Dia de Gracias

Was Thanksgiving already weeks ago? Oops.

We spent Thanksgiving in Mexico with my family and cousins. It was wonderful. On day one, we set out to find the best tacos in Cabo. Want the best shrimp taco? Try Gardinia's. Want the best fish taco? Try Rosie's. Want the best beef or al pastor? Sorry. I don't remember the name of the place. I'm not much into meat these days so I didn't try them.

We played on the beach, relaxed, played Bingo (we put every old folks home to shame!) and then relaxed some more. Here is the proof:

Nothing says Thanksgiving like football...on the beach in Mexico.

Bingo!

Go-carting
Enjoying the lovely view and some cereal.
Hiking
Benton's first dip.
Looks like someone got some sand in the mouth.

I'm so thankful for family...

...and this view too.

We desperately missed Jess and Ryan in Turkey and also Drew, Amanda, Mike and Brooke.
Thanks mom and dad! We had a great time.

Puj Tub

I was selected to be a product tester for Puj Baby and when I found out, I was so excited- like jumping around and telling Tyler excited. I've been anxiously waiting for the Puj Tub to arrive so when I checked my doorstep again this morning, I was ecstatic to see it had come. I felt like it was Christmas (and I'm being dead serious here). I was so excited opening up the box. I was tempted to go wake Benton from his nap just so I could try it sooner but I decided I needed to work on my patience so this was a prime opportunity.

Disclaimer: If I'm going to be a good product tester, I need to be honest, right? All of the below comments are 100% true. Promise. Scouts honor.

Here are my thoughts pre-bath:

I love how soft it is. I expected it to be stiff feeling, like other plastic tubs, but this must be the Rolls-Royce of tubs. This feels like luxury. I'm thinking about asking them to make these in adult sizes.

I was curious to see how easily it actually snapped together. This question was quickly answered. Easy peasy.

Step 1

Step 2And done.

Another reason I've been so excited to try this is because Benton has hated baths so we have been giving him showers. Showers have been pretty simple but there are a few things I'm not going to miss. First, now I don't have to shower, then freeze my tail off trying to get Benton ready so that I can grab him and hop back in (or vice versa- now Benton doesn't have to freeze while I finish showering while he lays wrapped in his towel on the rug in the bathroom). Second, he is getting so slippery and wiggly! You see, the whole "bathing" routine has become quite un-relaxing and I'm hoping the Puj Tub will change all that.
Another great thing about the tub is that it stores so nicely. One of the reasons that I didn't buy a baby tub initially was because I didn't want to store that big, awkward, ugly thing in my house. I also love that it is so stylish. Ok, having a "stylish" tub may not be the most important thing but when I first saw the tub online, I loved how cool looking it was. This is not your boring, run-of-the-mill (is that the correct saying?) tub.

Here are my thoughts post-bath:

This is the best thing since sliced bread. Actually, no. It is better than that. This is pure genius.I don't know if other tubs have this but I love the holes in the sides so that the water can continuously flow and surround him so that he stays warm.

That face just says relaxation.

Benton loved the tub just about as much as I did.

Check out the Puj Tub for yourself at the new web site exclusively for baby bath tubs!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Convention

When I think of going to a convention for work, I don't think of rides, free food and prizes. But, seeing how Tyler's dad is in the Family Fun Center business (they are opening another one in Utah for Thanksgiving), this is what they entail and we got to go! This year, the IAAPA convention was in Vegas so Sandy, Brooke and Sawyer came and I finally got to visit what I had heard Tyler tell me about for years.

Some of the free treats.

Benton was so scared of the parrots every time they....(what do you call the sound that parrots make?) squawked?? He started crying- it was sad but in a funny way.

Tyler, Sandy and I doing one of the rides. It was so fun we couldn't stop laughing.

Just hanging out before bed.

Progressing

I celebrated my birthday on Saturday. Not to sound silly but this was the first birthday where I felt a little melancholy about my age. 26 just sounds a lot more "mature" than 25 to me. Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be over it by tomorrow.

On Thursday, some of my friends threw a little party where we ate cake and watched Twilight to get us all excited for New Moon. It was really nice to be able to put Benton to bed and not have to worry about how he was doing while I was away. We had fun laughing at all of the bad make-up in their attempt to create pale vampires...

On Saturday, Tyler and I went for a morning walk to The District and I was able to get something from Anthropologie (I found some incredible sales and then they gave me 15% off on top of that for my birthday!). We relaxed all afternoon and then that evening, we carried on our tradition of a Progressive Dinner. Call us cheap but I've been looking forward to it for weeks. Who doesn't love eating at multiple restaurants for free?

Here is how it went:

First Course

Second Course

When I sat down after ordering Tyler showed me this picture. We kept laughing at what the employee was probably thinking- "Your husband brought you to Rubio's for your birthday dinner!??" We are so ghetto.

Fish tacos and then the world's smallest taco. Good thing it was free.

Dessert Round 1

Dessert Round 2

Buy 1 get 2 free. That is a little random to me but hey, we'll take it.

Oh and Sephora decided they wanted to celebrate my birthday too- they gave me 3 free lip glosses!

And where was Benton during all of this? He was there, just hanging out in his car seat and being patient.

I had a great day and thanks to everyone for the presents, calls, texts and messages on facebook! Here's to the next 26!

