Niagara Falls

Okay, for those of you that have short attention spans (my family), I will make this quick and mostly do my reminiscing in list form. First, I have to say that I love Niagara Falls. It’s one of those places that amaze you every time you see it and the weekend was absolutely incredible, there’s nothing better than a family outing with good friends! So, here we go:

My top 5 trip highlights:

1. The Falls and the little town Niagara on the Lake
2. When the reptile guy at the Aviary asked Keely if she wanted to hold a snake and she shrugged her shoulders and said, “sure.”
3. When the same guy asked me where we were from and then told me that we didn’t have that annoying U.S. accent. Is that a compliment??
4. When Julie asked us all if we have ever played that game where you put your hand on a table, spread your fingers, and then mark each spot in between your fingers with a knife as quickly as you can. Steve said “Never with a real knife” and Julie came back with a challenging, “Wuss!” The girl’s a tiger!
5. Girls winning 3 out of 3

1 thing that I learned about each person (adult) on the trip:

Jerusha: The girl is smart, beautiful and fun but don’t try to talk pop culture with her - you’ll just get a blank stare.
Steve: Has a ton of passion for life (which I actually already knew) and is a serious smart aleck (I didn’t know to what extent). Oh, and also tries to squeeze camera memory cards into places they don’t belong.
Julie: One of the sweetest people in the world but add a little competition (ie. Settlers) and the claws come out. I love her more than ever!
Brian: The biggest Jason Bourne fan you’ll EVER meet. Ask him anything – ANYTHING – about the movies and he can tell you.
Shawn: You’d think after 9 years I would know everything about this guy but it turns out I never really knew how much he dislikes getting wet while fully clothed.

And there you have it, our trip on a list!

How Far is Heaven?

Okay, I have found the best candy bar in the whole wide world. Harry and David's Moose Munch. It has toffee pieces, almonds, cashews, and (the best part) caramel corn, all surrounded by the most heavenly chocolate you've ever tasted in your life. The great thing - you can get them at Target, they're just simply lying there surrounded by all the regular cheap candy bars! They are about $2 each, but worth every delicious cent. What happened to my "no sugar diet" you ask? Yeah, right.

So my friend Jana called the other day while I was at Target "picking up some milk." I had actually driven right past the regular grocery store just so I could pick up one of these delicious little babies. I told her about my find and she called me the next day at Target looking all over for them. She claims her Target (in Pittsburgh) doesn't have them, but I'd be shocked if they were exclusive to Ann Arbor Targets, I just don't think she knew what to look for. So here you go, picture and all. I strongly recommend this to anyone with taste buds. Enjoy!

Bug Bites

Yesterday whenever Ben was sitting on the ground he would bend over and just start rubbing his face on the carpet. If he was holding a burp cloth, blanket or could get his hands on anything soft he would also bury his face in it and move his head back and forth really intensely. I had no idea what he was doing but thought it was funny and kept laughing whenever he did it; it literally took me most the day to figure out that he was just trying to itch his bites. Look closely at the pic and you can see three ginormous bug bites on his face. I really wish I could have captured it on video. Poor little guy!

Conference Miracle

Every Mormon parent with small children knows that conference weekend is no longer a weekend where you relax, lay back and enjoy being spiritually fed. Conference instead becomes background noise to an already noisy household and for every morsel of spiritual food you get, chances are you’re getting real food spilled on the carpet, caked on your clothes or thrown in your face. Well, this weekend was no different until this afternoon – today we experienced a miracle! We had three families over for dinner and conference. The Sadler family brought a delicious salad, the Elder family brought fantastic dessert, and the Bednars brought peace and quiet! As much as we LOVED the food, the peace and quiet ended up being invaluable!

How did they do it? Well, I won’t give them ALL the credit because in fairness Ben, who accounts for half the noise, was asleep and that was our doing; but our other half of the noise, Keely, was completely conquered by Jeff and Anne. They attended the morning session of conference at the church and then came to our house for the afternoon session. Keely developed a quick crush on Jeff and when Anne got up from the couch Keely quickly moved in. She settled herself as close to Jeff as she dared and then sat still, shy and silent for the rest of conference. Anne was a great sport about losing her spot next to Jeff and even scratched Keely’s back through about half of conference which completely won Keely over and made her one content little girl with two happy parents!

