My Weird, Weird Husband

Ben is like a little kid when Halloween comes around. He loves to dress up and scare people. Case in point - his office's Halloween party. All of the employees' kids go over there a couple of days before Halloween and trick-or-treat from office to office. The employees all really get into it - almost every single dude was dressed up. One guy dressed like a surfer dude and even made his office look like the beach.

This was Ben when we went to his office:

He found some weird metal thing and put it in his doorway, and then he would reach out and creepily scare kids as they came to get treats out of his bowl. He would use this growley voice and say, "Oh... they put this up to keep me away from kids. I love eating children..."

He's such a dork.

You can just call me the Halloween Scrooge. I totally hate dressing up. I hate that my kids fight over candy for like two weeks after Halloween. I hate spending money on costumes. I hate spending money on candy for trick-or-treaters. I know, I am such a party pooper. I guess that holidays are a little more stressful when you're the one in charge, you know?? I used to love Christmas, but I haven't been a fan for several years now. Too big of a pain in the butt. And too expensive.

Anyways. Ben wanted to go around and see the other peoples' costumes, so after he scared our children, he walked around with us from office to office. And scared children in the hallways. :)

Sadie picked this costume out at Wal-Mart - a pixie:

Dylan was a ninja (look at that adorable, toothless smile):

Gage was a chili pepper:

And Bruiser was a cowboy. Who wouldn't wear his hat or cowboy boots:

He's so stubborn. Or maybe he got his mom's I-hate-dressing-up gene.

Bruiser

Mikey got a black eye, right before Halloween. We should have capitalized on that and dressed him up as a boxer for Halloween, or something. It actually looks pretty good in this shot. This was like a week after he first got it. I didn't want to take a picture of it for the longest time, because I'm so embarrassed about how he got it -

He tripped while he was running and fell face-first onto a remote control.

I'm embarrassed because my house is so messy. If that remote control hadn't been on the ground, he would have been just fine. He was just running so hard. And when he falls, he doesn't put his arms out to brace himself, ever. He just falls flat on his face, every time.

We went to our school's Halloween carnival a couple of hours after the incident, and everyone was like, "Cool makeup job!" Um, yeah... that's not makeup. That's real.

Gag's Blessing

Sometimes I call Gage, Gag. Because he barfs all the time. Get it? Gag?? I'm so funny.

While I'm on the subject of Gage's barf, let me update you - the Alimentum eliminated his barfing, but gave him horrible, horrible diarrhea. I felt like I was feeding him poison. We switched to the Rice Starch Added kind of formula. It has helped a teeny weeny bit, but I still have to change his outfit like four times a day, and also his crib sheet. He's just always sopping wet. Mikey's Developmental Therapist came over today and saw Gage and was really concerned about the amount Gage still spits up. She recommended for me to call his doctor right away, instead of waiting until he's four months old for his normal well-baby checkup. I called and got an appointment for tomorrow afternoon. I talked to the nurse on the phone for awhile today about it - I mentioned that, if we are able to sit and hold Gage up after he eats, he doesn't barf at all. But if we put him down or in any kind of seat, Barf City. She said that it sounds like acid reflux, and not a reaction to formula. They will most likely put him on Prevacid.

So that's that. I wish I could have a baby who feeds normally. Sadie's been my only normal feeder so far. Oh well. We'll get this figured out. If Micah was able to survive and get back up to a normal weight, so can Gag. I mean, Gage. :)

We blessed Gage mid-October. The weather was fantastic, so we had a little party afterwards in the backyard.

We used some of the ground beef Tim and Brenda got us to make some burgers. Ben is so in love with his grill:

The kids played bowling outside while they waited for the burgers. This is Brynnan, Megs' son:

Lexi and Ivy:

Ivy loves Lexi soooo much. They are BFF's. I think Ivy is scared of me.

Sadie was talking to Mark, Megs' husband:

She was telling him about her birthday, which was like two months before. He asked her what she got, and she said, "Ketchups." He didn't know that she calls Littlest Pet Shops, Littlest Ketchups. Ketchups for short. He was thoroughly confused as to why we would give our daughter many different kinds of ketchup for her birthday. It was funny.

Megs was taking pictures, so I don't have any of her. Frown. Sorry, Megs.

Nat fed the little man while I was bustling about getting food ready:

Nat loves beebies. So do I.

