Updated finally.

A lot has happened since January. Spring is finally starting to make its appearance. And yet- so is winter... ugh. I wouldn't mind if it stopped snowing every other week! Joel and I are planning so fun home renovation things for this spring. A door to our back yard, some lights in the family room, a garden, a fence and no more dead trees. Lets hope we can afford it all!

Bentley is getting all grown up. At his 6 month check-up, he weighed 15lbs 13oz and was 28.5" tall! A tall one! He has learned how to make his mouth say dada and mama even though he still has no idea it has meaning. I made a goal for him- sitting up by himself by Easter. At first I wasn't sure we were going to make it. (because last year, easter was the first sunday of april and I was under the assumption it would be close to that time again... not the 24th nearly the end of april) But then he surprised me and just started to not fall over as much. And now he can sit up for a long time before toppleing over. It's not even april yet and we've almost gotten it. So now I might make a new goal for him. Roll onto his tummy from his back. He's got tummy to back down... just isn't as excited to be on that tummy. Plus, with that comes crawling. When he sees other little children running around him all hyper like, he gets excited and kicks his feet and laughs. You can just see in his eyes that as soon as he can figure it out, he will be right behind them.

Being able to be a stay at home mom has been such a blessing in my life. From the time I was little I just LOVED those babies. And sad to say that as soon as I was married I was pestering Joel with "now?" "now?" "now?" Finally my baby boy arrived and I am one happy camper. I have this child to devote all my time and energy to. I love watching him grow and being able to show him off. My mother in law said it perfectly. "If you could have picked all the traits your child would have, you still wouldn't have picked a baby as perfect as he is." He is such a joy in my life. He has been called a flirt many times now by family and strangers. He is just so quick to give out smiles. Not weak ones either. The kind that just suck you in.

I have started making a 2 week meal plan for Joel and I. You see, before I got married, I was the kind of person that would buy lots of groceries of things I liked and when it came time for dinner I would stare into the fridge and cupboards and eye out what I wanted. What ever I was in the mood for. This carried into my marriage and worked still.. but I began to see how expensive this was. There were too many items of food expiring because I didn't feel in the mood for them. SO, I've changed my ways. I plan out in advance what we will eat each day and make my grocery list accordingly. It's been fun for me. In doing this I have discovered how few meals I make and have decided to expand my horizons. (This is all about me because Joel will eat anything I have prepared. He's just happy if it isn't take-out.) 3 new soups, a pasta dish, and a meat dish have come from this. Oh how I love cookbooks. In my opinion, when you go to the doc's or dentist or hair care person, they should have cook books laying around instead of magazines. Love them things! So if anyone is interested in what I make or how I make my meal plans, let me know. I'll even do it FOR you if you don't want to. It's like a hobby of mine now :)
I'll add pictures a little later. Bentley is SO SO adorable though. You'll have to take my word for it.