Fun! Fun! Fun!

This past weekend was SO MUCH FUN!

Chad and I both had a 3 day weekend and we made sure to soak in every moment of it! 

...Boy did we!

On Saturday,  I did something kinda crazy...I chopped off my hair.  I was just over it, to be quite frank.  It grows at the rate of a snail and is so thin it breaks if someone even looks at it the wrong way.  I was just done!

The last time I really cut my hair was September of 2007 and the stupid mop was barely past my shoulders in an almost 5 year span!!!  So, I chopped it to show it who was boss!

On Sunday, we spent the day by the pool at Chad's grandparents house and played with all the baby's cousins and napped in lounge chairs.  It was so nice.  I absolutely am filled with such joy watching all the little kiddos play and laugh with each other.  Bennett is obsessed with his cousins and just wants to hug, kiss and tackle them whenever they are around.

The only downside is little Benny wanted nothing to do with any adults except for Mommy and Daddy.  Dare I say I think we are entering "that stage"?  I hope not...he's getting heavy!!

Finally, on Monday - we woke up and snuggled in bed watching Blue's Clues and Veggie Tales.  The mornings are officially my favorite time of the day!  Bennett always wakes up so smiley and happy, and we get him out of his room and he lounges in bed with us watching TV and crawling all over us.

I melt.

Later that day, we again spent the day at the pool then attended Bennett's very first Dodger game.  The wonderful Millard's joined in the fun and we set out to Dodger Stadium for a good time.

Bennett did so great and he was so excited every time the crowd cheered or clapped.  He was just so amazed and looked around the WHOLE time.  Of course we had to take a few times to walk around to give him a change of scenery, but soon and sure enough around Bennett's bed time, the little man passed out on my lap!  I was shocked!  Crowd noise and all, he was out like a light!

Bennett my dear, you are so great.  You make being a parent so easy and joyous.  Your first birthday is just around the corner and I cannot wait for all the fun adventures we have ahead of us.

Love you my little boy.

-Mommy

Crazy, Monkey Child

Who needs Honey Boo Boo Child, when you can have Crazy, Monkey Child...aka:

Bennett Brandon Anaya

 Happy Friday!-Catie

The Home Stretch

Well folks...we're rounding third.  Huffing and Puffing our way down the home stretch.  A few more weekends and we will be sliding into HOME!

...Literally!

Our crazy schedule of showers and weddings and this and that is starting to fizzle out.  Three more weeks then we can soak in summer, sleep in and and RELAX!

Boy do we need it!

This weekend is Memorial Day and Chad and I are soooooo incredibly excited for a few reasons:

1. The long weekend...(squeal!)

2. Pool days - We've recently started teaching Bennett to swim.  Chad mentioned one of the mom's at Bennett's day care was telling him they are teaching their daughter who is younger than Bennett to swim.  Intrigued, Chad asked how they do it and she bluntly said, "You just drop them in."... WHAT?!?!  Well, obviously she didn't mean just throw your kid in the pool, but instinctively babies just know to hold their breaths and wiggle up to the surface.  Last weekend, Chad and I decided to give it a try.  I was particularly very nervous, because lately Bennett has been really sketchy about baths.  I've been finding myself climbing in with him every time now or else he cries, looks terrified, or tries to stand up and jump out.  But it's odd...the pool he loves? 

Any way, we got Benny all lotioned up and set out for the pool on Sunday. We held him in the water and splashed and played then decided to try the whole swimming thing.  I put my hands under Bennett's belly as if he was floating on a raft and sure enough the little guy threw his face/head into the water without even flinching.  I was so shocked and he came up for air, soaked with water with the biggest "Did you see mom? Did you see??" smile on his face! 

Silly boy!

After that, we kept trying and eventually began letting go and would let Bennett doggy paddle for a few seconds.  He loved it!

It just blows my mind how instinctive babies are.  Smart little cookies if I do say so myself!

3. ...and the best reason yet!!!  We're taking Bennett to his very first Dodger game!  (photos to come of course!)

I cannot say enough how much I hope today and tomorrow fly by, so until then, here's some baby cuteness to get you through the rest of the week!

My little angel, so peaceful in Church.

