Happy Birthday Livi.. 1 week and still going strong

Today Livia is 1 week old. Things are going well as far as the homefront is concerned. She sleeps a lot and hardly ever cries! Unfortunately she's on the very slow end of weight gain and is a bit jaundiced. So, we've been having her blood drawn regularly and having regular weight checks w/the Dr. not to mention having our nursing skills critiqued by the pediatrician to see what might be holding up the weight gain and prolonging the jaundice. She's totally ok but the Dr. just wants to make sure she starts gaining weight and getting rid of the jaundice before it gets worse. She is an extremely sleepy baby so nursing is frustrating because she is constantly falling asleep. The Dr. is having us supplement formula after each meal which is no big deal since we had to do that w/Bennett for the first few weeks as well. We all think she is a super mellow and sweet little girl and hope everything gets up to speed quickly so we don't have to worry about things too much!
Bennett is GREAT big brother. He is really interested in Livi but doesn't bug her at all. Some funny things.. the other day I was changing Livia's diaper and he asked me "where is Livi's mommy?" . I laughed and told him I was her mommy and he just took it in. Now he seems to get she is my kid too. The missionaries stopped by the other day and Bennett excitedly asked them if they wanted to see his baby sister. It was really cute. He often talks about "nipple milk", I told him its called breast milk but for some reason he forgets and calls it nipple milk. Strange, eh? He is fascinated w/her umbilical cord and wants to look at it and ask me questions about everytime he gets the chance to look at it. Today she was napping in the crib in Bennett's room (because she peed all over the bassinet and we were washing all the bedding) and he snuck in there and had the door shut. I was a little worried so I peeked in and realized he was taking care of some business (which he prefers to do in the privacy of his room) and was just sitting on the rocking chair next to the crib staring at the baby. I kept checking on him, much to his chagrin, and he was just sitting there watching her. It was really sweet. I feel so lucky to have such a great little boy. He's definitely throwing his fair share of tantrums and having some little adjustment issues but overall he is proving to be an excellent big brother. I am also finding that adjusting my heart to take in 2 kids is no problem. It feels like I actually love Bennett even more now because I love this new dimension of him as a big brother along w/all the other dimensions I loved before Livia was born. Its really cool. And, of course, what's not to love about a sleepy, milk faced, yellowy little newborn??? Life is good!
Here are some pics from Livia's b-day party (yeah this was more for Bennett than Liv!)

Livi finally lands....

Ok... so I've been really dramatic about how long it feels like its taken for our beautiful daughter to make her debut but seriously it felt like forever! Here are the stats for anyone who hasn't already heard!

Name: Livia Rae Covington (Livia is a variation of Olivia which is derived from "Olive" which is a symbol of peace - i know dull to most of you but the meanings of names are really important to me- Rae is for my grandfather, which I'm sure, once again, seems strange since she's a girl but we let my mom pick the middle name and I was born on my grandpa's birthday and we've always been close and you all know where Covington came from!)
Weight: 8lbs. 14oz (small for us eh?)
Height: 21 1/2"
Disposition: So far? Fantastic... ask us again in a couple of weeks!
Problems or concerns: None! Yeah, what a great thing!
Birth time/date: 11/11/09 at 5:06 AM


The Story:
For all my lady friends out there who love these stories let me warn you in advance, compared to the last one this one is really dull.

