I just got home the other day from a 3 week vacation in Montana and am excited to write about the fun times we had (for the most part...)!
Our first week was spent at Ashley Lake with my parents and my sister, Tamara's family. Since we were with MY family I think it's safe to say that this was my favorite week! We got to do a ton of boating - Jeff and I love to ski and do some wakesurfing, along with my dad and Tamara. Unfortunately Lee had a bummed knee so it was sad to see him unable to do one of his favorite things! It was a lot of fun to see Tamara's kids do their water sports as well. I was very impressed watching Mason get air on the wakeboard...which comes with some face plants that he wasn't too happy about (which is why I stopped wakeboarding!). He also learned to slalom, and Dakota's not too far behind him. Griffin's still young but learning quickly, and we got to play with my crazy little niece Scarlett - the free spirit! She was a cutie, and all of them adored Bentley. I have to thank my mom for staying back with Bentley many times while Jeff and I went on the boat, it was really nice to be able to do that. We did bring Bentley on the boat several times as well and at first she was quite stunned by it, but it didn't take long for her to get used to the boat and fall asleep on it too! We love boating and the best part is when you get that glassy water and your ski just glides through it...there's no better feeling!! I have to say I was slightly worried about getting up this year just because I had Bentley not long ago and didn't know how great my core muscles would be. I was happy when I got up on my first try! Jeff did well also and made sure to fit in his "annual" wakeboard. Haha I don't mind him wakeboarding once a year...I'd rather him not blow his eardrum again!
Well besides boating we did many other activities. A popular thing this year with my family was picking huckleberries. My dad found a great place to pick them just up the road a little ways. One night we all picked berries, making sure to pick the good berries, not the poisonous ones. After picking for about an hour, we combined all of our goods and created one bucket full. Huckleberries are tiny, so it's a lot of work to pick that many! Tamara made pies out of them and also some syrup which we put on our pancakes. It was pretty delicious!
On Monday night we had FHE around the campfire. We told Book of Mormon stories and roasted marshmallows to make smores.
We also spent our time playing Mexican horseshoes and doing some archery, which I'm getting better at! Paddle boating and swimming were also a lot of fun. One day we dragged the lily pad behind our boat a little ways out and had my dad make waves while we all tried to balance and stay standing as the waves went by. That was fun until the rain came and we had to go back in and cover up the boat. We also played lots of games and watched some movies and TV - including the Bachelorette finale!
Bentley was super good this week and it was great to have people around to take her now and again. I put her in the blow up pool and she loved kicking her legs and splashing in the water. She sits quite well now but at that point she wasn't sitting so I leaned her against the side and watched her closely. I even put some towels on either side of her at one point as well.
The food was great as well and I made some apple streusel muffins for breakfast and my chipotle chicken burrito bowls for dinner one day. They were quite good and everyone seemed to like them.
When the week was over we packed up our truck and said goodbye to everyone. We drove away from a bunch of sad faces sitting on the deck waving goodbye to us. I wish I had taken a picture. Then we heard cheers as we continued driving. I have quite the hilarious family...oh how I love them!! Haha.
We spent the next week at Echo Lake with Jeff's family. The first 2 days were a family reunion, so I got to meet all of his Dad's family. Most of them I had seen before but I also met a bunch more new faces. All of our meals took place at Jeff's grandparents cabin up the road a ways from Jeff's parents place. It was a bit of a pain dragging Bentley there for every meal (usually during her nap time), but the food was definitely to die for! Jeff and I helped with one dinner and made a peach salad. We also had a gift exchange, which turned out to be really fun. I had bought the movie "Heaven is for Real" along with the game Monopoly Deal and wrapped it up. Jeff's grandparents ended up with it, and we ended up getting their gift, which was a cute little cooler and a Christmas book. There was also a "Family Feud" act that went on which included a bunch of inside jokes about Echo Lake that Jeff had to explain to me. It was fun to meet and hang out with everyone, but when it was over I was ready to do our own thing with Jeff's family alone.
