February

first time playing with play dough. He didn't try to eat it... until I took his binky out. He loved squishing it between his fingers and sitting on the table.

Before church. I thought it would be fun to take pictures before church every Sunday. I remember about every other Sunday. Annika's dress is from Anya and Benson's outfit is a hand-me-down from Evan.

Happy Groundhog Day! We didn't watch the movie this year; this was possibly the first time I have ever skipped that tradition. It was Superbowl Sunday, so that was on instead.

Uncle Rico much?

My happy boy!

Annika often mimics her brother. cutie pies!

This was her first time playing in the snow for real. She was pretty cautious. We made tracks, tried to make a snowman, ate snow, and recited/acted out Snowy Day. 

Benson started doing this thing where he breathes in and out of his nose really fast while scrunching up his face. It makes for the cutest faces! 

Benson and I flew to SLC with Papi for a quick weekend trip. We went for my cousin Chelsea's wedding. It was SO fun to see all of the family. But, also quite an exhausting trip for me. I stayed up too late and didn't take a nap all weekend. That's rough when I'm used to taking a nap almost every day. Benson did awesome on the flights. He was more tired and fussy on the way home. We were able to go the Temple Square on Sunday before we flew out. Zack, Dustin, and Cassidy came with us. It was raining pretty good so we just stayed indoors at the Visitors Center. My favorite part was going up to see the Christus statue. That room is so echo-y and Benson caught on to that quickly! Initially, he stared at the statue, but then he was very loud and it made me smile. This is a loud kid! It was so fun to see my dad's Uncle Omar and Aunt Beatriz, and Uncle Coco and Aunt Beatriz. They have thick Uruguayan accents and are so family-oriented. I love being around them. Adam and his girlfriend, Emilee, came over Saturday night. I really like Emilee and I hope they get married :) We facetimed with Annika a few times. The first time she saw Benson she yelled "Hi, Cookie!" It melted my heart. They love each other and are so sweet together. Overall, it was a fun, quick trip. I was so happy to be home. When we pulled up in the driveway, Annika yelled "Papi!" David asked her who else was with Papi and she said "Molly!" Yikes, not sure what to do with that one.

Cynthia Gentry took Valentine's Day pictures of the kids for me. This was a week after Bense turned 8 months old. It is really hard to get a good picture of both kids! We took a lot and got some really cute ones.

We were supposed to go to Debbie's house for mid-winter break this year. We packed the night before and Annika wanted to pack her own things. This was her pile of essentials :) We were disappointed not to be able to go. But, it would have been a miserable drive. Benson was sick all week with a fever. I finally took him to the Dr. on Friday morning and found out he had a red throat and swollen lymph nodes. It was a long week with my poor little guy. His main food source was ibuprofen and tylenol. Not even exaggerating. He was feeling much better by Sunday, after a few days of antibiotics. Apparently, he did swallow some of the antibiotics. I was worried because he seemed to be spitting it all out. He had a constant blowing and spitting thing going on while I was trying to get the meds down. We were very happy to have our happy boy back to normal by Tuesday. And we ended up having a very nice weekend. We had pizza with Glenn and Kathy on Valentine's day (at their house). David and I went to a movie the next night. And we spent the day in TC on Monday. We went to H and N's for a few hours then did shopping.

My sweet sick boy on Valentine's day. He took lots of cat naps all day and for the whole week.

this was at H and N's over mid-winter break. We were about to leave and Annika had disappeared with Brookie. I found them in Hayley's room getting into her candy!

Annika piled her shopping cart hire than ever before. She was so frustrated that she couldn't fit more. I was cracking up when she went to pick up the big leapfrog music thing with plans to put it on top. She loves to pack things up and carry or push them around (lunch bags, stroller, cart, grocery bags, gift bags)

Annika's first mirror selfie! I found this on my phone one morning. I am so proud! Where did she get this idea?

Bense watching Annika play outside. This was one of the first times that I put him by the window to watch her. He was SO happy. It was great because both kids were happy and I didn't have to bring him outside and worry about him being cold. Now (about 2 weeks later), he knows what it means to be outside and he isn't as happy to sit inside and watch his sister. He loves to be outside! We can't wait for spring!

This was not posed. Annika holds his hand all the time.  This was taken right after Bense woke up. I love my morning babies.

I think this was his first time in the swing by himself. He loves swinging!

She loves to bring her babies or teddy bears outside

homemade water colors. She loves to paint! In the picture above, I had just showered and left her with her paints. When I came out, she showed me her nails that were freshly painted. Smart girl!