So.. because I was becoming more and more emotionally unstable thanks to all the pregnancy hormones raging through my body I was becoming excessively fearful of a gigantic baby growing inside of me and every day I was going past due was really freaking out I begged my midwife to induce me and she, somewhat reluctantly, agreed. But going there sort of kicked me out of the "all natural" mid wife arena into the "really hands on and medical" Dr. arena. So, it wasn't the kind of birth I envisioned but it was still, overall, a really great experience. Anyways, on to the details, I went in Tues. morning even though I was scheduled for Mon. night because they were super busy all day Monday and didn't have a room until 5:30 AM on Tues. So we frantically got all our stuff together on Tues. morning when the nurse called and said to hurry before someone else came in to have a baby! When I got there I was still only 1cm dilated and not very effaced. They decided to put a catheter in my cervix and filled it w/water so it was like having a little water balloon on my cervix helping to manually dilate it. Then they also started giving me pitocin around 8AM. Trevor and my sister were there and we just chatted and watched TV. I was having contractions right away but they were totally manageable. The catheter was really uncomfortable as was the IV and all the monitors and what is the deal w/the hospital bed being so tall, it was a hassle getting in/out of all day w/all the monitors and the catheter and the IV... definitely not fun but still manageable. So after the catheter fell out (supposedly it does that around 3cm) and being on pitocin for like 5 hrs they checked me and I'm thinking I'm like at 4-5 right? Ha ha.. no I'm at 2 cm! I couldn't believe it! Oh and all this time they are increasing the dose of pitocin every 20 mins and I'm already past the low dose and into the early high doses. So... they get a special order from the Dr. to keep increasing the pitocin past the "high dose" and keep cranking it up every 20-30 mins. Now let me just tell you, the hospital staff was really cool. They all knew I didn't want pain meds and no one ever once brought it up so.... when they checked me again at 3AM on Tues morning and I was only at 3cm and the midwife broke my water I decided I couldn't go another 12hrs. (which is what I am envisioning at this point to get 7 more CM) I asked for an epidural. they were totally non-critical and had that thing going in less than 30 mins. By this point I was having extreme contractions and I was soo tired and starting to think I was going to have to have a c-section anyway so I was happy to get some relief!! Unfortunately they overdid the epidural so I thought labor had completely stopped because all of the sudden I couldn't feel anything and my body was completely numb from the pelvis down! But when the midwife came back a little after 4 I was complete and she coached me through the pushing since I couldn't feel a darn thing! I wasn't even sure when I was having a contraction! It was really tough to push and focus my efforts in the right places for the right duration w/no feeling in my lower body but the nurse rolled up a sheet like a rope and had me play tug-of-war with her during the contractions and that helped me get the right muscles pushing and I was able to get her out in about 40 mins. total. I was just so shocked when they put that sweet little bundle on my stomach. I guess the cord was wrapped really tightly around her neck so that could have been what drug the labor out so long and kept her from dropping down into the birth canal.
What I would say the best moment of all was seeing and hearing Trevor's enthusiasm and absolute complete love and adoration for his daughter the second he laid eyes on her. He was just gushing over how pretty and wonderful she was... it was pretty sweet. My mom and oldest sister were both there, as well, and it was really special to share Livi's birth w/them. I don't think I got to breastfeed her until she was over an hour old because between Grandma, Aunt Kelli and Dad I couldn't get my hands back on her! So far she's like a dream. I can't believe how much sleeping she's doing and nursing is going ok. I didn't have all the pain of just starting out nursing w/Bennett since my milk was in by the time I did actually start nursing him and he had a really weak suck. But our Livi Rae is already strong and sucky so I think there will be some more pain involved this time but things look good so far. She passed all her tests w/flying colors and is meeting her pediatrician tomorrow. We are so happy to have a little lady in the house and to have her be sooo healthy and sweet!
Bennett is adjusting amazingly well so far. He is totally aware of her but not getting in her face and doesn't seem to feel threatened by her. When she isn't out with us he asks where baby sister is and wants to go see her in her bed and then he's off to do his own thing. Trevor is off until the end of Dec. so I think it should be pretty easy on Bennett since his favorite play mate is available on demand! Tomorrow we're going to decorate cupcakes and throw Livi a "birth day" party so I'll snap some pics and get those posted when I get a chance!
Sorry for the delay in getting all this info out... after she was born Trevor and I were just soooo beat we didn't really do much the entire day she was born and then today we were busy getting ready to come home then getting settled at home so we're just now getting time and energy to do much more than fawn over our new baby!! Alright, that's all I got for now. I'll post more pics when I get them from my sister!

