Just Call Us Gramps and Grams

Brandon and I had the once in a lifetime chance to sit in the Izzone (the most awesomest student section in all of college basketball) this weekend. We should have been cleaning up after our ward talent show, but our amazing friends covered for us, took our baby home and put him to bed so we could go have fun. Have I mentioned we have THE most amazing friends? The moral of this story is that we are officially old. These Izzone kids literally jump up and down and yell OOOOOHHH every single time the other team has possession of the ball. THE ENTIRE TIME. We kept looking at each and cracking up while our calves were burning and we were dying. At the beginning of the game the kid next to me looked super concerned because we didn’t have our white paper bags. He found us some. What the heck? Just follow along. Everyone is blowing them up. Michigan State scores, everyone pops their bag. We pop ours with a 2 seconds delay. The whole game was full of chants and rituals and us laughing and trying to follow along. Fun date.




Benson is a maniac and is all over the place. He learned to pull up on things, then learned to walk along the furniture holding on, he crawled up the stairs for the first time yesterday, and is getting more and more daring every day. He’s starting to feel less and less like a baby and more and more like a little boy. Tear.

We leave for Thanksgiving break on Thursday and I am beyond excited. It feels like forever since we’ve been home and I can’t wait for everyone to see Benson and all his new tricks. How do you fly with a baby that insists on constantly standing up and can’t sit still for more than a minute? I’ll have to let you know.

A 9 month old Monster...

Benson is 9 months old!


In the past 9 months I've sang Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star 857 times, lost 643 hours of sleep, watched "Party in my Tummy" on You Tube 166 times, and read "What Does Baby Say" 124 times. (Not really.)

So what's Benson up to these days? Oh my heck, the kid is all over the place. One early morning I heard his typical "ay"! (Sounds like hey! Repeat until someone gets him out of his crib.) I walked into his room and there he was, standing up with his big grin. He was so dang proud of himself. Now he's obsessed and attempts to pull himself up on anything and everything. Which is why his forehead looks like this:


He finally gave up the weird army crawl for his hands and knees, and he has 2 whole teeth!

He thoroughly enjoyed his first Halloween (because I let him lick a sucker) but I'm pretty sure he slept through every halloween event we attended. I think his monster costume was a tad warm!

Good times!

FOMO

I have FOMO (Fear of Missing Out Disorder). It’s a self diagnosed (and self created) disorder which results in me having to attend any and all social events that I’m invited to (or invite myself to…JK…sorta). It also makes me pretty much neglect anything that doesn't fall into the "fun" category (ya know, cleaning, laundry, my job).

So basically thats an explanation of why I have 5000 pictures to blog, why I haven't blogged, why Benson is playing on the dirty kitchen floor and why I have yet to get dressed today. It's fine.

Homecoming 2010 was the best by far. We started 7 and 0 for the first time since '66 and were ranked 7th by the BCS on Sunday, highest ever ranking for MSU. A little 5 Guys, a little parade and a few friends. Love.

Benson's favorite activity of all time? Swinging. Luckily for him we head to the park with our neighbors several times a week.

We had a little Halloween FHE that was seriously so fun. We did a little cupcake frosting, pumpkin carving, and made the kids pile up on the chair for a picture. Brandon carved our Spartan pumpkin and finished it off with a green glowstick. Go State!

A game day par-tay! Benson is representing!

The Cider Mill, one of our Michigan faves. Best Honeycrisp Apples. Ever. Period.

A little girls night out. I love these girls, for reals.

Benson has a few girlfriends in the neighborhood that he chills with for time to time. They're pretty cute, huh?

What do you do when you don't have Cafe Rio? Make it yourself! It was Skyler's Birthday so it was a great excuse to have yet another party!

We threw a little shower for our friend Elisa and I made these cupcakes. I wanted them to be cute, but seriously, WAY too much frosting.

And in Benson news, he has teeth! 2 little bottom ones came in this month. Oh, and he learned to army crawl... straight out the back door, nose first, onto the concrete at that.

Summer!

Our summer is officially over and we're back in MI after 2 months in Las Vegas. It was our last summer vacation as students...I kinda wish it wasn't! I love our summers home, seeing our families, and getting a little break from the day-to-day. It's amazing how much a baby can change in two months. Here's a little summer review:

Benson learned to sit up! He'd totally rather stand or scoot around on the floor, but he can do it!

My cute friend Bre gave Benson his first haircut! The mohawk was totally out of control. He's kind of important so she made a house call for him, but you should go see her at Tonic Salon, she's legit.

