Bentley Bear is 1!

 August 7th was Bentley's 1st birthday. We had a monster bash which we thought was appropriate because this kid is loud and wild yet adorable and a lot of fun!

 

This is a pinata we filled with candy and let the kids swing at. The 3 year olds were too little to do any damage so Brittney had to do the dirty work and bust it open. We let her keep the head as a prize. Aren't we nice? Actually, I really am nice because I didn't post the pictures we took of her doing a pinata with the little kids. You're welcome Brit :)

 

 This is the cute smash cake. There was so much frosting that even with Jayda and Melia's help he didn't even get to the cake.

A few things we want to remember about Bentley:
Loves blankets. He won't leave his crib without grabbing them. His favorite is a blue quilt that came with his bedding.
He can say mama, uh oh, ball, bye bye.
He can point out anything and everything that even remotely resembles a ball. Has a great throw already.
He is loud! He growls and grunts and yells. Everything is loud, there is no low volume with this kid. Just ask the ornery old fart we sat behind in church who asked us if we could stick a sock in his mouth. He wasn't kidding, he was dead serious.
Gives great kisses and is a good cuddler when he's tired.
He would pick his papa over anyone else.
Can't help but do a jello jiggly kind of dance when he hears music.

3 year old diva

 Miss Jayda had her 3rd birthday on July 28th at my parents house. We just invited a few of her friends and had a little swimming party which was perfect for her. We also celebrated a few days later at Chuck e Cheese with her uncles. The boys get more excited about going there than she does.

A few things about Jayda:
She started dance and absolutely loves it.
She loves to play with her friends and can find one wherever she goes
She is great at brushing her teeth every night
She loves her brother but does not love him to touch any toys. Anything he touches, she takes away
She likes to braid mommy's hair (this is really just sticking a million bobby pins in it) and put on makeup in the bathroom with mom in the morning
She likes to water the lawn with daddy and jump in puddles
She talks about her cousins "Kayla-Kell" on almost a daily basis

Say cheese!

 It's time for updated pictures of our two monkeys. Ashley with Miles of Memories photography took their pictures again and I was so happy with how many amazing shots she got. Here is just a sample.

Yellowstone

Our family made the trek up to Yellowstone last month to stay in a cabin and see the sights. The temperature was in the 40's and 50's with wind but luckily we were able to bundle up enough to get out and see a few things. At one point it started snowing, but that didn't stop us. On our second day up in Island Park where we stayed, it snowed all morning so we decided to head down to Bear World in Rexburg. My mom and brother got to feed the baby bears out of bottles and we got to see the bears we had hoped to see in Yellowstone. The trip was full of card games, hot tubbing and family bonding. Just what a family vacation should be. :) On the way home we walked around Mesa falls which was well worth the small detour.

 

Who dat? Bentley just kept staring at Jason. He isn't used to having a giant, strange person sitting back there with him. 

     Bear World        

 Oh yes we did! All 9 of us rode the kiddie train. Ah yeah.     

   

 Mesa Falls

 

The Schow Life

 Our computer keeps crashing so this post has taken me weeks to work on. Because this is our family journal that we print off each year I am trying to document the things I want to remember and this computer is making that very difficult to do. I will have to catch up on Easter and more recent happenings later, possibly with a new computer, but hopefully not.


We took Jayda to her very first movie in theaters, The Lorax. When we told her we were going to watch a movie on a really big TV, she wasn't too impressed, but when we got there and we bought her a bag of popcorn and let her sit in her own seat she was in 7th heaven. It was almost impossible to get her too look away from the screen to take any pictures. Notice the trance she is in in the second picture and that was only during the previews!

 

The below picture is what I found when I walked into Jayda's bathroom. She had told me that she couldn't find the toilet paper, but I told her she didn't need to find it and brushed her off. So when I walked into her bathroom and saw this I was cracking up. We keep the toilet paper and the extra paper towels under her sink so when she didn't see any toilet paper on went the roll of paper towels! My favorite part of all of this was that she knew the toilet paper was out and needed to replace it. I have high hopes for this girl. :)

        This is how Bentley has to sleep. I am not sure how he breathes, but somehow he does.

At 7 months Bentley decided he wanted sit up on his own, crawl and pull himself up on everything all at the same time. We are actually thrilled about this because now he is content to crawl around and explore and doesn't insist on being held constantly. Yes, this means more mess and more trouble but it has been a lot of fun so far. He seems to be a different baby, much happier.

                            Bentley went to a playground and swung on the swings for the first time.

                                                                    My favorite pj's.

Although this position looks like yoga it is what he does when he is on the hardwood floor because it hurts his knees. He does sort of an elephant crawl. 

  

 Jayda fell face first off the toilet and straight into the bathtub and got this little beauty on her forehead. Aside from little scrapes, this is her first big injury.  We are expecting something like this to happen a lot earlier in Bentley's life.

 

 Just a cute pic of the 2

A whole new world

I'm just going to put it out there.... I washed my walls for what, as far as I can remember, was the first time EVER. All that sunshine and warm weather must have messed with my head. In my defense, we have only lived in this house for 2 1/2 years, but I can't recall ever washing a wall in any of our previous places of residence either.
I was talking to my friend and work and she mentioned that she washes her walls every 6 months.
So I need to know. Am I a disgusting excuse for a human being? Is wall washing part of the being a good mom and wife memo that I missed?! I need honesty people, don't sugar coat it.
Regardless, I think I will be washing my walls more often now.

Little Bear

 Our little Bentley Bear is 6 months old! He is almost sitting up on his own and is absolutely LOVING his rice cereal and veggies. He sticks his little tongue out and tries to suck on the spoon like a bottle. He hasn't quite figured out how to open up yet.
He should be having a tooth pop through his gums pretty soon.
He can roll around like crazy and is starting to pull himself around with his arms.
He is extremely ticklish and is easy to get smiling and laughing. My favorite thing is the huge grin on his face when I come home from work and hearing his sweet giggle when you are tickling him.
Bentley loves to be held and loves watching his sister dance.
He is pretty small, but I wanted a small baby who would not grow up too fast and he is doing a little better than I expected at that. Hopefully he will start growing when he is a bit older.

Height: 26 inches - 31%
Weight: 15.8 lbs - 17%
 Head: 16.5 inches - 8%

I think I forgot to put his 4 month stats on here and want to have them for the future:

Height: 25 inches - 49%
Weight: 14.0 lbs - 28%
 Head: 15.7 inches - 5%

Maybe the rice cereal and veggies will beef this kid up a little. I am really impressed with how much of it he can down!