Mr. Bentley

Mr. B is FOUR months old as of yesterday. I know the last post was about him, but he is just so cute. I took some four month old photos yesterday, and here are my favorite two. We are so happy he is in our family. I promise I'll post about the rest of us soon!

Playtime

He was simply irresistible yesterday! I just want to eat those big red cheeks.

HELP!

It's been a rough couple of days with Bentley.  He does not sleep during the day-which, in case you didn't know, makes for a very cranky baby...uhhhhhh.  I want so bad for him to sleep.  He is tired, and will fall asleep fine but then he only sleeps for a half hour.  Every Single Time.  Does anyone have any suggestions out there?  I lay him down tired, he falls asleep, but then wakes up a half our later.  I have tried to just let him cry himself back to sleep, but that doesn't work.  I have also gone in and put him back to sleep by rocking him then lay him down and he wakes up 2 minutes later.  It just seems like some alarm goes off in his head and he won't go back to sleep.  He sleeps great at night-there is no problems at night, this is all just during the day.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
After 2 rough days in a row I am pretty tired tonight.  I had a meeting this evening, and when I came home the kids were all in bed.  Halli was the only one still awake, and I went in to say goodnight to her.  While I was in there she asked me to tickle her arm, so I said ok and did for a minute.  Then I said it was time for her to sleep.  So I gave her a hug, kissed her, said I love you, and went to walk away.  Then she reached out for another hug-which is normal-so I gave her another hug and she held me tight and said "I really do love you".  It was a good day after all.

Halloween

The 1, 2, 3's of our Halloween

1 Baby who was having nothing to do with being put in a costume

2 adorable kids walked around for 2 hours trick or treating

3 kids I saw with the same costume as Carson

4 pumpkins our family carved this year

5 ideas Halli has already given me of what she wants to be for Halloween next year

6 streets we walked to collect candy

7  pieces of candy left in our bowl when the trick-or-treating was over.  I bought the perfect amount!

8 :30 is the time we got home from trick-or-treating

9 times I thought about cooking/roasting our pumpkin seeds, but I never ended up actually doing it...bummer, I love eating them.

10 pounds of candy (at least) I had to start carrying both Carson and Halli's bags because they were too heavy for them...that is when you know it is definitely time to go home!

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

Three Months Old!!

Sweet Site

I recently found an awesome website that give tips on sweet deals in stores and online. It is a site that I check a couple times a day now! Here is a link to the site-go check in out if you are into saving some big moolah! Thanks to this amazing girl I have purchased so many great deals. I bought a family members Christmas present just the other day thanks to some information posted (I'm not telling what it was or for whom because they read my blog and I don't want to give it away!).

Bentley's 1 month

Well time sure does fly by. Bentley is actually almost 6 weeks now. My sister took some really cute one month photos so I thought I would post about his 1 month information.length 23.5 (he's grown 2 inches!!!)
weight about 11 lbs (this is measured from me stepping on the scale with him...so it's approximate)He likes being swaddled to sleep
He doesn't like his binki much
He started smiling at us on his one month birthday
He is eating 4 ounces every 3-4 hours typically
He is letting us get a pretty good night's sleep. He sleeps about 4 hours at a time, wakes to eat, then goes right back to sleep.I feel like I am watching him grown and change before my eyes. With Carson and Halli I didnt' notice the change as much. I felt like I was looking at them all day, and I didn't notice how much they were growing and changing. With Bentley I literally feel like he changes as I am watching and looking at him. He has already grown so much! I feel like he is getting so big. I know he is still just a small baby, but he has changed so much in the past 5 weeks he has been with us.

Halli and Carson are really enjoying him almost as much as we are. They are such great helpers. They love to hold him and feed him. Just yesterday Carson held Bentley for about 45 minutes while I made dinner. He just held him and sang him songs-it was so sweet. Halli asks to help feed him almost every time I make him a bottle-which helps me out to be able to get things done. I feel so blessed to have such great kids! I love them all so much.