Benson went to the zoo for the first time. I thought he might be a little young but this kid looovvees animals. It's unfortunate for him since I do not, but I'm cool with the zoo since they're all in cages and what not. He got so excited when they moved and especially when this little monkey came right up to him to say hi.


We spent a weekend at my Aunt Becky's cabin for our family reunion. Benson just kicked it in this swing as much as possible. He even took a nap in it, odd because it is almost impossible to get him to sleep anywhere besides his bed, with his sound machine, in the dark, with a binki. I'm totally having one installed in my living room.

Park City! My parent bought a beautiful house there recently and we love it! Brandon took a couple days off school and came for a week over labor day. I have visions of Benson playing outside all summer and learning to ski in the winter...I can't wait. And it doesn't hurt that most of the people that I love so much in law school live in Utah!

I turned 27! Seriously, almost 30. Enough said.

We started Benson on food which he is thrilled about. He looovves peas, they're his fave. He's been through all the Gerber purees and there really isn't anything he won't eat, chubby little guy.

He's officially tall, 95% tall! Obviously he doesn't get it from me!

My little sister is such a talented photographer. I pretty much love that she takes the most amazing pictures of Benson. These are my favorites from his 7 month shoot:

Benson loves music! Loves it. Nothing makes him happier. Kenz put on a personal concert from time to time and he could not have been happier!

It's officially fall, my favorite season and I can't wait for Benson's first Halloween. I can't help but constantly think about how it's our last here in MI. I plan on living it up and remembering all the amazing details.

It's Been Way Too Long...

Remember when I used to blog about things other then Benson (and vacations)? There were occasional posts about some of my favorite things...good food, deals, groceries, TV. It's been way too long. Possibly the most exciting thing I've come across is this...

Yes, Macaroni and Cheese. Quite possibly my favorite food. I don't discriminate- I even love the stuff in the box and now Kraft has taken it to another level. You bake it with a bread crumb topping...yeah, try it!

I made The City Bakery Macaroni and Cheese with Gruyere, white cheddar and Grana Padano (the most delicious form of Parmesan cheese ever) which was totally good but totally a lot of work, so you could just buy the Kraft kind.

American Eagle makes baby clothes (77 Kids)...the cutest baby clothes ever created! Seriously, look...

Benson needs them all, oh wait, this isn't about him!

Most importantly, please tell me you've tried Pretzel M&M's! Salty, Sweet. Best combination ever.

One more week and Brandon goes to back to school for his LAST YEAR. What!? We've been in Las Vegas all summer and I haven't posted a thing. Perhaps a Benson/Vacation/What We've Been Up To post is on the way!

Michigan the Beeeeyoootiful

Michigan is so beautiful. Seriously. If I could fix all the auto industry economy crap and tone the winter down a notch this place would be perfect. My parents and 3 sisters came for a little vaycay last week. We had the best time. I loved showing my sisters around EL and staying up late with them. It's no Vegas here, but I've grown to appreciate quirks and charm of our little college town.

We spent a few days on Mackinaw Island which was pretty much amazing. We ate a ridiculous amount of fudge. For some reason fudge is the "thing" there. The island smells like fudge, there are fudge samples everywhere you go, and a fudge shop was attached to our hotel (we may or may not have stopped in ever time we walked by).

We headed to Cedar Point on Thursday and rode some crazy roller coasters. I'm pretty sure the cast of 16 and pregnant and trick my trailer were there- welcome to Ohio! It's no Disney World, but if like your body to be tossed around at 120 miles an hour it's totally for you! Benson even got to ride the train and the classic cars. He totally loved it- and all of the attention. After they left every time I set him down he kept looking around for his fan club.

Benson turned 5 months on June 30th. He newest tricks include shrieking when he's really happy (preferably in quiet restaurants), grabbing his toes and trying to eat them, eating anything he can get his hands on, rolling over, taking out his bink and trying to put it back in but failing, so he wants us to put it in (repeat 500 times). He getting so big, so fun, and we're so happy.

I just had my first Fourth of July ever without my family. Of course our friends here made it so fun and so memorable. We had a little backyard barbecue complete with kiddie pools, tie dying, and fireworks on Saturday and a pretty incredible fireworks show at the Ingham County Fairgrounds on Sunday. I was worried about Benson getting scared, but who am I kidding? This kid thrives on loud, chaos, and staying up late! He sat and Brandon's lap and stared at the sky.

We leave on Friday to go home for the rest of the summer. I'm dreading the heat, but excited for a little break, the beach, and spending time with our families.