What Tim and Beniah Did Today

Tim was asked by his Dad to help with the cutting down of 2 obnoxious tree limbs, so Beniah and I went out to watch the cutting procedure. He was so excited that he didn't want to wait for me to find his shoes and grabbed the 1st pair of shoes he found and put them on.



He was very fascinated by the whole ordeal and was upset that I wouldn't allow him to climb the tree after his grandpa. Once the tree limb was down, Tim pulled on the work gloves to start chopping up the limb into firewood pieces. Beniah looked at me and said, "Goves!" So we went inside in search of some gloves for him (and to change into tennis shoes for the both of us).


Beniah was so proud of his gloves and the fact that he was able to help his Daddy haul wood.

1st Good Look at Baby #2

Today I had my 12 week ultrasound to determine if the baby has any birth defects. We are all in the clear on that account. We received a cd of the visit which thrilled me because now I don't have to take the time to scan in the pictures to the computer! The baby was so active that the technician had a difficult time measuring the baby. At one point he had to turn the examining table at such an angle that I felt like I was going to fall off or slide right out of my pants. Neither of which happened thankfully.

Baby #2


When Tim asked what the thing coming out of the baby's nose was, the technician said, "That's a booger." It's actually a hand curled up and pressing against it's nose.

Kris and Nick's Wedding

This past weekend we drove down to Eugene to attend Tim's aunt's wedding. Even though Beniah didn't get a nap that day, we had a great time. I realized that I didn't take any photos of the wedding party, only of Beniah.

Beniah and Donny kept trying to blow out the candles before the wedding. I believe that they actually got one out. (I have to admit that this amazing photo was done by my sister in law, Joann)


During the reception, Beniah was entertained by taking pictures with the disposable camera that was on the table. Unfortunately, Kris and Nick will have around 4 pictures of Beniah's vest.


Waiting for our food to arrive.


After shoving a huge chunk of melon in his mouth.




On the way home, Beniah started getting really excited when we were passing under some bridges because Tim called them tunnels. Beniah kept saying, "More tunna! More tunna!"

1st Professional Haircut

I was putting off cutting Beniah's hair for as long as possible because he is going to be a ring bearer in my sister in law's wedding this August and I want it to still look good. However, this last Friday, I was noticing how mulletish Beniah's hair was getting. It would have passed as a good look 20 years ago, but definitely not now. Tim and I took him to Great Clips and a wonderful lady named Jessica took us back to start the process.

Beniah got decked out in a fun cape and then picked out a sucker (also known as a distraction). The sucker proved to be a very valuable asset to the hair cutting experience.


Before:


Once Beniah realized that his locks were going to be cut off, he burst into tears. Well, maybe it was because the scissors scared him. He was really cute while he was wailing, but we didn't take any pictures of it because it took both of us to console him and remind him of his sucker.


The cutting process.


Finished (with extra cheese)!

A Spontaneous Trip to the Bonneville Dam

A couple of weekends ago, Tim and I decided to go on a spontaneous trip to the Bonneville Dam (well, as spontaneous as you can get with a 1 & 1/2 year old). Beniah had a wonderful time and looking at all of the painted fish on the sidewalk. He just had to touch all of the fish even if that meant trying to run in the middle of a group of people to touch it.



Beniah and Tim looking for more painted fish.


Beniah was a little disturbed by the size of the sturgeon in the pond.


Beniah and Tim growling at the stuffed bear. I would love to see the reactions of the people seeing the security footage of a grown man growling at a display case.


Of course, Beniah had to count the metal fish before we left for home. "On. Two. Fee. Nine."

Mama's Little Helper

For the past couple of weeks, I have been letting Beniah help me with some of my baking. He really enjoys the process of dumping ingredients into the bowl and helping Mama stir by singing,
"Round and around and around we go!
Round and around and around we go!
Round and around and around we go!
Round we go-o-o!"
I remember my mom singing this to my sister and I when we helped her stir food.

Beniah's all time favorite part of cooking was licking the peanut butter off of the spoon.


Our masterpiece, Chocolate Peanut butter bundt cake.


