WHO KNEW BALLS WERE SO FUNNY!!

This is why we love this guy!! He keeps us entertained!!

OUR CHRISTMAS!!

Well, I know it is the middle of January but I am finally getting around to updating our blog from Christmas! I sometimes wonder at the end of the day what I did all day long, but then I remember that I have a nine month old that is CLINGY!!!!!!!!!! He wants to be held all the time (which he never used to do) The thing is when I am holding him he is just fighting to get away so I put him down and as soon as I do, he screams and wants to be picked up! I don't know what to do but HE IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!! Good thing I love him so much though :) Yesterday when Jeff got home from work I told him that Ben was his child for the evening!! It made me laugh because he was watching Ben and holding him then putting him down all while trying to get a few things done, finally he says to Ben, "I don't know how your mom gets anything done with you all day!" It made me smile knowing what I go through all day :) I LOVE JEFF AND BEN!!!!!!!

So Christmas.... we went out to my parents in Penticton and had a great time! Ben did really good driving and the roads were clear for the most part so we were happy. We loved spending time with my whole family minus Tyson but talked to him alot through skype!!! It was nice to just relax and have fun!

Christmas Eve, we went up to a tobaganing hill up past the house and set up some lights and went tubing, it was great, Ben even went down the hill with his dad!!

I loved seeing Ben is his snowsuit, he is so cute and we all thought it was rather funny that he couldn't move at all in it!

 

The three of us just chillin at the hill!!!

Christmas Eve we also put on the nativity with everyone that had come up to the house. Ben got to play baby Jesus but wasn't too sure about it! He spend most of the time crying or crawling away and Mary trying to get her baby back. Needless to say, it was pretty funny and probably not the most spiritual Nativity ever!

It is also a tradition that there is a fish pond on Christmas Eve, Ben was so EXCITED for his first fishing experience as you can tell by his face. Good thing he has a dad to teach him how :)

He was pretty excited about what he caught... a new book all about frogs! Good work Ben and Daddy!

We then got everyone tucked into bed and that is when the fun started for Jeff. I have to say in the two years that we have been married, Jeff has never thrown up! That all came to a end on Christmas Eve. I can honestlty say too that if I had heard him throw up before we got married I really don't know if I would have married him!!! For those of you that know me, I can pretty much handle anything except someone puking! Poor Jeff didn't have a very nice wife to take care of him. The whole house shook from the sounds of him, I honestly thought he was dying. He said he wasn't feeling well before that but that he shouldn't of eaten all that he did that night!! REALLY?? GOOD LESSON TO LEARN!!!

Anyways we made it through the night, he didn't die and I survived as well :) Christmas comes early in the Baker household... six oclock we were up (we had to wake Ben up) and everyone headed down for the fun. We took a picture of us all in our matching pajamas that the Elves brought the night before (also a tradition THAT I LOVE!!!)

Here is Ben opening his stocking... he wasn't sure about it all but he warmed up to it. It wasn't cold in the house he got that toque in his stocking... just in case anyone was wondering!!

He felt better once he got his orange and took mommies too!!

My brother Tyson who couldn't come home because he is on a cruiseship sent us all some great presents... probably the favorite of all was the SNUGGIES he bought for his brothers and brother-in-laws!! AMAZING!!!!!!

Of course Christmas is not Christmas without all the treats... well I have no realized why Auntie J Star (her preferred name) is Ben's favorite aunt! A cookie in both hands and getting a chocolate!!!! She always said she couldn't wait till I had kids to pay me back for all the treats I gave her kids!!!

After all the excitement of the day this little boy was DIRTY... so he got to have a bath in Grandma and Grandpas big tub!! He loved it... we set up a couple of the bath toys he got too which he loved!!!

After getting all clean, he passed out! He was so tired from the day and all of the excitment!!! So peaceful and just like his mom and dad... sleeping with his mouth wide open!

On New Years day a big event happened in my life.... I jokingly said to my nephews that if they would do the polar bear dip I would too obviously not thinking they would do it! Well, I should never think they won't do something!! Two of them wanted to do it so guess who got to do it with them!!! Let me just tell you if you ever thought of doing a polar bear dip, take it from me.... YOU ARE CRAZY!!

