Thankful

Last night, whilst dreaming I had my very own "It's a Wonderful Life" moment. I'll spare you the juicy details, but it suffices to say that at the end of the dream I was frantic. I knew exactly where I wanted to be and who I wanted to be with but I was unable to think of a way to get there. I kept thinking 'how did I get myself into this mess' kind of thoughts, looking for a way out when suddenly it dawned on me that nothing was permanent and the changes I had made in my life could be reversed with grief, but a very small amount. I became so grateful and thought quickly of all the ways I could fix it, someone could come get me. It wasn't too late.

 At this time I awoke to the sounds of my son babbling in his crib.  It was such a sweet and welcome sound, I had never been more happy to be woken up at 5:50 in the morning. I gave my husband a tight hug and practically skipped up the stairs to get Bentley.

I've always wondered how that would feel, to suddenly lose the thing or the person--or people who are most important to you in your life and then to wake up and suddenly have them restored. Now I know. It was such a vivid dream...I really thought it was reality. And how grateful I am that it was not, today I am just thankful.
I'm full of gratitude for each babble, each giggle and every little smile Bentley gives me, I enjoyed cleaning my house so my husband could come home to a clean kitchen and front room and I am incredibly grateful for a man who loves deeply, listens attentively and has never been anything but patient with me. Bentley's birth aside, the day I married Jake was the happiest day of my life and the best decision I have ever been blessed to make.

 Thank You, Sweet Heart. 

                              


As I contemplate how grateful I am to have this special gift of gratitude I think about the lesson we had yesterday in Activity days. It was on the Christmas spirit and what gifts we are going to give others, and the Savior.
President Monson reccommended we give obedience and that we will cease to be contentious and quarrelsome.
:) I'm still thinking about my gift to the savior, but I'm starting to have an idea of what the Lord would want most from me.

                           What are you giving to the Lord this Christmas? 
Come worship at his feet.
Think of the baby Jesus in his manger.
Think of the Christ Child with so much to do before him.
He is Mighty to Save.
He is our Savior.

:) Merry Christmas everyone.  Let December begin.

Bentley

Look at my little man, almost nine months and acting like a toddler. This last week has been quite an adventure here at our house. Bentley got his first real fever, it went up crazy fast from 101.1 to 103, peaking at 104. I did everything I could think of to help him stay comfortable, I applied damp towels to his head and neck (which went over very well ;) )  put his damp socks on, stripped him down, gave him a bath and we cuddled to a movie, which worked well until fell asleep and then he would wake up whimpering. Since then we have had a difficult time sleeping. Last night he woke up at 740, 940,1230,330, I went back down stairs at 440 and he got me up at 630. It's a good thing he's so cute. We went to the doctor for his 9 mo well-baby check up and they checked his fever, though it did more harm than good, riled him up, made him cry, gagged him with a tongue suppressor and I had to come back the next day after his fever subsided to get some vitamins, which is a long 40 minute drive both ways ha ha. Not that I'm complaining. I actually like our new doctor, he doesn't seem to evade questions or make things up, he tells me if he doesn't know what's up and he answers me as straightforwardly as he can. I just wish they were closer.

As I look at the above picture I see so much of his father in him, I still can't see any resemblance to me, which is fine, but he's just so adorable, a teeny tiny Jacob. He's usually pretty calm in his temperament, I think he gets his enthusiasm from me, if anything. He probably also gets his temper from me. We're both working on it. Although, usually, his wick is pretty slow, like his dad.

Speaking of his dad, we celebrated his birthday on Thursday. He had lots of schoolwork to do, which is rare for a Thursday, so I brought him some olive garden for lunch. We watched Merlin, opened presents and enjoyed some Oreo frosted cake. Bentley's favorite part was playing with dad's wrapping paper after it was off his gifts.

Bentley is also starting to point with his hand,  he points at the picture of Jesus, and he points at the mirror and he points in a room when I turn off the light. He recognizes names too. I can ask him "Where's Daddy?" and he will look for him, albeit rather non-aggressively, if he can't see him right away, he will stop looking. He will look for Daddy, Mommy and Jesus.  He knows that last one pretty well because the picture is above our mantle for the Holiday season especially and every time he sees it he wants me to address it. His eyes get big and he watches the picture and he looks at me, then he looks back at the picture. A few days ago we sang "I lived in Heaven" while in the living room and at the Savior's name Bentley looked up at the picture. Atta boy!

