke's big bike. She loves it! Her favorite toys are books, balls, cars and nerf guns. Another favorite thing to do is hit. She picks up anything and everything and whacks people or things with it. This morning it was a ruler that I kept having to hide. She loves to wrestle and dance with Brooke. As soon as she wakes up in the morning she walks over to the stroller and wants to get in. Sometimes I will put her in and she will just start bouncing up and down to show me that she is ready to go. Recently she found our backpack carrier in her closet and now she is ALWAYS wanting to be in it. So the past few days I have been wearing her around on my back while I do things around the house, the only problem is that she likes to hit me...hard on the head and neck. 

She is so cute! It is so cute to watch her when Ben comes home. She hears the door open and turns to see him come around the entry way and then just runs full speed ahead right into him. It is so cute. She also loves to run. Ben will say, "On your mark, get set go...." and she will just start running until she sees a wall or the couch (if it is the couch, she throws her body onto it then turns around and runs straight back to Ben). This goes on for ten minutes at a time and she just laughs! Her run is so cute too, because she kind of waddles sideways and swings one arm backwards. Its really fun to watch!

Livia is so much fun! I really love this age when they are soaking everything in. But she is definitely physically exhausting ALL the time. Thankfully she goes to sleep really easy (a huge contrast to her sister!) I will post some updates adn videos when I find the camera cord. 

March

After our trip to disneyland it seemed like life calmed down a little bit...as calm as it can get amidst the "bodily chaos". Livia was sick again the first week and a half of march and then we thought she had the chicken pox, but it ended up being a reaction to the MMR shot. It was a nice birthday gift to me, to find out it wasn't chicken pox. I had been dreading all day (on my birthday) how we were going to have to be cooped up for the next two weeks. We finally got into the doctors at 5pm and found out the spots all over were  a reaction. A big relief, but now I struggle again with the decision of vaccinations....ahhh! We had some fun activities with all the March Birthday celebrations, Heidi's wedding, Dinner with the family to celebrate all the birthdays, Cami's Birthday party, gong to see Wicked with a bunch of friends (I loved it, and there is just something about going to the City that is so fun to me. I absolutely love going to the City. Maybe it is because I feel pretty comfortable there because I grew up going there, or just because there are so many fun things to do there, but I love going to San Fransisco), and the ward talent show (very fun times  and always great memories).

We have been really busy trying to get a little organization to our house. We are painting and staining dressers, trying to decide how to do the backyard, weeding and more weeding, and trying to get a garden planted. Last weekend we had finally finished sanding one dresser and I had put the first coat of stain on it (amidst Brooke wanting to help and Livia wanting to drink the stain.) Last weekend in the middle of conference sessions, we were determined to get teh dressers done so we can organize the bedrooms better.  I was in our room cleaning out another dresser to take out and paint and Ben was outside with the girls putting the last stain coat on another dresser. Livia comes rushing into my bedroom as I am pulling out the bottom drawer of my dresser (luckily I had just taken out all of the clothes) and stumbles and drops something into the drawer, black goo started running everywhere inside the drawer (luckily it was now an empty drawer). I immediately realize it is the stain and start yelling, "BEN!!!" I scoop up the= can and look at Livia. She is COVERED with dark stain all over her sleepers, all over her new tennis shoes, on the other white dresser we had just painted that was next to the dresser I was taking out, spots on the hardwood floor, entry way tile, a huge spill all over the rug I just got from Heidi Little, and a long trail on the concrete out back from where she picked up the can of stain until she hit the sliding door. Thankfully there was not an ENTIRE trail from the back door all the way to the other side of the house into our bedroom, just a bunch of random spots. 

It took an hour or so and a lot of lacquer thinner to get it off Livia and all the other furniture. The only permamantly damaged spots are on the rug and all over her shoes (we threw out her sleepers, but kept the shoes). It was very eventful, stressful and now pretty funny. We finally finished three of the four dressers and only have to put a sealer on the fourth dresser. It only took us five different days...but without kids, it probably would have taken about four hours!!! Oh the joys of trying to get things done with  a four yr. old and an 18 month old. 

February

Brooke absolutely loved seeing every character and wanted to talk to and hug all of them. Unlike Livia who was deathly afraid of all of them.

Livia loves to chew on her tongue. She definitely gets this from Punka. This is when we were waiting for everyone on bugs like. Livia was content just running around the bench I was sitting on and climbing on everything. But she never wanted to go on a ride. Hopefully that will change!

After our great adventures in Costa Rica, we got home and two days later both the girls got the flu. Welcome home MOM!!! After they were feeling better, the girls and I headed to Disneyland with my mom, Amber and Calvin! We had such a great time. Too bad we all get car sick and the DVD player didn't work in my uncle's car we borrowed and Livia is just not a car seat traveler....So needless to say, the drive down to LA was an adventure in itself. I will post pictures when I can figure out why my computer keeps saying bad error when I upload pictures.

Brooke had such a great time. Her favorite ride was space mountain. And she keeps talking about when she will be able to ride Screamin' at California Adventure. Brooke is a thrill seeker, and I thought Livia would be too since she is such a climber and gets into everything, but, on the contrary, she really didn't like any rides. Even when I was holding her on my lap. Her whole body would tense up and she would bury her face into my chest. It was a really fun trip. Thanks Tina for letting us crash your place!