Ain't Nothing Better Than Christmas!

Christmas is, by far, my favorite holiday and time of year!!! Nothing beats spending quality time with the family, giving to those you love, and remember the importance of the Savior in our lives! I really feel like we have been so blessed to have both of our families so close, and I only wish there could be more time to spend with them.

This year was also exciting because it was Brody's first Christmas!!!! He was very spoiled, especially by his grandparents! It was a lot of fun to have him around this year to be a part of all of our Christmas traditions!

Brody's standing!!!!! (well, almost!)

Me and Brody in front of Mom and Dad's Christmas tree!

Brody tried on his Christmas pajamas that we opened Christmas Eve.

What a cutie!!

Kevin played ball for the white team on Boxing Day! The final game was between Kevin's (and Jeff's) team, and Shawn (and Jimmy's) team! It was very intense. Kevin's team was up by three with 10 seconds left, when Kevin was fouled (but it wasn't called). Shawn got the ball and made a three point shot to tie the game. Of coarse, Shawn's team then ended up beating Kevin's by one point. Emotions were quite high after the game, and us wives got to listen to our husbands do a play-by-play on why their team should have won. All the boys joked around with Darren (my brother-in-law), who was reffing, that he was no longer in anyone's good books.

Grant and Connie recently also got a pool/hot tub put in their house (not outdoors), so Kevin and I were excited to take Brody out for his first time swimming!! (Don't worry! The pool was at the same temperature that his bath water is - just barely warm!)

He seemed to really like it! Unfortunately, he has outgrown his swim trunks now, and I don't have one that fits him, so we'll have to go shopping sometime.

Cafe Rio Recipes!!!! (at least close)

I just found these, and I absolutely CANNOT wait to try them. This is one of our favorite restaurants, and we only get to eat it once a year when we go to Utah!

Check out the link to get them for yourself!!

Cafe Rio Restaurant Recipes

Anyone up for a Massage?

Brody and I just finished our Baby Massage class which is held here in Stirling at the Parent Link center!!! On their last day, all of the babies were given a cute t-shirt from the instructor, and we took a picture. Here are Brody's first friends - (in order, clockwise) Jet, Jaxon, Sophia and Shelby! Missing that day were Isaac and Tristan, who Brody has hung out the most with, but who were both sick at home that day.

Unfortunately, the class ends around Brody's cranky time - 11:30, so I promise I didn't pinch him right before the pictures, and he really does like being massaged... as long as it is not at 11:30 :)

Brody is finally big enough to hang out in his Bumbo chair!!! He is loving it!

He even gives me a smile if I can convince him to look at me!

He's my little cutie!! I love him to bits!!

Bennett Familiy Photos!!!

On Thanksgiving, Kim, Deanna and their families were able to come down to visit. Kim's friend, Rhonda Steed, agreed to take family photos for my parents while all of us kids were around. It was quite an eventful morning, with Brody making the firm decision to make it as difficult as possible to get nice family pictures. Rhonda worked her magic though, and these are just a few of the adorable pictures that she took for us. Lauren was a model in the making. Rhonda had her say "Hi Rhonda!" every time she wanted to take a picture. By the end, Lauren was saying "Hi Rhonda!" even when Rhonda wasn't taking a picture. Keira even did good, and was mesmerized by the flashing lights. Zach was a perfect little guy as usual, and slept through almost the whole ordeal. Thank-you Mom and Dad for doing pictures for us, and THANK-YOU RHONDA for having them turn out so great! Here's just a few of them.

Letters, letters, and more letters

"Mommy, why are you making those faces at me, you look rediculous..."

Looking like the little studly guy he is!

Brody's looking a little tipsy after getting his fill of the good stuff!

Showing off his good neck muscles. Brody will hold his head up for over 10 minutes now! Not much luck on the rolling over yet, but we work on it every day!

So, I found a bunch of treasures at the dollar store, and tried to get crafty with letters. Here are the magnetic fridge letters I created using mod podge and cardboard dollar store letters, and sticky magnetic sheets.

I also got busy making somw bigger letters with wood letters from Dollarama, scrapbook paper, wood stain and mod podge. I'm giving these to my sister, Deanna, to help decorate her girls' bedrooms. I think we'll hang them up with ribbon, in bows (maybe... any other suggestions?)

