In which I lack adequate photos

Happy {day after} Memorial Day! Did you enjoy the holiday? We sure did.

Matt has to work most holidays, but he requested yesterday off. Woohoo! We started our day with a walk to the park with some friends. Unfortunately, we were having so much fun that I forgot to take pictures. Lets just say that it looked something like this:

but 2 months later, warmer clothes and another family with us. You'll have to use your imagination.

Bennett is really into the rock-scooper-seat-thing that they have. Now that we're over putting rocks in our mouth it's a lot of fun. He loves to sit on our laps and try to work the handles to move the rocks. He could do it for hours!

Then we headed to Des Moines for the afternoon/evening. I dropped Matt of to do a bit lot of disc golfing with some friends and then Bennett and I went to Matt's parents. We were already late for Bennett's nap at this point. Once we got to Grandma, Papa & The Aunt's house all hope of a nap had pretty much faded. Bennett loves to be at their house. He sees their trampoline and he can hardly contain himself. I tried to let him play for a while and then lay him down for a nap, but he was having none of it. Soooo, after a whole lot of crying, we decided to skip the nap yesterday.

We had an awesome supper with our families. My parents and brother came over as well. I'm pretty sure that Bennett ate half his weight in baked beans and grapes. He loves to eat (when it's something he likes)! Again, no pictures. Don't worry, I'll get with this picture thing eventually.

We're still recovering from the lack of nap and late night last night. Bennett got up in the middle of the night for the first time in a month or so last night and tried to refuse his nap again today. not. happening. In fact, I think I'm going to go lay down as well. Rested mama = better mama.

Hopefully we can spend some time outside this afternoon without feeling like I'm dying. Can you die from seasonal allergies? I'm pretty sure it's possible. Maybe we'll have to make a trip to the pool soon, that should help.

Red

Do you see this adorable boy with crazy hair? Crazy red hair. My mom has red hair but neither my brother nor I inherited that trait from her. My whole life I've heard my mom say, "I didn't get red-headed kids, so I expect red-headed grandkids." To which I always responded, "I'll try to work on that for you." Well what do you know, we got one on our very first try!

Bennett with his Grammy at Christmas.

I'm kind of a nerd about all this and figured out that my parents had a 50% chance to have red headed children since my mom actually has red hair. Matt and I have a 25% chance of each of our children having red since neither of us do and we both carry the gene. It is actually caused by a genetic mutation, which is why it also effects so many other things like skin tone. And that, my friends, is your science lesson for today.

I love Bennett's red hair. It's so unique and pretty. Can I say that my son's hair is pretty? Because it is. It's hard to get a good photo of just how red his hair is. People who see his pictures on Facebook then see him in person and always comment about how they didn't know he was a redhead.

We cannot go into a store or out in public at all without hearing whispers as people walk by, "Look at that boy's red hair!" or frequently getting stopped so that people can comment to me about it and admire it. Maybe it's because my mom has red hair, but I never realized that it was that much of an oddity. Apparently, only about 2% of Americans are "gingers". I really don't mind the comments, well at least not most of the comments, but it really does make a difference in how long it takes us to get any shopping done. So much so that if I need to get in and out of a store quickly, I've learned to put a hat on him. Which may or may not be why he has so many hats. He seriously has had more than 10 hats over his 14 months of life.

What's that? You don't believe me? Here's a little bit of proof...

Need more? 



And that's just a sampling! Okay, he probably just has so many hats because I love to knit and my mom loves to crochet...and because he looks so darn cute in them!

Anyway, back to his hair. Even though along with his beautiful hair and fair skin comes a little inconvenience, a greater resistance to anesthesia, an increased likelihood of sunburns, skin cancer and wrinkles, and is probably the reason that his first tear duct surgery failed (or at least that's what I'm blaming it on). I wouldn't change it for anything. In fact, I hope I have 3 more just like him.

Daddy's Boy

Bennett loves his daddy. When he was a newborn, Matt was pretty much the only one who could get him to sleep. Well, he would fall asleep if I nursed him, but other than that...Matt was basically it. He had a certain way of holding Bennett and rock/bouncing him until he fell asleep that no one else could mimic. This was incredibly a little bit frustrating for me at times.


4-month-old Bennett snuggling in with Daddy to go to sleep at a family picnic.

Bennett has always liked being with Matt, but until recently, he hadn't shown much preference between Matt and I. I mean, unless it was time to eat...then he wanted me. We've been done breastfeeding for 2 months now and suddenly, he wants his daddy all. the. time.

I've been going to a Bible study at our church on Tuesday mornings when Matt is home from work. This past week, I gave both of my boys a kiss as I was getting ready to leave. When I told Bennett "bye-bye" his eyes got huge and he quickly looked at Matt as if to say, "Really, Daddy? Just you and me?!" Matt said, "Yep, it's that one day a week where the morning is just you & me, Bud." and Bennett immediately started dancing.

One morning recently, Matt let me sleep in (because he's wonderful like that). He got Bennett dressed and they headed out to pick some things up from WalMart. It was only after they returned that I discovered Bennett dressed in a flannel shirt only halfway buttoned, khaki pants that were a size too big and no socks or shoes. But does he look like he could be any happier? Nope, he got to spend time with his dad.

I love all the attention that Matt's been getting from Bennett lately, don't get me wrong. It's just so heartbreaking when Matt has to leave and Bennett is so upset. Matt has to work most weekends so we're all looking forward to Memorial Day tomorrow equaling a whole day with Daddy!

Taking the Plunge

I've been an avid mommy blog reader for a while now. It all started with Mandey. You see, I'm also an avid Baby Center Birth Board lurker (and occasional poster). My little boy was born the same month as Mandey's adorable twins and I saw the link to her blog in the profile of a comment she made once. It only took one read and I was hooked. Soon I discovered Top Baby Blogs and the rest of the mommy blogging community. I constantly catch myself reflecting on things throughout my day thinking, "I could blog about that" and then realizing that I do not, in fact, have a blog. So, here I am to remedy this problem.

I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm Shannon. A 20-something stay-at-home mom to Bennett, who is 14-months-old, wife to Matt for almost 5 years. We live in smalltown, Iowa. Matt is the youth pastor at our church and also an assistant manager at a local grocery store. He is a fantastic husband and daddy. Life is good. Here is a recent picture of us taken at Easter at my grandparent's house.

Matt is easily 6' 3" and I am a whopping 5' 2". Yes, I am standing on my tippy toes to make it into the picture. Who hopes Bennett gets his daddy's height? Me, that's who.

Well, I guess we'll see if this blog ends up going anywhere. If anything, it will act as a great journal of sorts to look back on. Oh, and if anyone can give me some advice with that stinking header, I'd really appreciate it. I messed with it for over an hour to try to get it to fit right and couldn't figure it out.