My New Boss . . .

He has been the boss of our household for almost five months, but now that I find myself unemployed (will work for money and food!) he is the boss of my whole existence!!! At least he is cute and cuddly and I can't understand what he is screaming at me, but that day will come too quickly.

The Best Toy Ever!

Ben has discovered his toes and now has endless entertainment right at his fingertips. He never stops playing with them. All day long; during diaper changes, when he wakes up, when he eats, when he sits, you name it!

Solids!!!

Well, at first Ben was definitely NOT a fan. As you can tell by the following video. One thing is for sure. He looks EXACTLY like his dad when he eats something he doesn't like. They pull identical faces when they eat something gross. He has warmed up a bit since then. He will tolerate vegetables but rice cereal is still very questionable.

Ben's First Trip to Powell!

Besides being so hot we thought we would die, Ben LOVED Lake Powell. He did surprisingly well on the car ride there. No tears at all. He just played and laughed and slept. He thoroughly enjoyed sampling everyone's watermelon at dinner almost as much as they loved feeding it to him. Ben and I had the most luxurious of dwellings while aboard the Moki Mansion. We had our very own tent on top! He loved sitting in his Bumbo and playing rook with the family, he loved riding in the ski boat, he loved playing with all the family there and he eventually learned to love the lake

Ben's first ride in the ski boat. Lookin' Hot!


Ben with Grandpa Duane sporting a classic Powell hair do.


Grandma had a pretty bad hand and Ben knew it. How sad.


Grandpa Wayne prepping Ben for water entry. He has no idea what is about to happen.


Grandma Gwen and Ben struggled with finding a properly fitting flotation device.


Uncle Erik and EJ (aka Erik Junior). Or so Erik wishes.


Ben took a stab at playing the family card game for himself.


But he found that playing cards was exhausting so he took a nap.


Floating and napping in the lake. It just felt too good after a long hot day!

Cry It Out Update . . .

Well it is 2:30 am of Day 6 of cry it out. Last night Ben was a total champ!!! He slept for 4 hours, then went straight back to sleep, then 5 hours, then straight back to sleep, then 3.5 hours and then awake! Hooray! He is figuring it out!! Tonight he did 5.5 hours then up to eat. Bad news: It is 2:30 am and we have been crying for roughly 30 min so far. So sad!! I just have to keep telling myself that this is worth it in the end! This is a skill he needs to learn. He can put himself back to sleep without me. Oh boy.

Funny Ben Moments

He is a great helper at Grandma's when it comes to laundry. He was learning colors thanks to Uncle Erik's boxers.

Not such a great helper with cleaning around the house. He would rather nap. Me too.

Ben discovered watermelon!! Oh my! He will suck out all the juice and then get super mad when there isn't any left.

He is just goofy. The tongue out of the side of the mouth is a new favorite.

Ben helps me practice for Sunday by snoozing next to me on the piano bench. He likes to watch.

He played so hard with Grandma Linda he fell asleep right in the middle of play time.

Do we look alike? Grandma Gwen calls Ben "Clark" cause she thinks he looks like his grandpa.

We went to daddy's softball game to cheer him on. How can you not love this face?

First trip to the pool! Yes, Ben is sleeping. I think crying it out at night is really wearing him out. But we had fun anyway!

Hot Stuff!

Day 2, 11:32 pm

Day two of what you ask? Crying it out of course! My darling Benjamin has a case of being over-loved. You see he thinks he needs to be held in order to sleep. Very bad news for the mommy who has to do the nights all by herself while daddy is out getting the bacon. So I made the executive decision that this week Ben is going to learn how to sleep. I feel like a horrible mommy sitting here listening to him cry. He has now been crying for about two hours (Don't worry I have gone in to comfort him in 15 minute intervals). It is looking like mom might be doing the night shift too. Yikes!

The Best Babysitter

Go figure that my little brother is so good with Ben!! Erik knows more nursery rhymes than I do. He sings and plays with Ben and Ben loves it! Erik is even really good about staying calm when Ben gets all worked up! Scott couldn't make it to Ali's wedding so I was flying solo. I told Erik I needed a stand in to help me that night and he did! He was right by my side all night. He will be an awesome dad someday! We love you uncle Erik!