We've been invaded!

We've been invaded by aliens!! (or monsters, if you think it looks more like that)! Here's a look at Brody's first halloween costume! He didn't like being in it so much, and he especially did not like the sound of the velcro both times I had to take the costume off! We didn't go trick or treating really this year, because I wanted to be able to hand out candy, and Kevin wasn't home until after the trick-or-treating was over, but we did go over to grandma and grandpa's house early, just to show off his costume. I thought he was pretty cute!

Brody's First Sounds

We had Brody's 2 mo. immunizations today! I measured him to be 23 1/2 inches, and just over 12 lbs., which seems about perfect to me. It was so rediculously sad to have to 'hold him down' while the health nurse gave him all three needles. I don't mind getting needles myself, but I don't like having to watch the needle go in, but that was pretty much impossible to avoid today for Brody. He did pretty good for the first few seconds of the first needle, and then the pain reaction set in and he began to wail!!!! I could have cried right along with him! I only hope that I am doing the right thing by immunizing him. It seems that there are different opinions on it everywhere I turn, and there doesn't seem to be one perfectly right choice. I'm kind of feeling the same way about this H1N1 virus vaccinations right now - for myself and Kevin that is... Brody's too young for it anyways. How are we supposed to know that it is the right thing? I could talk for a while about the different things I've seen and heard about it, but in the end, I think I will get it, but I'm not 100% sure it is the right thing to do for me. I do think it will be the best protection for Brody against it though. Hopefully it will end up not being a big deal for us, and we will be able to look back and wonder why we were all so worked up about it anyways! I guess will see. I'm just kind of unsettled about it still right now though.

Anyways, on a very happy note, Kevin and I have been over-the-top happy that Brody is starting to be very responsive to us finally! He loves having long, deep, not understandable conversations with Kevin, and sometimes with me (he seems to respond more to Kevin's voice than mine... sad, I know, to have that beginning already). He is so full of smiles most of the time (after his tummy is full) now too! I sometimes even stay awake longer than I need to after his night-time feeding just because it is so much fun watching him smile back at me! We're so lucky to have him in our lives!

Here is a video (although this is a few weeks ago now, so he is talking much much more now) of proof that our baby is making sounds at us now!! Next step - "Mom". (Kevin works on "da-da" nightly, but I know my baby will pull through on the mom side when the time comes.) At the beginning of the video is a 'not so happy Brody', but he does this bottom lip thing that is just way too cute, so I had to capture one of those moments too.

My Buddy

I finally got my computer to work so that I could put up some pictures of Brody's blessing day (and other pictures from the last month).

Trying on the outfit a few days before to make sure it would fit! We had to borrow it from cousin Orin, because we could not find a nice white outfit small enough at any of the stores in Lethbridge.

(Sort of Smiling)

Kevin did a great job for the blessing, and I was able to write down a few things for Brody in his journal that he can look back on as he grows up. After church we all went to Grandma and Grandpa Nelson's house for a celebration/thanksgiving dinner!


Maysa and Kasen decided it was more fun to feed each other their Thanksgiving ice cream than it was to feed themselves. It was too cute watching them, that I just had to take a picture. They finished all their ice cream doing this!


Brody decided it was more fun to be grumpy than happy, so I had a hard time getting any good pictures of him. Finally, I just ended up taking one right before I changed him out of his blessing outfit, even though Kevin and I were not in it with him. Oh well!


Kasen wanted to help Uncle Kevin hold Brody while he slept (finally) later that Sunday. Other than the darker hair Brody has, I think he looks a lot like this little cousin of his. Lots of people also think he looks like Jimmy and Patti's youngest, Maysa.


Here are some other pictures from the month.

This one made me laugh... he makes such funny facial expressions as he is falling asleep!

Rita Joy came over for a visit last night, and so we took a picture of her holding baby Brody. She sure watches out for all of her special little great-nephews and great-nieces!

Announcing... Baby Brody

I just finished doing up a baby announcement/thank you of Brody using the pictures Shanna Bikman (http://www.silverslides.com/) took for me! I sent them in to get developed today, but here is a sneak peek, even though you are probably receiving one if you are reading my blog :).

