Spring 2010

Blog time! Here we go!!!!

Of course, it’s been almost five months since my last blog (did you expect anything less?!). That means that this blog is going to be pretty long since I have a lot to catch you all up on! That also means lots of pictures (just a reminder - if you want to enlarge a picture just click on it! I like to look at BIG pictures...maybe I'm the only one?)! I guess we’ll begin with Benjamin.

Ben

Ben made it through another tough semester in his engineering program. He is very excited, after completing linear algebra and differential equations, that he doesn’t have to take any more math classes! He is now down to only engineering classes so the countdown is on! 3 years until he gets his masters degree!!! He’s already completed two years since we’ve been here in Utah so another three doesn’t seem so bad! =) Ben is enjoying the summer off so far and is hoping to get some good fishing in before he starts his next 6 classes in August.

In February we celebrated “Ben Day”. That is the day that Ben was adopted. He is so grateful to his birth parents for loving him enough to give him a better life. His parents, Bill and Phyllis, are amazing people and love him more than anything (some of his siblings might even say he was the favorite)! =) Somehow neither Ben nor I can remember what we did for Ben Day (guess we’re not very big on celebrations) but I’m sure whatever we did was fun! =)

We just got back from a trip to Arkansas for the boy’s annual camping/fishing trip down the Buffalo River. Ben, our brother in law Mike (Chelsea’s husband), our brother in law Patrick (Hannah’s husband), Patrick’s little brother Caleb, Ben’s dad Bill, and two family friends Todd and Wally headed out in their canoes on a Thursday morning and drifted down the Buffalo River for a 3 day trip. They caught close to 200 fish the first day, over 100 the second day, and just a few the third day. When they got back on Saturday they were all pretty exhausted but had a great time! They really missed Sarah’s husband Eric (who had to work) but hope he’ll be able to join them next year!

Also, while we were in Arkansas Ben, Patrick, and Bill went to a Saint Louis Cardinals game. Ben was like a kid in a candy store! He loved it! Here’s few pictures he took at Busch Stadium.

Here's Ben standing in Busch Stadium during batting practice.


Pujols getting ready.


Foul ball!


Their seats were just behind home plate, about 15 rows up.

Julia

I’m recovering well from my thyroid surgery in January. As I said before, the doctor that did my surgery accidentally burned one of my voice nerves and thought it would take up to a year to come back but luckily one day in March I could suddenly talk again! Yay! My doctor was very happy to hear that! Now that my thyroid is out I am feeling better than ever. I suspected for a few years but never knew for sure that there was a problem with my thyroid but there have been so many changes in how I feel since my surgery. I have normal energy levels now (I was always exhausted before), I don’t require as much sleep to function (I used to need at least 9 hours of sleep every night), and my skin has cleared up dramatically (at 26 I still broke out daily whereas now it is very, very rare that I ever do). I’m loving not having a thyroid!

The semester has also ended for me and I am so grateful for the break!!! The past two semesters have been unusually busy and I’m very much enjoying the summer vacation so far! Although, it seems like every time I check something off my to do list, four more things get added. I guess a woman’s work is never done! I sat down and took a look at what I have left to do for my major and if I take 3 classes each semester then I will graduate the same semester as Ben with my bachelor’s degree in creative writing. =) I’m going to try really hard to get it done! 6 semesters to go! Next semester I’ll be taking sign language (so excited for that one), biology (boo!), and an english class (haven’t decided which one yet).

April 12th was my 27th birthday! Up until now I have still felt 19 or so but lately I have been feeling more my age. Is that how it works? Now I’ll feel 27 until I’m about 35 and then I’ll feel 35 until I’m 43 and so on? We went over to my mom’s and had a little birthday dinner – lasagna and cake! Here’s some pictures of that!

27!


Maddie and Mama (she stole my crown).


Me and my brother Tom.


My other brother Sean.


He wasn't paying attention. =)

Also in April we went down to Bountiful and got our friend Cameron to take some family pictures. Here are some of those (thanks again Cameron)!





































April 25th Ben and I celebrated our 7th anniversary. It’s amazing what we’ve done in the past 7 years. I told Ben that looking back on all that we’ve come through I really feel like we could make it through anything. He agreed. =) It feels good to have that much faith in a relationship. I can definintely say that we are happier and more connected today than we have ever been. Here’s to another 7 years, and then another 7, and then another, and another…. <3 We were going to spend a night out on the town and then at Anniversary Inn but our babysitter’s brother died suddenly just a couple days before so she wasn’t able to watch the kids for us. We are planning on going within the next couple of weeks though so that should be fun! It is a much needed night for just the two of us!

In other news…..I did it! =) I lost 50 pounds! I have learned so, so much about the role of food in the body and have really gained a LOVE for working out over the past 7 months (especially running!). Now I just have to maintain! Usually I’ll take one meal a week off from my healthy eating and my routine meal has become a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a pint (yes, a pint) of cookie dough ice cream. I never would have thought that those would be the foods I would miss the most! Here’s a before picture for you (obviously all the current pictures of me are the after pictures). My goal is to never weight that much again!!! (unless I’m 9 months pregnant)

This picture was taken the day Hayes came home from the hospital so it was two weeks after he was born.


