We're Still Here!

Ben has been asking when I was going to update our blog. I just kept thinking it would take too long and I don't have any big chunks of time to myself (really, I'm serious!), but I'm starting now. With a baby on my lap and my three girls asking me when they get their computer time. Now is as good a time as any! :)

The last update was on Christmas Day when Lucas was just 1 week old. We are loving having him as a part of our family. He is sleeping through the night most nights now and is just a joy to be around. He will be 4 months old on Sunday! He has been such a good baby and I have felt WONDERFUL the whole time. I was on some meds from the day after his birth to keep my post partum depression from kicking me down and it worked! I NEVER felt bad like I did with the girls and I have enjoyed this newborn stage so much! I've weaned off of my medicine and still doing good. So many blessings!!!
2010 started off with a bang. And a shock. :) Ben was called to be the Bishop of our church congregation. For those of you who don't know what that means, this is the official definition from our church: "A man who has been ordained and set apart as the presiding high priest for a ward, or congregation. He has overall responsibility for ministering the temporal and spiritual affairs of the congregation." So, yeah, a LOT of responsibility. He was more than a little bit overwhelmed and humbled by this but we both said yes (he said yes and then they asked if I would support him and I said, "Absolutely."). This calling has definitely blessed our lives already. He has been very busy and has meetings a lot but we're doing ok at balancing our lives.

We had planned to have Lucas' baby blessing in church in February but since Ben was made the bishop in mid-January, we bumped it up, so that my dad and Ben's parents could be with us for both occasions. It was really great and I know my mom was there too in spirit. Lucas was so handsome and well-behaved for his blessing, of course. :)
Later in January we went to Ben's employer's (City of Abilene) health fair and had fun at different booths and we signed up for raffles and guess what we won? A free pet adoption from the city shelter! Ben was less than thrilled. Especially when some of the other raffle things to sign up for were free insurance premiums for a month or a Wii. Admittedly, I would have preferred those as well but they had a million people trying for them, so the odds weren't good. :) So we started the search for a pet but I wanted to take my time and get one we really wanted.

In February, my friend Kim & I decided to start doing babysitting trades, so we could go on date nights without paying an arm and a leg for a babysitter. It's been nice to get to go out with Ben a couple of times a month. We usually go to the High Priest Group Social where we eat at a nice restaurant once a month. That's pretty much the only time I get to go out to eat, so I look forward to it! :)

We also had a fun ward activity that month. An Adults Only Valentine's Dance! I guess there were a lot of people out of town or sick (everyone seemed to be sick in either January or February around here!) because we only had about a dozen couples come but it was so much fun! Our activities coordinator is really talented and made the gym look beautiful and we had prizes for most romantic couple, most reverent couple, and there was an award for "How did he get her?" Ha ha.

The next weekend was the youth Valentine's dance at the church and Ben went to chaperone, so I went with him and that was our date. :) Nothing better than FREE! :)

Miranda & Natalie took swimming lessons at the YMCA in February and it wasn't too successful. ;) They didn't like someone shoving them under the water. I find that an odd approach but they always do that in lessons around here. Natalie doesn't ever want to swim now. Miranda actually did quite well and I was surprised how well she listened to the teacher and how willing she was to try new things. Natalie just kept repeating, "I don't want to. I don't want to. I don't want to." Oh well. It was... an experience. :) The teacher said they would both need to repeat the beginning class before moving on. That kind of surprised me because I thought Miranda did great but she is still a little hesitant and the next class requires them to swim independently for 15 feet and she probably wouldn't be comfortable without a noodle or life jacket nearby. I would love to just take the time to teach them myself one-on-one but that would be a little hard right now since I'd have to get a babysitter to do that!

We have had such a cold winter with several snowfalls and I am so glad Spring has sprung. It sure was pretty though and the kids had a great time playing with Daddy in the snow. I didn't want to take the baby out in the cold, so I just ran out to snap some pictures and then watched them through the window. :)

On Saturday, February 27th, Jillian fell in love with a puppy at the shelter and we brought him home on Monday, March 1st. We named him "Echo" and he's half miniature schnauzer & half they-don't-know, but I would guess border terrier. He was 3 lbs when we brought him home at 8 weeks old. At his last check-up he was 5 lbs, so he's getting huge! Ha ha. I'm hoping he'll stay under 10 or 12 lbs.

He's a pretty smart puppy and has done really well with house training overall. He has started nipping at the girls whenever he can and gets really hyper around them, so they are dying to play with him and then screaming and running away from him. *SIGH* I'm going to sign up for a puppy kindergarten and learn how to train him a little better. He used to come whenever I called but now he knows he'll probably get put in his crate, so he likes to make me chase him. He does well with SIT, LIE DOWN, UP, and I can get him to dance on his hind feet and twirl for a Goldfish cracker! :) He doesn't do so well with DOWN but we're working on it. He does pretty well on a walk with me but if the girls are with me, he just runs right, left, forward, back, around my legs. *SIGH* Again, working on it. Puppies are a lot of work and I knew this going in but I just wish he was sweeter with the girls. It'll happen though, I'm sure, as he gets older.

March brought us to SPRING BREAK! Yay! We finally went back to Kansas to see my family! We hadn't been back since my mom's funeral in October because I had a baby! Ben and my dad don't think it's smart for me to travel by myself with 4 kids, so I had to wait until Ben had a break to come with me. So my relatives there finally got to see the baby and of course they all adored him. We only spent a few great days there with my Dad (wish it had been longer) and then headed to Dallas to see Ben's family for a day and a half (again, wish it had been longer). We were able to attend the Dallas Temple while we were there, thanks to my wonderful in-laws babysitting. It was a whirlwind trip (with 4 children and a PUPPY!) and it was surprisingly successful and almost stress-free. We were happy to get home though.

We had a Scout Spaghetti Dinner and Service Auction at church. It was to raise money for the boys to go to Scout Camp this summer. It was really fun and we ended up bidding on a lot of things and ended up paying $25 for a dessert! All for a good cause, right? :) And it was SO yummy! ;) We also paid $50 to have one of the Scouts help us with yard work for 5 hrs. Well worth it! :)

The beginning of April brought our ward Chili Cook-off (which was way fun and so yummy to try everyone's different chilis), Jill's field trip to a tv news station (I loved going to check out the studio & it made me miss my days at Community Cable News in college), General Conference (love to listen to a prophet's voice!), and Easter (Ben's parents visited for the weekend & we had a nice time dying eggs, hunting eggs, going to the zoo, and eating ham & scalloped potatoes!).



In between all of that stuff is play dates, story time at the library, playgroup visits to the park, zoo, fire station, and grocery store, housework :(, and just general taking care of the kiddos. We are all happy and healthy and so grateful for that! Actually, Jill is home from school today with a sore throat and a fever. *SIGH* We expect many happy and exciting times in the future and I will try to post about things more often! :)