First Day of 3rd Grade

Bethany started third grade last week. She was ready to go back to school and really seems to be enjoying it. Today she was super silly when I picked her up, and it was so nice to hear about how much she enjoyed her day. I can't believe how tall she looks in these pictures.

A gift for Eli

At a family reunion recently, my cousin-in-law, Jen (Calvin's wife), gave Eli a gift that included these super cute items. The first one pictured is called "washcloth lollipops". A spoon and fork have washcloths rolled on them.

And the second picture is a silicone cupcake holder, a washcloth and a tie dyed onesie all put together to look like an adorable, colorful cupcake. Cute, huh?

The Infamous Haircut

I took a few pictures with my cell phone the evening of Mallory's do-it-yourself-haircut. They didn't turn out great, but here they are.

(blurry, sorry.) Some of her hair from the back is over her shoulder, but the sides have multiple lengths, now.

Side view - gives you a bit of an idea as to the damage
She took a huge chunk out of the underneath side of her hair....and cut a few outside areas of the back, too. It is starting to grow, but some of it is more noticeable to me now that it's grown out a bit. :(

I'm BACK!

I kind of dropped off the face of the blogging world for a while, I know. My first excuse was that I was completely immersed in being Mommy to Eli, Bethany and Mallory. But, then I lost my means of blogging, my computer, back in March due to power outages during a terrible storm. I've stayed busy, but I've missed my friends in the blogging world. We live all over the country, and this is the only way I really stay in touch with you all. So, I'm so glad to be back. I'll try to get back into a regular blogging groove. :)

So, what have I been up to? Let's see, since January 31, my last post??

• Bethany turned 8. She had her first "friends from school" birthday party. She was baptized which was so wonderful for all of us. I wish I had a recording of she and Mallory singing "I Know My Savior Loves Me".


• Elijah was blessed the day after Bethany's baptism. Super special. Of course, we were running late and I didn't even take a picture of him alone in his sweet, little white outfit.


• I turned 34 in March. Big whoop. Next year might be depressing, but I usually don't worry much about age. The aging in my face, however, is a different story. :)


• We took the spring sports season off this year. But, we're gearing up for our first soccer season with both girls playing. Oh, boy, it's gonna be crazy.


• We visited my parents for General Conference weekend and for Easter.


• May turned out to be a busy month because our niece, Katie, graduated from Pharmacy school at WVU, my sister, Jessica, graduated with her Criminology degree from WVU - in the same weekend, and my sister, Heather, was in labor during graduation. My niece, Amelia Kate, was born May 16. She is adorable and precious.


• At the end of May, Mallory broke her mommy's heart by taking scissors to her beautiful, long curls. I've said that I'm surprised that I didn't wake up with all white hair the next morning. I was so upset...I had to bag up all of the hair, drive 45 minutes to see Brad at work just so he could hug me. Really. I knew he'd understand how upset I was. It felt so personal, like it was worse than if it had been my own hair. Silly, huh? I'm actually lucky that her hair is curly because I can hide the different lengths with clips and headbands.


• In June we started summer vacation which included a short vacation of Washington DC. We visited the temple, the National Zoo, and a few of the Smithsonian museums. It was a great getaway. My nephew, Ranger, turned one year old June 30th. He is adorable.


• Our niece, Katie, got married on July 1. It was a beautiful wedding, and we love her husband, Ray. Amelia was blessed two days later. July brought with it Brad's 35th birthday, which he was not pleased about, and our 13th wedding anniversary, which we still haven't really celebrated. We went to Idlewild Park that day with our kids and my brother's family. It was lots of fun, despite the rain. Our family from California visited in July, and it was great to spend time with them. Our kids love that time with their cousins. Brad also traveled to CA for a golf-filled "Brothers' Weekend". I think the kids and I did pretty well while he was away, but we missed him.

