Transformation

I seriously have no idea what we did on Friday. I really should blog every day.

Saturday I had a Stake Relief Society meeting. There were a bunch of uplifting speakers and gorgeous musical numbers. The theme was “Forget Me Not”, based on Elder Uchtdorf’s conference talk. Don’t forget to be happy. Don’t forget to live in the moment. Don’t forget the Lord loves you. Ra, ra ladies, you can do it. And then they fed us a really nice lunch, served to us by the men.   

Saturday afternoon Gavin had a ball game. It was cool but sunny, the fifth sunny Saturday in a row. Crazy awesome. I spent most of the time chasing Ben away from the field. At one point he sat down in a giant mud puddle and was covered in mud the rest of the game. We stripped him down before we got in the car, took showers when we got home, ate leftovers, and put them all to bed. In the hubbub, I didn’t have time to warm up Logan’s baby food. I’ve been feeding him homemade purees for months, and he had always gagged on finger foods and lumpy purees. Saturday, for some reason, a switch clicked and he learned to chew. I threw him a handful of peas and he just ate them like it was nothing. And he’s been eating off our plates ever since. Last night we had taco salad for dinner and he ate black beans, rice, corn, cheese, and avocado like it was going out of style. This is my favorite stage in the first year. The sitting-up but not-yet-crawling phase. Too bad it only lasts a few weeks.

Sunday was a gorgeous day. We made it through Sacrament Meeting without taking out Ben or Logan, a banner achievement. Instead of taking Ben straight to nursery, I took him outside and let him run laps around the church, then let him have one drink and took him potty before dropping him off. He did so much better. Christopher wore Logan in the Ergo for the rest of church, which is awesome for me, and good for Logan, because he can take a little morning nap. Pancakes for lunch, long naps, and jumping on the trampoline completed our day.

Monday was even more gorgeous, high of 73. The kids were “so hot! Can we eat popsicles and play in the sprinklers?” “Um, no, it’s not even 75 degrees.” But they had fun jumping on the trampoline and riding bikes. Logan was cranky; either his ears are still bothering him, or he’s teething. We went over to Shay’s for a diversion, and so I could take some pictures of Brooklyn.

Logan’s “fake” cry:

Pretty Brooklyn:

Monday evening we had Family Night, which consisted of jumping on the trampoline and a very short lesson about being nice to each other, even your little brother who is trying to beat you up (ahem, Ben). After it was over, I was getting ready to put Ben in the shower when he ran in with his rain boots on and he looked so adorable I took him outside for pictures. 

He immediately walked down the street (“Let’s go to the park!”). I followed. 

We got around the corner when he spotted a play tool bench in a neighbor’s garage. “Look at that!”

The neighbor, who was standing across the street, came over and said, “I was just getting ready to donate that. Would he be interested in it?” “Um, yes, yes he would. Thanks!”

I picked it up, and we walked back home. That Ben is one lucky kid. We almost got him one for his birthday, but they were like $100. Lucky us, too.

Today I took Ben and Logan to the grocery store. I had Logan in the top of the buggy and Ben in the race car attached to the buggy. They were fine until we got to the check out counter, when Ben proceeded to yell, “I want candy! I want candy! I want candy!” The entire time we were checking out. I started to regret the 45 yogurts in the cart. Fortunately, it was 11:30 on a weekday and no one but the employees were in the store. Ben got no candy, but the promise of a long afternoon nap. The bagger, a middle-aged man, winked at me and said, “If I ask for candy, can I get a nap, too?”