Michigan in January

I never posted pictures from Michigan earlier this year. There are so many trips home that I literally lose track! Not a bad problem to have. I planned my trip in January for the week of my Grandma's birthday so I could be there to help celebrate her 80th birthday. My Uncle Tom and Aunt Paula also flew in from Denver. We all had a lot of fun. But the night before her birthday, my Grandma got really sick. She ended up in the hospital and was still there when Bentlee and I flew home. I hated seeing her so sick, but luckily she is okay now and it was nothing serious. I'm still bummed that the actual dinner we had planned for her didn't work out, but hopefully she knows how much we love her!

As always, we had lots of family to see!

On my way upstairs to put Bentlee to bed on our last night there, we passed my mom and Bentlee dove for her arms. I think it made it a little harder for Nana to say good-bye :(

Bentlee has been falling asleep on us a lot lately, but 2 months ago when this was taken, she didn't. Both of my Grandma's seem to have the magic touch!

Staring contest with Sarah and Alex

I promised a date with Skyler because she was really sad that Gracie got to spend more time with us that week

Tic tac toe with Aunt Gail

Puppet shows with Papa

Drums with papa (I have a cute video that I need to post)

Euchre with Tom, Paula and Grandma

Presh.

The teenage-like tantrum Skyler threw when she found out Gracie was going to Nana and Papa's for a couple days with Bentlee and I (Skyler had school), complete with nose blowing and door-slamming. It was sad...but mostly hilarious.

Brianne and Selah came to hang with us in Mason for the day! The girls adore each other.

I can't get over how sweet it was that Bentlee kept cuddling my Grandma!

Tea parties with Skyler

I think Bentlee stole my Uncle Tom's heart. He got a kick out of her perma-grin. He kept telling her, "Stop smiling!" I didn't work. :)

She found lots of doors to shut- one of her favorite past times.

She took baths with cousins- it was extra fun because we don't have cool bath toys at home

                                 

These were taken at the airport on the way to Michigan. As always, she made lots of friends. People always thank us for the entertainment during the flight. The only time she ever fusses on a plane is when I try to get her to lie down and take a nap. She won't have it. She has to be smiling and flirting and waving and touching and playing peek-a-boo with everyone around us!

On the way home- she was on the floor crawling around for a good 20 minutes until I finally noticed a dark spot on her pants. She had the world's BIGGEST blow-out. The good news is that we weren't on the plane yet, the bad is that we had to throw away my favorite leggings. :)

New Years Eve

I have a LOT of catching up to do, starting with New Years Eve. Bentlee had a cough that day so we kept it low-key, kicking back with Mama Max and Papa Lee playing games and watching movies. It was perfect, and I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend the evening. I'm pretty lucky to have In-laws that I love hanging out with.

Easter dresses

My mom loves to buy her granddaughters their holiday dresses. Though it is not quite Easter, we decided to take some pictures of them together with their dresses. Photo shoots with a two year old and baby never  go as well as we hope, but they're still pretty darn cute!

Witch laugh

Bentlee has a creepy funny laugh that I have to share. I've been trying to get a better video but as always, she won't cooperate on command. It's hilarious and impossible to not laugh at,  therefore we get a lot of looks at church and other quiet places when everyone near us is cracking up. The day I took these videos was the first time she started doing it, so she has gotten louder and better at it since then. :)

The other day I put Bentlee down for her afternoon nap just like any other day....or so I thought.

I could hear her upstairs jabbering away for a whole hour which I found strange because she had seemed especially tired when I laid her down. I finally went upstairs with the video camera. It took me a while (and for some reason I just happened to have turned the video camera back on) before I realized why she was playing instead of sleeping.

That morning I had stuck her in her crib with a couple toys while I put some clothes away in her room. I not only forgot to take the toys back out, but somehow didn't notice them when I laid her down again. 

The "Angel Baby" you all speak of

I guess even angel babies are entitled to a meltdown here and there, especially when they eat dinner at the same time they should be going to bed. On a bright note, I think she is a fan of spaghettii!

In my defense, I really did have to blow on her food! It was hot. And the one with me teasing her, I was honestly just trying to make her laugh. But since you already think less of me at this point, I might as well post these as well...

After dinner snack (blueberry puffs)

After dinner bottle

She normally takes her last bottle an hour or two after dinner but like I said, it was her bedtime. I've never seen her so tired and hungry at the same time. It was hilarious.

10 MONTHS

I almost can't even handle that my baby is 10 months old. That means she's almost a year and that is just WEIRD.  She is getting more and more fun every day though, and that I can handle. She is now nodding, giving kisses (to us and her dolls), dancing to music or even just when mom starts singing out of the blue, and standing up to things. Yesterday she stood up to the wall one-handed. She still adores children, especially her cousins. Amber and Andy helped watch Bentlee while we were on our cruise (I will work on that post eventually) and they said their kids got really attached to her. Last night their kids came over to play while Amber and Andy went to the BYU game. Bentlee was more excited to see them after one day than she was to see us after 5 days! It's adorable and a little sad to me at the same time. Amber and Maxyne (the two that tended her while we were gone) keep telling us that we don't know how good we have it. I asked Maxyne if she ever got fussy at all and her answer was, "Let me think about it....no." Even I was surprised that she would go down for naps and to bed without crying at their houses, and later they would find her just playing in the crib/pack n' play. Amber told me she would sit in one place and play with toys for 30 minutes at a time, something she does NOT do at home. I can put 20-30 toys in front of her at one time and approximately 15 seconds later she is wandering under the table and through the kitchen. When she sees an open door, she takes off as if she's suddenly in a baby crawling competition (which, for the record, I'm pretty sure she could win). She still favors the bathroom, particularly the toilet. You know the little caps that go over the screws on either side of the toilet? I've resorted to running those through the dishwasher every week, instead of unsuccessfully keeping her away from them. The second she sees the bathroom door is open, she heads straight towards them. You would think after a few months this would get old, but I'm positive it has become a game. She knows we don't like it when she grabs them, so that is precisely her goal in life.

Bentlee is officially putting things in her mouth, something I'm pretty sure I jinxed while in Michigan, assuring everyone who was worried about my niece's small toys, that she did not. Choking has been a giant fear of mine ever since I started baby-sitting at 11 years old. The good news is, I've become much better at vacuuming and sweeping my house.

I would say 6 times out of 10, you will find Bentlee with a sock in either her hand or mouth. The girl is obsessed. Whether she finds them on her feet or on the floor, they become her favorite toy at that moment. They go straight to her mouth and when she discovers for the billionth time that they really don't have much flavor, she keeps a pretty tight grasp on them while she plays and crawls around, then sticks them in a fun place for mommy and daddy to find later. I rarely have gum when Kyle asks for it, but you can always bet I have a sock or two.

Bentlee surrounded by my Activity Days girls. Admiration all around.

What is it about sleeping babies? I have to fight the urge every day to scoop her up out of her crib

She's getting to be quite the little "helper"

Sock in hand

Lots of random videos for my family in Michigan....

Oh, and she cut her second tooth last week! She cut her first tooth the day she turned 9 months, and her second tooth sometime during the week she turned 10 months, while we were gone. Big girl!

Oh, and she gives high fives! Or high thirty's. She lays a nice solid smack to your hand and then repeats several times.

Watching the Super bowl

My absolute favorite thing about her is still the way she pats my shoulder when I get her out of the crib. I also love when she sees me in her car mirror through the rear view mirror and grins from ear to ear, sometimes giggles, and waves.

I don't know what I used to do without this little monkey in my life. I just know that now I could never live without her!