Random Ramblings

I regret that its been 6 days since my last post so I'm just going to throw some stuff out there! Here's a random picture for a random post.

Dawson's reaching for the toys dangling from his bouncy seat and playmat. You know, I kind of thought his milestones wouldn't seem as amazing and thrilling as all of Bennett's did but I'm surprised already how untrue that is. I was overcome with delight seeing his little arm reaching purposefully towards the plastic elephant instead of just flailing about. That makes me happy that each child's journey is just as unbelievable and note-worthy as the other's. He's still the best baby ever. It kind of amazes me sometimes.

Bennett's as rambunctious and emotional and sweet as ever these days. Today he tripped over me and said, "Oh, sorry Mom." And then grabbed my cheeks in his hands and kissed me. Those moments send me over the moon. He growls at me now when I say something he disproves of. And he whispers all the time when he's saying something he thinks I might disprove of.

My brother-in-law gets home less than 2 days from now for his Christmas break from Guard Duty. My parents move into their new house this weekend. My brother and sister-in-law are coming the day after Christmas for our once-a-year visit with them. I can't wait to play fishbowl with our whole family :) We're all healthy and happy in our house. And with each passing month during tough financial times, I'm becoming more and more grateful for what I have. Life is Good.

Snow Day

For any of you outside of Iowa, yesterday we had a snowstorm of "epic proportions". We had over a foot of snow plus 50 mph winds which led to drifts several feet deep. Jon's cousin, Matt and Great Aunt Lucy were still here from the wedding weekend. It was kind of exciting for them since they're from Georgia. And it was definitely great for Jon to have another guy to shovel us out through the wall of snow. Snow days really don't mean anything to our family, other than an inconvenience and a lot of extra work for Jon. He works from home so we have plenty of family time on a regular basis. My sister Claire is living with us til my parents house is done (only about a week left) so of course she was the one who was thrilled to death with not one but two snow days from school!
Auntie Claire watching a movie with her nephews:

Bennett was eager to watch all the snowblowing and shoveling action outside (notice the two big scrapes on his face. Its a miracle we made it through the wedding week without any! Injuries are a consistent part of our daily routine):

Matt getting a full fledged Iowa winter experience:



Later on we went to John and Judie's for dinner since it was the last night with our relatives in town. It was great to be together for a delicious meal on a very cold day. This is Aunt Lucy (Judie's mom's sister). She truly deserves a post all her own. She is the most kind-hearted, genuine, loving and absolutely beautiful older woman I've ever met in my entire life. Even her wrinkles are gorgeous! She has an adorable British accent still and is that family member that everyone looks forward to seeing and can't get enough of when she's around. You just feel warm all over when you're with her. She's in her mid 80's but still has great hearing and sight and dresses so cute. She loves the Lord and loves serving Him and is just the ultimate grandmother! If there was a grandmother of the year award, I know she'd be nominated 100 times over.

Judie went to check on Bennett and Caleb upstairs and found them under the covers and Caleb "reading" a book to Bennett. So adorable!:

The Wedding Day

This weekend Jon's youngest brother, Aaron, got married to Bria. Jon and I were both in the wedding and it was Bennett's first wedding too! Overall I think it went well. But man, that's the biggest challenge I've faced as a parent in a while--trying to force a 2 1/2 year old to stand in a certain spot, smile for the camera and walk here or there for 2 days straight. I think it would be easier to pull a stubborn donkey over a mountain. Let's just say there was a lot of bribing with jelly beans. He's a really good boy, but man, I was in a panic moments before walking down the aisle when he was laying flat on the floor in his mini tuxedo, crying, "I don't want to go, Mommy. I don't want to do it". All I could do was get in place at the last minute, walk down the aisle with a smile and hope and pray for the best. I totally teared up when he walked through the doors, holding hands with his cousins, the other ring bearer and flower girl, with an adorable smile on his face. I realized later, the tears were more from relief than anything else. The wedding was flowing along nicely until Bennett escaped from the second row where he was sitting with my parents and walked up on stage. I was eyeing everyone, to see who was going to grab him but everyone was frozen, not knowing what to do. When he walked behind the Unity candle table and started trying to blow it out and whispering, "I'm blowing out the candles!", I quickly left my spot in line and as discreetly as an elephant in the room, whisked him off the stage back to my Dad. Oh well. Those are the funny moments that everyone remembers and laughs about later.

My only regret of the day is that I didn't take any good pictures of us! Honestly, at the time, I couldn't bear making Bennett do a single other thing he didn't want to do, so I just gave up trying to get any of my own pictures of him. These are the only ones I came away with. Maybe we'll be able to get some from the photographer later.

I used to think toddlers in tuxedos were so goofy. That all changed when I saw my own child in one! Now I get it...when its your own, they're just the cutest thing in the world.

Ringbearer and flower girl, coloring between photos:

Brotherly love:

Bennett's "cheese" face:

Food and Family

That's what it's all about, right? We had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner here at our house with almost all of our family. Jon and I are so lucky to never have to decide who's family we're spending the day with because both of our families spend every single holiday together. Yes, every single one! It's truly awesome for us. That started when we were first married because neither of our families has extended family close by and our parents became such great friends right away so now its just the way it is and we love it! (I'd love to hear if anyone else out there has such a great set-up. Sometimes I wonder if we're the only ones!) I made the Ottley's famous sweet potato casserole. I've learned that whatever you cook, you get all the leftovers, so of course I offer to cook the best part. :) Bennett had a ton of fun playing with all of his cousins all afternoon and Dawson enjoyed lots and lots of cuddles from all of our family.