Rockin' Olympic diapers while watching the office...the best!!



Remote stealer!

xoxo,

Momma Anaya

10+ Months

This post is a little late considering you turned 10 months old over a week ago my love...but sheesh, Mommy is barely finding time to keep up with you these days.

Bennett my heart, I cannot believe we are closing in on your first birthday.  It really does choke me up thinking about it.  You're a full on walking and talking little person now (walking with a toy or assistance and baby talking of course).  How did we get here so quickly?

I vividly remember our first days together.  So crazy and chaotic, tiring and scary.  But everytime I looked at your tiny 5 pound self, I found such peace.  You were perfect then, and perfect now.

I know I say it all the time, but every morning I'm reminded of my purpose in life...to be your Mommy.  I hear you in your crib, standing up shouting your heart out.  I tiredly stumble into your room and am greeted with a jumping, smiling baby squealing with such delight.  You sure know how to sober a sleepy mommy up.

Also, your Daddy and I cannot stop gushing at just how incredibly CUTE you are.  You are so silly and joyous and definitely a little weird, but we love you through and through...ALL OF YOU.

Clearly you like keeping us on our toes, my little adventurous boy.  Falling into the cracks of beds and pulling heavy coffee cans out to play the drums (look out Zac Hanson).  But trust me Benny boy, I wouldn't have it any other way.

I adore your curiosity and fearlessness...but please for the love of God, practice caution my love.  You sure like giving Mommy some near heart attacks as well.

...but of course, it's really, really hard to get mad and actually STAY mad at a face like this.

Love you to the moon and back my son!

Happy 10 months Benny.

-Mommy

Mother's Day

On Sunday I was lucky enough to be able to celebrate my very first Mother's Day.  It really was a Mother's "Weekend" thanks to my wonderful husband and baby.

After it all, I told Chad how different Mother's Day felt actually being a Mom, rather than celebrating for my Mom.  Don't get me wrong, I loved seeing my own Mom and letting her know how much I adore her, but it was so nice to have my own day to feel appreciated and loved by my husband and son.  Especially since our life seems pretty out of control as of late.

Last Mother's Day I was 7 1/2 months pregnant with Bennett and as much as Chad and others tried to get me to celebrate it, I just didn't feel like a mommy yet.  Benny wasn't here and I wasn't yet learning the ever-changing ropes of being a Mom.

The week leading up to Mother's Day, as I had mentioned, Chad was out of town.  But he kept asking me what I wanted to do.  Being so exhausted and overworked from my week alone with Bennett, I just kept saying "I want to do nothing...literally nothing!"

If you know me at all...you know that without a shadow of a doubt, I'm a full fledged homebody.  I love being at home, because truthfully, I never feel like I am and I crave waking up and snuggling in bed with my baby and husband, knowing I have the whole day ahead of me, with NOTHING to do. 

...Something I don't think I've EVER experienced.

So with my "nothing" response, Chad mentioned he'd discuss it with Bennett and they would take care of the specifics.

...loved that by the way.

On Saturday morning, Bennett woke up around 6:00 and I brought him into our room as we snuggled in bed watching Blue's Clues til about 7:00.  That morning I went with my good friend to her wedding dress fitting while Chad gladly stayed home with Benny, trying to make up for the whole week he was away from him.  I got home around 1:00 and came home to a pristine clean (I'm talking vacuumed, scrubbed, windexed clean) home.

If you've ever read or are familiar with the book The Five Love Languages, my love language is most definitely "Acts of Kindness"...I enjoy doing nice things and going out of my way for other people and reciprocally, I love when people do the same for me.  I adore when someone takes it upon them self to help me out or lighten my load, because we all know, I'm that person who thinks I can do EVERYTHING.

My heart exploded and my cheeks were torn from side to side with a smile as big as could be.  It truly is the little things that get me.  I'm not big on receiving gifts, and Chad knows that. So it was just utterly perfect that this was his "gift to me".

I thanked him times a million as he began listing everything he cleaned.  I stopped him in his tracks letting him know, "I noticed everything"...because I truly did.  I saw that he bleached the bathrooms and I saw that he vacuumed and sorted our normally messy dining room table.  I noticed and absorbed it all.

