Three weeks old!

Honestly, the past three weeks seem like a blur to me (Amie). It could be lack of sleep or the fact that Rebecca has established herself as the diva of the family expecting to be held all hours of the day and insisting that midnight to 2 am is her playtime.

We're all determined to spoil her and give her anything she wants...of course.

Happy 3 weeks old, Rebecca!

The Girls

I had to post this photo of our two girls.

Can you tell they're already friends?

Welcome to the family Rebecca!

I've successfully avoided updating our blog for over a year and a half. While much has happened in the last year or so, nothing can compare with the excitement of our new little arrival, Rebecca. We are all so in love with her! At birth she weighed 6 pounds 4 ounces and was about 19 inches long. Can you believe we have six kids! We can't!! Born December 28th, she arrived just in time to miss Christmas (I appreciated that) and was able to celebrate the turn of a new decade! ...and contribute a little to our 2009 Child Tax Credit.

Because of the flu scare, the hospital didn't allow children into the hospital rooms and around the babies, so the night Rebecca was born all the kids came to the window of the hospital nursery to see Rebecca.

Here's Breanna...gushing with excitement that she finally has her sister!

It snowed heavily for two days after Rebecca was born. Not everyone gets "Welcome Home Rebecca" painted in the snow with pink food coloring!

At two weeks old, Rebecca has adjusted well to the noise and chaos of a family of 8. She sleeps best when the house is rumbling with excitement, but not so well when it's dark and quiet.

...Amie yawning...

Photo taken around 2:30 pm today. Rebecca laying on the couch with brothers and sister running around the room.

Side note: Samuel just came and sat on my lap. After smelling him I said, "Sammy are you a little stinky?" He responded, "No, I'm big stinky." Oh, the joys of having two in diapers! Better run...

New Pics of the Kids

We're heading off to a baseball game but I wanted to post these pictures really quickly. I'll write more later.

Ear to Ear!!

I'm so thrilled that I caught this picture of Samuel's new smile last night at Christian's baseball game. Samuel is starting to sport this grin a lot lately but with babies you never know how long it's going to last! I love it! Isn't he such a cutie!!

The gummy grin also reveals the fact that although approaching nine months, Samuel still is toothless! We're just waiting for those first little pearly whites to break through.

Trouble with a capital "T"!

We are officially in trouble! Samuel has become an aggressive and enthusiastic crawler. That coupled with the fact that he has an intense drive to put anything and everything in his mouth has created havoc in the Bennett household. Check out the photo below for an illustration of what can happen when Mom turns her back for more than about 10 seconds! Thank goodness we have the experience and foresight to know to purchase only non-toxic Crayola markers!!! Still...the guilt of having allowed this to happen!

In my opinion the black beard really makes his blue eyes pop! Don't you agree??

Fun trip to the Temple

Yesterday we made the trek to Oakland for our monthly visit to the Temple. The Temple is about 70 miles away from where we live and requires a little bit of planning to accomplish for our young family. Usually, we are able to find a classroom at the stake center that sits adjacent to the Temple and Eric and I swap babysitting while the other attends a session. One unexpected blessing from this lengthy endeavor has been that our whole family is experiencing Temple attendance. The kids are more aware of the sacrifice and blessings than I think I ever was while growing up. We try to talk with them and teach them what we can while driving back and forth. While there we often visit the Visitor's Center or walk the Temple grounds. It's turned out to be a great thing for our family.....though we wouldn't be opposed to living closer to a Temple one day.

I shot this video of the kids playing in the classroom last night. It's a little lopsided in attention to Samuel...but so goes life these days.

Just Gushing with Talent!

Friday night was the culmination of several weeks of work for Andrew. He sparkled and shined at the Crossroads Elementary Talent Show! This was not just any talent show...I've been amazed at the seriousness of this production!

The experience began back in January when Andrew brought home a slip of paper announcing his audition time. Up to that point I had been oblivious to the fact that there was anything this exciting happening at the school. We arrived for auditions the following Monday night and I squirmed with nervousness as Andrew performed his piano piece for a panel of 6 judges. We were thrilled to learn later that week that Andrew had been selected from a bunch of auditioners to perform in the talent show at the end of February.

Then came the rehersals!

Dress rehersal after dress rehersal ensued bringing us several late nights in the school auditorium which added to our already hectic schedule. Every time Andrew performed his piece with style and grace and amazed me at his bravery in front of a large audience.

Finally, came the performance Friday night. The auditorium was packed with an audience who helped to raise over $600 for the school Accelerated Reader program. (Insert cheer here from Amie who is the head of the PTA - AR committee.)

All the acts were great, entertaining, exciting, etc. !!! But, we all have to vote that Andrew was the best! Here's a video of his outstanding performance:



http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2058909298955664747 - A link because I can't figure out why it isn't working here.

