IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE....

...A HOUSE

Santa

Do you remember this from last year?

This year was even worse. At even the slightest mention of Santa Bennett will go into an all our panic. After getting this close (only because I picked him up and forced him to come) he took off and literally hid in the corner of another room until Santa had left.

Holland on the other hand didn't seem too bothered by him. 

Now we just have to get Ben past the panic that Santa is coming to his house.

I called Santa earlier today and asked him not to come. Ben calmed down after that...we will see how well Santa listens.

Visitors

We had the coolest visitors recently!

We did things like going to the zoo...

 ...seeing Tangled...

...going to Home Depot, the beach and lots of hanging out time.

Plus, you couldn't beat the view from the condo they stayed at.

 

And while Ben was worn out when they left, 

Holland was really sad. 

Please come back soon!

Evolution of Home

Here are the latest pictures from our house...

What looks to be a giant mess...

All the holes have been dug for the footings of our house.

The retaining wall is in place and each side leveled out. Who knew that back corner was 4 feet lower than the rest of the lot!

And now the rocks for under our house are in place.

Things at "Remember Who You Are" Condominium are moving right along. Stay tuned for framing coming soon!

Holland's Blessing

No Kitchen Recipes

For the past two months I feel like I have been a contestant on a new game show on the Food Network. The premise of this show is 'What can you cook without the use of a stove or oven?' The tools provided to help you complete your tasks are a rice cooker, small toaster oven, microwave and a crock pot. You must complete each meal while a toddler hangs on one leg and a newborn cries to be fed again. 

While I have been managing "the tasks" pretty well thus far, I am starting to run out of ideas. It occurred to me yesterday that my use of the crock pot has been severely neglected. Thus, I am using a lifeline. If you have any wonderful crock pot recipes or a meal that does not involve a stove or oven PLEASE send it my way. We are getting bored with what we have been eating and we still have months to go before our kitchen will be ready!

Tis the Season

Bennett has been really excited for Christmas this year. Since Home Depot has had their trees up for months, Bennett and I have gone there frequently for him to walk around and oooh and aaah.

This past weekend we decided to take Bennett and his friend Tyson to a mall to see the trees, trains and most importantly, Santa.

The boys LOVED the train...

...but Holland wasn't as impressed.

Tyson was excited when we finally saw Santa. He waved to him and called out "hello."

Ben on the other hand turned and ran away. This was about as close as he got to looking at Santa.

Does this mean Santa can skip our house this year?

Demolition Day

There once were two little houses on the back of a lot. 

While these two houses were nice, one had fallen into major disrepair... 

...and the other lacked the space to hold a growing family.

So the purple eater came and made one little boys' day while it sat in the driveway waiting for its moment.

 Grown boys found great joy in throwing refrigerators through a window in preparation.

And everyone enjoyed a small decorating party to bid the littlest house farewell.

                        

This morning the purple eater's moment had come...

...and while the men watched the spectacle from the roof, the women and children gathered below to bid the homes goodbye.

The purple eater did half the job today...

...and left the home in disrepair like this.

And tomorrow we will bid the smaller house farewell.

And in the weeks to come to we will welcome a new house that can hold our growing family.

I'll Go Inside Someday...

...and that day came a little sooner than expected for Bennett and Holland.

 Ben was pretty excited about going. It was all we talked about for a week beforehand. Well that and who he was going to marry in the temple. 

We are pretty excited for the temple to open again. The open house was very crowded the day we went, but Kevin and Ben returned a couple days later and had a wonderful tour of the temple. 

Of course, Bennett's favorite thing was the "cows."

To learn more go here.

Holland

Happy Halloween

Ben's Favorite Spots

Where do you go in the store when you need to use the restroom?

Or when you are feeling a little worn out from your shopping adventures?

Family of Four

After months of waiting, and not too much laboring, we are excited to announce the arrival of Holland Sophia on October 23rd at 12:43am.

Coming in at 19 inches and just 6 pounds and 2 ounces she is a tiny little thing.

We are just smitten with her, even her big brother. He likes to walk past her bed several times a day, look at her and say, "so cute!" He is awfully proud to be a big brother and we are pretty excited to embark on this adventure!

For more pictures go here.

September in Review

Sorry for the lack of blog posting. Here's a snapshot of the happenings over the last month.

Ben has been working on his fashion and modelling skills. As you can tell he has perfected matching his colors and patterns.

After years of aspirations to sing on Broadway, we settled to simply go see Beauty and the Beast.

In the meantime Ben continued to work on his sleeping anywhere skills. He might have a career in this.

And lastly, after our recent move to a slightly bigger place, Ben has discovered his new favorite hang out--the babies bed. We will have to see how that works out once it is occupied.

4 Weeks or Hopefully Less

We are nearing the arrival of our little girl. That isn't to say that our life is slowing down any.

Last night I had to stop at the gas station on the way to Young Women's to pick up ice. As I lugged the bag to the counter the cashier took one look at me and said, "You shouldn't be out in public. You should be at home resting when you are this close to the end."

I guess I look as tired as I feel! Hopefully these next couple weeks go quickly and we can start on our next adventure.

Faces

Sometimes this little face does naughty things, like getting into the nail polish to "get pretty"...

But other times that same face can be pretty cute...

...when no matter what time of day it is he thinks if he asks I might actually give him an "botter pop"

...he thinks Wal-Mart means buying juice

...he comes to give me a "squeeze"

...he makes milk into a two syllable word

...and tonight when he asked me to cuddle when he went to bed and tightly gripped my hand and pulled it to his heart

Sometimes It Is Hot

"Ireforks"

All week long Bennett has been talking about the "ireforks" and how he wants to go see them, so on Friday we thought we would take him to see the weekly show. All day on Friday we talked about the "ireforks" and what colors they would be and so on.

Last night when we got to the park he was so excited. As soon as the first one went off though, he went running for the parking lot. After we caught him and brought him back he buried his head in my shoulder, held my head down right next to his, rocked back and forth and hummed to himself.

And when it was all over...he said it was cool.