Dogs and Ducks

The biggest news over here is that Bennett is ONE! I can't believe his birthday already caught up to us. This baby boy is such a sweet part of our family and lately I sometimes just sit and think about the fact that his first year is already over. These little people change so quickly. I am always surprised at how much I can feel simultaneously buried in this stage yet also feel it slip away. Days are so different than weeks, months, and years. Michael said, "Happy birthday, Benny -- you pretty much rocked that first year." Then looked at me and said, "I doubt we'll have another baby like Bennett." And that's just the truth. He's a special little spirit and his joyful soul has felt like a blessing and honor to be a part of!

Other big news was turning our house into a farm this weekend. We had a Golden Doodle come back over to stay the weekend, plus a couple needed someone to watch their 4 chickens and 2 ducks while they're closing on a house in Fresno. It's hilarious over here. We have to herd them into their kennels at night and the process just cracks me up. Westin likes looking for their eggs, and our neighbors were cracking up at us over the fence tonight. Their grandkids want to come over and hang out with the ducks tomorrow. It's hard to get to know your neighbors in suburban America, but chickens and ducks help.

We loved General Conference last weekend, and I'm looking forward to studying those words again. This world feels increasingly complicated and heartbreaking. It feels more necessary than ever to identify what brings you peace and to focus on that.

I reserved tickets this week for the Cedar City Temple Open House and I am really looking forward to that. My hometown has such a special place in my heart and I'm so happy a temple is being built there.

We also have a new nephew as of this week! Rachel had baby Eli and we are so thrilled he's here and healthy and that she is doing well too. We can't wait to meet him.

Pictures for the rest!

My boys. I love them so much!

Sammy and Westin on the run. Such cuties.

Breakfast! Can you tell which is the duck egg omelette and which is the chicken egg omelette?

Left is duck. And there was actually a notable difference in taste, especially eaten side by side like this. Inside are peppers, onions, mushrooms, and spinach, and those eggs are as fresh as you can get. It made me grossed out in a way, which revealed to me how disconnected from my food I am -- why would store bought eggs be any better in my mind? I'm crazy.

One of the chickens MAYBE almost escaped. She was on the hunt for a place to lay an egg. So Michael built her a little spot out of a diaper box, and we've had 4 eggs in there since then. He's so funny. He just does stuff that I would never think to do sometimes and I love it.
Like... have chickens and ducks over for a week.

These two stick together always, and when you get too close or do something they don't like, they quack at each other like they're talking about you. It's hilarious yet also makes me feel super judged.

All four chickens.

My view down the hall most nights. They read stories on Westin's big boy bed... then he always wants to sleep in his crib after. :) But I love listening to them laugh.

Slide success! This was the first time Westin went down slides by himself. It's kind of been a thing.

But he braved them when I asked him to show baby how to do it.

Bennett got some pots and pans to bang around for his birthday! He's been loving them.

He just poked his cupcake until I put a piece in his mouth, then he was super into it.

This face. This is Bennett.

Westin was so excited to get birthday hats for Bennett's birthday. But....don't buy birthday hats from the dollar store. Big mistake. They broke so quickly and we barely got one picture out of it, but hey. 

Balloons, on the other hand, you should definitely get at the dollar store. 

Brinkley. He was a large and lazy thing and we loved him.

Those thighs, right?

Westin got a pretzel for "prayer" and a goldfish for "Jesus" and by the fourth session those guidelines were reeaaalllly loosely followed.

Michael and his plastics crew. Less than a month left on this rotation.

Magic colors! I love the easy but fun preschool activities from our little curriculum. This took zero planning, super easy clean up, and Westin thought it was amazing. Just a few drops of food coloring underneath baking soda, then pour vinegar on each spot to reveal the magic colors.

Q-Tip name painting. He did way better with this than the dot sticker letters we've done.

His first time measuring things. His giraffe is five legos long, now we know.

I thought for sure he'd paint every color on this pumpkin but he wanted only orange, and only a green stem. His most realistic art project yet. The bottom left is him trying to make the same face as the pumpkin :)

I love that Bennett needs a good snuggle time when he wakes up.

Always playing in his crib in the mornings and after his nap. He goes to sleep with a specific line up of toys each night and has to have each one.

Kids. Plants. Kitty's water. Whoops. This is the result of me trying to do my new social media/marketing side job while Bennett was awake. Now I know we'll just stick with nap times for that. This may have happened a second time that same day. Sigh.

Finish

Not every New Year's Resolution has a finite finish line, but this one did. Maybe that's what made me feel even more pressure to complete it.