Raise your hand if....

If you have been pregnant and considered taking castor oil to induce labor I'm pretty sure you are not alone. OK wait, I am certain you are not because I did this very thing just yesterday and I've heard horror stories of millions on line and in real life, so why did I do it? Well...I was 2 weeks overdue w/my first pregnancy and didn't do it because I was afraid. However, my last visit w/the midwife she said I could try it along w/lots of nipple stimulation and there would be a good chance of getting labor going! So... I checked out the castor oil at Wal-mart, on my way home, and it looked harmless.. just a natural laxative that should produce movement of the bowels 6-12 hrs. after ingestion, is all the label had to say. And since Trevor was looking at for sure having to be back at work the first week of Dec., despite the availabillity of 7-8 weeks of paid leave, just due to the timing of some important things I figured, what the heck, the sooner I have a baby the more time I get my husband home to help! So.... yesterday afternoon around 1 p.m. I mixed myself a friendly-enough looking castor oil and grape juice cocktail, drank it (like drinking canola oil and grape juice) and figured Trevor would be home in time if anything were to go awry. Ha ha.... ok the 6-12 hrs thing is more like 60-120 mins? Within an hour I had cramps (not contractions, that would be your uterus, and this was for sure my intestines!!) and felt sick to my stomach. So, I turned on some movies for Bennett and just laid in bed for 2 hrs. feeling like I was back on my mission doubled over in a McDonald's bathroom w/"you know what" kind of problems! Around 4:30 pm I felt ok again and life resumed as normal w/no baby or contractions or anything dramatic for that matter! Bennett and I hit the beach (ooo we love Oceanside!!) where Trevor joined us after work and we had an unpredictably pleasant evening! After I shared my castor oil experience/let down w/Trevor he informed me that he no longer has a time constraint on when he returned to work so there really wasn't any need to have the baby any sooner! Ha ha.. wish I would've known that at 1 p.m.! But o-well I am sure I would have tried it at some point anyway! So... end result? I am still pregnant due in 12 days, wouldn't mind going into labor now since I'm just tired of it but I think I might be getting a spiritual/physical 2nd wind because I am feeling more capable of making it to the end today than I was a few days ago! Maybe its the near 100 bucks I've recently dropped on things to make me feel good about myself! i.e. eyebrow wax, manicure, pedicure and a haircut. None of which have made significant improvements but at least I feel a little more pulled together for a big event that is imminent! I've also been focusing more on morning personal prayer. I can't even begin to say how that has changed the day to day happenings of the Covington house! I haven't been really consistent w/that habbit post-mission, not sure why... the day just usually gets going before I do so I am out of control from the second I get out of bed! Ha ha... and Bennett still gets going before I do but I am just finding quiet moments in the morning to pray and wow. I have had fewer of those "I just can't handle this" moments and overall life has been more pleasant! So... that's a little excerpt from my life as of late. Here are a few pics including ones I've been not wanting to post of our home but I'm giving in to the fact that I am not really going to decorate or beautify much until I've recovered from pregnancy and child birth! So here you go!
Who thinks I've got another 10 lb baby hiding there???


This is my "lets push this thing out face", just getting ready.. 12 days to go.... =)



Part of the master bedroom.. no decorations, anywhere!






Part of the kids messy room (looks a little better now)



Kitchen shot



Family room shot...





Bennett hiding in a box of stuffed animals.. home sweet home!

a blog a month...

