My Little Over Achiever

Hallie rushed home from school the other day saying, "MOM! Guess what? Mrs. J said I'm like a first grader!" I was surprised and asked what she meant. Hallie then whipped out a worksheet she did at school that day where they had to circle the "Z" words. Hallie showed me the worksheet and said, "I followed the instructions but I wanted to sound out the words and write them too, even though Mrs. J didn't say to do that... I did, and Mrs. J said that's what 1st graders do!"

Bentley's Blessing Day

Since both Grandpa's were in town for the Thanksgiving week, we thought we'd bless Bentley too. Cameron gave Bentley a beautiful blessing. Bentley looked so handsome on his special day.

These were men that were in the blessing circle, both Grandpa's, Bishop Dew and Brother Cutler, the 1st counselor.

Turkey Day

We hosted Turkey Day this year and I would call it a success since Cameron walked away from the Turkey Bowl without any injuries. G&G Drake and Aunt Stacey came to our neck of the woods and Grandpa Voge joined us the day after Thanksgiving to ordain Cameron a high priest and help set him apart as second counselor in the bishopric.

G&G and Stace met Bentley for the first time.


Grandpa's dressed for the occasion wearing his "Number One Grandpa" shirt. I love this picture. Bentley's listening so intently to what Grandpa has to say.


Grandpa Voge meets Bentley for the first time too.



We took them to the Kirtland sites to see their Nativity exhibit...

and to see the Kirtland Temple.

One Month Old

Bentley's one month old (well six weeks old now since I'm a little behind in posting, but who's keeping track?) and he's topping the charts. He weighs 11.5 lbs. and is 24 inches long. So yes if you're keeping track, he's gained about 3 1/2 pounds in one month, that's my boy. His weight is in the 90% and height is in the 85% making him perfectly proportionate.

Things I don't want to forget:

• He's broken records on how much pee can come out of a human being. I can expect to change his diaper, clothes, and sheets about 2-3 times a night because he's peed through them ALL!
• He smiles in his sleep every time he's done eating. I love watching that.
• He's giggled, not just a "Ha" but actual giggling, in his sleep twice. What are you dreaming about?
• He cries really hard when he's hungry and fusses a little when he wants held, other than that, he's a pretty easy to please baby.
• He is a grunter while he sleeps, just like his Momma when I was a baby.
• He's cured Mommy of her chocolate cravings since he gets very fussy and gassy when I eat chocolate, as well as dairy and beans... bummer.
  
• He sleeps at night (THANKYOU!) for 4 hours, then is up for feedings every 3 hours afterwards. That is a heavenly compared to the nightmarish sleepers his sisters were.
• He loves listening to his sister's voices whether they're singing to him or talking to him.
• When Mommy enters the room, he follows my voice, yep, he's a Momma's boy :)
• Daddy is the only one who can put him to sleep initially at night. Daddy secretly looks forward to that quiet one-on-one time with him.
  

All in all he's a happy handsome dude.




Okay Mom, enough pictures.

I'm a "Church Widow" or So They Say

On Saturday I had decided to go back to church with Bentley, our first Sunday back, but told Cam I would just stay for sacrament meeting then come home. It sounded like a good plan to me, until we got a phone call on Saturday night from the Stake President asking us if we'd meet with him before church on Sunday. Nerves set in and we started speculating what calling Cameron was going to get: maybe it's just the finance clerk or a counselor in the stake young men's presidency or something small like that. Never would we have guessed that Cam would be called to be 2nd counselor in the Bishopric...crazy I know.

When the Stake President told us Cameron's new calling I immediately felt so proud of Cam for honoring his priesthood and being worthy of such a humbling calling then it set in deeper and deeper and I knew what this meant: I'm now a "church widow" since a lot of Cameron's time will be occupied with meetings and other church duties but the thing I fear the most is handling all three kids by myself in the pew each Sunday since Cameron has to sit on the stand. I thought, "I can do this, how hard can it be?" Well, Sydnee gave me a little glimpse yesterday of my very near future as she whined the entire sacrament meeting because Daddy had to sit up by the podium and not with her. I sat in sacrament meeting thinking, "All I wanted was to come to sacrament meeting and leave to finish recuperating from having a baby!" haha.

Since it was our first Sunday back at church with our now family of five, we took a quick family picture before church. Little did we know this picture would remind us of the day our families' lives changed for at least the next 3-5 years :) Yay for "church widows!"

And look how handsome Bentley looks on his first Sunday at church. Cam thinks his outfit makes him look like an old man :( I just love his chunkiness.

Loves From Grandma

It was so nice having Grandma here to help with the girls and Bentley. She made the adjustment and recovery much easier for me! The girls loved playing games, reading books, running errands, and just being silly with her. Grandma sent them on a couple of treasure hunts to find surprises she brought for them which the girls loved. They wore Grandma out, making her take a couple extra naps while she was here, but we love that she came to visit. We miss you already Grandma!

Happy Halloween

This Halloween was a special one because Grandma Voge was still in town to trick-or-treat with the girls. Hallie wanted Grandma to be a witch and the girls were princesses.


Little Bentley was Baby BoJangles and looked like the cutest skeleton I've ever seen.