I let her lick the brownie batter beater :)

my little kitten

This is one of my favorite things she has ever done. She put her little ball on the chair and told me she was getting food to feed it. I guess all inanimate objects are equal in her eyes- babies, stuffed animals, balls.

This was the same day. She put another ball to sleep in Benson's room.

You can't really see them, but she put her dress up shoes on when I asked her to get shoes on for the ward party. No, I didn't let her wear them. I probably would have if they weren't so big on her.

All of the kids at the ward party were given an inflatable zebra. She was in love with this thing from the beginning. She was laying down on it in the church gym and carried it around for the next several days. She still loves it, but it's lost it's novelty, like most toys.

Play dough! Her thing for a few days was to have us cut out lots of the same object with a cookie cutter. The one above is a gingerbread girl. She made all of them hold hands by smooshing them together. Her idea. I loved it!

sitting in Daddy's Chiefs chair

one of my other favorite things she has ever done. She set up a little photo set and pretended to take pictures. My favorite part was the baby sitting next to the ball on her money jar. This kid has personality and silly ideas!

When she takes pictures she says "hile" (smile)

my sweet girl. I love that she keeps her sunglasses on now.

my other beautiful blue eyed baby

Our Benson boy is 9 months old!
His favorites: 1) Mom, Annika, Dad, Papi (in that order. sorry, but it's true. He's a momma's boy.) These are the people he sees every day, so they're his favorites.
2) Being outside- he loves to sit outside on a blanket and watch Annika run around. And he loves going for walks. He looks so cute with his winter hat and his puffer vest.
3) Eating- this kid seriously eats more than Annika. He wants to eat whatever we're eating. I have found that it works best to feed him baby food when we are not eating other food at the table. He still wants to eat some of whatever we're eating for dinner, even if he just ate. He doesn't eat well when he is sick. He loves yogurt, cheese, and bread. I think the bread backs him up, so I try not to give him too much. He has mastered drinking from a sippy cup, but he doesn't hold it on his own very well.
4) bouncing- he still loves being in his exersacucer/bouncer thing. When he gets excited, he bounces up and down while he flaps his arms.
5) being loud- sometimes, my ears ring after he yells while I'm holding him.

Stats:17 lbs 8 oz (12.5 %tile)
27.75 inches (25 %tile)

He still isn't close to crawling. He has never rolled from back to tummy. He hates rolling from tummy to back, but he can do it. And he is awesome at sitting up! :) He has been sleeping pretty terribly at night. But, he has been teething (2 teeth now), and he had a cold last week. I've been feeding him twice a night and it's getting old. I used to feed him around 9:30 or 10. Sometimes I would wake him up to feed him then. But, now I just feed him before bed. I hope he figures this sleep thing out soon! Last week, Annika had a cold. She must have been sleep deprived too because she slept in until 11 AM one morning! Crazy! It was a nice morning. But, it was a long afternoon since she didn't take a nap. Someday, I will sleep again. I do love being a mom. It brings me the greatest joy and satisfaction. I am often overwhelmed by the love I have for my babies.

Some excerpts from Emails to Abby and Keenan:
March 3
Benson is becoming more mobile. He still hates rolling over. But if he really wants something, he will lean forward from his sitting position. Usually he leans so far that he gets into crawling position for a few seconds before he either goes straight to his belly or face plants. Unfortunately, its usually the latter. He has two teeth now. The first time he bit me while nursing, I tapped his cheek and said no! He laughed at that! What?!? But the next few times he cried and by the end of the day, he was acting confused and scared. He refused to eat for one feeding. By the next morning we had figured it out and were back to normal. He loves watching Annika run around and be silly. And he loves it when we sing to him. On Friday night David and I went to the temple. It was wonderful! We left the kids at heather and Nathan's. bense nursed really well right before we left their house so I thought he would be happy at least for awhile. When we returned, we found out he had screamed and cried almost the entire time! Yikes. I felt so bad for bense and heather. The only times he wasn't crying was when she took him for a 45 minute drive and he fell asleep. He woke up as soon as she parked in the garage. And he was happy while she gave him a bath. We won't be leaving him there again anytime soon. I would not ask that of heather again!
Feb 24Benson boy will be 9 months old on Saturday. He still hates rolling over and being on his tummy. Speaking of tummy, he will eat anything! It has been fun letting him try real food. Yesterday he ate more pasta than Annika at dinner time. And that was after I fed him a jar of baby food about 30 min previously. Everyone always comments on how happy and smiley he is. He really is a sweet little guy.