Ready for the New Year!!

So I go on my blog quite often, not to update but to see who else has updated. Each time I promise that "next time" I will update. It's difficult for me to admit that I never actually have the intention of updating (I hate when people don't do what they say they're going to). Lately I've listened to others talk about using their blogs as scrapbooks or journals to account for their family's history. When it comes to my family's history, I'm a complete failure. I don't scrapbook anymore, I don't journal, and I always forget to take pictures. I'd like to justify my actions by letting everyone know that my time is taken up by much more valuable things, such as researching just how much arsenic is in the apple juice my child is drinking and trying to save money from the krazy coupon lady blog. However, in the long run I'm not sure which is most important, but maybe I should find a way to fit in both (disclaimer: I might change my mind in a month when I add another family member). So here's our family update for now:

- We are currently on day five of potty training. Blaine is doing amazing (I think. I have no experience to compare it to) and is now constantly sporting Lightening McQueen undies. We're pretty sure he's working the system though since he seems to eek out only a little at a time in order to receive m&ms every five minutes. Potty training may seem to be working but his healthy diet has taken a turn for the worse.

- Blaine acknowledged that there is a baby in my stomach for the first time the other day. This doesn't mean he even a little bit understands that this baby is going to come out and be his brother and steal half our attention.

- Blaine likes to say his prayers with us. We start him out, and then he lists all the things he is thankful for. This usually includes the entire cast of Disney Cars, dada's truck, the BIG tires, the BIG ball, the little ball, and usually some assortment of family members.

- He likes to sing primary songs before bed, and lately has started singing along with us. I'm always shocked at how many of the words he remembers. He pretty much knows the entire song (not saying he know the exact words, but something that sounds like them) of "I hope they call me on a mission", "I am a child of God", "Heleman's Army". and "I have a family here on earth". It's so cute to hear him sing it.

- Someone taught him how to say "stupid". Nothing makes Ben and I more angry than when he repeatedly says "stupid". I keep telling him that's a caca word and it makes people cry, but he doesn't seem to listen to me.

- He blames everything on someone else. It's usually "Tyler did it", or "Gus did it", regardless of whether they are anywhere in the vicinity.

- He's very particular about what Ben and I are doing. Sometimes he comes over and says "what doing?". But most of the time, he's bossing us around. He says, "no mom, sit down", or "come on dad" and grabs his hand to lead him somewhere.

A few pictures to enjoy:












And here's a quick family update for those interested in the rest of us...

- Gus has been spending his time lounging around the house, only showing excited if someone comes to visit or he thinks we're taking him on a walk (which is becoming less and less these days).

- Gus' best friend, Cooper, graces us with his presence every once in a while in order to properly chew up the plants in the backyard and wear out Gus for the next 24 hours.

- Baby Mack #2 is due February 25th. So close, but not close enough...

-Still no name for Baby Mack #2. We're thinking we'll follow in Blaine's footsteps and name him when he's a week old. Maybe then we'll agree...

- I (Jessica) am working on-call as a counselor at a crisis house (averaging about one day a week). Otherwise working full-time as a potty trainer and mom.

- Ben is working on setting up an ipod repair business that continues to grow. He also sales alarm systems in his free time.

And because I struggle, I never actually sent out these cute Christmas cards: Designed by my sister, Natalie. Pictures taken by my cousin, Shad.

Two Boys!! (Or four if Ben and Gus count)

I know this post is boring with no pictures, but I feel like I'm in panic mode to get some things down in writing about my little boy before he grows up! A little update on me: I'm five and a half months pregnant with another boy! We're so excited! I've been working the past few months at an adult crisis house, which I love, and keeps me super busy. Ben has been working from home, which has been nice (most of the time) and he's been able to watch Blaine when I work. Anyways, Blaine news:

- Blaine has somehow come up with the phrase "Oh my gosh!" (I don't think this is a common phrase in our household but maybe I'm wrong) and says it all the time. He says it when he sees a tractor, or anything cool. We went to the pumpkin patch last night and he saw the bounce houses while we were still driving. He started yelling, "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!!", to which I was trying to quiet him since Ben was on the phone.

- He likes to call people crazy. The other day in church we were sitting by Carissa and her family, and they did something to which Blaine cried, "Cweesa and Brandon CRAZY!". Haha!

- When we come in to get him from his nap or in the morning, he immediately yells, "Good Morning!".

- We were trying to talk to him about going to the bathroom, specifically pooping. So I was letting him know that everyone poops. I started naming off that dada poops, mama poops... He began to help me by naming off everyone he could think of and saying that they poop: Grandpa poops, Cweesa poops, Gus poops, etc.