This was taken on November 1st. I had lost about 10 pounds at this point.

Like I said, we just returned from our annual Arkansas trip and I also had a lot of fun! We miss our Arkansas family so much!!! While Ben was away on the boy’s camping trip all of the girls and kids got to head up to Branson to go shopping! Here are a few pictures from our trip.

And we're off! This picture was taken as we were driving to the gas station to top off the car before leaving Logan. This was the most organized that the car was the entire trip. Maddie made a mess back there!


Here's our little man a few hours into the trip. He did great the first day, and pretty good the second day but two and a half weeks later when we were making the drive back home he was not happy to be in the car! Sadly, he had to cry himself to sleep more than once. He better get used to road trips pretty quickly though because the rest of us love them!


Snacks!




Once we left Logan we headed to Lincoln, Nebraska. The first day was about 13 hours and we definitely felt like we could drive longer but Maddie was ready to get out of the car so we went ahead and stopped. The second day was about a 5 hour drive and we ended up in Springfield, Missouri at Ben's little sister, Sarah's house. We stayed there for two nights before heading down to Arkansas.

Daddy and Maddie on Eric's (Sarah's husband) four wheeler. She loved it!


Ice cream!


Twins! Sarah took me and Maddie garage saleing on Saturday morning and Maddie had so much fun! She loves to shop but usually can't get very much because we have a budget but when you're buying clothes for 50 cents you can pretty much get all you want. One of the things she found was this pink hoodie - just like Mama's!


Eric, Sarah, and their son Blake sitting around the fire.


Silly girl!


Ben's FIRST s'more!

Once we left Sarah and Eric's house we headed down to Rea Valley, Arkansas for a few days to spend time in the "jungle" with Little Pawpaw and Grandma Cookie (that's Ben's dad and step mom).

Maddie and Little Papaw making pancakes!




Here's Maddie sitting at the table "learning".


Bubba!






Here's Ben on our date. He really was having fun...despite the look on his face. =)


This is Ben hunting snakes down at the pond. He was on safari!


Bubba likes beer (well....the non-alcoholic kind)! Or maybe he just liked licking the bottle because it was empty. =)

Of course, we can't go to Arkansas without taking a day to go fishing! This was Hayes' first time on the boat so we were hoping he would like it (Maddie hated it at his age) and, I should have known, he absolutely loved it! Here's a few pictures from our day.









The first of Maddie's three fish. She wasn't scared of them this year. Yay!


He loves Dr. Pepper (just like his Memaw)! Don't worry, the can was empty.








Fishing is hard work!!!

After visiting the jungle for a few days the boys headed out on their annual camping trip and I took the kids into Mountain Home to stay with Ben's other sister Hannah for a few days.

This is one of Hannah's three kids. Matthew!


Cousins! Maddie and Rachel (Hannah's daughter) were practically inseperable! They pretended like they were "rock star sisters" the whole time we were there. I wish we lived closer so that they could grow up together and be best friends!


Hannah's kids, Matthew, Rachel, and Micah with Maddie and Hayes.



While the boys were gone the girls enjoyed a day of shopping in Branson. Here's our little group! Me, Sarah and Blake, Phyllis (Ben's mom)and little Maddie, Chelsea (another one of Ben's sisters)and her son Zane, and Hannah.


Chelsea and Maddie rocking out.


Little Zane!


Baby Blake!

Once the boys got home we headed over to Ben's mom's house for the last week of our trip. Here's some pictures that were taken while we were there.

This is Bubba's new favorite past time. Baths!!! Usually he takes a bath in the tub but since he still fits in the sink it's sometimes easier to let him take one there. Although when I do give him a bath in the sink I have to lay down a few towels because he loves to splash!!




Here's Maddie on Grandma's tree swing! She played on that for hours!


Look what we found in the garden! A worm!


Yummy!!!


I think this picture perfectly sums up our family. Here we have Maddie, Hayes, and Ben sitting on the couch. Maddie is dramatically screaming her head off, most likely about something very inconsequential. Hayes is eating Ben's pocket knife because he eats everything. And Ben is just sitting back laughing because there's not much else to do!


This little man loves bones! Chicken bones, rib bones, he's not picky.


This is Maddie as we are leaving town. She was so sad! It seems that our trip gets longer and longer each year. Pretty soon we'll be staying for a whole month! Or maybe we won't come back at all!

And the last things I’ll comment on in regards to me is that my older brother, Kenny, got married this week! Yay! He married a very sweet, pretty girl named Jessica at my mom’s house this past Friday. We are so excited for them!!! Here are a few pictures from their wedding.

The bride and groom.


Memaw and Big Papaw (my mom and step dad)

Us!


Daddy and Hayes


Blue eyes!


My little brother, Tom.


Our cousins Joey and Mikey.


Maddie cakes (with food in her mouth)!


Cousin Mikey came dressed in the same shirt as Victor so he quickly changed his pants and grabbed a doctor pepper. So hilarious!


Brothers! Tom, Kenny, and Sean.


Me and my brothers.