School days

Carson has started kindergarten! His first day was August 19. I can't believe he is in school now and away from me 5 days a week. I thought I would have a really hard time with it and miss him terribly, but I am doing great with it. Not that I don't miss him-I do-but it is nice to have some time with Halli, and to have him learning so many things. One of the first things he has been learning is what to do when someone hits him. He has had someone hit, kick, or push him everyday except yesterday. We are taking some time this weekend to teach him some self defense moves and what to do if someone is beating on him. Here are some photos of his first day of school. It will be fun to watch him grow as we take pictures every year.
On the third day of school Carson got sent to the principal's office! He was helping another kid that was getting picked on at recess, and ended up getting kicked down. He had to go tell the principal what happened. He didn't get in trouble, but I think it is funny he was sent to talk to the principal so soon in his school career.Please excuse the "I'm not yet awake" face I'm sporting...I wanted a picture with Carson and didn't know how "great" I looked!
It makes me a little sad to think of all the fun things Halli and Carson have done together in the past year, and now they won't have all that special time together with Carson in school. They really are best friends! Halli misses Carson, and asks me everyday if she gets to go to school today.

I wanted to establish some back to school traditions we could do every year, and thought long and hard about what to do. Here is what I came up with. The night before school started we put together a little time capsule. I traced Carson and Halli's hands and feet and had them write their names on them. We also used a piece of string and measured how tall they were. Then I recorded some of their favorites. We put them all together and will look at them and how things have changed next year. After school on the first day I took Carson out for ice cream and talked about how things went, his teacher, what he learned about, and about the new friends he met. When we came home we ate muddy buddies. My mom always made those for us on the first day of school when I was growing up. I remember having them every first day from elementary to my senior year in high school. So I will continue on with that tradition. Oh, I also let Carson choose our meal for dinner the night before school started. Of all the things in the world that he could have chosen he picked grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. I think these are all things we will want to continue doing each year...and maybe Carson will choose a more exciting "last supper" next year!

As a side note, Bentley is already 1 month old! I'll post about that in the next couple days!

Look alikes

Bentley fits right in with our family. I think he looks like both Halli and Carson when they were babies. What is your vote...can you tell which baby is who (probably not too hard)?

FIXED

Ryan fixed our computer...I can now load photos-whenever I want to. I don't have to remember to ask Ryan to bring his laptop home anymore, and then find time to upload them on the specific night he brings it home. I can now post to the blog anytime of day and include photos...so I'm officially back in the world of blogging and facebook again. Between our new camera and my happy computer I'm ready to rock! Here's my big thumbs up to a computer that is fully functional!If anyone else is having a problem uploading photos on their Mac, our problem was our K-9 security. Ryan took our k-9 off and the problem was solved! Two years of trouble because of our security program grrrrr. We also quadrupled our RAM so our computer is super fast now. LOVE IT!

Super kids

So yesterday Carson and Halli were playing superheros-well spiderman/spidergirl, and they were being so silly. I just had to take some photos of them in action. First here they are as normal people in the everyday world

Mid transformation

And spiderman/girl are here to save the day

Bentley Cooper Harris

Well the waiting is finally over! Our little man kept us waiting to see his adorable little face. I was due Thursday the 21st, Bentley was born Friday...after a little help from pitocin. My doctor left on vacation Saturday for a week, and I really wanted him to deliver my baby so I was induced Friday morning. The doctor broke my water just after 11 am, and Bentley was born at 1:08 pm. He weighed 8 pounds 4 ounces and the nurse said he was 19 1/2 inches long, but we took him to the doctor yesterday and he was 21 1/2 inches. Ryan said the nurse at the hospital didn't stretch him out all the way-we watched the nurse stretch him out fully yesterday and know she did it right.
He and I are both doing great! He's been sleeping alright and eating great. He is a much better baby than Halli was so we are very happy. We are all just enjoying having him here. Carson and Halli have been so sweet with him, and just love holding and feeding him. I'm just very happy to not be pregnant anymore, and to be able to finally enjoy Bentley outside the belly!

Carson and Halli

So after posting about Halli a week or so ago, I realized I hadn't ever put their photos up that my sister took a couple months back. I put 3 of Halli's up in her post, but wanted to put Carson's up too. So here are 3 of our favorites. As soon as I find frames I have a cute idea for all these wonderful photos my sister Aubry took! Thanks again for your fabulous skills sista!

These ones of Halli I took, but just wanted to include some photos of her new favorite thing. She absolutely LOVES this bike! It is the best birthday present I have ever purchased for anyone ever. Definitely worth the money we forked out for it! If it wasn't so darn hot here all day, everyday I'd let her be out riding it more. In the fall we'll be out riding non-stop.
Just a side question for everyone...does anyone have a recommendation for an excellent jogging stroller-probably needs to be a double stroller? I am looking to buy one very soon, and it needs to be able to hold our new infant and Halli. I'm excited to get back to running in the very near future!