I absolutely LOVE Adobe Photoshop (although I only have the elements version), and have had a lot of fun making up baby or wedding announcements for a few friends in the past. Once you get started on it, it is totally addicting (somewhat like blogging!). Here are a few of the examples that I have done in the past. If anyone ever needs an announcement made up, give me a call! I would have a ton of fun doing it!

Cutest Nephew Around!!!

Kim is just getting ready to send out her very adorable baby announcements for little Zachary William! The photos and the announcements were taken/created by Rhonda Steed! What great pictures!!!!! I sure wish Brody and Zac could grow up closer together, but Kim and I have plans to take turns travelling to visit each other often. "Little" Zac has almost already caught up to Brody in weight, and Brody`s been growing fast himself!! He was 11lbs. 12oz. last Wednesday at his six week checkup.

Brody was blessed at church on October 11 (Thanksgiving Sunday). He was such a good little boy for the blessing. Kevin said he only fussed a bit just as they were starting, but you couldn't hear it on the microphone at all. It was a very special blessing, and I know that I am so lucky to have such a sweet baby boy as part of my family. I am so glad that Kevin was worthy to give him the blessing. Brody was not such a good boy after the blessing though :) He cried almost the entire day, with short spurts of napping, after which he would be woken up by us having to go somewhere, or a niece or nephew wanting to touch his head or hold him. He had a good sleep that night though! He is inconsistantly, but gratefully, sleeping 7 hours straight some nights. Mommy and daddy couldn't be more proud of him when he does that! I have some pictures I want to put on of him in his blessing outfit, but my computer is not recognizing any new USBsor memory cards. If anyone reading this knows how to fix that, other than restarting your computer (we've tried that several times already), please let me know.

Another picture I wanted to post was of both my legs, right around my knees... Strange, I know, but you should see how many bruises I have right now from carrying the carseat! I am just not strong enough to hold it away from my body a bit, so it consistantly bumps against the sides of my knees as I walk into church, or into someones house, or into the store. I had to wear a longer skirt last Sunday, just so that people didn't start wondering if someone had beat me up or something! I'm hoping my muscle strength catches up to Brody's weight gain, or perhaps my knees just need to toughen up so that they don't bruise anymore.

I started conducting the Stirling School Elementary Choirs yesterday after school! We are practicing every Monday from here until June. Brody's Aunt Patti is watching him while I am gone for the hour and a half (Thank you Patti!) I was absolutely blown away yesterday with how quickly the kids learned the music I had picked out! I definitely could have tried something slightly more difficult. The junior choir had a big mix up (which I felt pretty dumb about), as I was having the students put the music in order. I accidentally told them that one sheet was supposed to go in a place where a different one was supposed to go, so I thereby created utter chaos, and all of the students were intensely trying to get me to help at the same time. By the time we had everything figured out and in place, we only had ten minutes left. * Note to self for next time: Organize the music beforehand for the junior choir... in fact, organize EVERYTHING for those kids, because they get easily confused. All I can say is that I was very grateful to have Amy Harding (our accompanist) and Betty Pitcher in there helping me help EVERY student to make sure they had it right. I have been especially impressed with the turn-out for the choir. In a small school, I did not expect to have the 30 kids for the junior choir, and the 26 kids for the senior choir. I just hope I do a good job so that the administration will want to keep me on for the choirs next year as well. I am really excited to get more experience conducting choirs.

"Spooking" up my house!!!

So, I have set a goal to become more crafty, as it seems that every single relief society sister in my ward have such talent for creating things and decorating their houses so that they look so cute! In my search for fun fall crafts, I came across a blog by Xazmin (I can't even remember how I found it now), who has posted a TON of really cute craft ideas that are so easy!!! ... and easy is something I can do! Here are a few of the cute fall and Halloween ideas I got off of her blog (which you should check out HERE)!

The first ideas are for fall (Directions).

Here are a few to squeeze in before Halloween comes around the corner!

(Directions)Made with 2x4 blocks, spray paint, mod podge, scrapbook paper from Michaels, and purple tule. I am SO loving the Mod Podge! There are so many things you can do with it!!

(Directions)

All you need is tissue paper, mod podge, green spray paint, a few jars, and some green tule! The battery powered candles would be great for this one, but if you used regular candles, you could just remove the center parts of the lids.