Later that day, I made a Target run for groceries and random items.  Chad normally does our grocery shopping for the most part, but he had asked me to do it today.  Not thinking anything of it, I agreed and came home to lit candles and the perfet little card from Chad and Bennett waiting for me when I walked in.

What made me melt the most what that Chad had went through my craft box and made a card out of my own supplies!!  How fricken cute is that?  I'd prefer this over a Hallmark card ANY DAY!

The card was so sweet and told me that on Sunday, I got to pick between the movies or a day at the park for my Mother's Day present.

...he knows me so well.

I chose the movies since Chad and I rarely get to go out anymore and my Mom and Dad came over to watch Bennett while we headed to the Arclight.  We saw The Hunger Games and although I had already seen it...I wanted to see it again and that was that!  Ha.

Without a doubt, the weekend from my husband and baby could not have been any better.  I thank my stars and thank God daily for them.

xoxo,
Mommy

Cuteness Squared.

One thing I love about Benny is how incredibly independent he is.  He hardly likes to be held and is seriously the fastest crawler around I think.  He is just that baby...ALWAYS ON THE GO!  I absolutely adore how he finds endless entertainment with his toys...or a shoe, or a paper bag, etc. (Yes...he'll play with ANYTHING.  Non-toys are usually his favorites like my phone or the TV remote or our wireless router to name a few!)

This weekend I was lucky enough to find time to just sit and watch my little man play.  I could have done it for hours to be quite honest.  The joy and laughter that come out of this little person is just so utterly consuming.  I felt such peace watching him and cherished the abiliy to bask in the moment of a baby being simply that...a baby.

Enjoy!

Daddy.

This past week I semi experienced what it would be like to live the life of a single mom. 

O.
M.
G.

...those that are...GOD BLESS YOU! (but more on that later).

Chad had to leave directly after Bennett's baptism for four days of work in San Luis Obispo.  My mom thankfully agreed to stay the nights with me since I needed help with someone dropping Benny off at daycare in the morning.

This was the longest that Chad had ever been away from little Benny and all week before he left, he just kept saying, "I don't want to leave! I'm going to miss him!"  I don't blame him though, I hardly can stomach being away from Bennett for a few hours...let alone a few days.

We made some skype and tango attempts, but Chad's signal in the hotel made it really difficult to hear or even really communicate, so we resorted to good ol' speaker phone for Bennett to chit chat with his Dad.

So sweet.

Okay, so rewind.  Single parents...you literally are my heros!

As I've mentioned countless times, Bennett is SO easy...its like scary.  He hardly fusses or cries unless he clearly needs something and he's such a spunky little spark plug, you can set him down with some toys and he'll be entertained crawling around and laughing for a good while.

But doing it ALL yourself...not matter how EASY they are.

It's ROUGH!

Here's how the past few days at the Anaya abode played out:

5:30 am - Mommy wakes up, drinks coffee & gets ready for work
6:00 am - Benny Bear is awake shouting "Mommy come get me!!" (but in baby talk of course)
6:15 am - Bennett has his morning bottle
6:30 am - Time to pack and dress Benny for daycare (food, diapers, extra clothes, etc)
6:45 am - Mommy leaves for work (Mammies thankfully has been taking Bennett to daycare around 7:30 since Daddy has been out of town)
7:30 am - 4:30 pm: WORK
5:30 pm - Pick up Benny boy from daycare
6:00 pm - Get home, make and feed Bennett Dinner
6:30 pm - Clean up the massacre that WAS Benny's dinner (Cleaning = carpet, Bennett, high chair, etc takes SOOO long.  I swear, he gets food into cracks and places I didn't even know existed.)
7:00 pm - Bennett's Bath
7:30 pm - Jammies and getting ready for bed
7:45 pm - Bennett gets his nighttime bottle
8:00 pm - BED

...I'm not sure if you noticed, but in that list, there is never a break.  No time to sit, eat, even pee if I wanted to.  A few nights I realized around 9:00 pm that I hadn't even eaten dinner yet.

Let's just say...I WAS BEAT!