We did some boating and swimming with Jeff's parents, Brent, and Scott and Kellie's family. Jeff took me skiing one day and this is where the less fun part comes in! Jeff drove the boat over a sand bar and totally wrecked it, so we had to take the boat in for repairs. Jeff felt terrible the whole week - like he had ruined everyone's vacation. So that wasn't very fun. Luckily Jeff's Aunt and Uncle took us all out on their boat for the rest of the week. We also played some games, hung out, and went into town one day.
The next week Jeff left to go back to work but I decided to stay one more week and then have Jeff drive back for the weekend and then take me home. I stayed at the Ady's for 2 days, which was a little more lonely with just me, Don, Kellie and her kids left. We hung out at the cabin and went swimming one day and then into town the next day. I met Melanie at the mall and then she took me back to my parent's cabin after a bit of shopping. Jordan had just left from their week of fun at the lake and Melanie wanted to stay a little longer, so I thought I'd come over and keep her company, since my parents had left for home as well. I spent 2 days with her and the kids alone, and then my parents came back. Pretty confusing!! I had fun with Melanie and her kids also. We did a bunch of swimming, hottubbing, and lots of games! Then when my parents came back we got to do some more boating. Unfortunately these were the coldest and rainiest days but we made the most of it and still did our skiing, etc. when it wasn't actually raining. The hottub got some good use. I was also impressed with Skyler and how much he loved to ski and wakeboard. He's also very good for his age! We went into town one day as well, did some shopping, and ate at Famous Dave's. Pretty yummy!
Jeff was planning on coming that weekend, but called to tell me he had too much work at home to do, so I ended up coming home with my parents.
It was a super fun vacation and I can't believe how fast it went! The summer seems to just fly by. Bentley did great with all the moving around and different people. She definitely doesn't play strange like she used to! She seems to thrive now with lots of people around. She learned to say mom, and also has this really funny laugh that sounds like she's a dog, panting. It gets everyone laughing. Most people say they've never seen a baby so happy, so that's good to hear! She loves to eat solid foods and I've introduced her to almost everything, finding nothing that she won't eat. She just loves eating! She's also sitting up quite well, although will still fall backwards the odd time.
Well that sums up our summer vacation!!
Boy oh boy have I been meaning to blog for a while! There's been a lot going on in our lives and I keep forgetting to write about it. The saddest thing happened though...I lost my camera! My favorite red camera that always took great pictures...so this post won't be as colorful as I'd like it to be, but I do have some that I've taken on my phone.
Anyways, I guess the biggest piece of news for our family is that we are no longer in our little apartment. Our lease ran up in June and we had been debating for a while if we wanted to sign another before we get our house. It was a very last minute decision, but we finally decided to save some money and live with the parents. Doesn't every couple do that once in their lives?? So this made the end of June super busy! Jeff's parents were really nice and let us use their basement for storage, so that made things a lot easier in that we could start moving some things early, instead of all at once. It's also great not having to waste our dollars on a storage unit! We decided to live with my parents for the summer, and Jeff's parents for September and whatever is left of October before we get our house. We did get an updated possession date, which is between Oct.16-30. So I did most of the packing while at home with Bentley and my mom helped me take a few loads early. On the day that we moved the majority of our things, Jeff rented us a Uhaul so we could do it all in one load. We had lots of help from family and friends with the moving and we also had a delicious meal waiting for us at Jeff's parents house (thanks Kellie and Cindy!). Did I mention that me and Jeff have amazing families?? It all went so smoothly and we were able to get everything moved and everybody fed in just a few hours. I honestly felt so loved that day and lucky to have all these people in my life who care so much about us. Anyways, the next day wasn't so fun. Jeff and I thought it wouldn't be too bad to clean the apartment by ourselves, but we didn't think about what Bentley would do with absolutely no furniture around. I started cleaning the place while Jeff was at work, but putting Bentley to sleep on the carpet was not an easy task so I ended up going for a drive just to get her to sleep. When Jeff came to help it basically ended up being just one of us cleaning and the other holding Bentley, or both of us cleaning and Bentley screaming. But somehow we managed to get it all clean just in time for the landlord to come over and inspect it. We were exhausted! We handed off our keys and left the place for good...it was bittersweet. Leaving the cozy, first place we lived together was hard, but also exciting to think of what's ahead! Honestly, I was excited to live with our parents. I love company and any help with Bentley is always muchly appreciated!
