Another one on the way...

I know I have not blogged in a while, but I have a good excuse. I have been super tired and sick these last few weeks because I am pregnant! I will be 11 weeks this upcoming Tuesday and my due date is in July.

So far the baby is doing well, although it is still early... The baby has a strong heart beat which is always good. We will know more at our next ultrasound. We are excited to have another bundle of joy and for Ben to have a brother or sister. Pretty soon we will need to make up another baby room!

However, i have to admit i am not enjoying being pregnant at all. With Ben I only recall being sick for the last couple weeks of my first trimester. But with this one I have been sick for the last 4 weeks and counting... I don't vomit at all-I have a strong stomach. But, the stomach pain is practically ongoing all day everyday with it being the worst in the morning, after lunch and especially around dinner time. And as if stomach issues were not enough, I have been super tired and for some reason my back has been killing me... It has definatley been difficult taking care of my non-stop toddler while feeling so run down all the time. But, I am hopeful that I will feel better in a few weeeks.

Sorry I have no pics to accompany this, but I will give you a summary of our Thanksgiving. We drove up to Utah and stayed with my sister Katie and her family. It was great to see my cute nieces! We had Thanksgiving at her place. We also got to see my brother's family and his new baby boy. We got to be there for the baby blessing which was awesome! I would love to say it was a great trip and visit to see my family, and it would have been if I hadn't been feeling terrible the whole time...but oh well. Next year I plan on being able to more fully enjoy Thanksgiving. Christmas is just around the corner for us and we are so excited. I love Christmas! I think Ben is still too young to get excited about opening gifts, but he always enjoys new things to play with, so I am sure it will still be fun!

Halloween 2011

For Halloween and our Ward party (which was tonight) we dressed up as Mario (Corey), Luigi (Ben), and Princess Peach (Me). So, I made our costumes. Above is the dress I sewed. It came out pretty good I think. It is by no means professionally done. There are a lot of flaws if you look closely. But, it was my first time sewing such a big project and my first time using a pattern. A shout out goes out to my sister Kate, who walked me through the pattern. Without her help, I would have been totally lost. In the pic there are wet spots because I took the pic after wearing it to our church party and Ben got some chocolate on it.

Here is a picture of us at the ward party.This is our pumpkin we carved. We did K for Kashuba, duh! Behind us you can see a wreath I made too!
Here is Corey taking the guts out. Ben mostly watched. I mostly watched too. corey was doing such a good job all by himself. Oh, I did clean the lid.Here is Ben at the Pumpkin patch, helping pick out our pumpkin.

Here is Ben on his first hay ride. These pics are out of order. we did the hay ride, then picked the pumpkin, then carved it, then went to the ward party. LOL.

Here are just a few pictures of Ben from our trip to northern Arizona to see my mom. We kept busy while we were there helping my mom move in. Ben got to play with his cousins and his Aunt and Uncle.

Kindle Case

Check it out! This is my most recent sewing project and by the far the most difficult one I have tackled so far (still a beginner, after all). It is a Kindle Case. I got the pattern from www.modabakeshop.com (the bookkeeper post).Obviously, I did not do the flower part, but I can always add it later if I feel like it. I did put my own twist on it by putting magnets on the inside of the fabric, at the corners of the cover, to help keep the cover closed. I love how functional it is. Now I can put my kindle in my purse or diaper bag without it getting beat up! It did not come out as prefect as I would have liked, but for a beginner I think it came out pretty good! Now to make a cover for my laptop!

labor day weekend

Labor Day weekend was super busy! We went camping Friday and Saturday night with some friends. It was so fun! We hung out by the campfire, played volleyball, frisbee, catch. It was a long day Saturday and Ben got super dirty. We were all super tired by the end. We also got visited by a racoon two nights in a row. The second night it was brave enough to come out while we were all still awake and by the fire. The boys chased it off.
Sunday and Monday we got to spend time with Corey's Dad. Ben got to see his grandpa from CT for the first time! We also went out to eat as a family to Native New Yorker. Corey loves their wings.

Me, Corey, Ben, and Grandpa

Ben and Corey playing football
Ben trying to grab the shovel from Corey
Matt chillin
Ben, the outdoorsman

Ben, Me, and Corey out for a walk in the woods

Aquarium

On Saturday Corey, Ben, and I went to the small SeaLife Aquarium in Tempe. It was also Ben's first outing in his new forward facing car seat. He really like being able to see Mom and Dad in the car! Ben really enjoyed looking at all the fish and sea creatures. They had some small sharks and the biggest crabs I have ever seen! They even had starfish you could touch.There is one spot where you walk through a tunnel inside onw of the aquarium tanks so you can see fish below and all around you. Ben was afraid to walk right on the tunnel at first, since it looks like there is no floor, but then he was captivated by all the fish swimming around him. It was cool to go check it out, since we had never been. I got us two tickets for $5 through Groupon, for that price it was worth it. But, I don't know if I would ever pay the door ticket price of $18 per person. It is not a huge aquarium.
After the aquarium, we went to Red Robin for dinner. Ben shared my clucks and fries with me and all 3 of us shared a milkshake. Yum!


Sitting with Dad in the restaurant.
A pic with Mom and the fishes!

He is getting so big!

Ben is One

Ben playing with one of his birthday gifts
Ben opening birthday gifts (with Dad's help)
Ben sampling some birthday cake with Dad
Ben with Mom
Ben looking at his birthday cake.

Ben turned one year old today. I cannot believe it has already been a year! Time has gone by so fast. I am blessed to have such a wonderful little boy in my life. He is so fun! Today he went to the doctor for his one year check up and he weighs 22 pounds! He is in the 50percentile for height and weight so he is perfect!

He is such a lucky boy that he got two birthday parties. We celebrated with Corey's mom and her family on Saturday (the top two pics are from then) and today he ate the cake that I made him. As you can tell, he loved it. I don't give him treats like ever, so he was really enjoying that cake!

He got a lot of wonderful gifts. We got him a kiddie pool with some pool toys so he can stay cool in the summer heat. From other family members he got some clothes, toys, and books. He is such a happy little baby and so loved by his family near and far.

The worst part about his birthday was that he and I both have colds, but we still had a fun day despite our sniffles.

Love you Ben! Happy Birthday!