Chad came home last night around 6:30 pm.  He didn't know what time he would be home and I'm glad he didn't either, because he walked in as Bennett and I were playing on the floor and surprised both of us...in SUCH a good way!

Bennett saw his dad and literally squealed with delight.  He jumped out of my arms and b-lined it to Chad who could hardly put his stuff down before Bennett was at his feet trying to climb him like a tree.

My heart almost couldnt handle it.

...needless to say, we had a very happy baby the whole rest of the night!!

Yay for Daddy being home!!!

-Mommy Anaya

Bennett's Baptism

On Sunday, our sweet little boy was baptized.  This really has been something Chad and I have been eagerly awaiting since Bennett has been born.  But with scheduling conflicts and baptism classes, we were FINALLY able to offer our little man and promise him to God.

I cannot begin to stress how much my heart leaps watching Bennett in church.  It almost could explode out of my chest if it really wanted to. He absolutely LOVES worship and sings, reaches out, and claps the whole time.  I wish there were words to describe how incredibly happy it makes me.  There really aren't any.

We had a handful of family and friends join us and Bennett did great in front of everyone - only a little leery about water being poured on his head.  I handed him off to Pastor Care and he gave me that "what's happening Mom?!?!" look, but didn't cry and baby talked the whole time we prayed for him.  I couldn't help but chuckle.

Thank you everyone who came and celebrated Benny's special day...and now a little recap:

Similing at God Momma Liz...he's pretty much obsessed with her.

Thumb chewed the whole time...he's really classy.

Water from the River Jordan.

God Father Trevor.



Thank you Great Aunt Maryann for all the photos!!!

xoxo,

The Anaya's

Sister's Big Day

Last Saturday, April 28th, my sister Amber got MARRIED!!!

Although the day was SOOOO much fun and SOOOO incredibly beautiful...I unfortunately cannot say the events leading up to the wedding were the same.

I had worked a 1/2 day on Thursday and picked Bennett up early from daycare.  We got home and I gave him a bottle and tried putting him down for his afternoon nap.

...wasn't happening.

I tried for a good hour to rock him, lay with him, even let him cry in his crib but he just WOULD NOT go down.  If you know Bennett at all, he's literally the easiest baby.  You can easily give him a bottle or lie him down and he will knock out.

Frustrated, I threw in the towel and said, "Fine, early bedtime tonight!"

I put Bennett down early that night and he slept like a rock from 7:00 pm to 6:30 am.  I was so glad he got a full nights rest and I woke him up expecting a happy cheerful baby.

...wrong again.

We had snot rockets, coughing, sneezing, crying, fussing...you name it, we had it. 

Not today! 
Why today!

I spent the whole day trying to nurse Bennett to good health, seeing as we had an evening and a full day of wedding stuff ahead of us.  But the poor little guy was so sicky :(.

Bennett and I went to the rehearsal, being the Matron of Honor and ring bearer, but sadly had to miss the rehearsal dinner because Bennett was just feeling so crummy.  That night, Chad and I stayed at my parents and put Bennett down for bed, hoping more rest would do him some good.

Let's just say that night was THEE worst night we've ever experienced with Bennett since he's been born.  Yes, worse than when he was a wee little newborn waking up every hour and a 1/2.  Yes, worse than that!

He was up every hour coughing his brains out, snotting all over the place, crying, kicking, screaming...the whole shebang.  I did two...yes, TWO steamy showers that night and Chad did one breathing treatment and ended up sleeping on the recliner downstairs with Benny on his chest since keeping him upright was the only way he seemed content.

The morning of the wedding, Bennett seemed better.  I wish I could say the same for Chad and I.  We had had zero sleep and a FULL day of wedding activities ahead of us...

..we were toast!

As tired as I was, the day seemed to fly by with ease and my sleepy head was just much too busy and preoccupied to even realize I was literally running on fumes.

Benny boy made the cutest little ring bearer and I fought back tears pulling him down the aisle.  He has such a joyous energy about him that it is just so hard to ignore it.  He smiled at everyone and looked so fancy in his little dress vest and tie. 

I melted.

Once we get the wonderful professional photos, I'll be sure to post those as well. But for now, here's a little peak of our day: