Chloe's Blessing Day

New Calling

Jeremy told me the other day that he really wishes I would update our blog and not just Facebook all the time. Honestly, I wish I would blog more too! I'm sure there are lots of cute pictures that I could post, and I am making it a goal to do it, but for my own journaling purposes I should write this first.
I got called as the YW President and I was sustained this past Sunday. Chloe was also blessed on Sunday. It was a great day. Family in town, yummy dinner, great Sacrament meeting.
When Bishop issued me the YW Pres calling, I was shocked. He first told me that Sister Jobe was being released. I had been her 2nd counselor and I was enjoying it SOOO much. I love the Beehives! So before he could even finish his thought, I was crying. I knew I was being released because she was. As I reached for the tissue on the corner of his desk he said "And we'd like to call you as the new president." I just about fell off the chair. I was totally shocked. And I started crying harder. It has now been almost 3 weeks since the call. I am still in shock a little and feeling very humbled by the Lord's trust in me. But I am SOOOO grateful to Him that I am still able to serve these girls! YW is for sure my favorite place to serve. It's busy but I have such a deep love for the program & the girls. I'm so eternally grateful to the good leaders I had growing up. I love each one of them dearly for many different reasons. I hope that my service will in some way express that gratitude to Heavenly Father. I feel way too young for this calling. On the flip side of that coin... I'm realizing I'm not exactly a Laurel anymore. Hmmmm... got a husband, three kids, a mortgage, and I'm in my "late" 20's (as Jeremy LOVES to remind me). Yeah, not a Laurel anymore. But I can pretend for a little longer :)

Little Angel!

Here is the sneak peak that Jenifer gave me of the photo shoot we did last week.
PRECIOUS!!!

Yea! For Me!!!

I would like to give you a reason to hate me. Not because I like to be hated, but for this - its worth it. Just don't hold on to the hate too long please. I still want you to be my friend...
I CAN ALREADY WEAR MY SKINNY PRE-PREGNANCY JEANS! Sorry no pics. Not quite that amazing.

We went outside today...

I know - CRAZY! But it wasn't too terrible in the shade. That's where Chloe and I sat. Aiden woke up this morning with the idea in his head that today was a good day to go swimming in his kiddie pool. Don't know where he got that idea cause its been weeks since we had it out, but when he sets his mind on something its not even worth trying to distract him. His little steel trap mind won't let anything go! So after lunch the boys stripped down and Aiden got his swim trunks on and they went swimming. And of course I took the camera. The boys were cute and played well together. But I took way more pictures of Chloe than them. I love the one of her smiling. Call it gas or whatever but its CUTE!




No more pictures please!

My Mom is gonna KILL ME!!!

She hates it when I cut the boys hair... but I was tired of Zack's mop and if I'm gonna go to the effort of cutting one of them, I'm cutting both! Jeremy got his hair cut today too. But for some reason he feels more comfortable letting SuperCuts do his. Must be the professional training they have that I don't. Oh, he's so spoiled!:)

So Late... So Sorry

I know I totally promised pics almost 2 weeks ago. I never thought the day would come when I posted on Facebook before Blogger, but it has. So, if we aren't already friends on FB, request me. Oh, and why am I posting ANYTHING when the 2 little ones are sleeping and Aiden is on my bed watching Clifford!???? I should really lay down too. Or not.
Chloe is wonderful. I am loving having a girl. She sleeps well. Better during the day, but I get a couple of decent stretches at night.
The boys are the best big brothers to her. Always soft and sweet. Okay, ALMOST always. Zack has grown up so much since we've had her home. When I change her diaper he will come get the dirty one and take it to the trash. Seriously! What a big helper for such a little guy. Aiden can't get enough of her. He kisses her every chance he gets. And he is a huge help too. He loves to tell me that when Zack and Chloe get bigger he's going to teach them how to do everything. He takes his big brother role very seriously.
We are so blessed to have these 3 little angels in our home!

Chloe Katelyn Benson was born Thursday July 23, 2009. She is healthy and beautiful. I can't figure out how to post pics from the iPhone so I will when we get home on Sunday or Monday.

The house is moving!

My recent conversation with Aiden...
Aiden: "Mom, the house is moving! Can you feel it?"
Me (a little confused): "No. What do you mean."
Aiden starts spinning in circles, then stops and says: "See Mom! Can you feel it?"

Missy, Sis, Em & Emily

My sister GRADUATED!!! Yea! We are so proud of her. She got to wear the Shadow Ridge High Honors white robe. She is quite the smartie! She's headed off to WSU - Washington State - in August. I can't believe she is going so far! We're glad its still on the west coast though. I went to SUU where I was away from home but still very close. I needed to be able to come home at a moments notice. But not my independent little sister. She's "outta here"!!! Can't hardly wait to be all on her own.
We got to go home to be there for her graduation and then stay for a few days. Jeremy stayed home (at mom & dad's house) during the graduation cause we did NOT want to take the boys. So my 3 favorite boys didn't make it into the pictures but the rest of my family was all there. It was especially nice to see Jake cause he is working in Sacramento this summer and we won't see him again until September.
Oh, and isn't my sister SOOO pretty!
Emily & Zack before she left for graduation -

Mom & Dad with their LAST graduate!

The Bleazard kids (minus the Benson one) :)

My Dad and me waiting for the ceremonies to start

About a boy (or two)

I thought today would be a good day to post something about the boys since its been a while. They are both awesome. When Zack isn't teething he is a sweet and happy boy. The poor kid has had the hardest time cutting teeth. Its molars right now, but even his little front ones were brutal on him. When he is cranky, I have learned that Tylenol is not the most evil thing in the world. I don't like dosing up my kids, but a mom's sanity is dependent on it sometimes! This video is a new favorite. Its totally Zack in all his sweetness. He is precious and learning so fast!

Aiden is a great big brother. He loves to teach Zack all he knows. He walks around the house singing random rhyming words. Most of them aren't actually words, but they rhyme with a real word so they make the cut for his songs. He is an independent little soul. I'm learning to keep him busy so he stays out of trouble. He tests the bounds constantly. But it melts my heart when he climbs on my lap and says "I love you Mom." He's a good kid and he has a passion for learning that is adorable. He can't wait until he can go to school like his older friends. He likes to tell everyone that "When I get bigger and bigger I can go to school." This video is of one of his favorite things to do - Make Zack laugh. He's good at it too! What parent doesn't want their kids to get along so great! Its such a blessing and we love it!

Baby Showers

It seems strange to me to be posting this here, but its one of the best ways to reach all of you!
I have a few fabulous people who have offered to throw me a couple of baby showers here in Mesa. The one Jenifer is throwing will be on June 27th. Afton and Jennie Raye will throw one for me on July 11th. Jenifer is a good friend of mine and Afton & Jennie are family. So, for the most part, I'm inviting friends to the June 27th shower and family to the July 11th one. Confused yet?
What I need from all of you? Addresses! You can email them to me at swmngrd99@yahoo.com If you would like to be invited to the 'other' shower (ie: you're a friend and July 11th is better for you - or vice versa) let me know. I'd love to see all of you to celebrate this little girl!

Update on Baby Girl

If you are bored of hearing/reading about this, I can't blame you, so feel free to skip on to another post. But I had better write this down for myself so I can remember later. I guess.
We saw the doctor and had another ultrasound last Friday. We are all very pleased that the cyst is actually getting a bit smaller! 15cc volume 3 weeks ago; 5.5cc volume last week! Almost two thirds smaller! Yea! Not only that, but because she is growing it is (obviously) significantly smaller respective to her size. All of this is great news. We will continue to watch the changes. We have appointments to meet with the pediatric surgeon (mostly just in case) and the neonatologist who will be present at the birth. I don't really know what those appointments will entail (Jen - if you know - will you share please?) but we've been told we should see those docs soon.
We're feeling blessed and other than the discomfort of the last trimester, the pregnancy is going very well.

Car Seat Covers

I'm thinking about getting a carseat cover made so that Baby Girl can ride in adorable comfort, rather than "already-been-thru-my-two-older-brother's" style. Does anyone know of someone who makes these? What is a good deal? Have any of you used a custom cover and loved or hated it??? The pic above is from an Etsy site, but I'd love a personal recommendation if any of you have one. Thanks guys!

Aiden's First Primary Talk

Aiden got to give his first talk in primary this last Sunday. His topic was baptism. I was a little nervous about what he would do because just a few weeks ago I, sort of jokingly, asked him if he wanted to bear his testimony in Sacrament Meeting and his reply was "No, Mom! Everyone will laugh at me." Who knew there was anything timid about that kid!?!? But we talked about baptism a few times during the week and when it was time to give his talk, he did awesome. I was so proud of him for speaking loudly and clearly. Cause we all know how sunbeams can get shy and mumble at the podium. It was really nothing super spactacular, but for the mom and dad (and him being our first, of course) it was a sweet, rewarding day.

