A Journey to Love

Last week, Benjamin and I made cookies to take to Nathan at the firestation. Being that it was the first time Benjamin has "helped" in the kitchen, I took a bunch of pictures to mark the occasion (are you surprised?). Enjoy! Baking is a messy business, so the clothes came off! Mixing the dough I just love my mixer...both of them. :) Sneaking a chip or two (or ten!) Final stage of mixing Into the oven A little crispy on the outside, gooey on the inside...perfect. Presenting his hard work to Daddy...he was so proud! "One for me..." "And one for you." :) Licking the chocolate off Just guessing here, but I think he enjoyed it. It wouldn't be a trip to the firestation w/out sitting in the engine! I learned an important lesson while baking with Ben: Don't actually tell him that we are going to bake cookies. He thought that meant we were going to eat cookies and was very upset when I didn't produce them right away. Delaye...

Benjamin learned a new word today. Any guesses on what it could be? Anyone? I'll give you a hint. It's two letters and when he says it, it's usually followed by an exclamation point. It's also the title of this post. Yep, his new favorite word is "No!" Now, he's had other ways of epressing this sentiment for months now. Usually he says "Uh-uh" or he employs the universal symbol for "no" by shaking his head. And of course there is the famous toddler way of expressing himself when he adamantly opposes something-the tantrum. Luckily, those are rare and when asked a question that begets a "no" answer, he usually just quietly says "Uh-uh" and continues on his way. Until today, that is. He was playing with his cousin, Weston, (who is almost three), when I distinctly heard the word "no" come from their direction. It suspiciously sounded like Ben's voice, but in classic denial, I convinced myself that it ...

Just when I thought I couldn't love my son any more, he does something so sweet I can hardly stand it. Out of the blue last week he started giving out hugs. He walked over to me, asked to be picked up, and then wrapped his little arms around my neck and squeezed as hard as he could. At first I thought he was just goofing around, but when he came in for a kiss I realized that he was actually hugging me. As precious as that was, it was even better watching Nathan melt the first time Benjamin did it to him. The best part? We didn't teach this to him and we didn't ask for them. He gives out these sweet tokens of affection all on his own. He hugs his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and even his cousins. That was demonstrated last Sunday at church. Even though he had seen them just hours earlier, when he spotted them after our class, he ran to them, arms outstretched (think romance movie here, all slow-motion like) and gave both Wyatt and Weston giant hugs. It was like he was saying...

So my "Second 1st Mother's Day" was perfect. After Nathan got home from work yesterday morning, he gave me the gift that he had made...a framed mirror, etched with one of my favorite verses onto it. He hung it above our bed so it's the first thing I see when I walk into our bedroom. I was touched that he had remembered how much I like this particular verse and had displayed it in such a beautiful manner. The original plan was to spend the day at the beach with Nathan's side of the family, but the cool weather hampered that idea. So instead we just bbq'd our hotdogs at Kevin and Peggy's house and let the boys play while the grownups visited. Then it was home for Benjamin's nap and a movie for the two of us before we grabbed some In-N-Out for dinner on the way to church for our finance class. So even though we didn't really do anything out of the ordinary, it was a perfect day because I got to be with my two favorite guys in the world. I feel so ...

This Sunday, we will celebrate my second year of being a mother. However, even though this will be my second Mother's Day, I am thinking of it more like my first. Here's why. Last year, Nathan was offered an out-of-county assignment in Santa Maria. We can't really afford to turn these calls down, so I encouraged him to take it, even though it meant he would be gone on my first Mother's Day. I am used to him being away on various holidays and family gatherings, simply because that is the nature of his job, which I've known since day one of our relationship. It's never really bothered me before, so I was surprised when I woke up that Sunday really sad that I was alone for my first holiday that celebrated the title that I had waited so long for-"Mom." Benjamin and I carried on with our plans for the day, which included brunch with Nathan's family. I remember having a slightly difficult time enjoying the meal because Benjamin was just getting to t...

This shall be my last post about potty training, because frankly, I'm getting sick of writing about it and I'm sure you are tired of reading about it. So here is the conclusion to our potty training saga: Benjamin is still currently wearing underwear during the day, including nap time. He does his business in the toilet about 80% of the time, which is a pretty good number considering he just turned 21 months yesterday. At night, he wears a cloth diaper because I just couldn't handle changing his pajamas and sheets twice a night anymore. Neither one of us were sleeping well and our day was starting off wet and grumpy. He being wet, me being grumpy, that is. This is not a fun way to greet the morning, by the way. I chose to put him in a cloth diaper instead of a disposable because I didn't want him to think we were going back to diapers, since we had made a big production of throwing them away when we started this journey. So even though he pees in the cloth one ever...