Ok.. really I should be trying to something a little more ambitious than one blog entry a month and in my heart I am. But, there are a lot of things going on so blogging is just taking a super back seat! So, first thing first. We moved into our new place!! Yeah we are officially home owners and couldn't be happier! Somehow I had enough energy to pull off a move just a few days short of 36 weeks pregnant (that's 4 weeks before you typically give birth for anyone who forgot how to count by weeks!) I actually took it pretty easy since I have been having contractions and I just can't do much w/all this weight in the front anyways! So..I packed everything and and Trevor, my dad, his dad and Bro. Brown (ages in no particular order 30, 67,56, and 70 uh yeah)loaded the truck and then my awesome, buff, 20 something cousin helped Trevor and my Dad unload once we got here. My dad, our hero, drove the 26' truck. Penske was out of the one we wanted so we had to take this monster of a truck and my dad backed it up this narrow, windy, and rocky dirt road up to our trailer then cruised it out to Oceanside for us. We were so glad, we both hate driving monster vehicles! My mom and mother in law were here first thing Sat. morning cleaning the new place from to to bottom while I was just keep Bennett out of everyone's way. He really wanted to be in the truck pulling things out so we had to go to the park to keep him and everyone else sane and alive! On Sat. night we all had beds to sleep in and Trevor and I even ended up buying a couch off craigslist at 3 a.m. crazy huh? A girl had her couch listed and said if you came to get it by midnight she would give you a discount, so, we went to see it around 11 p.m. and the girl's boyfriend was getting off work at 2 a.m. so she told Trevor he could come back them if he wanted help loading it in the truck. So, my sweet and wonderful husband who didn't even want to buy a new couch got up at 3 a.m. to get me a couch while we still had a truck and we love the couch! It isn't anything fancy but such a step up from our last Craigslist couch that we've had almost 5 yrs!! So.. the place is looking more put together and we are just soooo happy to be here! I just love putting things away and thinking... for the next 3-4 yrs. I can be putting things in this same place! I know its strange but the idea of being settled just really tickles me right now! I was making pancakes this afternoon and thinking, "wow... when I figure out the right flame setting for pancakes I will make great pancakes everytime since I will be cooking on this stove for a long time!" OK.. this is getting rambly and silly! Other news... still pregnant and looking to be for sometime which makes sense since I'm not due for 3 1/2 weeks! I was thinking I was going early on this one but who knows?? Trevor is grounded until the baby comes, just meaning he's not travelling past LA until then since it would be really awful for him to miss the big event! Bennett is adjusting ok to the move but there have been some major emotional breakdown/explosions! I am just glad the downstairs unit is empty right now! Overall Bennett is doing well and getting more and more curious about the baby in my belly. He asked me if the baby is going to come out of my body and I said yes then he told me how he used to live in my tummy but he "camed" out of my body. I don't know why I enjoyed him recounting these things to me so much but it was just cool to think of him grapsing these abstract concepts! Ok. I'm going to bed, I will see if there are any new pics to post... love you all! Miss you, check on facebook for our new address info or patiently await the group e-mail I am planning to send anytime now!! -liz




Some pics from a trip to LA last month, we stopped to check out the Santa Monica Pier.. very cool.

On Being Bennett

I really need to remember these every day little Bennett isms from this time in his life! I am just getting so accustomed to how silly he is that I'm not thinking to record it! However, I know in the future I am going to wonder just what he was doing when he was 2 1/2 yrs. old! So here is a glimpse into the energetic and enlightened mind of Bennett!