Here we are all (me, Zack and Levi) all bundled up ready to go! I am thinking to myself... well I won't write what I was thinking!!

All lined up ready to go!

Running down to dive into the FREEZING WATER!!!!

IT WAS FREAKING COLD!!! Running up to get our towels and blankets!

I can now say that I have done it, but what in the world was I thinking??? I couldn't believe how cold it was. I don't know why it shocked me so much that it was so cold... it is the middle of winter... of course it is FREEZING!!

Ben watching his crazy mom do this crazy thing. He has a snotty nose and it was frozen... so just know how cold it was!!!

The Salmons came out for New Years as well which was fun! We went curling ( another tradition we have during the Christmas break). None of us are good at it but we just think it is fun! I can say that this year there were no injuries, so maybe we are improving a little bit!

So... it was a WONDERFUL Christmas and New Years, a first for our little family!!! It was great and we are so grateful for what the Christmas season is all about!

I just have to put this picture in because I think it is so funny. One night I could't find Jeff, after searching the whole house and nobody seeing him I went to talk to my dad and see if he knew where Jeff was. I walk in and this is what I find!!! HA HA HA.... I LOVE IT!!!

It was sad to leave especially knowing that my parents will be leaving soon to go on their mission. It was great to have one more last hang out with everyone for awhile!! The ride home was rougher then on the way out... Ben was tired of being in the car and as you can see was SO READY to get out of the van!!!

LOVE YA ALL!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!


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WE ARE HORRIBLE!!

We have been talking for the last month how much we need to blog, but neither of us got around to doing it. So... Ben is sleeping for a few moments so I thought I would jump on the computer quickly and tell you what an AMAZING little boy we have.

I cannot believe he will be nine months at the end of this month... where has the time gone. I never thought I would love someone as much as I love my little man. He keeps me entertained all day long and we have some great parties when dad gets home from work!

The biggest thing since we posted last is that he is CRAWLING. I thought it would be great for him to start crawling but now that he has I am regretting every wishing that :) He gets into EVERYTHING!!! He started shuffling around and doing the inch worm about a month ago, but he is full on crawling now and it is so funny to watch, and watch is what I have to do. The other day he was just sitting in the front room playing with some toys... I ran into the kitchen for probably two minutes, come back out... I CAN'T find Benjamin. After having a bit of a panic attack (I don't know why I am so crazy) I hear this little grunt. I look UNDER the Christmas tree and there he is just hanging out eating the pine needles!! I laughed and pulled him out. Another time, I was in the room and he was just crawling around... he got around the couch where I couldn't see him but I could hear so thought he was fine... after a minute or so... he becomes very quiet! Well I go and peek over the couch only to see him eating an orange. Jeff had left an orange and it had fallen down so I didn't see it. Ben had biten right through it and had orange gunk all over him!!! Even though he was a mess he was still SO cute.

Lots has happened with us these last couple of months, Jeff had a birthday!!! I had a birthday and it was our anniversary!!! We are so blessed with our little family and we are grateful every day! We are excited for Christmas and to watch Ben enjoy his first Christmas although I am sure he doesn't really get it!!! It will still be fun for us!

Here are some pics of the last couple of months!!!

ENJOY!!!

Hopefully we will post before Christmas again... but if not... MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! We love you all.

SIX MONTHS

 TODAY IS BENJAMIN'S HALF BIRTHDAY!

We celebrated it buy getting into a brand new outfit. That is right you are looking at a six month old in a track suit that cost more then Jeff makes in a month.  But he is just too cute to resist.

Good thing this expensive running suit is made to be sweat in so it is composed of washable materials.  I don't think that there will be much in the way of sweat on it though. However there will be plenty of a different fluid, namely drool.

And with it being a jogging suit we really hope that Ben starts to move so he can use the suit for what it was designed for. But seeing as he doesn't like to move we may not see much of that.

 That is right, this little guy just likes to sit or lay there.  No rolling for Benjamin.