I decided to run that race on a whim with my new roommate, and after dropping that registration fee I was immediately anxious. I mean, once I pay for something, I have to follow through. Same reason why I eat all my fries [almost] always. And the almost is only there for my pride.

Fries may also have been a factor in why this resolution was made. So began winter training in Provo, which at times involved slippery runs south of campus and at other times involved lap after lap after lap in the Smith Fieldhouse.

Sometimes my really cute boyfriend (read: Michael) would come. Other times I'd go with my roommate. But mostly, I was solo and running more regularly than ever before in my life. It really did change my perspective.

I know a half-marathon is just so... half these days. Bars are getting raised all over, right? How is ultrarunning even a thing? But for me, this was a big deal. I still even think about it sometimes when I feel like doing something totally out of my comfort zone. Or when my handpicked-by-Kindal running playlist comes makes its way through the shuffle on iTunes.

I will always have a distinct memory of crossing that finish line knowing I never stopped running for 13.1 miles. I finished my race, finished my goal, finished something I had previously assumed I'd never do. 

Now if only people would hand me cups of water and ring cowbells for me while I finish other goals on my list.

Pictured: My sweet Aunt Tanya, who also ran the race that day.

---

This post is part of my 8-minute memoir series, following the prompts from author Ann Dee Ellis. You can read more about the project here. This series is an effort to keep writing in my routine, keep a record of life, and keep my spirits high. 

"I write because I don't know what I think until I read what I say." - Flannery O'Connor.

Finally into Fall

Michael:

Had a busy week and didn't see the boys for a few days in a row. Westin was pretty bummed. Michael was in San Diego for the weekend at a conference, and Westin kept saying "there's daddy!" every time we saw an airplane. On Sunday he took Westin on an adventure walk and they also harvested our first carrots in our garden. Michael is such a good dad. I'm so grateful my boys have him.

Maddie:

Spent a lot of time this week on a new social media/marketing side job and it made me SO so happy. I didn't realize how much I needed something like that. I also ordered some supplies for a new hobby I'm really excited about, but more on that after I get some practice! Basically I've just felt more myself this week than I have in a while, and I think some weird switch flips when babies are done with that first year. Bennett's birthday is next week (what??) and I feel like some mental change is happening in me with that. After writing that all out I feel a little crazy, but, there it is.

Westin:

Was really sweet to me this weekend, which I was grateful for since we didn't have dad around. He is cracking me up right now because he's obsessed (OBSESSED) with Taylor Swift's Look What You Made Me Do. He asks for it constantly in the car and I'm ready for some change there. His other frequent request is Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam, so we keep going back and forth between those two songs in the car... it seriously just keeps me laughing. He loves reading books with us, loves hide and seek but yells to tell you where he is, could eat a million blueberries and all the applesauce I'd give him, plays a fake trombone as his signature dance move, loves to cook with me, and has started "reading" the books he has memorized out loud and I just love all of him.

Bennett:

Is almost one and I am just waiting for when I finally break down and cry about that, because I know it's coming. He goes to sleep like a pro. Sometimes wakes once in the night but is pretty much down to a morning and night feeding. I gave him cow's milk for the first time this week and he was ok with it. He hasn't had a bottle in a few months so I'm hoping milk in a cup is just an easy transition. I refer to him lately as my "magnetic monkey" because he is literally almost always crawling on me or toward me or giving me hugs. I love it and I wish I could always remember this stage perfectly. He has started semi-wrestling with Westin and they just laugh and laugh (until one or both cries, usually...) and it's my favorite. Until the crying :)

I'm trying to teach Westin that I don't want him in the bathroom with me. So. He opened the door and said "I'm not in the room, just here." Then proceeded to dance around and "doing some tricks, mama!" and he's just so funny. And gives me zero privacy in life, is this normal? I think it's normal. 

We snack all the way through 12:30 sacrament over here.

We made green eggs and ham because he's obsessed with the book lately. He repeats parts all the time and my favorite one is "Sam, if you will let me be, I will try them, you will see." He's always so sincerely frustrated with Sam in the way he says it and I love it.

Michael's drive by shot in San Diego.

Kitty came to our living room picnic but Westin didn't share any pizza. Only Michael is good at sharing with Kitty.

I let Westin choose what he wanted to do Friday night so we wouldn't miss dad too much, and he wanted pizza and Finding Dory. I was very much ok with that plan.

More from Michael's trip.

We had to repeat this school activity this week because Westin loved it so much and kept asking to do it again.

Sorry, Bennett. Still occupied.