Favorite things to play with: 1)A full size blanket. It can't be a small blanket because it must be big enough to lie on the floor and roll up into a Bennett taco. This must be done in each room of the house 5-10 times daily and if Mom, heaven forbid, returns the blanket to the bedroom it must instantly be returned to some pile of other blanket-like items I have stored around the house. For example, Every day most of the throw rugs end up in a pile somewhere along w/all throw pillows. Said blanket can be left in either of these piles at anytime but must not return to the bedroom, ever.
2)Laundry basket aka step stool aka my house aka where I put all the other random things in the house I decide are great toys for the day and use my "puller" (aka plastic golf club) to pull all around the house thus becoming my "wagon".
3)Pillows, yes the aforementioned throw pillows can be stacked all over the kitchen or living room to make a home, bury a treasure (usually an imagined or actual piece of candy), wipe my nose (yeah that's just a little something extra for you mom), become the egg that I like to hatch from 1-3 times daily, and of course, to bury dad or anyone who dares try to nap in my vicinity!
4) And last to mention but certainly closest to my little heart is any type of candy. If I can somehow get my hands on an entire package of candy (for example, mom is disracted not looking at me so I sweetly ask "Mom, can I have this?" and of course, she w/o looking up says "sure honey", or I find an entire pack of gum in Dad's bag), I will hide it, count all the pieces, wrap it up and give it to Mom and Dad as a present, give it a million new names, hatch it from an egg, and pretty much whatever possible thing I can come up with in a day to do w/a package of candy besides eat it. However, if no one is looking and I am quite sure they won't be looking for a bit, I will, of course, try to eat the entire package of candy but this kind of success is infrequent!

These are just a few of the random things that Bennett is currently enjoying on a regular basis. He is also pretending all the time and just saying the funniest things. He told be the other day his daughter gave him a stick and I asked who his daughter was so he told me she was his kid. So I asked "what is her name?" and he said "her name is PJ and she is a puppy". I thought it was pretty random and funny! Earlier this week we were going to pick my mom up from school and he asked me if Grandma had walked to work, I told him know someone picked her up in the morning and he asked "was she heavy?". I love how literally kids think! He is also becoming extremely interested in friends! We went to the zoo today and if there was another kid close to his size at an exhibit he was totally disinterested in the animal and only wanted to try and play with the "friend". It is funny because a lot of time the other kid doesn't really notice him but he is just following the kid around laughing thinking they are having the best time together! Its probably best he doesn't realize that a lot of kids his age are still oblivious to "friends"! He also loved the meerkats at the zoo today because they were poking each other's bums... am I going to have a little Gwen Sutton on my hands??? (comment intended mainly for Ellie's understanding!) Ok... well that is enough Bennett for one post eh?

Lately my friend from Taiwan has been visiting and I am terrible at thinking to take pictures and then, when I do, I take the worst ones ever! But here are some, either way, of the things we have been doing lately! Now I know why you don't see a lot of women posting pics of themselves at 8 months pregnant....
The Zoo was unusually quiet today we couldn't get anyone to take our picture!
Us in front of the SD temple... another terrible shot of me super prego! And I am noticing I have a lot of horrible shots of myself like this - mid sentence with my upper lip curled like cruella de ville!

Me at La Jolla Cove, thanks Jia Yan for capturing this for me.....(I know someday I will appreciate it!)
Me,Jia Yan and her friend Jorge, at the beach
Jia Yan and her most endeared fan.. Bennett at the beach.. He knocked her flat on her tush for this shot, she didn't realize how heavy he is!!
Thanks Jia Yan for the visit and reminding me just how terrible my Chinese has become.. we will miss you!!!

Inexcusable...

I am sitting here amongst a mountain of half.com rejected books that Trevor thinks is a sign that we should continue packing them around in boxes for the rest of our lives because someday, like when he retires in 30 yrs, he is going to read them all! Ha ha... its really not funny because I am shoving them all in a box on Mon. and taking them to thrify threads, the local, awful thrift store! Trevor never reads this blog so lets just keep my plan between me and you.. my friends =). OK, I will tell him but he can't complain too much because I seriously just gave like 1,000 bucks worth of stuff to swap-meet-cheap-skates for a mere pittance thanks to Trevor's enthusiasm to get rid of my stuff! Can you guess what is going on in our lives? Why might we suddenly be in a rush to unload tons of stuff? Well.. that is because we are moving again. I realized today as a I finished packing a box and had to call Trevor to come and move it for me that this is my 2nd move this pregnancy!