Well, the next day we went camping. Oh yes, I'm not kidding. I already don't enjoy camping all that much, but going on top of being exhausted from packing, moving and cleaning all week turned out to be a bad decision. Especially when it was one of the busiest weekends, being July 1st. Oh and with a 5 month old baby as well. For some reason in my head I thought once I bought all the food and got everything organized that it would be relaxing. It took almost 3 hours just to find a camping spot at dutch creek and we drove over some super bumpy roads, and had a screaming baby most of the way. I tried to feed her on the bumpy road...not a good idea. Then when we got there it was super late and we hadn't eaten dinner yet, which also wasn't smart. I know it may seem like I like to complain, but I really don't! It was just a bad experience for me. As much as I loved the people we went with (if you're reading this!), it was hard to find time to socialize with them because I was mostly in our trailer trying to put Bentley to bed. Anyway, I haven't given up! I WILL try camping again because I know my hubby loves it, but I will do a lot of things differently!! And I don't recommend going the day after moving...haha.
Well besides that I am thoroughly enjoying the summer! My parents have been away at the cabin most of the time, so Jeff and I are pretty much living here just the two of us, and Bentley of course. The hot tub has been great and we also love the screened sun room. I've been taking Bentley for walks practically every day around the ridge, which is just gorgeous! I've also been to the splash park here in Cranston and to Sundance lake a few times, although whenever I dip Bentley's feet in the cold water she just cries. (One day Bentley did get overheated though, which was really sad. She was very fussy one night, had a fever, and refused to eat. I put a cold cloth on her head, kept trying to nurse her, and eventually she did. She woke up every hour that night, but seemed to be better in the morning!) Bentley's also getting very used to her stroller and really loves to go out! It's great. I'm really enjoying being a mom and Bentley's such a good babe.
Jeff and I also made it to the stampede...first time leaving Bentley for that long. I pumped a bottle ahead of time and handed her off to Cindy, hoping for the best! It turned out to be really good for her. Although she cried for a while, she eventually got over it and doesn't play strange as much any more. Cindy also had Scott and Kellie's kids that night, since we went with them to the stampede, so it was a handful for her but we were super grateful. Jeff and I had tickets to the chucks and night show so we did that, played a few games, ate some deep fried food (cheesecake...yum!), and just enjoyed ourselves. I tried not to worry about Bentley but it was hard! My strong husband won the hammer game, where you try to ring the bell. So I picked a blow up hammer for Bentley.
Well, I'll write one last thing before I end this ridiculously long post. This past weekend was brutal! Jeff was away on a dirt biking guy trip (again), and my parents were at the cabin, so I was going to be alone with Bentley for 2 days. On Friday I woke up feeling pretty sick...fever, chills, aching, headache, sore throat...I wasn't happy about that but thought I could make it through the day nonetheless. Jeff called me before he left from work to go out camping and I told him to go, even though I wasn't feeling well. I didn't want to spoil his fun! So the whole day I would nap whenever Bentley did and focus on getting through each hour. Cindy and Kellie called me later on (since their husbands were also away) and I told them I wasn't doing so hot. Kellie brought over some dinner for me that Cindy had at her house and offered to take Bentley, but after a pretty good nap I figured I would be okay. After she left I tried to eat the food and wasn't feeling all that good. I felt like I suddenly lost all my energy. Bentley was hungry so I started nursing her, when I realized Bentley wasn't getting anything. She would look up at me frustrated and keep trying...over and over for at least a half hour. It was at that point that I started balling and didn't feel like I could do this on my own. I texted Kellie because I didn't want to blub to her on the phone, but she called me back asking if I had any luck. I broke down crying and really didn't know what to do at that point. I had never fed Bentley formula and didn't know anything about it. It's crazy what runs through a mom's head, but I honestly felt like I was failing my daughter, not being able to give her the nourishment she needed. Kellie came over with formula, took Bentley, and told me to rest. Although feeling like a failure, I was so grateful to know she was in good hands and go take care of myself. I rested for a few hours and then tried pumping to see if I would have luck this time. I finally did, and pumped a full bottle. It's normal to produce less or no milk when sick, but to me it seemed like the end of the world! Then Kellie told me to come over to Cindy's and sleep there, since that's what she was doing as well. I packed up some things and headed over. I found my little baby laying on the couch with her grandma pretty happy! I grabbed her right away, and was welcomed with a smile. She still loved me! I had been worrying about the strangest things for the past few hours, but all for nothing. I fed my babe that pumped milk and she smiled at me as she drank it (must've tasted better than the formula!). Afterwards she fell asleep really quickly, since it was already 10 at night. I went to bed as well and Cindy planned to watch her during the night, although my amazing girl slept all the way until 7. I knew I loved this girl! The next day Cindy let me nap and watched Bentley for a lot of the day as well. I felt a million times better after that! I'm so thankful to have such great people in my life and I couldn't thank the Ady's enough!