Beniah had fun putting the cheese strips onto the pepper jack macaroni and cheese.


Beniah also got to help his Daddy make wonderful chocolate peanut butter brownies.

Roadtrip Conversations

This afternoon, I had another companion in the backseat of my car. My almost 3 year old nephew, Donny, was coming home with me and Beniah to spend the rest of the day with us. On the way home, I was entertained with Donny's musings. Here are some Donny quotes.

At seeing a lot of cars on the road: "Cars, cars, cars! This is ridiculous!"
At seeing a stop sign: "Turn right at octagogagone."
After being stopped in a long line at a stoplight: "Go...Go....Go pink car, go!"

He had me laughing most of the trip home and wishing that I recorded the drive so that his mama could hear all of his comments.

The Excitement of Life.

I have been remiss on keeping you all up to date for the past couple of months. This is partially due to Tim using the computer so much because he uses it to study for his 2nd actuary exam, but mostly this is due to the busyness of motherhood and spending my time with other activities. Lately, I have taken up quilting and am working on my son's baby blanket. I have made a few blankets for my friends and sister's babies, but haven't done one for my own son until now. Here is the 1st block on his quilt. I will post the finished product at a later date (i.e. when I finally finish the project).


Beniah is definitely growing and changing everyday. He seems to do the small things that brighten up my day (like giving me a foxglove flower off of his grandma's plant).

Beniah enjoys reading his books and says, "Amen" when the book is at the end.

Beniah loves to play with the light switch in our front room.


Our cat is not safe anywhere now that Beniah is a toddler.


The fastest way to light up Beniah's eyes is to bring out his cars and the fabric with the streets on it.


The most exciting news to come to our house is as follows:


I am hoping that history will repeat itself and Tim will pass next Thursday's actuary test since I passed my pregnancy test.

Flowering

This past week, my husband built me a flower box so that I could plant some flowers that I received for my birthday.


Pansies.


Ever since I was a little girl, there has always been some heather planted at the place I have lived (except for Corvallis). So, when I saw some heather for sale, I immediately bought it.

Pi Day!

For most people, today is like any other day (other than having the time change), but to us math nerds (or those married to them) this day is something special. Today is Pi day. For those of you who don't know Pi's number is 3.14. To celebrate, I decided to make a Chocolate Mint Cream Pie. It was delicious. In spirit of this wondrous occasion, I am giving you all the recipe. I do have to admit that I received the original recipe from my sister in law and I just added the mint dark chocolate.



Chocolate Mint Cream Pie

1 Baked and Cooled 9" Pie Crust
3/4 cup Sugar
1/3 cup Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
2 cups Whole Milk
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
1 Tbsp Butter
1 bar Mint Dark Chocolate, chopped into pieces
Whipped Cream for garnish
Chocolate shavings for garnish

In medium saucepan mix sugar, flour, and salt. Stir in 1 cup milk and mix until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Stir until smooth and thickened, about 2 minutes, then remove from heat.

Beat eggs with the remaining milk. Temper the egg mixture with a small amount of the slightly cooled milk mixture, then blend this into the larger saucepan with the cooling milk mixture.

Return saucepan to the heat and bring to a boil again, stirring constantly. Lower heat and simmer until mixture thickens a bit more, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Once thoroughly mixed stir in mint dark chocolate pieces. Stir until chocolate is melted and mixed throughout. Top with whipped topping.

Happy Pi day!

New Dining Companion

Last night we decided to try sitting Beniah up at the table to eat dinner with us. He has been doing well with the fork, but we were concerned that he would dump all of his food, including his plate, onto the floor. Thankfully, he did very well and ate his meal like a big boy.

Flying Lessons

Yesterday, the UPS driver dropped off our new coffee maker. I have been planning on changing the ordinary coffee maker box into an airplane for Beniah ever since we ordered the coffee maker. Today, I took advantage of Beniah's nap time and whipped out my scissors, packing tape, and a little Elmer's glue and made Beniah's 1st cardboard box airplane.



Although I didn't get any pictures of Beniah being excited over his new toy, he was very pleased with it. He especially liked the pencil stick propellers. I would spin it for him and he would say, "Whee!"