- He calls his Grandma Belnap, "Tim". We're not sure where he got this from but we can't get him to change his mind. Grandpa counts as Grandma and Grandpa, and Grandma is Tim.

- He thinks every slightly sad face is crying. He looks at it and goes, "crying?".

- Ben got him a cowboy hat from Lake Powell that he insists on wearing everywhere, even to restaurants. If I forget his hat, I have to turn around and come back for to avoid a complete meltdown. We actually lost the original hat on the plane on the way back from Seattle, so we had to quickly get him a new one.

- He brings his toys everywhere. If I tell him he can bring one, he keeps saying "one more" and gets about ten toys (usually cars) and stuffs them in my purse.

- He thinks any drink in a cup with a straw is a Coke or Diet Coke. So he's constantly asking me for a Coke. I feel really embarrassed when he asks me in public places, and I want to explain to people that I do not give my two year old Coke.

- He names off all the cars from Disney's Cars. When he names Dinico, he calls it Diet Coke.

- He makes us sing him songs before bed or his nap. He keeps naming them to see how many he can get us to sing. His favorites are: Comission (I hope they call me on a mission), howmuch (How much is that doggy in the window), they're so good to me (Families can be together forever), and born (We have been born as Nephi of old...).

There's more but that's all for now!!

2 Years Old!

We celebrated Blaine's 2nd birthday for a month straight (or at least it felt like it). I insisted on throwing an extreme Cars birthday party (bounce house included), which ended up being a little too much for my overwhelmed two-year old. Lesson learned: Two- year olds are scared of bounce houses. At least some of the other kids enjoyed the large attraction, including myself.


We got Blaine a big wheel. Too bad his feet don't reach the peddles...



Carissa and her professional Cars cake.




Blaine sneaking extra bites of the birthday cake.


During Blaine's actual birthday (May 31st), we were in Newport with Ben's family for the week. Britta and Amanda threw an amazing plane party, cupcakes and banner included.

Five Years

Today Ben and I are celebrating our five year anniversary. I must admit that in the beginning I never thought we would survive to the five year mark. Placing two type A personalities together can be volatile, but we made it. And life is better than ever (at least now that Ben's law school finals are over). April 15th (our actual anniversary) was bipassed due to overwhelming stress and nerves on both our parts, and was replaced with today. So here's to five years, and maybe five more...just kidding!

Blaine's happenings:

- Easter was spent at Grandma and Grandpa's house where we had a big dinner and easter egg hunt. It took Blaine a while to catch onto finding the eggs, but once he did he spent his time throwing them against the retaining wall.

- The other day I took Blaine to the park, and we brought his Toy Story ball to play with. There was another mom there with her son and a ball as well. Blaine spent his time following the mom around saying "varoom, varoom". I had to explain that apparently her Cars ball was cooler than our Toy Story ball.

- Blaine is pretty good at sharing when I ask him to. But once in a while, he has something he really wants (like candy), and it's really hard to share. I'll ask him for a piece, and he'll reach out his hand and almost put the candy in my mouth, only to change his mind and stuff it into his own mouth. While eating the candy from the easter eggs, I asked him for a piece, at which time he quickly found all the pieces lying around and stuffed them into his mouth all at once so I couldn't have any. I guess we'll have to work on that.

From Toy Story to Cars so quickly?

For months now I have been planning and anticipating Blaine's Toy Story birthday party this year. A week ago my mom and I took Blaine to the Disney store to look around. We, or course, went straight to the Toy Story section in order to point out all the cool Buzz and Woody items. To our dismay, Blaine ran off in another direction and returned with a box containing Lightening McQueen and his trailer. To which he proceeded to hand it to Grandma, repeatedly saying "pease, pease". No effort on either of our parts could distract him from Lightening McQueen. So Blaine spent the remainder of the time fully lying on the ground playing with Lightening McQueen. When the store finally kicked us out for closing time, Blaine screamed bloody murder throughout the mall, and I'm pretty sure I saw a few people pull out their phones to call CPS on me. So I guess we'll be having a Cars birthday party?

Blaine's doings:

- Today Ben was in the process of disciplining Blaine for something, when Blaine went and snuggled right up to him and looked innocently at him with his big blue eyes. To which Ben said "nevermind". I wonder who's going to have to be the disciplinary in this house.

- One of the first animal noises I taught Blaine was an elephant (along with a bunny). Blaine purses his lips together and blows air out. The best part about this little trick is that he now enjoys doing it when he has a full mouth of juice. He especially likes doing it when I get my face up close to him. Regardless of how mad I get, he laughs and thinks this is the best trick.

