Cousins!!

Last week we decided that we needed to get out of town since we had a four day weekend, and William had some time off work. Next thing we knew we decided to head up to Oregon so we could spend some time with Williams brother, Chris and his sister, Autumn. The best part is that they only live a few houses from each other so we got to spend a lot of time with each other. We were lucky enough to stay with Autumn and her husband Grant and their two children, Logan and Addison. Autumns family had just finished completing their basement and what a wonderful treat it was for us to stay there. We had two whole bedrooms and our very own bathroom just for us!! It made it so easy since they live down the street from Chris, Stephanie and their children, Berklee, Mason, Marlee and Dawson. It was great that the kids were able to spend time with their cousins. They all played so well together. While in Grants Pass we played at many parks, jumped at the Urban Monkey, a trampoline place, had a campfire, rode tricycles, played in the mud and dirt and discovered the love of playing Mario brothers! My boys loved every minute of the time spent with family. We enjoyed the family dinners where we all ate together, 6 adults and 9 kids! Our boys played very hard every day and looked forward to the next day of being with their cousins.

This was taken on the way there.  We stopped for breakfast and Jeff enjoyed a few moments of freedom from his carseat!  He did so well on the trip.  We put him in the middle and had the boys on either side of him.  He loves riding this way since he always has someone to entertain him.  

This was taken Monday night, James, Jeff and I are missing since James had gotten sick earlier in the day.  It looks like they had a fun family home evening.

We had so much fun at the Urban Monkey.  I took this picture right before Will fell into the foam pit.  The Urban Monkey had us all sweaty and smiling.  We now can't wait to go to the trampoline place down the street from the base!!

This is taken at the end of Chris and Stephanie's driveway.  The boys loved that they could dig and splash things all in the same place.  When they were done everyone was covered in mud, but oh so happy!!

This is the last picture taken before we left.  All the cousins together!

On Tuesday night we roasted hot dogs on the fire pit and made smores for dessert.  I was very surprised by how little the kids cared about the fire.  When the cousins aren't around to distract them my boys are quite the pyros.

Addison entertaining Jeff while he jumped.  

Can you find James in the pit of foam?

Jeff turned six months old while we were in Oregon.  He loved his half birthday!

A day at the park.  We feed the birds some bread and played on the playground.  I loved that they had these old farm equipment for the kids to play on.  The boys thought it was so cool!

William got his workout in by wrestling with the kids.

The boys cousins loved being together and wrestling.  Here they are on the trampoline in Autumn's yard.  

Camping in the living room.

Last weekend we originally wanted to do something fun with the kids so we went and tried a new pizza place, which turned out to be awesome!! Yet during dinner we realized that we were all feeling yucky. So when we got home William he put up a tent in the living room and the boys camped out in it for the next two nights. When we had a movie night thy hung out in there and watched their movie. It was a fun way to spend a sick weekend.

Raspberries and toes!!

There are two things in this world that Jeff loves giving raspberries and his toes! In fact I've thought of making a book filled with Jeff giving raspberries in all of his favorite places like the car, the bath and his crib. He started to sit up on his own last week on Monday. Once he started sitting he realized he has toes!! They are these amazing things attached to his legs and he loves them! The sad part is that he really doesn't have much flexibility and so for him to get his toes is a huge accomplishment. He is always so proud when he grabs those toes! He is such a wonderful little baby and such a great addition to our family.

Pre-bath pictures

The baby is his happiest right before his bath. He truly loves to be naked. In the morning when he is getting changed into his clothes and bath time are some pretty great times in his day.i know I added a ton of photos that all look the same, but he has some of the cutest smiles and expressions in these photos!

Health scare

After I had Jeff I went back to the military health care system. When I was put back in they gave me a new doctor, whom drives me crazy by the way. The crazy doctor decided that my thyroid dosage was too high and dropped me to a dose way too low for me. He also had me get an echo of my heart, since being on a large dosage of thyroid can cause your heart muscles to thicken. Well back in November I went and had my Echo. It went wonderfully, or so I thought. In December I missed a phone call and it was the cardiology department calling to schedule an echo for me. I didn't call back since I had already had my echo. Then in the first few days in January I got a phone call from cardiology asking me to come in for an echo again. I politely told the woman on the phone that I had already had an echo and that she was confused. She apologized and hung up. Not even two minutes later she called me back explaining that the doctor had seen an anomaly while reviewing my previous echo and needed me to come back to do a special test called a pin hole/bubble test. It's to check to see if I have a hole in my heart! I think my heart stopped when she told me this. My mind began racing, how could I have a hole in my heart! Didn't sister Bowman die from a hole in her heart? What will I need to do to fix it? I sat there stunned and made the closest appointment I could January 31st. After I got off the phone i realized I forgot to ask if I could continue to exercise or if I needed to make any changes until I had the test. I called back and left a message, but never heard back from them, so I continued to exercise like nothing was wrong. It was hard the first few days since it was just looming in the back of my mind, but at the same time I knew that it was most likely a cautionary check. I very used to the military doctors not getting everything correct the first time around. This morning I went in and had the bubble test done. I am happy to report that none of the bubbles crossed over into the right chamber and I do not have a hole in my heart. I am hoping that my health scares are done for awhile. I have had enough in the last few months to last me a life time. I am though training for my first 5k. It is February 25th! I am running at least three days a week. I am running 3.2 miles in 45 minutes. I would really like to run it in 30! Wish me luck iny next journey!

The infamous bath towel pictures

We have taken a picture with each of the boys around 4 months old with this special towel. The towel has a car on its hood and it is now a piece of Bennett family tradition. We are thrilled to say we finally got some great pics of Jeff in the towel. Soon we will pick one and put it up on the wall. Once he's on the wall there is no returning him! Hahaha! We are thrilled with our littlest addition, we wouldn't return him even if we could!

Pictures of the older boys

James and Will are very busy every day. They are busy either playing with their friends or with each other. They are super into beyblades, which they don't have yet, so they are driving William and I nuts over, they also love ninjago, rugrats (the show), and their scooters. Will has lost two teeth and loves the tooth fairy, as she is helping h save money for the beyblades that he is so crazy for. James is getting better at writing his name and listening to his mommy. They are getting so big and so fun to play with. Here are some random pics of these sweeties and one of Jeff, who is always talking!