He likes a new song "Head shoulders knees and toes," and he has learned how to correctly clap, so now he can help do the motions of "Patty Cake"--though the rolling and the pulling are a bit confusing to him. He likes the songs "I love to see the Temple", "I hope they call me on a mission," "The army of Helaman" and "Love is spoken here" I think it's called, and we sing them at night when he is going to sleep. We read Good night moon every night and he won't take any other book. The other night, he even crawled to the bath, stood up and looked back at me like "Okay, I'm ready for a bath mom,".  Oh, and the Toilet is the coolest invention, in his opinion, he is fascinated by it! I can't believe he is getting so big. The Dr. was very impressed with Bentley's cognitive and physical development, said he was very advanced for his age. :) which is exciting and also kind of sad. haha. Slow down, Baby!

Okay, well, this week we are going to meet my brother's Girlfriend at a family dinner and we are having Thanksgiving at my Parent's, then it's three weeks away or 23 days until we come out to see you. We are excited! Have a great day! We're thinking of you!

Courtney, Bent and Jacob.

Halloween, Babies and Books

This Halloween we did nothing. We turned off all the lights, holed up in the upstairs room and watched movies while Jacob did his homework, but, a few nights before we made sure to watch Nightmare Before Christmas while carving pumpkins. We did Jake's Pumpkin King (on right) and My Zombie wife(on left). We were asked by several people if we would take Bentley, and I just laughed inside, thinking "Right, and have everyone look at me like I'm a candy moocher?" pshhht, I don't think so. Next year, though, for sure.

And I apologize in advance for the next picture, I look horrid, but look how funny Bentley looks. I don't know where he learned how to do that. SOCUTE.

 We were watching a TV show, and Bentley just decided to kick back, he had his mom, his apple, his tv. What a life.

And here he is looking out the window, though to be honest, he is smiling about the camera, he didn't really care for the snow.

Spending time with his Zebra.

A Beary cute baby.

And, my favorite: Child who eats frosting.

Today starts the official NaNoWriMo, which stands for National November Writers Month (for those of you not obsessed with literary hobbies) and I feel a strong desire to write. It could happen at a more inconvenient time either. I want to work on my class and study for the ACT and become financially savvy and learn how to do so many things to make me a more valuable asset as a wife and mother---and then I saw the announcement on Facebook. Ugh. I need to quit facebook, I just need to do it. Now I'm torn, do I give in to my apathetic laziness and just write, write, write, every spare moment Bentley is asleep and Jake is doing homework? At one point in my life, perhaps that would have been acceptable, but ugh! Right now? It seriously had to be this month!?

Well, wish everyone good luck for me,  people will be at their computer all day and all night trying to write 50,000 words in one month, it's quite the feat. Maybe i'll just be the next JK Rowling. Only, I'll go by:

Williams, C. L.

I think that sounds pretty cool. I could even drop the s on Willams and be

William C. L.

;) make me more marketable, right? Hah.

Anyway, Bentley is getting big. He's got the cutest personality. He is starting to explore the house, but he gets frustrated that Mom and Dad can move so much faster than he can, if you leave the room, he will whimper and cry and try to follow you as fast as he can. He is quick to learn tricks like "Touch Down" or "So BIG!" and he loves to listen to animal sounds. He likes any toy (bag, fabric) that makes a crackling sound and has no interest in touch and feel books. And he could take bottles all day long AND baby food and still have room in his stomach for whatever you are eating.  He doesn't like chicken noodle soup or macaroni and cheese baby foods, but he loves oatmeal and applesauce, fruit, rice, chicken, you name it. And forget bottles, when it comes to water, it had better be in a cup. Bentley likes to watch other children, and seems to think that they speak a different language than us adults. Whenever he sees a kid, he sucks in air into his throat and it almost sounds like a hiccup or a lizard, and he gives them a big grin. He'll follow them around and try to pull their hair and squish their faces (we are still working on his people skills) OH and his favorite place to play is in the master bathroom's shower. He loves the door, he loves the drain and he loves the water running down the glass and when he showers he is always turning about to bang on the walls and put his fingers in the drain (which is really gross, if you ask me). My little man is getting so big! SOOOO BIG.

We'll see you all soon, sorry this post is kind of all over the place, Bentley was up a lot last night and I didn't get the sleep I wanted. :) Bye!