There you go! A six month summary.....I probably forgot a few highlights, but good enough for now. Send me some love, people. I've been socially starved for those six months. ;)

Our beautiful girl and her Daddy

My brother Daniel, my dad, Brad with Elijah, and his dad

Big sister, Bethany, with Elijah

My squeezable, cuddly boy.....ready for a walk on a cool day.

Before church on Easter morning

First day of "shorts weather"....I just wanted to kiss those little legs. :)

Katie with Uncle Brad

Jess, 4 years down - 2 to go!

Our kids just love being on the temple grounds. Brad and I take turns in the temple.

Natural History Smithsonian....they LOVE the dinosaurs and animal exhibits.

Ranger

Jaxson and Mallory at Idlewild Park

Some pictures of "our son".....

It is so weird to say that...."our son". I have been so out of touch, so here are some pictures of Elijah up through today. I'm doing well, and he's a great sleeper. I only get up once with him at night, and sometimes not at all. He's growing great, but not too fast so he's still little and smushy. Oh, how I absolutely LOVE having a newborn again!

5 days old

1 1/2 weeks old

2 weeks

4 weeks

5 weeks

He is getting ready to cry, yes, and he still has cord. Ugh...6 weeks.

I took these last three photos this evening. 6 1/2 weeks old....my sweet boy, Elijah.

ELIJAH BRADLY BENNETT

Our son was born Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 12:59pm. He was 7 lb 12 1/2 oz and 22 inches long. We think he's just perfect, beautiful, and all of those gushy parent feelings.....I'll get up the energy sometime to post about his birth. Merry Christmas to all of you! We're enjoying the blessing of a baby boy in our home as we celebrate the birth of our Savior.

What a special time of year....

Sooooo.....

So, no baby yet....even though I had regular contractions for about 12-14 hours yesterday. 12 min apart, then 10 min apart and even up to 5 min apart during the wee morning hours. But, they never got intense, so no baby yet. :) The experience definitely got Brad and I inspired, though, to finish a few things up and get even more prepared. It really could be anytime now, and it's so exciting. Contractions are coming, Christmas shopping is pretty much finished, baby's room is set up, and only a few baby items need to be brought up from the basement and cleaned. I'll let you know when baby comes.....yippeee!

It's time to blog.....

I feel like blogging, so I'd better take advantage of that while I have a little time. Some things going on here lately....

• I was homeroom mom for Bethany's party on Friday, so I planned crafts and a game for the kids as well as state guideline approved snacks. You'd think that since I taught elementary school, it'd be no big deal, but I am so NOT creative. I asked a friend for some ideas, and ended up doing spider hands and foot ghosts with the kids. (tracing, cutting out, and gluing googly eyes.) By the time they finished these, and ate their snacks (pre-packaged apple slices, 100 cal pack fudge drizzled choc. chip cookies, and frozen yogurt) we ran out of time for the game. No biggie.
• I finished writing the primary presentation parts, so we start practicing this week. I'm excited to see the kids prepare and share what they've learned this year. Especially the songs, that's my favorite part.
• We had the Forest Festival in early October which is always lots of fun with the kids. It was especially fun because my nephew, Jaxson got to enjoy it with us. He stayed with us for about 6 days because his baby brother was in the hospital. That was scary for everyone, and the doctors finally determined that Ranger has severe reflux and that causes his apnea, which is why he was turning blue. (all of this after a bout of pertussis - whooping cough) Poor baby, and his poor, exhausted parents, spent around 4 weeks in the hospital.
• Soccer games finished up. Whew. Onto basketball soon....
• My dad had a heart catheterization (sp?) in early Oct., as well, and some blockage was found in one of his arteries. So, he had a stint put in and has been monitored by an external defibrillator since then. This has been scary for all of us, and Dad is now focused on his health. But, the blessing here is that the problem was discovered in the first place, before a heart attack. The Lord was watching out for him when an irregular heartbeat was discovered before his colonoscopy. I love my dad, and I'm so grateful that he has received good medical care.
• Around the same time, I was going through my 2nd gestational diabetes test. You know, the 3 hr, 4 blood draws yucky one. I failed it. Oh, what a bummer. So, since then I've been super strict with my diet, and the doctor said I'm doing well controlling it with diet and exercise. 4 glucose tests per day, exercising 3 times per day, and planning meals and snacks very carefully.... for less than 6 weeks more, hopefully. When baby is born, it should go away. I was really stressed for a while about it, but now it's just the way it is. My chances for diabetes later in life increases, which was already a risk for me anyway. So, making healthy life changes is even more important now. I can do it.
• I've started Christmas shopping. I need to get things done super early this year with the baby due on Dec. 14. I'm sure the last few weeks, I'll be too exhausted for shopping. So, my sisters and mom and I are off to Pennsylvania this weekend for some 0% clothing tax shopping.
• I'm soooo excited to meet my baby and have a newborn in our home again. People ask if I'm ready, or tired of being pregnant. I'm ready, but not in any hurry. I enjoy pregnancy..feeling the baby move and grow, being a part of the miracle of procreation, being responsible for another precious life. I love it so much. I've been telling the girls all along that baby will come after Thanksgiving but before Christmas, and that time is almost here. I can't believe it.
• A sweet, kind man in my home ward passed away unexpectedly this week. I've known him forever. His family was part of our small ward, and everyone knew each other very well. It's so sad to think of what his wife, kids, and grand kids are going through. He was too young, too full of life.....yet he knew what was most important. He attended the temple regularly, he served people all the time, he smiled and focused on taking care of his family. While it is incredibly sad, I am so glad that he was spiritually preparing for all of these years. Having a knowledge of eternal families and of Heavenly Father's plan gives so much comfort. I pray that his family will feel that comfort as they grieve.

Attempted photo sessions.....

So many of you out there can get such amazing pictures when you ask your children to pose....I have to settle for silly or un-natural or eventually tears because they don't want to try anymore. They are so darned cute, but I have such a difficult time getting them to be cute at the same time........Sigh.

4th Birthday - Mallory

Mallory turned 4 last month, and we celebrated at the park with family. Two days before her birthday she informed me that she wanted a Dora cake. Well, I wasn't up to finding a cake pan and doing it myself, so for the first time ever I ordered a birthday cake. It was yummy, and I still made cupcakes to make sure we had enough for everyone. She had a good time, and is very excited to be four. Below is a picture of her with Bethany and their 2nd cousin, Tyler.

Mallory at 4......

• She uses her dimples in her "I'm so cute" way to try and persuade people to do what she wants. She has this beautiful smile, and she knows it. She likes to say, "pretty please with a cherry on top." We're in trouble, I think.
• She finally is moving out of her crib, which she has loved sleeping in, and is going to share a room with big sister and new bunk beds. (this transition has been pretty smooth...whew.) She even got to pick out her big girl bedding which has purple trim and butterflies, flowers, etc. Very cute.
• Mal loves TV, movies, talking to my parents on the phone, using the mini-vacuum, climbing all over her daddy, eating and running. If she goes outside, she wants to run up and down our sidewalk over and over again.
• Mallory has quite the stubborn streak. Sometimes I don't think there is any consequence that could motivate her to just give in and do what we want her to do. Oy!
• As ornery as she can be sometimes, Mallory can also be a very snuggly little girl. I love it when she crawls up next to me, or when she rubs her face all over mine.
• Mallory is so excited about the baby that is coming, but does not want to feel it move. She laid her face on my belly once and it moved, which kind of freaked her out. But, she is constantly wanting to see my bare tummy which then makes her giggle.
• Playing dress up and ballroom dancing with Bethany is one of her favorite activities...also, shoe fashion shows with dramatic modeling.
• Mal can sing most of the songs on the "glee" soundtrack, and calls #1 "Don't Stop Believing" " my song".
• In Primary, she sits in the front row and sings her little heart out....when she wants to. She has made tears come to my eyes as I lead the music and hear her sing every word of "I Know My Savior Loves Me."