Sunday morning photos

I'm now 38.8 weeks pregnant...or something like that. I'm due one week from Thursday, and I am ready for this boy to be here already! I'm in the stage where I am never comfortable, and I'm always hot. I want to clean and organize everything, but have no energy to do it...so I start working hard early in the day and I'm exhausted and wiped out by 9. I got up this morning and started working right away. I then had to take a nap at 8:30-yes am. I'm ready to be able to breathe again, and walk up and down my stairs without having to sit and rest after doing so. This baby is draining me of everything I have!

Well Sunday morning we got all ready for church, and I thought it would be a good time to take some photos. I love seeing pregnancy photos with othe kids loving the mom so we tried it out. Some of them are pretty good, but the last one is my favorite. Unfortunately Ryan had to be the one taking the pictures so he didn't get to be in them! Here's hoping to an early delivery! I'm hoping and praying he comes on his own in the next week. My doctor is, of course, going on vacation on the 23rd so I'll be scheduling an induction on Monday (probably for Wed or Thurs) if he doesn't come on his own! I don't really care to be induced, and would rather just let things happen, but I also really want my doctor to deliver the baby...so everyone pray he come this Sunday!

What we do in the summertime

We got a new camera!!! Ryan unfortunately dropped our old one in a river while on his recent fishing trip so we HAD to get a new one. I wasn't too sad about it since we've been wanting a nice new camera for a long time. We had to buy a new one now with the baby coming! We got a beautiful brand new Canon T2i. I haven't used it too much, but I love what I have used of it!

It has been so hot here for the past month. It has really been quite miserable...especially for me. The kids have enjoyed swimming in our backyard. They go out a couple times each day, splash around, cool off, and enjoy a Popsicle. I'm surprised we don't have a hole in the pool by now-we've had it for 2 years now, and it has been well worth the $10 or so I spent on it!

For the 4th we celebrated with some friends and had a BBQ over here with LOTS of really yummy food. It was oh so delicious. Then we went down the street to our bishop's house where a large gathering of people were and watched fireworks. Fireworks here are better than anywhere I have ever lived. It was the best show I have seen-all the neighbors shoot off the BIG fireworks that you see when you go to a fireworks show. Firework tents are set up all over town here and people go crazy buying them! We had a lot that were shot off at the house we were at, but the neighbors also shot off tons of fireworks so the show was just great! I would post some photos...but we all know what fireworks look like :)

We were hanging out the other day, and i looked over and saw my cute little guys loving their dad so I thought I'd take a photo of it. I realized we don't get many photos with us in them so I am going to work of getting photos of Ryan and I as well as the kids. I am going to make a real effort to post more and record the things we do. Now that I have a nice camera I don't have an excuse for not capturing the moments in our days! So you can all look forward to a better record of the upcoming days, weeks, and months!

Today's post is brought to you by the number 3

It is almost a month late, but I'm finally posting about Halli's birthday...I'm the lamest mom ever. Our little princess turned 3 on the 10th of June. It has been three years since she was born. I don't know where those 3 years went, but they just flew right by. Here is a tribute to our little girl!

Three years of birthdays

3 Silly faces of Halli

Favorite 3 things Halli says regularly
1. I love you than five (this is the highest number she can love)
2. Can I have some gum and chapstick (these two things are always asked for together...don't know why)
3. Can we go for a walk (she just wants to go ride her bike)

Halli's top 3 things to do each day
1. Ride her bike
2. draw and/or color
3. Go swimming

Top 3 favorite movies

1. Tangled
2. Finding Nemo
3. Cars

3 phrases I wish she didn't say

1. No
2. Well...
3. But, but

Our 3 favorite poses from a recent photo shoot

Halli is Little Miss Independent and loves to do everything herself-except clean her room. She is constantly telling me she can do it herself Apparently she is just like her mother :) We sure love her, and can't wait to see what the coming year brings.
I was looking back at baby photos of her tonight, and realized I'll have another little infant in no time. I have been really nervous and feeling not ready for a newborn, but after looking at photos I feel like I am ready for the upcoming bundle of joy that will soon arrive.