Well we are so excited to leave for Montana on Friday. We will be staying with my parents on Ashley Lake for a week, and then head over to Jeff's parents on Echo Lake for a week or two (we'll play that by ear). So I will blog about our trip when we return! On a side note, Bentley will be 6 months on Thursday so we just started feeding her solids. I took a picture after giving her a cracker...she likes to rub it all over her face.
I definitely spaced and forgot to take Bentley's 4 month picture. Oops! So to make up for it, I took a few other photos to share, and I've completely fallen in love with them. How lucky I am to look at this face every single day!!
Bentley is almost 4 1/2 months old now. She was weighed and measured just a few days ago and is just about 50%, average in all ways! Her weight is now 13 lbs, 13 oz. She got her 4 month vaccines and took them like a champ...I haven't had to give her any Tylenol yet. She slept a lot more than usual, had a slight fever, and was more irritable/fussy for a couple of days but is now back to her normal self. She's started to babble and coo a lot more lately, and I just melt when I hear her sweet voice. She's also quite the little mover, rolling all over and shimmying herself around. I will often leave her somewhere for a few minutes and come back to find her facing the opposite way. Or I might put her to bed on her back and find her on her stomach in the morning. I guess I should mention that yes, she does sleep the night. It's amazing! I don't know how I got so lucky to have a baby that sleeps the night...I guess God knew I needed my sleep! She usually goes to bed around 10pm and wakes up at 6 or 7am. In the daytime she has short but frequent naps, which is a little frustrating because I can't get a lot done during nap time and when she wakes up, there's only a small amount of time when she's happy before she gets tired again. Also, she struggles to fall asleep anywhere besides her crib and my arms. So, when I go out, you will usually find me standing and bouncing her in my arms for most of the time. I call it my work out for the day! When Bentley's happy she loves to sit in her bumbo chair and I've noticed lately she loves to look in the mirror. She may not realize she's looking at herself, but she loves faces.
Well I'm loving my girl a little more every day. I can't say life is easy with her, but I can say that it is worth it! There are so many moments in my day when I look at Bentley and almost cry because of how grateful I am to have her. She brings a type of love and joy I've never felt before. I remember a time when I was rocking Bentley to sleep and she looked up at me, stared into my eyes, smiled, and then fell asleep. I took this as "I love you mommy, good night." It's these small moments that make motherhood amazing! I know Bentley's not very old yet, but I get excited at the thought of seeing her grow up and bringing more little ones into the world (of course it's all too soon to talk about that yet). I thought I'd just share these things because they are important to document and thoughts I have every day :). I love my adorable little Bee!
This month has been pretty busy for us and we've had lots of fun! At the beginning of May, Jeff went away on a guys trip to Idaho to ride his dirt bike on the sand dunes. This left Bentley and I alone for 4 days, which I have to say is quite difficult! I didn't realize how great evenings are when I can hand Bentley off to Jeff, even for just an hour to have some time to myself. I made sure I did lots of things in the daytime with friends like going to the zoo, mall, book of mormon class, and going on a walk with my sister. The evenings went very slow for those 4 days, but I was able to get through them and let Jeff have a good time with the guys. He came home with a massive ugly bruise on his leg, luckily nothing serious, and told me he missed Bentley and I a whole lot! He left on a Wednesday and came home Sunday night, which happened to be family dinner with the Ady's and cousins, so we headed off to that pretty quickly. That night we took some cute photos of all the babies that have popped out in just 2 years!