Seems that the siblings are the harshest critics. Here are their funny responses to Andrew's performance:



Link to the video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=257516098189431477&hl=en

Good job Andrew! We're very proud of you!!!

Video of Samuel Crawling

Samuel is getting faster and more confident with his crawling. We've tried to film him crawling a few times but he just sits up and smiles at the camera when it's on. Finally....a video:



Looks like the video isn't working. You can see it here:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2924271882156856113

Backing into a corner?

Samuel has recently become an amazingly fast backwards crawler. This week he figured out how to back himself up to a sitting position and is very proud of himself. His forward crawling is a little slow, but in reverse he's like lightning. Unfortunately, unlike Mom...he doesn't have eyes on the back of his head. So, he usually ends up stuck in a corner.

But.....characteristically, he's happy about that too.

Pinewood Derby - Bennett Domination!

After a less-than-perfect showing at the annual cub scout Pinewood Derby last year, the Bennett family turned the tables a few weeks ago and showed up with three amazingly fast cars!

(Partial, if not a majority, of the credit for the repeated victories needs to go to Amie for her innovative wheel filing and grinding design that caught a lot of attention the night of the race.)

The cars were beautifully cut by Eric and decorated with original paint designs and artwork by the boys. Christian, our only official cub scout, ended up winning all but one of the races he competed in. Andrew and Jacob, our underage racers, were graciously allowed to compete with their cars. They each won every race in which they weren't competing with each other. The night brought sweet victory after last years dismal 20-something place finish. (Truthfully, Eric was the only one who agonized last years defeat.)

Being gracious winners and optomistic losers are skills that still need fine tuning in the Bennett household. It was a fun night filled with cheers and cries of victory that carried even throughout the ride home.

Here are a couple of videos showing the amazing finishes and the obnoxious celebrations:

Six Month Samuel

On January 9th Samuel turned 6 months old! My how the time has flown! It's always so amazing to watch the growth and development a baby makes in the first six months!! Here are a couple of pictures of Samuel's most impressive talents to date:

Talent #1: This first talent is probably his most frequently (literally daily) displayed. We've been joking lately that someone needs to invent a crack plug for this little guy. This talent was developed early and through much practice has been more than mastered.

Talent #2: More recently, Samuel has started grabbing things. Anything within his reach is at risk. His favorite thing to grab is food off everyone's plates, the plates, and the tablecloths. He's a disaster at the dinner table. I love this picture because it shows that even in his sleep, he's practicing this talent.

Talent #3: Smiling! We are all in love with Samuel's smile. He is an easy and generous smiler and we love it!

Talent #4: Playing the piano? Actually, no....Mozart doesn't live here. (Although Christian is sure Samuel will start composing something soon.) This picture shows Samuel's newest talent which is rocking back and forth on his hands and knees. Next step: crawling. We're crossing our fingers that he'll take his time. As soon as he starts to crawl all the legos, K'nex, marbles, and thousands of other small toys will be closely watched. (It's not easy to babyproof a house with four older kids around.) Wish us luck!

Talent #5: Rolling over. Samuel never really learned how to roll over months ago when he should have. I think that's partly due to the fact that whenever he made a peep someone ran to him to hold him and play with him. Now, as his independence emerges, he is anxious to get up and join the masses and believes that rolling over is going to get him there.

Talent #6: Overall cuteness! Enough said.

NBA Hopefuls?

Saturday was a fun basketball day for the Bennett family. We've joined a pretty competitive basketball league this year and the boys are learning a lot and developing into great players. On Saturday I stood in the middle of the gym as Christian's team played on one court and Andrew and Jacob's team played on the other. Eric was coaching the younger boys so it was a busy juggling act for me to keep Breanna and Samuel under control, manage snacks for Christian's team, cheer loudly for three boys and one amazingly handsome coach, and try to take some video.....all at 7:30 am!!! Yikes!

I'm attaching some of the photos taken during their games.....

Well, actually they were taken on the trampoline later Saturday afternoon....but it gives you a good idea of how they looked in the games. Right?

Rainy Soggy Day

The month of December was a crazy, busy, wonderful, festive month for the Bennett family. We had so much fun and we now have some great pictures that we will hopefully get around to adding to our blog soon.

I'm posting these pictures taken this afternoon at the basin that is around the corner from our house. A few months ago when we had some of our family here to visit they asked what the huge basins at all the parks are for. I explained that when it rains here it pours and that the basins are actually used to collect all the rain in order to prevent flooding of the homes in the neighborhood. They seemed reluctant to believe that we could actually accumulate that much water. Well....here's proof! This is the amount of rain that fell in just over an hour this afternoon.

Our back patio started flooding during the rain and we had water at our back door so I had to run out and find the drains in the grass to unplug them. Thank goodness my vanity is in check. I sacrificed my hair and makeup for our house. I'd say that deserves some praise! Ha ha!