Betcha Didn't Know!

I am a closet florist. Not really although it is quite fun. My step-sister Ali got married June 7th and Becky and I were commissioned by Gwenya to do the flowers. We cleaned out Costco of all their pink roses and tweaked some Memorial Day mums to create masterpieces for the wedding. Of course mamma's boy Ben remained strapped to my chest throughout the whole affair!

Visitors!

We love when cousins and aunts and uncles come to play! Memorial Day weekend brought lots of family to our house and we loved every minute of it. We went fishing, fired up the BBQ, played dress up, puddle jumped and enjoyed Steve's brand new Wii. This was Weston and Ben's first meeting so naturally they were mobbed with the cameras. They are three weeks apart and the first Bruderer grandsons, so in case you didn't know they are kind of a big deal.

Feeling Groovy

Ben took his first trip in the jog stroller this week and I am ecstatic to report that he loved it!! Although it's appearance is a little bright and harsh it rides super smooth. Ben fell fast alseep! I even got to run! Hallelujah!! I have been dying to get back out running, but it has been hard to work around Ben and Scott's schedule to find a time for me to get out and run. But now Ben can come with me!! Yeah!

It's Worth It

This last week Ben has decided to become a sleeping nightmare. He was doing really well about every three hours at night. He would wake up, eat and fall back to sleep really quickly. He has now decided that waking every two hours is much more fun and occasionally every hour. Anytime any part of his body touches his crib and I let go. . . watch out! He instantly starts screaming bloody murder!! I try to soothe him, but it only makes it worse. But as soon as I pick him up, instant calm and off to dreamland. Argh. I am clueless here. Any advice from you moms out there? It is a little frightening to me when I add up how much "sleep" I am actually getting. How am I even functioning? Seriously. On the upside I usually wake up to this face! At least that makes the nights seem a little less horrible.

Pet Peeve

So I am now "back at work" and lucky for me I have an awesome schedule, whenever I want and whenever the studio needs me. It is so nice because I don't have to be away from Ben and Scott for a long time, but I can come in and shoot and get paid hourly plus commission. When I do come into the studio to do sittings and whatnot I am usually only here for a few hours. The crap-0-la pet peeve part of the deal is that I have been working Saturdays lately and people think it is hilarious to just NOT SHOW UP FOR THEIR APPOINTMENTS!!! ARGH! I wouldn't be so frustrated if I had to be here all day, but when I came in for only 2 hours today and my sitting doesn't return my confirmation call, doesn't call to cancel/reschedule and then just plain doesn't show up it just wastes my life. Sure I still am getting paid for the hour that I was here, but it really really isn't worth my time to find a babysitter, drive in to Salt Lake, and waste gas just to sit around for nobody to come. ARGH!! Plus I would venture that my hourly pay today barely covers my gas for today. Why can't people just let us know they aren't coming??!?!?!?!?!? Is it really that hard?

1st Trip to the Zoo!

We went to Hogle Zoo this week with Aunt Kiersten. Scott and I haven't been there for years! It was fun to see all the incredible new changes they have made since the last time I was there. Sadly the reptile and small animal house hasn't changed a bit. Yuck. We made sure to finish our Creamies outside the exhibit so as not to ruin the flavor. Ben pretty much slept the whole day, but we had a blast. We saw a bird show and the elephant show and made it too see all of the animals. I am usually not very opinionated about things. But I am opinionated about zoos. I love to be able to see the animals up close, but I think the majority of the exhibits create a pretty cruel life for the animals. It made me so sad to see the monkeys trapped in concrete rooms, with plastic trees and walls painted to look like forest. Animals need space and an environment that allows them to live like they would in the wild. Unless you can do a zoo like the San Deigo zoo, maybe you shouldn't.

2 Months Old!

Unbelievable!! How is it possible that Ben is already 2 months old. I have always heard parents say how fast their kids grow up, but honestly this is ridiculous!! He is getting so big and turning into a little person right in front of our eyes. Every morning when we wake up it seems like he has gained a pound overnight. Two months old also mean immunizations. Ouch. Ben did really well; a brief freak out (understandably) and then he knocked out into a coma. A little bit of Tylenol got him through the night. He is now 22 inches long and 11 lbs. 8 oz.! What a big guy!