Later that week was Jeff's 32nd birthday! I thought it would be nice to go out to eat just the 2 of us for his birthday, so I pumped a bottle and had Cindy watch Bentley for us. We went to the Keg because we had lots of gift cards to use up. Jeff had entered his name in a draw at his dentist and happened to win! Crazy right? So we had a pretty great time using them up - ordering appetizers, desserts, and drinks along with our meal. It was very fun and delicious! We left the restaurant completely stuffed. We also took a couple pictures that night with Bentley before we left...
Mother's day came next and I completely forgot that this day was special for me now! I was busy getting a dinner organized for my own mom and seriously didn't even think about the fact that I'm a mom now. My sweet husband actually set his alarm and made sure to get up in time to make me breakfast. Unfortunately I was already up bright and early feeding Bentley and started making myself my usual yogurt with granola and strawberries when Jeff came out and asked me what I was doing. I thought it was so sweet that he was planning on making me breakfast, so I told him I usually have 2 breakfasts anyway...which is true! This is what he came up with...an omelet, hash browns and orange juice. Not too shabby! For dinner that night we went to my sister, Jocelyn's house and had a really good dinner of which all the siblings contributed to and Jeff Fox smoked some yummy meat.
May long weekend was our next adventure, as we took Bentley to my parents cabin. She did so good on the drive, we didn't end up stopping once all the way there! Not even a bathroom break. Bentley slept for the first few hours and was so happy for the other two, even falling back asleep again in her car seat. I was pretty surprised she did this well, but I guess she does like driving in the truck. The weekend was a little rough, as Bentley wasn't in her natural space and her sleeping got a little bit off. She slept through the night the first day, but the days after that she woke up a couple times in the night. It actually wasn't too bad, as I really didn't know what I was going to be in for on this first trip away from home for her! We had a good time doing some clean up and hanging out with my parents and Jordan and Melanie's family. Jeff helped put the dock in while I swept and mopped the deck and did what I could to pitch in whenever Bentley was sleeping or happy. It felt really nice to get away and luckily didn't rain too much on Saturday when the work needed to be done...just the other days a little bit. We also did a test drive of my parent's new boat they bought (still a Malibu wakesetter), which ended up with my Dad realizing a part was broken. That wasn't too good, but it is a super nice boat and now we can't wait for the summer! Besides working we played lots of board games, ate lots of food, watched movies, and went in the hottub. We also went to church on Sunday and I spent most of the time in the hallway rocking Bentley to sleep, or squeezing into the tiny mother's room to feed her. It's crazy how different things are for us now that we have Bentley, and I have to say that although I'm excited for summer, I'm also worried that it might just be an exhausting couple of weeks in Montana rather than fun. I'm hoping Bentley will still sleep most of the night and not go too much off of her schedule. I'm trying not to let the worry stop us from spending time with family and having fun! Anyways, on our way out of Montana we stopped at the mall in Kalispell for a couple of hours so I could do some shopping at my favorite store "Buckle." Then we made the drive home, which also went really well with Bentley, as she slept most of the time again. We waited at the border for 35 minutes (not too bad since we expected worse!) and there was a little bit of crying from Bentley this time, but not too bad at all. We stopped in Cardston at both Jeff and my grandparents houses to show off Bentley and visit for a little while. It was great to see them both! Overall we had a really enjoyable weekend, and we always appreciate Rick and Ann Nielson for letting us stay with them.
It's been a good month! Every week that goes by just makes Bentley a little bit older, which makes me happy and also a little bit sad. I can't believe how big she's getting! Being a mom is the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but also the best thing. I didn't quite realize how different my life would be, but I find that whenever I'm having a tough time, I just look at my girl and realize how lucky and blessed I am to have her. :)
