Preparation!

Friday Night Fun at our house was a trip to Disneyland - put on by Alayna...first she built "Tower of Terror" - and we all rode that together (holding hands as we plummeted down - and raising our hands as we lifted up.) Next (above) was Dumbo - we had to arrange our chairs in a circle with the elephant in the middle and we rode up and down - all of us had a blast.

Benson getting ready for Dumbo.

Riding down the first big hill on "Pirates of the Caribbean" - then we sang "Yo-ho, Yo-ho!"

Getting ready to plunge into the water below on "Splash Mountain".
Other rides we rode at our "Family Disneyland Night" - the Matterhorn, Teacups, Casey Jr., Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and Small World.
Just less than 2 1/2 months to go - until we are officially there...hopefully all the preparation will have paid off!

This family is also preparing to move to Phoenix in late June. Coby matched into their OB/GYN residency and will work there for the next 4 years. We are a little bit nervous, but mostly excited to start this new adventure in our lives!

February...

I know its been forever since I updated, but I do have 3 or 4 posts that I want to do, but for now - this is pretty good overview. February was a super sickly month for all of us and we are glad it is over!! (P.S. - my kids NEVER slow down and look like this)

I made the most delicious Boston Cream Pie ever - to die for!

Alayna loves to draw these days - and this is her first picture of her and dad. She is the smaller one and she drew her boots on her feet (that is the pokey thing coming off of her body - LOL!).

I want to be...

I've been hearing this a lot lately! Alayna is always telling me something new that she wants to be when she grows up..."I want to be an Artist like Grandpa."
Alayna has never been into drawing or coloring until last week. This is Grandma's birthday drawing - it is Grandma, Alayna, and a little black alien.

Here first drawing...Grandpa. She totally surprised me the other day by saying she wanted to be an artist like Grandpa - so the first drawing is a picture of him.

This is just an "odd" pictures thrown in of everyone on the mini-trampoline and lovin' it!

"I want to be a hair-doer when I grow-up" - by the time Alayna was done, Coby was dripping wet - what a good sport because she loves to practice.

Alayna also told me yesterday, "I want to drive a fire truck when I grow-up and drive really fast to the fire and put the fire out with the water." ...hehe that's my princess!

Swimmin' the Winter Blues Away!

We took the kids swimming in January because we were all sick of not being outside due to the frigid temperatures. The kids had a blast. We laughed, played, and swam so hard until we were worn out. We were excited to see the fitness center did winter swimming lessons, so we signed Alayna up for swimming lessons and she starts next week. She is thrilled!!

Winter Palooza

There was a big winter carnival at the Expo Center and since we had cousins over, we all headed over for a day of fun. The kids got to shoot a paintball gun, play in a ton of inflatables, get their faces painted, and meet all kinds of fun characters.

The ugly Stepsisters from Cinderella.

Of course Alayna didn't want to have a butterfly or a unicorn painted on her face - she chose the pirate...at least they didn't paint a beard on her. She loved having her face painted (this was the first time) - and can't wait to do it again!

The Big 1!

Mmmmmm - banana cake, my favorite!

I know this is way past due...but here is the birthday boy! Benson turned one on December 31.

He was thrilled to try the birthday cake batter.

We went to Chuck E. Cheese for Benson's birthday...and I don't know who loved it more - Alayna, Benson, or Uncle Pressie!

The birthday crew!! Benson loved watching Chuck E. Cheese and his band perform.

Alayna and Uncle Pressie - racing like crazy!

Not so sure about this one...

Benson's Birthday Banana Monkey Cake

Benson was the first to wear Grandma's "Birthday Hat"!!

Diving in....

YUM!

"Mom gave me my very own huge piece - and I ate it all!!!"

I can seriously not even believe that Benson is 1 already. He is such a character. Nobody messes with Benson when he is eating. He takes it real seriously. He always cries when you think he should be done, but he thinks he isn't (which is all the time - I have no clue where all the food goes.) Benson LOVES anything sweet. But eats everything else well too. Benson had one tooth on his 1st birthday (which he got at 1o 1/2 months), but this last week has cut his second tooth. He started crawling at about 11 months and hasn't looked back - he is fast! Benson loves to play at the gym and gets really excited when we drive up to it. He acts like he owns the place and he has all the girls wrapped around his finger. When it comes right down to it, Benson is a pretty big Mama's boy - which I love!

Benson talks all day long! He mostly just jabbers, but can say...Mom, Dad, Up, Nana (Alayna), Ahli (Kali), nnMa (Grandma), bahbah (baby, ball, bye-bye). He also has a huge array of shrieks and screams - each one sounds different.

There is one for "Alayna hurt me", "Alayna took my toy", "I want the toy Alayna has", "Alayna is eating and I should be eating too", "I'm not done eating", "How come everyone left me in this room by myself?!", and the list goes on and on....

Benson's 1 year check-up

Weight: 22.82 lbs (50th percentile)

Length: 30.31 in (67th percentile)

Head: 18.7 in (80th percentile)

We LOVE having Benson as part of our family! He is so good-natured and happy (most of the time). He keeps us all on our toes. We are so lucky and blessed that he came into our lives a year ago - it has been an amazing year! Happy Birthday Benson! We love you!

Our Christmas Away

This year we spent Christmas with Coby's family. We had so much fun and we were so spoiled - Santa even found us away from home!

Benson really enjoyed all the food on Christmas eve - he joined the "real eaters" at the food table and didn't even leave.

Opening one present on Christmas eve...

New Pjs - Benson wasn't up for posing in his new Pjs.

On Christmas morning Benson was up a lot earlier than Alayna - so he got to go investigate - he loved Alayna's Buzz Lightyear.

He was even more excited for his Handy Manny Toolbox.

The look of pure joy - Santa got Alayna exactly what she wanted!

These are real smiles of joy!!

Dressing-up as Sherriff Woody (no Barbies, dolls, or princesses at this house...)

Benson posing in his new ties!

Grandma Carol got the kids these costumes and they wore them for three days solid. I can't even count how many times we heard, "Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!" and "To Infiniti and Beyond!".

Thanks everyone for making our Christmas so special. We love you all!