December

What a crazy month December was! The first part of it was spent engulfed in writing papers and taking finals and once I had that out of the way, I could actually start to get into Christmas. We were able to get the tree up and decorated just in time for me to get sick...twice. That's pregnancy for ya!

The Christmas tree was an adventure in and of itself. When we first pulled out the ornaments, Ben took one of the balls and threw it (isn't that what every boy does with a ball??) directly at the tile the first throw. It shattered every where of course. We spent the rest of the month trying to keep him from repeating it and at the very least not grabbing one of the nicer ornaments. Can you see the mischief on his face? He is wondering whether he should grab an ornament and run or play with the outlet that is screaming his name.


Early in the month, we went to the local Christmas festival. It was pretty neat, especially for the small size of our town. They had Santa Claus, fake snow, and a little carnival with games and rides.


Can you see the specs of snow?


Less than a week later, we got REAL snow! Ok, real for Louisiana.. I snatched Ben out of bed so he could see it. We weren't brave enough to go out in it though. It didn't take long before it all melted away (the rain didn't help) and afterwards I was missing Utah snow pretty bad. Throughout the day, I found myself daydreaming about pushing Ben in a sled, making a big snowman, having a snowball fight..I even missed when Adam used to come home when we lived in student housing at the University of Utah and he'd throw a snowball at the window to scare me!


Within just a couple of days, we had hot weather. Then cold, then hot...Here's a cute pic of Ben all bundled up for a cold day.


At the church Christmas party, we got to experience Christmas dinner cajun-style! The menu was gumbo, potato salad, and more sweets than Santa could eat in a year. I learned after that that to really experience it cajun-style, I was supposed to put my potato salad IN my gumbo..is that right??? Any way, it was good nonetheless. Primary (the kids of our church)put on a nativity that no one heard (although Ty did a great job reading from Luke 2) because the mic crapped out. The kids were pretty cute all dressed up like shepherds, sheep, a star, wisemen (and a wisewoman), Mary and Joseph.

At the party, Ben watched Santa Claus from a distance and reached to give him a kiss at one point (from like 10 feet away), but when we got closer, it was all over with. I could have handed him over to Santa, but I already have that picture from last year!


Last year's photos..I've got to get an ornament made of these or frame them or something..hilarious!



Speaking of Primary, I was released from serving as Primary president. I should have seen the release coming since I was actually feeling like I was coming into my own in the calling, but I didn't..Nonetheless, it will be good. I was asked to be the enrichment counselor in Relief Society. I will miss miss miss those kids! I really learned a lot from my counselors and the teachers I served with, but I'm excited to be in Relief Society again too. And just like the kids are so incredible in Primary, their moms and other women in there are equally amazing in my experience thus far. But it will be harder to think of reasons to break out my talent of catching cheerios with my mouth in there!

With everything so crazy, I didn't get to make all the goodies I wanted to. I got some done and delivered which was fun, but there's a lot of friends I just didn't get to. Please know that you are loved and appreciated nonetheless! Here's Ben enjoying the spoils of my treat-making.


I canned a couple jars of spiced apples (a little for food storage) which I was pretty proud of. I couldn't find red hots anywhere so I settled for hot tamales candies which was kind of a bummer since the gummy part didn't break down as much as I would have liked. But they were pretty and yummy and for my first stab at it, I was happy.

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving, we went to Florida where my family lives. My dad and stepmom came up to visit as well as my cousin Amber who I don't get to see very much. She had her little boy Zac a couple of weeks after I had Ben, both were our firsts, both of us had c-sections and she and I are pretty close in age. It was nice to visit with everyone, although we missed my sister Jessica who lives in Utah and couldn't be there.

Ben got one of his Christmas presents early--a John Deere tractor bicycle. It is too big for his legs right now, but that will only be the case for a little bit. He had (is having) fun getting pushed around on it and pushing it himself. We got some pretty funny looks on the way home with it strapped to the car roof!



Thanksgiving dinner was at my uncle's house. He has a horse, a donkey, chickens, a rooster, and probably critters I don't even know about. His donkey would he-haw every now and then and Ben LOVED it. He is still making the noise to this day. Actually, he knows the difference when we ask him, but he is making an association between deer (with all the reindeer he's seen in Christmas movies, etc.), donkeys and Paw-Paw since his Paw-Paw was the one showing him the donkey. He is also associating Paw-Paw with M&Ms for some reason I just can't imagine. (It COULDN'T be the never-ending supply of M&Ms Paw-Paw would put on his knee one at a time for Ben to grab!)



Thanksgiving night, we got together at my brother's place just the immediate family (less my dad and step-mom) again for more Thanksgiving eating! I can't believe I didn't get one single picture there, but then again, a pregnant woman with that much food around is more likely to be carrying a piece of cake or roll around than a camera.

We also got to spend some time at the beach. One of my sisters lives right on the water and, although it was cloudy, we had such a nice time walking the dog, playing in the sand, and taking pictures. Ben especially liked the birds and the waves. He tried to jump in the water a couple of times!

Look at that water! Tell me again why I live in Louisiana???




Ben gives the best (albeit sometimes drooly and/or snotty)kisses spontaneously or if he is asked. He doesn't really discriminate either. He gives them to everyone.