I should have started this post with more pomp and circumstance but seriously that just isn't how things are going for us ha ha ha. We are buying a place. Our first home purchase, woo hoo. The funny thing is, we have made 11 offers on places in the past 4 months and this is the one that I truly did NOT want! Ha ha... life playing another cruel game.. but yet it is the only offer that has been accepted and the BEST value of anything so the joke is on me, I didn't want the best deal but I got it anyways! I just agreed to the offer to make Trevor happy, I mean its not like we were going to get it anyways!! I swear I almost developed an ulcer 2 weeks ago when I got an e-mail from the realator at 3:30 pm saying our offer was accepted, then Trevor called from out of town and I almost threw up when he said I needed to sign all the docs asap before another, better offer came into the listing agent. I mean this is a huge deal I needed time to sit down and think before I signed mine and Trevor's next 15 yrs. of slaving to debt off and away via fax! But how could I not sign and break my husband's heart and possibly loose out on, what to him, was the DEAL OF THE CENTURY (that is me trying to capture my honey's enthusiasm, it was overwhelming!)? I rushed around, forged his signature and legitamately scribbled mine on everything and had it faxed to the listing agent in record time. On my way back to the table to sit down and reflect on why I felt like I was going to vomit I noticed 3 pimples sprouted since I had last seen myself 30 mins. earlier (you know pregnancy keeps you in the bathroom at a high frequency). It was wild because Trevor was seriously the happiest man on the planet at that moment and I felt like I was going to keel over and die! If you've ever seen me in a stressful situation you might be surprised by all of this.. because really I, typically, am the model of cool headed under stress... but I guess we all have our weaknesses and mine is major housing/financial committments! SO, when Dh returned from his business trip I told him I just wanted to think about it for a few days w/o talking about it and telling people so I could comitt my heart to it even though I was already somewhat legally bound. In that time I've come to peace w/the transaction and I have some really positive feelings about the whole thing!
(this is long but I really need to document this experience, bear w/me!)

So here is where we currently stand. We are in escrow, scheduled to close on 9/12. We are buying a small 2 bed/2bath condo in Oceanside, CA in the Ivey Ranch neighborhood that is in move-in condition and is in a great location. I really wanted something bigger but the price on this is so low we can easily afford a 15 yr. mortgage and thanks to Dave Ramsey I feel really good about that! Not to mention, it would be very easy to cash flow as a rental so... I just have to live there until baby #3 and then we can move on to something bigger and rent this place out forever and retire really comfortably off all the profits we are sure to make in 30 yrs?!? Ha ha... jk, however things work out it should be a good investment for us as first time home buyers! The crazy thing is getting financing because B of A owns 3/4 of the units in this complex so the owner occupancy ratio is absurdly low and lenders don't like that! So... our broker has given us a sure promise that he has this loan in the bag but I'll believe it all when I have the keys in my hand! Until then we're sorting junk, wrestling empty boxes away from Bennett, who just doesn't get why I want to fill them w/stuff when they are so much more fun empty, and trying not to melt in this insane 100 + all week heat wave we've been having!

In other news, I'm 31 weeks pregnant this week? Aaa?? 9 weeks to go! 6 if I can get this baby out by 37 weeks (O did I say that out loud.. ok, yes I won't lie, I would love to go early this time!) Trevor's work is busy busy busy and Bennett is a riot! Almost every morning we fetch him from bed (yes he can get out of bed and open the door all by himself but he still calls for us to come and get him) he is talking about tomato seeds. We have no idea what is prompting the tomato seed train of thought but every morning, he has something to say about the tomato seed. He is pretending all the time and just saying the most random things and asking what everything is made of or where it came from or what it's called. (I'm having to make lots of things up too to answer his questions! I pity the poor kid when he goes to school and tells people where dirt came from... don't ask) Bennett is totally starting to get that there is a baby coming. He asks me all the time if the baby is coming out and he likes to lay his head on my tummy and feel the baby sister. It is really sweet. I just love the kid. He is crazy and wild and just as loveable as can be! Ok... that is the little (ok HUGE) Covington update!

p.s. I feel really silly for letting this blog frustration keep me from posting for so long, I'm going to just get over it and leave it like this or figure out how to make it do what I want...

lack of blog

Well I know I am really slow to blog lately but it just drives me nuts that I can't get my blog list to work or anything that should be in my sidebar for that matter! So, first thing's first, does anyone know how to fix this? So far I haven't found anything helpful!

