january

In Carly's swim class we sing a song called "B is for Bubbles" I find myself relating this song to Benson quite often. The other day Carly said uh-oh and was pointing at Bens. When I finally looked at him she said "bubbles." Too funny. 

I know you were wondering if Carly ever throws fits? Why yes she does! And surprisingly she's really good at it!

He LOVES eating his hands and often will take his hands over his binky. Many times he is trying to shove both hands in his mouth at the same time. Silly boy. 

I have a friend that blogs about her weekly new years resolutions. I'm not going to touch on everything, but here's my progress & what I have coming up.

• I am up to running 30 min continuously on the treadmill (slowly but surely getting back to my pre-pregnancy workouts). I am planning to do a 5K in March. I'm slowly getting there :)
• January house project: Window treatments and wooden crates. Curtains are complete for the Living Room. Blinds are complete for the kitchen, dining room & Carly's room and the rest have been ordered. I'm still trying to figure out what to do about our back door that has a window. (Sometimes it kind of creeps me out. You know - like late at night when you can't see outside, but you know if someone was out there they could definitely see inside? Awkward.) I saw this wooden crate idea on Pinterest and showed my husband what I wanted to do. He said "I have one of those at my Mom's house." So we grabbed these and now I can use these as decorative storage. I've totally scrubbed/cleaned them and now I'm just trying to decide where to put them…. So many options…. 
  
  
  
• Coming up February: I might be way ahead of myself, but I'm hoping to paint the address #s & outside light fixtures on my house, and paint our oak bookshelves with dark brown chalk paint. I'm also hoping Morgan will make us some DIY console tables. I would love to have one by my front door and one by my backdoor :) I think I want a darker brown so I'll probably end up staining it.
  

A Day at the Park

This is where Benson was chilling during our park shenanigans. I love this hat I found for my little Bens man. It fits his head perfectly, is super warm & has velcro so it stays on. 

This (above) pic cracks me up. She doesn't pose or smile for pics, but every once in a while she'll get close when I say "show me your teeth".

Jumping to Daddy

Our beautiful ocean view

She was running so much! Surprisingly she only fell down once. Daddy took good care of her!

All about me

I realize that I always post stuff about Carly & Benson. This post is just about me (mostly). To start off here are my New Years Resolutions:

• Workout 3-5 x week for 30 min. Since having Benson I've only been doing the elliptical. I've just started doing some treadmill workouts & am building up to running outside continuously. I also want to do a 5k and a half marathon this year.
• Keep up on the most recent General Conference talks. I burned CDs of the talks & have them in my car. I listen to them while I drive.
• Cook at least 3 meals each week. I've been pretty good at this, but need to keep it up. I also have been planning ahead and doing some freezer meals as I go. 
• Spend 1:1 time with Carly and Benson. I'm making sure I have 1:1 time with each every day. I'm also trying to do a Mommy-Carly date a few times each month. This month we've already done this twice where Daddy watches Benson and we go to the library and pick up some bread from Great Harvest :)
• Better snacking. That is my weakness for healthy eating. So I'm trying to incorporate more veggies, fruits, dehydrated fruit, etc. I'm also trying not to buy treats. So far, so good. But, then I make cookies…. But I haven't been eating candy…
• Journal for Carly & Benson at least twice each month. I've been pretty good at this in the past, so I'm just gonna keep it going.
• Focus on a house project each month. This month we're finally doing blinds & curtains! Woohoo! Before we know it we'll be focusing on our yard & garden, but in the meantime we'll stick to inside projects. I have a lot that I want to do to our house.
• CE's & RN license. I really want to keep up on my nursing skills & knowledge. My goal is to do at least one CE course or reading up on a skill each week. I'm also hoping to keep my RN license in WA which means I need to get contact hours. I've been able to be a school nurse sub for the school districts here and work when Morgan is off. Hopefully I'll have some jobs became available on Morgan's off days. We'll see how that goes, because I haven't gotten any hours so far…
• Read Sunday lessons in advance. I did this last year and really enjoyed doing it, although mainly just for gospel doctrine. This year I plan to read Gospel Doctrine & RS lessons in advance - and have that be my scripture study throughout the week. So far, so good. 

The older I get, the more I realize that I have very particular ways of doing things. Here are some random things about me:

• I love having plans and feel like I have to get out of the house every day to be successful. This is one of the big reasons I LOVE the YMCA here. It accomplishes quite a few needs: getting out of the house, Carly getting to play with toys and other kids, and me - getting to workout. 
• I love sandwiches. Everyday I look forward to eating a sandwich for lunch. Not just any sandwich - I pretty much eat the same lunch every day (I do mix up my veggies though). I have to have hillshire farms turkey, tillamook medium cheddar cheese, avocado & tomato. And I can't eat it on regular bread, I either need a roll or a wrap. I just started eating sandwich wraps this last week (because I ran out of my sandwich rolls) - I have whole wheat & spinach herb and both are really good. 
• Sometimes I feel like I live out of my car. Because I like to go the Y pretty much everyday - and I frequently like to run errands right after - we're usually out the door pretty soon after waking up for the day. It's useful to have things in the car already like snacks, extra diapers & wipes, hand sanitizer, bottles of water, etc. I keep my moby wrap in there just in case and have a bag packed with an extra blanket, burp rags, binkies, and extra clothes for each kid just in case we need a new outfit while we're out and about. I'm kind of feeling like a boy scout right now since I'm so prepared :) Another sneaky thing I do is put a diaper in each side of the carseat (in between the hard plastic & the fabric part. That way when we're at the doctor, or wherever, and need a diaper (and don't want to run out to the car) - I already have a couple with him. 
• I am determined that my children will be swimmers. They each have multiple swim suits and I am constantly thinking of how I can make swim lessons work for each of them. Benson will be 4 months in February and I'm already planning to take him swimming for the first time then! Carly is in a swim class right now and doing great. 
• Sometimes I have a hard time getting myself to do things, but once I do something I get into this "get stuff done" mode. Then it's hard for me to want to kick back and relax. I've been trying to get myself in this mode more and more (especially with all the house projects I want to do). 

3 months!

I can't believe how fast this boy is growing! Last week I weighed him when we were in for the second half of his immunizations (I spread out his immunizations - doing 1/2 during his well child visit, then do the other 1/2 the following month). Benson is wearing 6-9 month clothing and size 2 diapers. He loves to smile and always seems to have bubbles and drool on his lips and chin… and shirt… Carly didn't drool so this is new for us. He hates tummy time and truth be told this baby is already crawling - when he's screaming on his tummy.... Loves to be on his back with toys hanging over - he touches his toys - already working on that hand-eye coordination :) He also likes to have his tummy blown on, likes to sit on Carly's head and kick her in the tummy, and loves to be sung to and smiled at. He smiles at himself in the mirror. His favorite way to be held is facing outward and sitting on my hip. This makes for tired arms on really fussy days. I must admit I love those gummy smiles, so I'm ok with this baby stage for just a bit longer.

We went to a friend's birthday party. Carly was dancing around (no, there wasn't any music….). She also kept putting on princess shoes to walk around the house.

Carly is always trying to sit on or climb on Benson. Kind of weird, but also pretty hilarious. She loves to be wherever he is - on the floor, in the bouncer chair, under the play mat, etc.

Did I mention how Carly's new favorite saying is "oh man!" Today we were playing with friends at our house and all the sudden Benson was crying from his cradle and she said "oh man!" Love this girl. The  other day I bathed Benson & Carly at the same time. Carly was being such a great little helper - washing Benson's head with the washcloth. It was very cute & lots of fun.