That is okay we love him so much we buy brand name track suits for him to sit around the house in.

 Happy Birthday Ben!  We love you so much.

AN AMAZING WOMEN

One of the most AMAZING women I know passed away this week, and although it was a good thing, as I have thought about her these last few days I realize how much I am going to miss her. My Grandma Toomer really was a remarkable women, she taught me alot and I only hope one day to be half of what she was!

She lived a great long life, she had just celebrated her 95th birthday a couple of weeks ago. The biggest lesson I learned from her was how to endure to the end! My grandpa died 23 years ago and I remember her saying that she kissed him goodbye and would see him in two years!! Well those two years were prolonged and although she missed him so much, she still made the most of the next 23 years. She wrote in her journal everyday and even after her third stroke paralyzed her right side, she taught herself at the age of 85 to write with her left hand because "the prophet told us we need to write in our journals." 

I always was so excited when she would come and live with us for the summers, not just because she would mend all of my clothes and make bread, but because I just loved being with her and talking to her. We always had good times with her and she was always so positive and happy. 

A few of my favorite memories... 


I was probably 12 and it was a Sunday afternoon and we had just gotten home from church. As much as my mother always tried to make us stay in our Sunday clothes I never did. Well, I remember walking out of my bedroom and grandma was in the family room reading, so I stopped to talk to her. As I turned around I caught a glimpse of something black behind my back, well being the wimp that I am, it scared me so I screamed and starting running. I was running around and around in circles and this black thing was chasing me. Grandma was laughing so hard I thought she was going to die (although at the time I was angry she was laughing and not rescuing me from this black thing) I'm not lying here, but probably after three minutes of my running around in circles and screaming, grandma finally got control of herself and stood up and made me stop running. With a giggle in her voice she told me to look around. I trusted her and did, only to find that my black tights that I had just taken off were stuck in my pants and that is what had been chasing me. Oh my heck... we laughed for hours about that, and every time I saw her we always laughed about it. Even now as I am writing this, I am laughing hysterically remembering it!!  

I also remember one summer she was visiting and we had this dog Gunner... and we had this big heavy piece of plywood across the top of our stairs to stop Gunner from going to unwanted places. I don't know whose idea it was to use a huge heavy piece of lumber but all I know is it was HEAVY. Well, I slide it over one day to get by and I lost my grip and it went flying to the bottom of the stairs where my grandma happened to just be starting up the stairs. I have never been so scared in my life... I saw it in slow motion. This huge piece of wood flying down right for her head. Well, it hit her square on and she fell. Of course I thought I had killed her, well of course I go running down to make sure she wasn't dead and although she was laying there a little dazed she just smiled at me and said... "Well... that would have been an interesting way to go!" She was always so kind and never angry, cause I don't know about you but if someone had dropped a huge piece of lumber on my head I don't think I would of been so kind and understanding!! Even in those moments, she taught me what it is to be truly christ like!

I could go on FOREVER talking about my wonderful grandma but I won't. I just hope that one day I will be brave enough and adventurous enough to skydive on my 80th birthday like her, that I will follow the prophet no matter what like her, that I will take the time to be kind to people like her, that I will love my kids and grandkids and great-grandkids with everything I have, like her. I just hope to be a little bit like her because that would mean I would be a pretty great women too!!

I know she is so happy to finally see the love of her life, my grandpa after 23 long years and the rest of her family. And although I miss her so much already, I am happy for her and know that I will see her again. And until I do, I will try my best to become like her!

LOVE YOU GRANDMA!!!!

Maybe take a Break from the 'Sleeping Machine'

If you are a first time reader or don't remember the last post about the 'Sleeping Machine' scroll down before you take a look at this video.  Don't get me wrong we love the bouncer and Benjamin loves it as well.  It is just that when an accident happens while he is in the bouncer the clean up is a little more involved.

It was a particularly bad one, as you can tell as it busts the confines of the diaper. Worst then that, when I took him up stairs for a bath the sight and smell of this one was too much.  I nearly added to the mess through another orifice.  Yuk!