Dawson taking a pre-dinner snooze with Auntie Claire:

Bennett about to dig in to the Thanksgiving feast:

Grandad and Nonny cuddling their grandbabies:

2 months!

Dawson had his 2 month checkup today. He's certainly healthy! He weighs 13lb 2oz and is 24 in. long. Both 90th percentile! Wow. Bennett was 12lb 10oz and 23 1/2 in. at 2 months. (That's why we write all that stuff down, right?? To compare all of our children to each other?) I love this stage for the next few months. Looking back, I think it was the easiest phase of Bennett's entire life so far! They're just so darn content all the time, watching everything around them. He smiles so big at the animals on his bouncy seat and his little play mat (that is when Bennett doesn't steal them all off first!). He's been sleeping great this week. BabyWise came through for me again! :) He's going from 10:30 to 8 now (with me putting his pacifier back in once or twice in the night).

We've had a rough week in our house though. We've all been sick except Dawson. Jon got a really bad case of strep, Bennett had a really nasty cold and cough that turned into a double ear infection (I opted against antibiotics and treated it naturally- let me know if you're curious for more info) and I got Bennett's cold and cough from him. YUCK! I think we're all on the tail-end of it though. And I shouldn't complain. My poor sister caught the flu and had to take care of two kids without her husband's help!

The Ages and Stages of shopping at Target

If you're not a mom, you won't fully appreciate this post and will probably find it rather boring. And if you're a mom of older kids, please tell me the next stage gets better and not worse!!!

Stage 1: Not fun. A newborn in the infant carrier that starts screaming every time the cart stops.
Stage 2: Wonderfully relaxing. Somewhere around 3 months, when your baby is so captivated by the lights and faces and sounds, you can casually stroll through the store for a couple of hours, feeling like a peaceful mom on the go, until its feeding time again.
Stage 3: Anxiety ridden. Your pre-toddler has figured out how to stand and maneuver himself around and is obsessed with being anywhere but in that seat. Even with the seat belt on, they manage to turn around and end up stuck or somehow slip out and keep standing up, threatening to topple out and break their noggin on the tiled floor.
Stage 4: Fun again. Your young toddler is over the obsession to stand up in the seat and has fun talking and singing with you. You can waste a good amount of time in the toy aisle, showing them things and they have no clue any of that stuff can actually be purchased and brought home so there aren't any complaints when you put it back.
Stage 5: Humiliating. I've officially entered this stage. My 2 1/2 year old son (who has much longer limbs now than I realized) pulled a candle off the shelf and it shattered across the floor. I tried to keep my cool as I heard all the gasps behind me. He also understands now that anything in the store is actually something you can buy and bring home and wants to hold and touch everything. I heard at least 10 times, "Can I hold that mom? Please? Pleeeeease? Pleeeeeeeeasssse?"
Another annoying part of this phase is having to put the huge baby carrier inside the cart and Bennett in the seat and having to put the majority of my items on the rack underneath. Of course they all slide off when you push the cart more than 15 feet at a time. And the stuff that's in the cart within Bennett's reach also ends up on the ground. I picked up sweet potatoes off the floor about 3 different times before I crammed them in around Dawson's carseat. And when we were finally done, I was pushing the cart across the parking lot in the freezing cold and a bag slid off the bottom rack and I started to run over it. The plastic bag got so tangled and mangled in the wheel, I spent at least a minute holding up traffic trying to pry it lose. Finally I just ripped it apart into shreds and dumped the contents into Bennett's lap. Thankfully we made it to the car without him throwing them out again :)

A Sweet New Skill

When Dawson was born, I started watching TV during his middle of the night feedings. This made them much more tolerable for me since I was up for a full hour with nursing and pumping. Obviously there aren't a lot of choices on TV at 4 or 5am but there were a lot of cake decorating shows on, like Cake Wars or Amazing Wedding Cakes. I started thinking how fun it would be to do this- I love to bake. I'm also extremely meticulous and detail oriented and have a pretty steady hand. (I love cutting in the ceiling without tape when I'm painting and getting a perfect edge :) I'm not hugely creative but figured I could easily copy other people's designs.

So anyway, my mom read an article in the paper about a lady who offered classes out of her home in Ankeny- a 3 hour class for $35. I jumped at the chance and a few of my friends were excited to do it too. We had so much fun. I loved learning the techniques and even dreamt all night last night about making cakes! :) I seriously can't wait to do more and have thought of fun ideas in my head. I think my mom's even going to get me a few of the supplies for Christmas so I can get started perfecting my new skill!

Ready to begin!:

I forget what this step was called- we put a border of frosting on to keep the filling from seeping out:

The raspberry and whipped cream filling:

Putting on the "crumb coat":

Lots and lots of frosting!:


Rolling and cutting out our fondant pieces:

Decorating (we were restricted to the colors and shapes the teacher had pre-selected):

Manda's cute acorns:

The finished products (double click to see larger pictures):

I think Katie won the prize for the best design. Turns out my friend had experience we knew nothing about! I love finding out surprising things about people :) :