You're six months, Bentley!

Wow, another month GONE. 

Six months is such a milestone!  At this point you're actually closer to being ONE, a real age, rather than being so many months or a newborn or my tiny little baby.  You're that much closer to walking and talking and just simply... growing up (can I get a collective *sniff*?).  As Jack says almost daily, 'When B grows up, he gets to ______ '(fill in the blank with whatever we're doing at the moment... eat raisins, go down the slide, bang on the drum, etc.). 

I pretty much love it.

You still have the biggest smile aaaaaand loudest scream. 
I love that we never know what's coming... yea, did I just say that?

You had your first Halloween this month! You were just the tastiest little chicken I have ever seen.

You do the most amazing thing that melts my heart Every. Single. Day.  As I carry you out of your room first thing in the morning, you put your little arms around my neck and squeeze!

 It's a baby Bentley hug!  Let's keep that up, k?

You had your first bath with your brother. It was the only bath you've had where there was a very good chance you came out dirtier than when you went in.  Har.

You ate real people food this month!  You had some homemade sweet potatoes for your first meal.  I'm going out on a limb here and guessing you weren't much of a fan...

You gobbled up avacado's though... ahhh, boy after my own heart. 

And, you get by with a little help from your brother.

 I just love ya, little B. Keep on keepin' on.





Whole 30 Challenge!

READ THIS LINK FIRST!

http://whole9life.com/2011/06/whole-30-v4/ 

 I'm just starting day 2 of the Whole30 Challenge.  I'm going to need some accountability on this!  This is very close to how I eat already, but now I have to cut out cheese, ANY added sugar (craisins, dark chocolate, cream in my coffee) and WINE!  And not cheat :)  I typically do my fair share of cheating. Eeeeeek!

I have a friend who is 2 weeks into this who has been SUPER motivating and she told me 'you can do anything for 30 days'.  That is a great reminder!  I'm really looking forward to feeling even better and just doing something so good for my body. 

I keep wanting to think of this as 'hard' (especially over Thanksgiving- and there will be NO cheating, btw)... but if you read the details of the program, they say "It is not hard.  Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Giving up heroin is hard. Beating cancer is hard.  Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard." 

Yup... so true.

Feel free to check in on me... I will be totally honest with you if I have cheated AT. ALL.

Thank you very much.

Some Crafty Hair

(As a side note, Beastie Boys were my all time favorite band when I was in high school.  And, let's be honest, if I randomly hear Beasties on the radio, I have to crank it up and it puts me in a pretty good mood.  Anyway, all of this 'crafty' business on my blog, always makes me think of the song 'She's Crafty'.  And then it's stuck in my head for the remainder of the day... which is fine by me!)

So, my hairdresser is the owner of her salon and is amazing.  Her salon slogan is 'Confidence is Beautiful' and she exudes confidence.  Recently she posted a picture of something a little different on her facebook page and I immediately said, 'I need that'. 

So, there it is... crafty, eh?  I know it's totally different... but I happen to love totally different.  :)

Here it is with my hair pushed back.  This is too dramatic for me, so it generally always looks like it does in the above picture. I was only the second person she did this to.

My dad's comment on my hair was 'WHY?'  My answer was 'why not?'  :) 

Thoughts?  I think it's pretty fun.

BAWK!

This is what happens when you wait until the last minute to buy your baby a Halloween costume...

 I think he's a chicken.

I wasn't sure what the hubs would think about his son being a chicken,

but he was surprisingly okay with it.

I see a dimple.

Nom nom, chicken legs.

And then there's Jack, all up in B's business trying to get a smile out of him. 

Ahhh, brothers.

(And, never fear, Jack has a costume too. 

This was just the dress rehersal for Bentley.)

Baby B, five months

Happy five month birthday, Bentley Charles!

Here are some fun facts about you, Mr. B:

-You suck on your first two fingers as if they are a delicious treat.  {Well, if we’re being honest here, I will confirm that they are, in fact, pretty tasty.} 

-Kisses on your face and belly Rock. Your. World. Don't mind if I do.

-You charm friends, family and perfect strangers with your giant grin, floppy cheeks and yummy dimple.  Yes, I want to eat your dimple.

-You love your brother.

-And the feeling is mutual.

-You've started sleeping on your belly most of the time. You love love love to have a blanket up by your face when you fall asleep. And since you still scream and pretty much get your way whenever, I oblige and snuggle you in to sleep. {And then I stalk you on the video monitor to make sure you’re still breathing and take the blanket off you before I go to bed.}

-Several times I've noticed through the video monitor that you've pulled the blanket up over your face and then you just lay there like a starfish* flailing around with the blanket on top of your face. After I stop laughing, I come in to rescue you, and you give me a smile that Melts. My. Heart.  True story.

-It's nearly impossible to get a good picture of you. The camera comes out and I get the *blank stare below.

-It's similar to the stare usually reserved for your hands and fingers.  Which by the way, how in the heck did they get there??

Bentley~ Thanks for keeping us on our toes, little buddy.  I'm excited to see what's in store for us as you grow and show more of your unique personality.  I'm calling it now that you won't let your brother run the show, you seem pretty independent.

Last weekend was your baby dedication at church. Pastor John talked about how we are committing to raise you to love God and serve Him and that the church is there to support that cause.  I'm so thankful to have such an amazing church family for you to grow up in.  Below is a picture from Sunday...

*This is an example of the little known combo, blank stare/starfish pose. This pose is usually reserved for when I'm actually trying to get a really good picture.  But I'm onto you, and despite your best efforts to foil my pictures, I still think you're pretty cute.

Love ya lots, B.

Some Leaf Art Love

Today's art project was inspired this pin on Pintrest. 

Well, okay, not just inspired, but flat out copied :)

This is Jack.

This is Jack on glue.

Glue, Jack, Glue!

All done!

 Jack's version of the 'foxy leaf'.

That's my little artist!

Picture made with love and leaves from our backyard :) 

Does it need to be said how much I love this guy??

 

Chapsie

My boy, Jack, is obsessed with 'chapsie'. 

Obsessed to the point that just being allowed to use chapstick is motivation for several things... pooping in the potty, riding in the stroller, eating his dinner.

Obsessed. 

So, although I knew he loved to use it, I didn't realized the extent of his deep adoration of the chapstick itself until I discovered this picture on my camera one day. 

Yes, that's his chapsie loving placed upright and centered for a photo on the coffee table.  There were of course about 15 other random pictures (like close up's of his face), but there were at least three of just the chapstick. 

That's love.

So, I'm not sure what to do with it?  Frame it for his room?  Make a wallet size so he can carry it around with him?  Suggestions?