That's my mommy in the middle.




Victor walked Jessica down the isle.


Kenny, waiting for his bride.


I do.


"You may kiss the bride."


Exchanging rings.


Silly boys!


I love them!!!


My Tommy and Seaners!


Kisses for Mama!


Madeline

Our little Maddie cakes is starting kindergarten this fall!!! I have definitely become a more relaxed mother over the past few months. I’m not sure what happened but all of a sudden I’m very comfortable to let her play outside without my constant supervision and I’m actually really excited for her to be starting school. It’s going to be a really hard adjustment for me but I’m excited for her because she’s excited and she wants to learn so badly!!! We got her into a charter school just a couple miles up the road. Also, they have a summer program for kindergarteners and new students to attend. She’ll go to school for a week this summer so that they can introduce her to curriculum and such. She can’t wait to start!!

But before she does that she is playing her very first sport this summer! Ben and I were both athletes in school so we are very excited that she is old enough to play and can’t wait to go to her games and cheer her on! She’ll be playing softball this summer and her first game is June 9th. Ben got her a new bat and hung a softball from a string out on the back porch so she can practice batting. Her little batting stance is so cute. She sticks her little booty out there and swings as hard as she can! She wants to get a home run!





She has been practicing a lot since Ben put the ball up. This morning Ben and I were still laying in bed when Maddie came in and said, “I’m ready!” “Ready for what?!” we asked. “Ready to practice softball!” she said. The other night she even slept with her bat. I hope when she starts she likes it as much as she thinks she does!

Here’s a few pictures of our princess Maddie over the past couple months.

Easter morning!


One feat that we tackled this Spring was to perm Maddie's hair! When we lived in Arkansas and she was a baby it was so curly. I missed those little curls so we decided to try a perm. You would have thought it was the worst thing that ever happened to her! She hated all the water and solution dripping down onto her shoulders. Basically she screamed the entire time so we definitely won't be doing that again! The result was pretty cute though!






Maddie has recently been practicing the art of self portraits. Here is one of them!


Maddie and my little brother Sean coloring.


She learned to eat peanut butter like this from me. =)




Hayes

Little Bubba (we’re not sure where that very southern nickname came from but it has stuck and is what Hayes responds to the best so it’s just about all we call him) is getting crazier and crazier every day! He has become a professional at army crawling and I’m pretty sure that if there were army crawling races he would win every one. He gets those little legs and elbows going and is out of the room before I can even turn around. Consequently he is very difficult to keep under my thumb and is always eating something he shouldn’t. Plants, dog food, paper. I have learned that if it’s on the floor he WILL put it in his mouth! He is also pulling up on everything! It should just be a few more months until he is walking and then I will really be running after him all day! He is definitely a lot different than Maddie at this age. He keeps me on my toes in a way that she never did!

He is definitely a daddy’s boy but Maddie can still make him laugh harder than anyone else. He typically loves new people (especially grabbing their noses). He grunts a lot when he wants something. We’ve started teaching him the sign for “please”, although it will still be a little while before he catches on. The closest thing he has done so far is to rub my chest instead of his own. Close but…not quite. =) Maddie actually rubbed her leg to say please for a few months before she started rubbing her chest so if he improvises a little bit at first that will be fine. I think it took about 2 months with Maddie before she started signing it on her own to indicate that she wanted something. The only bad thing with teaching them only the sign for “please” is that they start crying and signing please and you have no idea what they are asking for! Maybe after my sign language class this semester I’ll start teaching the kids a lot more. That would be a fun family thing to learn! Little Hayes man also LOVES food! Especially ice cream. He just sees the pint of Ben and Jerry’s and goes crazy yelling and kicking until you give him a bite. And so far he gets excited to eat just about anything. He only has two teeth right now but it will be a happy day when he has a few more and I can give him some real food!

I’m not sure how much Hayes weighs our how long he is since it’s been a few months since his last checkup but we will be going back to the doctor next week so we will find out then. At his last appointment his doctor commented on how mild this winter ended up for him in comparison to how they thought it might be because of his lungs. We were very lucky that none of his colds or flues ended up there! He’s been growing well, feeling great, and his heart doctor says his heart looks wonderful so far. Yay for a happy, healthy baby boy!

It's hard to find a lot of pictures of Hayes because he changes so quickly but here are a few of my favorites from the past few months.



He loves these biter biscuits!


When he first starting crawling I walked around the corner to find this.


We were sitting in church one Sunday when the choir got up to sing. Hayes sat perfectly still just like this during the entire performance. We have found that he loves music!




New toy box!

Finally, here are a few pictures of the kids together and one of me and Benjamin!



We started going to a new grocery store (since we hate Walmart) and they have these car buggies (car carts - for those not raised in the south). Both the kids love them! Every time we go to the store Maddie shows me her imaginary buggy license so she can drive. As we turn down the isles I yell out "left....right" and Maddie thinks she's the one turning us. One time I accidentally crashed into something and she said, "let's pretend that didn't happen."






That’s about it for the past few months. Since I shouldn’t be as busy this summer as I have been lately I will try really hard to keep things up to date!