Me and Pats:

The kids playing in Dylan and Micah's room:

Micah was totally snitching chips while waiting for lunch:

The spread:

See those pumpkin cookies in the very front? Megs and Mark made them, and I ate like half of them while I was getting stuff ready. Sorry, everyone. They were just so freakin' delicious. I need that recipe, Megs. E-mail it to me. I'm serious. Pumpkin cookies are tricky - a lot of recipes that I have tried make kind of cakey cookies. I don't like cakey cookies. I like chewy cookies. These were heavenly. Just right.

Patsmo La Ratsmo:

We had a leetle photo shoot to commemorate the occasion. Me and two of my sistahs:

It's really too bad I didn't have time to do hair or makeup. So sad.

Ben told us to do a serious model face. I cannot do those:

I just start smiling, and then trying not to smile.

I love this picture:

But my all-time favorite picture is now my header picture, baby. That pic makes me laugh so hard. Ben told us to growl like tigers for that one.

Isn't it funny that we all ended up wearing white??

The womenfolk:

My little fam (I think this pic will grace our Christmas cards this year):

My natal fam, minus Chris, Beads, and Moose. We missed you guys:

Mom and Dad and the grandkids (this photo graces my mom's Christmas cards this year):

Me, Ben, and Gagey:

And Ben and the Little Man:

Oh, he's just so cute. The cutest baby this side of the pecos.

This picture of Brock makes me laugh so hard:

So there you have it. Family fun. I'm looking at these pictures and really missing that weather. Sigh... It was summer, and then BAM! It was winter! No fall!! So sad.

And he's wonderful and brilliant, and we're getting maaaaarried!!!

That's from Father of the Bride. Remember when George envisions his daughter, Annie, as a kid, sitting across the table from him, saying that she's going to get maaaaaarrried? Good show. Good show.

So my sis, Lex, is engaged!! Here she is right after Chris proposed:

And here are the two of them, together:

Chris actually showed me the ring the night before and asked if she'd like it. I was sooooo excited! But I kept it on the down low.

He asked my dad the day before for Lexi's hand. That means that Ben is the only one of four sons-in-law that didn't ask my dad. Neither he nor I really even thought about it. I feel badly about that. Apparently, it's done a lot still, the asking-of-the-father thing. I've been asking all of my friends about it. Oops. I really thought that was kind of outdated. Not that it isn't cool. I guess Ben and I were pretty clueless about these things. Sorry, Pops. We honestly had no idea that you were still supposed to do that.

So anyways. Chris is so nice and fun. He fits well into our family. I really lucked out, that I really like every single one of my brothers-in-law. And he treats Lex like gold, which is the most important thing.

They're talking about maybe tying the knot next summer? They're not sure yet. Lex is in trying-to-survive-graduate-school mode - she's in no shape for wedding planning at the moment. So we'll see.

Anyways. Congratulations, you two! I'm so happy for you!!

Closing Walls and Ticking Clocks

My madre invited my sisters and I to go to her ward's Super Saturday. They were making jewelery and clocks. It was so, so, so much fun. I really adore crafting.

Lex started making her clock, but was getting stressed out by it. So my mom made her clock for her:

Lex felt less stress just making jewelery:

Do you remember these necklaces? I made them at my mom's ward activity last year. But Lex and I decided that, this time, we wanted to try to make the pendants into earrings instead of necklaces. We are both earring-aholics. They ended up being really, really heavy. Uncomfortably so. Lex is able to wear her earrings for about eight hours before they start to feel too heavy, but I can hardly stand five minutes in them. Maybe I'll give her mine to wear. Or maybe I need to build up a tolerance to heavy earrings.

Lex snapped this awesome pic of Mom:

We had to blow-dry the crackle paint part of the clock. While Mom was blow-drying Lexi's clock, she was leaning all the way over and kind of dancing around, with her hair hanging down. It was really funny. I love when my mom does funny stuff like that. Here's another funny shot Lex got of Mom when they were on a trip to Mexico:

I think that's a... rain poncho on her head? I can't remember the story. But I think my mom is funny. I think I get my "I may look dumb, but it's all about comfort, and I don't care what people think of me" thing from her.

Me, painting the roman numerals on my clockie-pooh:

Nat had to go, so we took this pic with all of us together before she took off:

Don't worry, that's not the finished clock. And you may not be able to see, but I'm wearing some skinny jeans in that photo. May I just take a moment and say that I am so, so, so in love with my skinny jeans. I never thought, in a billion years, that I would buy or wear skinny jeans, but as Lexi says, they are ADDICTING. They feel like a hug, on your legs. I wish I could wear them every single day. My boot-cut jeans feel so cumbersome and uncomfortable compared to my "jeggings."

