A Glimpse Into Our Chaos

365 days ago, we brought home this sweet little angel baby. And for 365 days, we have loved, snuggled, hugged, kissed, and enjoyed every second of his life. We just can't believe that after 365 days, he had to turn 1.

Benson loved his birthday ball.
He got excited about his cake.
But he didn't even try and eat it, he mostly just ignored it until I gave him a spoon. Then he just played with it.

He loved his BYU pillow pet.
He loved that we sang Happy Birthday to him all day long--however, he did NOT love his candle in his breakfast when we blew it out. We did not do candles for the rest of the day--I think he was semi traumatized!
A few months ago, we discovered he LOVES frozen yogurt. So we met Chris at lunchtime for a birthday treat.
We got him some birthday balloons--which Addie proceeded to get stuck in the ceiling fan within 2.5 minutes of walking them in the door. Luckily we got them out without messing up the fan.
He got tired of me trying to take his picture--I was super excited about his shirt that I made him, but turns out he wasn't.
Aunt Janelle made him a bowtie--he thought it was awesome.
I wish this picture wasn't blurry--Grandma and Grandpa Foster got him a sock monkey and he was VERY excited about it, grabbed it, and shoved his face into it. His initial reaction was so cute!
And he LOVED he Sesame Street ipod from Grandma and Grandpa King.
Overall I think birthday #1 was a success! Happy birthday Benson boy!

I love December and everything that comes with it--but I wish it had like 10 more days, or that each day had 4 more hours in it!

Chris's Grandma Foster passed away yesterday. She got pretty sick back in October, so we knew that her time on earth was short. Our kids had a hard time understanding and processing the idea that she passed away. She didn't want a funeral, but we wanted to help our kids remember her in a positive way. This afternoon we got some balloons and sent her messages letting her know she was loved.





Benson was hysterical with the balloon. He kept trying to chase it like a cat chasing yarn!

And they are off! It was such a good way to help our kids say goodbye! We will never drive by Coco's without thinking of Grandma!
*funny sidenote: Addie's balloon popped in the trees. We told her it would still make it to heaven, and she was so excited about it, that she insisted on calling Grandma and Grandpa Foster to let them know it would still make it!

All of the kids had Thanksgiving outfits from school, but this was the only one I thought to take a picture of!We had a totally nontraditional Thanksgiving. Chris was on backup call which really means nothing--he wasn't working, we just couldn't leave town. We didn't have any family around, so we went and saw Arthur Christmas, and then at Thanksgiving dinner at Chuck-a-rama. Our kids thought it was AWESOME, and since I don't like most Thanksgiving foods--turkey, sweet potatoes, etc, I thought it was AWESOME too! And I did not wash a single dish! We did have pie with friends a little later. I also gave Kennedy her first Black Friday shopping experience so that she could help me score $10 cricut cartridges at Roberts!



The day before Thanksgiving the kids invited some friends over to make Thanksgiving villages. It's basically a way of squeezing in more candy house opportunities throughout the year!

I say this every month, but seriously, 11 months??? Time is going too quickly. But I have to admit, each new stage is my favorite. Benson is SOOO fun right now! He isn't walking yet, but he does RUN along the furniture. He will let go of things for a few seconds but as soon as he realizes he isn't holding on to anything he falls down. His vocabulary now consists of babababa, mamamama, and dadadada. I think they are all interchangeable. We discovered he LOVES popcorn (we pick off the kernals of course), and he is starting to eat a few more solid foods. He is still a mama's boy and as soon as he hears my voice, he will come tearing off to find me. He is also into EVERYTHING. The cupboards, the toilet, my purse, the laundry--seriously, everything. He gives high 5's, kisses occasionally, loves to play peek-a-boo and be chased, and is perhaps the yummiest baby on the planet. We LOVE this little boy!