Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Shutterfly!

I've seen so many blogs that are basically advertising Shutterfly and getting FREE Christmas cards. Ummm, yes please. For our past 3 Christmas cards, Landon and I have set up the tripod and taken a picture of ourselves. They haven't exactly been fancy, but they served their purpose. Now that we have Benton, we are wanting to something different. We are having family pictures taken tomorrow, and then we plan on sending out a Christmas card using this promotion! Thanks Shutterfly!

We already have our cards picked out, so I won't be revealing them until they arrive in your mailbox. :)

(Click on the photos below for a link to the Shutterfly website!)

The card below is a Christmas photo card (5 X 7).









The card below is a Christmas invitation. So fun!








The card below is a Holiday card. A sweet family we know sent out a similar card a few days before Thanksgiving. It was SO fun to get a holiday card early!!!










Thursday, November 25, 2010

Benton Update: 6 Months

Holy Moly. Our sweet baby is half of a year old. Six months old! It is so hard to believe that he has been with us for six whole months, but at the same time it feels like he has been a part of our little family forever.


Some facts from Benton's sixth month of life:
-Wearing 6-12 month clothes. He is wearing 12-18 month jeans.
-Mainly wearing cloth diapers with no snaps! In disposables, he is wearing a size 3 diaper.
-Eating 4 times per day for about 10 minutes! We were in the process of dropping a feeding during his last update, and he has done really well with the new routine. When it is convenient, he has a bottle with 8 ounces. He has also been eating 2 tablespoons of solids with one meal per day. We think he is about ready to eat solids for two meals per day!
-He is quite the little sleeper! He goes down at about 7:30pm and we wake him up at 7am. He is also taking 3 naps per day.
-The eat/play/sleep routine has worked out so well for Benton. He thrives on the routine and loves it!


Random things we don't want to forget:
-We have teeth! Benton has been teething for a couple of months, so we were really excited to see his bottom 2 teeth pop through earlier this month. He also has one tooth slowly coming in on the top.
-After his evening feeding, we have been giving him a sippy cup (with a little bit of water) to play with. At first he chewed on the handles or threw it off his high chair tray, but now he is starting to understand what to do with it. So cute!
-He has a passion for jumping...in your lap, in the jumper, anywhere.
-Benton is such a content and laid-back little guy, and I'm not sure he has much motivation to roll over. He is seriously happy just staring at his toy that is out of reach, instead of rolling over to get it. The only time he rolls is when he is in bed at night. :)
-He has added a few new foods to his pallet. He is eating avocados, green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, pears, bananas, and plums. He has tried oatmeal and rice cereal, but is much more interested in the fruit and vegetables, so we have only given the oatmeal and rice cereal to him a couple of times.
-Last night, when we were putting to bed and reminiscing about the past 6 months, he spit out his pacifier and gave us kisses. So sweet. He knew his mommy was a little bit sentimental.
-He has always been very interested in books, but he has loved trying to help turn the pages and he is definitely starting to pay attention to the pictures.
-One of his favorite things to do is the airplane. He gives us HUGE smiles and lots of "ahhhs" and screams.
-He has started some of the beginning motions of crawling. When he is on his belly, he kicks his legs and slaps the ground. Also, in the last few days, he has begun putting his legs underneath him and lifting himself off the ground with his arms.

Benton, thank you for the most wonderful 6 months. You are an incredible blessing to us, and we are so very grateful!!!

Thankful

What a wonderful year this has been. Today, we celebrate Thanksgiving with family, along with the six month birthday of our sweet baby Benton! Six months!!!! It's hard to believe that this time last year (see here) we were revealing our pregnancy to family and friends, and now we have a precious six month old.

Enjoy this day, and make sure to take some time to count your blessings! We are grateful for all of you. Happy Thanksgiving!!!