So, what did Keely learn in all that silence and reverence? When Shawn asked her what her favorite part of conference was she responded, “Dad, I didn’t understand a thing they were saying!” What did we learn? Well let’s just say that we invited Jeff and Anne to every conference session, church meeting, family home evening, family scripture study…

Goodbye Ellis'

Kristin, Abram, Max and baby Aviva came to visit last weekend and we were all very sad to see them go. Keely in particular did not want them to depart and fell IN LOVE with Aviva. She really couldn’t get enough and even today was talking about how “adorable” Avi is. She also keeps talking about going to “Bob’s Big Boy,” apparently her new favorite restaurant in the world since Abram treated her and Max to breakfast Saturday morning. Shawn and I also had a great time and decided to make a list of our top three “Ellis highlights”:

1. When Abram was trying to make a point to Kristin and threw in the phrase “I’ve had scientists tell me…” Apparently Abram is well established within the scientific world and knows many, many scientists. I suggested that maybe next time he just says ‘in an article I read…” or “in school I learned…” We’ll see – the scientist connection is a pretty powerful one!

2. When I was shampooing Max’s hair in the tub and he didn’t want to let me rinse. He started looking around desperately for a place to hide but as we all know there are not many places to hide in a tub. He finally settled on plunging his face into the water which it turns out is NOT the best hiding spot. I’ve never laughed so hard.

3. “Stop lying you liar!” (Sorry, that’s one that only K & A will understand).

There are more, like the fact that we beat them both times in Rook or the great excuse that Abram came up with in order to not go somewhere with Kristin, but for the sake of length (and everyone’s good name) I will let it rest at that. We really do have so much fun with the Ellis family and can’t wait to see them again!

Happy Birthday Keely!

Keely turned 4 today. I have no idea where the time has gone! It feels like just yesterday that we were holding that little 5 pound baby in our arms and now she’s saying things like “I can’t get that freaking book out of my mind (her comment about a book with a cartoon picture of a skeleton that she really didn’t like)!”

Keely had her birthday party on Friday at Jump City, this really fun place with big bouncy toys that you can jump on, slide down, etc. The party got a little out of hand and there ended up being about 35 kids there and that doesn’t even include the parents and babies that came. Even Keely was like, “This party is a little too big mom.” She actually spent about 20 minutes locked in the food room with me blowing up balloons – quality time! In the end though everyone had fun, everyone had food and no one got hurt so I’m going to proclaim it a success but definitely cut back on guests next year (or at least throw 2 separate parties)!

Tonight before Keely went to bed I started telling her about seeing her for the first time at the hospital and bringing her home with us. She just curled up in my lap and listened to me and as I held her in my arms I was once again reminded how lucky I am. So much has changed since Keely came into our lives but one thing stays the same – I am forever grateful to be her mom. She’s really is such a sweet, amazing little girl who surprises me everyday – I love her with all my heart and today is truly a day I celebrate!

Ben's 6 Month

Weight: 19 lbs 14 oz, 85th percentile

Height: 28 ½ in, 96th percentile

Head Circumference: 17 ¼ in, 50th percentile

Started sitting last week

Got first two bottom teeth last week

He literally sweats ALL the time. That combined with the fact that his saliva never stops, we don’t know how he stays hydrated!

What Ben loves:
Keely (he thinks she’s soooo funny)
Playing peak-a-boo
When I act like I’m eating his hands
Daddy’s whiskers
Anyone’s hands (he thinks hands are toys)
Sitting up and playing with his toys
His brightly colored toy butterfly that sounds like a plastic bag and squeaks
His Aunt Shauri’s silly faces
Talking (some would call it babbling, but I totally understand him) : )
Making sounds with his constant river of saliva
Baths

What I love:
His constant smile
Making him laugh
His cuddles when he’s real tired
Dancing with him before bedtime
Reading books to him while he tries to grab every picture and every page
When he reaches for me
His chubs
When he stares into my eyes
When he “wrestles” with his papa