Looking Up to His Daddy

I peeked in the bathroom this morning while Bryan was getting ready for work and came across this sweet scene. He just loves his daddy!

More Planting Updates

The past few days I have been a planting maniac. Starting at 4pm, after my morning math class, lunch time and a naps, Ben and I head outside to plant. Ben plays in his pack'n'play in the shade by me and I plant while Bryan works on getting the dirt ready for sod. It has been hard work but it is nice to see the plants in the ground. And I would like the record to show that I planted all the plants in the front yard except for 4 :)
*click on pics to enlarge







One important lesson that I have learned is to always watch where you are walking when going backwards with a wheelbarrow. (I fell in a whole and hurt my leg and ankle)


SOD IS COMING FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Planting Updates

Well we did not finish today but thanks to some great friends and family, we made a HUGE dent in the planting process. The backyard is about 95% complete (minus some plants that we are waiting for from the nursery because they were short on our order) It is so exciting to see this process coming to a close. I can not wait to lay the sod and be able to let Ben roam around and play back there with his friends. Thank you again to those that came out and helped us!!!! I know there were many more things you could have done with your day. You were awesome and we appreciate more than we can say!

We will hopefully be able to plant some of the front yard during the course of the week. Then next weekend, we will finish the last of the planting and lay sod. Our goal is to be done with both yards and be able to take Ben Saturday night to see fireworks for the first time!!!

The Supervisor


Mel and Mom: The Planting Divas :)


Planting the beasts: the birch trees




Ben and his friend Ada: hanging out


At the end of the day. Click on the pics to enlarge them

It Was Bound to Happen

It was bound to happen that Ben would find the cabinet with the pots and pans because let's face it- what kid doesn't like playing with pots and pans? He had a blast and when I say blast, I mean it- the sound was blasting . . . just ask the neighbors. LOL!

What a Goof!!!

Cute Pics from the Week

This is how I found Ben sleeping in his crib the other day. Um . . . not comfortable! What is weird though, is that in all the 3D ultrasounds we had,he always had his fist by his face like he does here. It has almost been a year and he still sleeps like that. So sweet :)


Ben just loves to crawl into his room, get his books out and turn the pages. I think it is pretty cute.

Is He Trying to Tell Me Something???

I think that this is a sign that I talk on the phone too much :)
(Yes honey, there- I admit it. LOL)

I have to admit though, this is pretty cute. I love to hear his little voice saying "bye bye"

11 months old

So here we are MUCH closer to turning one than being born. I must admit as he gets closer to one I find myself getting a little sad for two reasons: the first being because I can no longer tell myself that it is ok to carry a little extra weight because "hey I just had a baby" (haha) the second, and real reason is because it is just all to real that he is no longer a baby who totally needs his mommy. Instead he is getting into something new everyday.

For example, it used to be that you could lay him down, go the the bathroom and when you got back he would be right where you left him. Then it was, he would be there but rolled over. Then, he was no longer there because he had crawled away. Well today, I learned that when you leave to go to the bathroom you do not have wonder where he will be when you are done, because he will just follow you and open the door and come right in! :) What a little instigator this guy is. He brings us so much joy each and every day and I love him so much!!!



PS Usually he stands and holds onto the door jam but of course we pull out the camera and this is the one time he chooses to lean on the door :)

Our Family Time

Today we skipped church so that Bryan could get an early jump on things and finish tilling in the amendments in hopes that we will be ready when the sprinklers arrive on Tuesday. Once he finished that and some other things around the house, we decided that we needed some family time- so we headed to the beach. It's so sad, the last time we went to the beach together as a family was when Ben was just a couple months old, so off we went. We played in the water, we buried Ben's legs in the sand, we played on the swings and we just hung out. We were only there about 2 hours but it was really nice just to be able to sit and play together for a little bit. Bryan is a great dad and Ben just loves spending time with him. My boys are just too cute and too fun for words! (click on the pics to make them bigger)

Hanging out


Clapping with sand on his hands You can actually see pieces of sand flying :)


Buried legs


Hanging around (he loves to hang upside down)


Running from the waves


Awesome blue eyes


Ben and Mommy




Ben and Daddy


Flying with Dad


No, this is not photshopped and yes, he did love it!


"No babies were harmed in the taking of this photograph". As you can tell, Ben loves flying!!! I LOVE this picture :)

This Weekend's Events

This weekend, Bryan finished laying the drain, tilled the dirt, added the amendments, and then tilled those in. He will finishing tilling tomorrow, but so far so good.


And don't worry if Bryan is doing a quality job or not- our little supervisor is monitoring his daddy's every move :)

Even When the Socks Come Off . . .

. . . it looks like they are still on! (ha ha)
Nothing like a full day of playing with compost!! I guess the shower will need a wash too.

A Real Load of Crap

(get the pun??? Ha Ha)

Oh The Trouble We Can Find

Here is what can happen when you are not paying attention for less than 2 minutes.

Total Ham

Today I had to go to the Ventura County Office of Education and look at math textbooks for next year in their library. I had gone a couple of weekends ago and narrowed it down, but I had to go today and finish. I was a little hesitant because babies and libraries usually do not mix but I had to go. So I packed tons of snacks and a juice box and off we went. Ben was a total ham; he had everybody in there laughing! First, somebody coughed so he copied them with his fake cough and then laughed at himself. When the other people laughed, he thought he was pretty funny so he kept fake coughing and laughing at himself. Then, he was making the funniest faces and would look around the room to make sure that everybody was watching him, and he would laugh. Finally, he was crawling around the isles of books and playing peek-a-boo with everybody. Oh gosh, he had us all laughing pretty good. I am not sure I have ever had so much fun in a library. And yes, in case you were wondering, I did manage to also get my work done. All this to say, he was wearing this shirt today and I just thought it fit his little personality perfect! :)



Some of Ben's funny faces

Happy Birthday Grandpa Dave

Today was my dad's birthday so we had a BBQ at my house to celebrate. It was a great afternoon. The weather was perfect so we ate outside and just sat around and chit chatted. Then later my grandpa and sara came over for dessert; it was great to see them and catch up. This was my dad's first birthday as a grandpa so I guess you can say he is getting old (LOL- love you dad!)

I hope my dad had a great birthday- we all love you very much! You are the best dad ever and I hope I get to celebrate many more birthdays with you :)

Happy Birthday Grandpa


Kicking back with grandpa

Ben Loves His Veggies

This past week we have started moving Ben more towards table foods and less on baby food. He seems to love most things so this week we started giving him cooked peas and carrots- so far they are a winner :)

Next step will be to wean him from nursing. . . 5 more weeks! It is crazy to think that it will be a year soon. I remember when I went back to work and I thought to myself, "I will be lucky if I can nurse him until he is 8 weeks". Thank you to my friends that supported me through this process and encouraged me to stick with it.

Ben LOVES his veggies


Do I have any food in my teeth guys?
I love the 4 little teeth in this pic

Landscape Progress

This past week, Bryan has really worked hard and made lots of progress on the landscaping. Although our deadline has come and gone, the end is still in sight :)
This past weekend, Bryan finished the walkway (lining it with bricks), dug a trench for the drains, had the concrete drilled for the drains to empty into the street, and removed all the extra dirt in both of the yards. The next step is to add amendments and install the sprinkler system. Stay tuned- we will be having a pizza and planting party soon :)

Updated Front Yard


Updated Backyard


The extra dirt