Okay. Back to the topic at hand. Here is my finished clock:

It took the wrong size of hands, two weeks of waiting, the right size of hands not working, having to get another set of the right size of hands, and one handy husband to finally get this clock working. But now it works and I am soooo in love with it.

Texarkana, Arkansas' Birthday

This post is about my youngest sistah, Lex. This is her at Halloween (she was Big Bird):

She really, really loves dressing in costumes. She's really cute.

I sometimes call Lexi, Texarkana, Arkansas. I had a roommate from there.

Lex turned the big two-three last month. Would you like to see some pictures of the festivities? I knew you would!!

Lex and her fiance, Chris:

Blowing out the candles:

I really need to re-think that purple shirt. It might be time to take it to D.I. I'm too big for it. Chubba wubba.

Lex with her presents:

I'm not sure who gave her the flowers, but Jake made her that paper airplane, and Dylan made her a paper tent for her arm. Yep, I'm serious. He seriously felt like that was the greatest gift ever invented. You should have seen his face when he gave it to her. He was so very proud.

Me and my main man:

I was eating chips:

I love when Pete makes this face - it's my favorite:

Happy Birthday, Sis!!

Raaaarrrrrrrrr!!!

These pictures make me laugh so hard.

Well, hiydee-ho!!:

That's Dylan, behind the bear's face. That bear is the fabled one, Flat Bear. I've had Flat Bear since I was four. He was my cuddle buddy until I acquired the hubs. I hugged him and cried myself to sleep I don't know how many times. I just don't have the heart to let him go, which is weird for me. I'm usually very minimalist. Like the antithesis to a hoarder. But I just cannot get rid of Flat Bear. So I make Dylan sleep with him. Dyl isn't terribly attached to Flat Bear, but he indulges me and lets Flat Bear share his bed.

No More Snaggle Tooth

Dylie finally lost his other front tooth. Here he is, in all of his snaggle-toothed glory:

And after:

I LOVE his no-front-teeth look. It's soooo cute.

He has two more bottom teeth that are really loose, but he won't let me pull them. It takes much coersion to get him to let me pull his teeth. I can tell his loose teeth on the bottom are really bothering him, because he has been absentmindedly chewing and sucking on the collar of his shirt. One time, I actually froze a damp washcloth, then let him chew and suck on it to his heart's content. Just like a teething baby. Poor kiddo. I keep telling him that I can put him out of his misery if he'll let me pull his teeth, but he won't budge.

Getting Spoiled

Like I briefly mentioned, Tim and Brenda came to visit us at the beginning of October. They brought Aung Peg along:

She's actually not anyone's aunt. She was Ben's grandpa's cousin. She was like a sister to him, though, so everyone has called her Aunt Peg. Peg is also not her real name. I'm not sure what her real name is, but she was called Peg as a kid because she was so skinny. Funny, huh? She's really sweet, and a very good photographer.

That's actually mainly why they came up - they wanted to catch the fall colors in Jackson and Yellowstone. Tim and Brenda are photographers, too. I wish I was. Sigh.

They visited us for a weekend when they were done in Jackson. It was soooo fun. We went out to eat for like every meal. Oh, how I love eating out. Brenda sent Ben and I on a date while she baby-sat, which was so much fun. We ate at a sushi restaurant, but because I hate sushi, I had the teriyaki noodle vegetable thing there, which was yum. Bren also gave me some moola to get a pair of jeans that fit. It means a lot to a post-pardemey girl to have jeans that actually fit, you know?

And then Tim went to the grocery store and got us a whole bunch of groceries - all kinds of frozen meat, canned stuff, diapers, formula, etc. Oh, it's been so wonderful. In fact, I used some of the ground turkey he got us tonight to make Turkish-style ground turkey tacos. Yummmmm.

They are so generous and so much fun. And could Brenda be any cuter??? Look at her in this shot:

She's the blonde. Ignore the just-showered, slumping Kar over there on the left. She's wearing this cute flannel shirt, and these boyfriend jeans and the cutest jacket... Dang. The woman can dress. I swear I just need to sit and study her and figure out how to dress. Her flannel inspired me to get a flannel shirt myself. It doesn't look nearly as cute on me as hers did on her, though. It just looks sloppy on me.

Here's Tim-timmy-timmy-tim-tim-tim with The Fuzzbucket:

That picture makes me laugh so hard. Gage's face - what the heck? So funny!!!

Anywho. Word on the street is that Tim and Brenda might visit us again after Thanksgiving but before Christmas. I sure hope so. They are so much fun. And sooo generous. If they read my blog, I would say, "Thank you, Tim and Brenda!" But they don't, so a thank-you card will have to suffice. :)