Ok.. now, I just uploaded pictures and realized I actually have some to post. But first I shall write so I don't forget what I wanted to write about!!

It is 10 pm on Sun night and I just finished baking cupcakes.. very yummy cupcakes. Not because I am having a weird pregnancy craving but I have been telling Bennett we would make cupcakes for like a week and finally decided to do it while I'm not hot!

Man, Bennett has been doing so many funny things that Trevor tells me I should write down and here I am not able to remember anything! Ok here is one.. the other morning I got him up and he snuggled into my lap and said "I love you mommy". It melted my heart... it was just so sincere and also the first time I've ever heard him say it! I know we get these moments to counteract the 8 days straight of no nap and routine 5:30pm-and-on grumpiness. Thank you!
Bennett LOVES my dad.. it is soo fun because he just really adores him. The other night we were leaving their house and we just finished the goodbye routine w/Grandma and so I told him to head upstairs to say Bye to Grandpa and he said "I want to tell Grandpa I Love you". So sweet huh? Poor Grandma has to bribe him for hugs and kisses but Grandpa just has to be around to get lots of attention and affection from Bennett!
I don't know why Bennett is on this nap strike because he clearly needs one based on how grumpy he gets in the afternoon but I lay him down and it will be quiet for 10-20 mins. like he is trying to go to sleep then the fun begin. I hear all kinds of chattering, light switch coming on/off, blankets being thrown around the room so I will check on him and tell him to get back in bed.. when he looks up at me with those big baby blues and says questioningly..."I wake up?" and I laugh and say you are awake but you have to be asleep first to "wake up" so lets work on that!! Nothing is working.. today I rocked him for like 30 mins and he was slunched over on my arm like he was asleep but as soon as I laid him down in bed he just started chattering about what was under my eyebrows?? Ok.... its just skin dude, go to bed! No luck.
For the 4th, we went to a breakfast at our church then we took Bennett to a parade in one of the local neighborhoods. We told him it was a candy parade to accelerate his interest and it worked. He was really excited for the candy parade and Trevor had to chase him out in the street more than once as he was trying to gather candy when more cars were coming. He did get an entire baseball cap and two pocketfuls of candy. He then proceeded to lay it all on the floor and open it all sucking on it for a minute then offering it to Dad or I so he could move on to the next one. I have to say.. I rather like this approach because we burned through all that candy that afternoon with him only consuming like 4 whole pieces!! Although today he kept asking me what happened to all of his candy and I just told him, "you ate it dude!". Trevor thinks we need to teach him to savour things, is that possible? I know I always ate my Halloween candy w/in a day or two while I had friends who had it til Christmas! I think the parade made the 4th for Bennett! We didn't get any pictures though... I'm just not in a picture mode!

OK.. enough written, here are some pictures. None are great but just a little record of what we have been up to!!


My cousin Kylee (super star 12 yr old!) and I took Bennett to legoland last week and he really liked getting wet!






I know this is sideways but it will not turn around for me... no mater what I do! So.. My mom holding a little drunken Bennett after being sedated for his most recent echo.. he was seriously like a little drunk man and couldn't walk unassisted for hours!



Bennett and Duncan jumping waves w/Uncle Jimmy a couple of weeks ago!






Swinging on our ancient swing set - Bennett loves it.






Pictures from the zoo.. once again, they won't turn around.. I'm so annoyed!