If any of you have any other ideas for what can be made with Mod podge, or and other cute (easy)halloween crafts, let me know!

Here is something else I came across while exploring the blogging world, and it made me laugh. Hopefully it will bring a smile to your face too!

Summary of Life

GREAT TRUTHS THAT LITTLE CHILDREN HAVE LEARNED:

1) No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats.

2) When your Mom is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair.

3) If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person.

4) Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.

5) You can't trust dogs to watch your food.

6) Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.

7) Never hold a Dust-Buster and a cat at the same time.

8) You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.

9) Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.

GREAT TRUTHS THAT ADULTS HAVE LEARNED:

1) Raising teenagers is like nailing jelly to a tree.

2) Wrinkles don't hurt.

3) Families are like fudge..mostly sweet, with a few nuts.

4) Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

5) Laughing is good exercise... It's like jogging on the inside.

6) Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fibre, not the toy.

GREAT TRUTHS ABOUT GROWING OLD:

1) Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.

2) Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

3) When you fall down, you wonder what else you can do while you're down there.

4) You're getting old when you get the same sensation from a rocking chair that you once got from a roller coaster.

5) It's frustrating when you know all the answers but nobody bothers to ask you the questions.

6) Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician.

7) Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone.

THE FOUR STAGES OF LIFE:

1) You believe in Santa Claus.

2) You don't believe in Santa Claus.

3) You are Santa Claus.

4) You look like Santa Claus.

SUCCESS:

At age 4 success is . . . not piddling in your pants.

At age 12 success is . . . having friends.

At age 17 success is . having a drivers license.

At age 35 success is . . having money.

At age 50 success is ... . having money.

At age 70 success is . . .. having a drivers license.

At age 75 success is . . having friends.

At age 80 success is . . not piddling in your pants.

My Little Cutie!

I finally got my newborn pictures back from Shanna Bikman of Brody!!! He looks so dang cute in them that I have to share it with you all. Go to http://www.silverslides.com/, then to her website, then to clients, and put in the password BABYNELSON. I'm going to have a difficult time choosing ones to get printed off! She did such an amazing job with all of them! She also did my maternity photos, but the password for them is PRETTYMAMA (I didn't choose the password, Shanna did...). She has some serious talent for what she does!

One month later...

Brody celebrated his 1 mo. mark last Sunday, and I can't believe how fast it has gone by!!! He is growing up so much already, I can hardly believe it. When I look at pictures of him the day he was born, he looks so small. He is finally starting to fill out a bit, and I've put the first pile of baby clothes that don't fit back in storage for any future babies.

Mom caught both me and Kevin snoozing with Brody (at different times) while at their house for dinner one Sunday - catching up on much needed sleep!!

Kristi and Shauna Leavitt put on a baby shower for me in Lethbridge! Thanks for the baby monitor Shauna!!!

Lynnae Wright and Karen Gilroy at Brody's shower

Mom took an evening off to show me how to can tomato sauce!!! My favorite! Thank you mom! Look at all those jars!

(sorry on the fuzzy picture)

Brody and I went to visit Aunt Ruth and Aunt Mary in Taber! Ruth was so excited to tell me that Brody was born on her father (my great grandfather's) birthday! It was nice visiting with Mary too! She was so kind to give me a cooler full of frozen Taber corn that she slaved over this summer. Mmmm. Nothing beats Taber corn!

Brody was excited to go to his first football game last weekend too! It was Raymond vs. LCI at the new football field! Brody even wore the nice 'football' hat that Grandma Bennett gave him! Of coarse, Brody cheered for LCI with me, while Kevin cheered for Raymond. 'Uncle' Wes is helping to coach LCI's team this year, so we were sad for him when LCI lost. We'll get them next time I hope!

Cousin Zac and Brody finally met last Sunday in Calgary at Zac's baby blessing!!!! We're sure they will be best buds growing up!! Everyone had a good laugh at the fact that they both look so much like their dad's and not much like each other! Oh well... I guess the Bennett genes must be recessive.

Four generations for both families!!!

Proud Moms!

Four generations with the women this time!

Got to love Grandma Smith's broken arm! She was supposed to go on a big European cruise next week, and now they have to wait to see if the last minute x-ray turns up good. Poor Grandma doesn't have much luck when it comes to big vacations. We are all glad that nothing more serious happened!