- Blaine has started to be put in time out for repeated bad behavior (throwing dirt all over the house and hitting me when he doesn't get his way). I love that he now knows what time-out is, and I can threaten him with it to get him to listen.

- He has started becoming attached to his blankets. He likes to take his blankets with him out of the crib and snuggle with them. Sometimes he brings a blanket to me and wants me to wrap it around him like a cape, and then sit on my lap. He also will grab a blanket when we're going somewhere and want to take it in the car. However, the best was the other night Ben and I were sitting on the couch and I was using a blanket to keep warm. Blaine got up and came and got my blanket, then proceeded to give it to Ben. What the heck?!

- I took Blaine over to his cousins the other day to try and ride a tricycle. I was so fun to push him around and try to keep his feet on the peddles. When I finally let him try it himself, he sat backwards and pushed himself around with his feet. I guess he'll get it sometime?


- Blaine is obsessed with his cousin Carly. Whenever he sees her (even from a long distance), he runs to her yelling "Caly, Caly". He wants to do everything she's doing.

- Blaine has decided he's way too big for his high chair anymore. Whenever I tell him it's time to eat and to get in his high chair, he goes straight to his mini table and sits there. If he's eating something messy, I force him to get in his highchair, and it usually turns into a huge fight. By the time I get him in the highchair (forcing his legs through the holes), he refuses to eat anything because he's so mad.


The Wild Animal Park with friends:





Blaine folding his arms during the prayer, but he can't keep his eyes off Toy Story:




And now for the REAL news: Gus turned four on March 25th. And the poor neglected dog wasn't even remembered on his birthday...so we threw him an extreme birthday party on the same day as my sister, Natalie's, birthday, cake included. Natalie is for Natalie, G for Gus (Grandma made the cake).

Pro-Runners

Lately Ben has become an extreme runner; meaning he runs six to eight miles with the dog in tow. He has downloaded apps that track his running, how fast and how far. He has been sending me countless emails inviting me to participate in every half marathon from San Diego to Texas. And this past weekend he all but coerced our family into joining the Race for Autism run/walk-a-thon. Of course we all good-heartedly showed up with just a little grumbling about the early hour of arrival. But the real trial began when Ben and I ran the 5k together; by together I mean that he would not leave my side. Since we were late (true to the Mack in Ben) we had to sprint the first half mile to get past all the speed walkers, at which time I was spent for the rest of the day. Regardless of my efforts, I could not shake the ameba attached to my. I considered pushing Ben off the Balboa bridge as he kept sticking out his hand for a high five and taking pictures of me in all my glory with his phone. We did finish the race with both of us alive, barely. Next time I'm getting a new running buddy.





Blaine indulging in frosting:



Blaine's cute moments:
- A few months ago, Blaine got so used to reading scriptures that when we said "scripture time" before bed, he would crawl under the end table and bring us the scriptures. Once I was busy watching tv, and he decided on his own that it was time to read and he brought me the scriptures.
- When we say a prayer, Blaine folds his arms. Every once in a while he'll slowly unfold them in the middle of the prayer to start eating the food in front of him before we're done.
- Blaine hates getting his diaper changed. I'll say "it's time to change your deep", to which he runs to the corner and covers his eyes with his hands (like that makes him invisible).

Mini Vacation

The longer I'm married, the more I appreciate what a wonderful, thoughtful husband I have; and the more I appreciate a good girlfriend. Being able to voice exactly what I'm thinking and feeling without the fear of being judged; having a deep conversation where I feel that I learn more about myself by talking aloud.

Maybe I'm going through a midlife crisis, I'm not quite sure, but I feel that my life is a ticking time bomb right now and every second must be filled. I am filled with anxiety that tomorrow is going to be here too soon, and I didn't do enough with today. At the same time, I have grown such a strong appreciation for the life that I possess. Crazy? I might be.

While visiting Newport the past few days, I basked in the opportunity to reflect on my thoughts and really observe my son interacting with life.








A few things Blaine has been up to:

- Blaine has learned to say "cool" when he thinks something is really neat. In Newport we put him and Scarlett in a bike trailer, to which he repeatedly said, "cool".

- Whenever Ben is home, Blaine has to be with him (meaning Ben either has to hold him or he has to sit on Ben's lap). This behavior continues even while Ben is on the toilet, Blaine does not care.

- When saying prayers, Blaine spends the whole time staring at us, smiling. He waits until the end and then yells, "Amen amen". One time he decided he was done with the prayer early and started saying, "Amen" in the middle of it.

- I keep Blaine's pacifier tucked in the side of my bra so I always know where it is. Sometimes when he's looking for his "binks" (pacifier), he'll come up to me and pull down my shirt searching for it. This happens quite often in public places, and I think I might have to rethink my hiding place.