As of Today

Benton is 3.5 months. I am thisclose to being another year older (yikes!). Tyler is rotating in a pediatrician's office.

Giving kisses after a wrestling match.

Nothing stresses Benton out like tummy time or us getting at his nose. I like watching Modern Family, the Office and 30 Rock. Tyler likes to "wrestle" with his son.

Benton sleeps in the Lap of Luxury as my mom calls it because he kicks his blankets on his head and can't always manage to get them off. I don't typically shower until 4:00pm or later. Tyler is jealous of Benton's current sleeping arrangement in the aforementioned Lap of Luxury (it was a gift from a baby shower and I think Tyler wishes it was for him and not Benton) .

Tyler has more patience than I do so I've only made the big "B".

Benton still prefers showers to baths (although I want to try this) and loves to kick his legs on his changing table. I'm counting down the days until we leave for Mexico but am also realizing that this post-prego body may terrify women into not ever wanting to get pregnant. Tyler makes Benton really cool onesies.

Benton sleeps 8-10 hours a night (I wouldn't want to get out of the Lap of Luxury either!) and finally has hair growing back on the left side of his head. I'm relieved that yesterday Benton didn't take a really loud poop in church like he did last week. Tyler would like to go surfing.
Life is good. I am happy.

Nursery

Benton relaxing in his room.

I've been waiting for months for a slipcover for the glider and ottoman in Benton's room. After a lot of drama with Pottery Barn Kids, they canceled my slipcover (after I had been waiting months for it to come). So, at that point, I had an uncovered chair and ottoman hanging out in his room. Luckily, I stumbled upon this company and they saved the day. I bought the fabric from here on sale courtesy of Design Mom and then found a local seamstress to make the cover. I'm really glad it all turned out the way it did. I like this fabric way better than PBkids' and the slipcover turned out to be way cheaper- even with my employee discount!

I also love the curtains that my mom made and how there is something made by me and Tyler in addition to my grandma, mom, sisters and mother-in-law in the room. I'm still working on something for his door but it feels so good to have everything done!And just as a side note, we aren't allowed to paint in our place so I didn't choose the paint color (but it works just fine).

Laughing

I wish I could have started recording 10 seconds earlier. He was laughing even harder then. p.s. I'm laughing at the picture that the video is showing right now before you press play. Did it have to show the scariest picture?

Halloween

Pre-Halloween festivities.

This year we had a great Halloween. I think the fact that we even celebrated it made it better than the last 2 years. This year Tyler finally didn't have to study for block exams which meant we were able to do something. On Friday we went to the ward Trunk or Treat and then on Saturday, we went to a few parties.

Benton went as the Swine Flu (he wanted to be something scary) and for those of you in the Las Vegas area, Tyler and I went as Glen Lerner and Ed Bernstein, two of the local personal injury lawyers. It was pretty funny to hear people singing the commercials everywhere we went (Glen Lerner is the way to go, call 877-1500!).

Half of his "pig tail" ripped the minute we put it on him.

Some of the kids put together a "carnivil" with games. It was so cute.

Being the swine flu must have wiped Benton out because he pretty much slept the whole night.

Hope you all had a fun Halloween!

Family wedding in Utah = Lots of fun.

I got to go to Utah for my cousin Drew's wedding. Besides the wedding, we crammed in a bunch of other fun stuff. First of all, I loved being able to see and experience fall (I'm sad I didn't take a picture from my parent's yard). Second, my parents played Oprah and I basically got a full makeover which I needed desperately. They renewed my desire to wear lipstick and I love them for that. I am no longer the Kim who wears sweatpants everyday and doesn't do her hair or make-up (not that that is bad but I just don't pull it off very well).

Hold on, I'm getting ahead of myself. I need to back up.

My parents were supposed to be in LA the night that Benton and I flew in so they arranged for a car service to pick us up. I was waiting at the airport for the driver and he was no where to be found. I called my dad and he said he would let the company know. Two minutes later, in walk my parents. Those little tricksters!!

Benton drunk on something.

The wedding day was a wonderful day. My cousins watched Benton so that I could attend the ceremony. I always get emotional in the temple. I love having an eternal family.

My Uncle Dave just couldn't get enough of Benton.

We also went to the BYU football game. Benton was kind enough to sleep the ENTIRE game. I got to hang out with my friend Brooke during the game and I loved being in the stadium again. I don't really care about football though, I just like doing festive things (and football is fall festive).

Benton in his BYU blue that my parents got for him.

Brooke and I took advantage of the free beanies to warm our ears.
I look like a gangster.

I cooked a lot with my mom. Actually, she cooked and I talked. After church, my mom also inspected Benton's eyes with a magnifying glass as we aren't really sure what color they are going to be.

And when we got home, it was pretty evident that Tyler missed us just as much as we missed him.

The end.

A few favorites.

Some of my favorite pictures of Benton from the last few weeks.

His stretching cracks me up. I'm going to have to take a video.

He sleeps in his crib!

And these are definitely from a few weeks ago but I just thought all of his different "looks" were so funny. He sure is working that camera. He tends to do that for Tyler.

Nice bedhead. Very coy.

Now he is getting fed up with the camera.

Sorry if you are sick of hearing about Benton (but seriously, how could you be?). Beyond work and school, we don't do anything besides play with this guy. We seem to like him and I think he likes us back.