Another Ultrasound

No pics this time. But just as an update, we are all doing fine. The cyst grew a little and then regressed a little. No big changes and that is good news. The best news to me was that my Dr. moved my due date up a week. Originally I told my OB that based on my dates (which I had payed close attention to!) I should be due on August 1st. But the 7-8 week ultrasound "sac size" indicated that I was due on August 9th. Whatever, fine. But when the Perinatologist got those records from the OB she looked at the crown-rump length (which is a more accurate indicator than sac size) and it matched up PERFECTLY with MY dates! Stupid OB!!! So I'm officially back to being due August 1st. YEA!!! Don't know how early I will have the C-section though, because she is on the small side.... Okay, she's a peanut - 8th percentile! Yikes. My babies just keep getting smaller. I'm guessing that unless she has a good growth spurt that the docs will want her to bake as long as possible. But she's still likely to have a July birthday. Until next time....... ;)

More Baby Girl

We had another ultrasound on Wednesday and got a few cute 3-D pics of our cutie pie. Everything looks good still. No growth of the CCAM and good growth of the rest of her. YEA! Here are my favorites.

Family Camping

We had a great time this weekend camping with Jeremy's family. We went to a spot just outside Wikieup (po-dunk town on the road between Phoenix & Vegas) where there are endless trails and dirt roads all over the desert.

Notice the oreo's on Zack's face in this pic! The boys LOVE Grandpa! And Grandpa LOVES to sugar them up!



Our campsite was within walking distance of a very wide but very shallow river and we spent some time each day playing with the boys in the water. The water was cool and refreshing, not bitter cold, because of how shallow it was. The kids had a blast. They both started out playing in thier clothes but, one wet piece at a time, ended up in thier birthday suits. Forgive us for being a little protective of the crazies out there and not posting those pics :)






Of course the Benson's don't go camping without the VWs! Grandma & Grandpa brought the Thing, and Jennie & Logan and Jeremy & I brought our Bajas. We explored a bunch of territory and had fun finding a ghost town and several private ranches out in the middle of nowhere.
Jeremy thought a trip along the river would be fun, since it was shallow. Our baja did just fine, but Logan's got "temporarily delayed" in the mushy mud. When Robert found out (we went back to camp to get tow ropes) he thought he might be able to help. Jeremy assured him that if he brought the Thing down there, they'd have double the work and Jeremy would end up pulling TWO vehicles out of the mess. Robert couldn't resist though and this is what happened when he "came to the rescue"! LOLOLOLOL!!!!!! They spent about 2 hours getting their vehicles out of the mud. What fun! What memories!

Aiden didn't hold still much, so I seem to have gotten a lot less of his action on camera. But there are lots of fun pics....

Such a lady

Here is the ultrasound pic I promised. I think its cute. Her little belly is at the top right of the pic, and her legs are crossed at the ankles.

My Yard

I am so proud of my fabulous hubby. He has really worked hard and done everything he could to get our yard looking nice since we moved in. Well, the grass anyway. And really, you can put as many bushes and flowers and plants in as you want but if your grass looks like crap, the rest does too. There is still a lot that I would like to do (bushes, flowers, plants...) but I love the beautiful green grass that my kids can play on and that I call MY OWN!

I guess I'm back to blogging

I know it has been forever! And really not that much has gone on. Okay, that's not true. We've had a lot going on, but a lot less to report. My camera has not been in hiding out like I have though. Thank goodness. We've got LOTS of pics to share. (check out the slide shows on my side bar) And a few stories to tell... So here it goes...

The DeMarcos (WE LOVE THEM!)

I think I will start at the VERY beginning! And probably air out a little laundry for Jeremy & Gina. Who knew each other LONG before Gina and I became best friends. I will make a long-ish story short and just tell you that Jeremy dated a friend of Gina's during high school, and FLIRTED with the idea of dating Gina. They both used a little common sence (Gina probably a little more than Jeremy) and decided not to go there. Gina is a good friend and wouldn't have done that to one of her best friends.
Fast forward several years.... We are sitting in Sacrament meeting in the Grand Canyon Ward, when we were living in the condo, and Gina got up to pray or bear her testimony. I said something to Jeremy about her being someone I would like to get to know and he said something like "I think I already know her." I rolled my eyes and laughed at him.
Anyway, Gina and I became friends and shared lots of funny stories about Jeremy (love you babe, but we all know you were a FLIRT!). We soon went our separate ways. The Benson's to AZ and the DeMarco's to Falon, NV (PARTY!!!) and we didn't talk very often for a couple of years. But as it is with my bestest friends, we always picked up right where we left off. A little more about Gina here and here.
The DeMarco's have since moved back to Vegas and we have had the treat of getting to have them visit us twice here in the land of AZ!
So here come some pics of our fun together... mostly the boys, but they are WAY cuter than we are, so enjoy!
Climbing the tree...


"Driving" the Baja...


Riding...

When they came in February, our hubbies (love them!) treated us to free babysitting and a pedicure! The boys had just as much fun as we did. And the pedicures were GREAT!!!