10 things I do when Ben is out of town on business

Ben has not been traveling as much as he used to. And when he does, his trips are 2-3 nights max so it is not that bad. If Boston is healthy I do just fine. But here are my top 10 things I normally do when Ben is out of town for a few days:

10. Workout. It breaks my day up.
9. Watch the TV I want, which includes all past shows recorded on the DVR. You know the old Oprahs I never got to.
8. Go to the mall. I pack up Boston and take back the shoes I decided against, or pick up that thing I need.
7. Tackle a project. Frequently I paint a room. One trip I decided to move our King size mattress. This was pure stupidity, but I got it back to normal that night so I could go to sleep.
6. Overschedule. It is a good time to meet for coffee....everyday of the week.
5. Put Boston to bed early. I am normally tuckered out by 7pm, so I figure he must be too.
4. Treat myself. Today Boston and I went to Jamba Juice. It was 90 degrees!
3. Catch up on work. It is a good time for me to organize my desk knowing that Ben will be home in a few days with another load for me to do.
2. Date nights with Boston. After dinner we do something special, like a video or dance.
1. Miss Ben. We can't wait for Daddy to come home tomorrow!

New Game, New Word

We still have our baby gate up. It is just a cheapy one so we take it down and put it up as we please. We put the gate up so that Boston will not go up stairs and I can roam the downstairs with no worries that he will barge in on Ben's upstairs office.

Well today Ben and Boston started a new game. Each team member gets a ball, Boston a beach ball and Ben a soccer ball and they kick the ball at the gate. And if you hit the gate, you make a goal. It is more like GOOOOOAAAALLLLL!! It is very exciting, which leads me into....

Boston's new words: Goal, Soap

Recent Photos

Thanks to Auntie Ally, I got a few recent photos of Boston. Here he is all geared up for summer!

New Words: Wassup! (Ben taught him this)

Happy Birthday Eli and Grace!

Last night we celebrated Elijah and Grace's birthday. Elijah turned 5 and Grace 3! Eli had an army party complete with a water balloon fight for the boys and Grace had a rainbow party with the girls. Grace got a baby guinea pig, who she named Rainbow. And Grace says she is "small and fuffy" (fluffy) I have attached a few of my personal favorite photos of these two gifts.

Eli: Continue to develop that tough, competitive heart. Your drive will serve you well and inspire others along the way.
Grace: Your joy and smile bring light to our lives. And girl, you got style!

Happy Birthday Eli and Grace! Love you always, Your Auntie Heather

It's For Sale!

Our house is officially up for sale. You know these things take lots of time. Last Friday it started with the photographer coming to take photos for the flyers and website. Then Saturday night it was listed in the RMLS. Then this Tuesday was the realtor open house. This is a preview for all realtors to walk through and chat with our realtor. Yesterday the sign came and is now in the front yard. And today we had our first showing. We all went out for Mexican food to get out of the way. The good news is following:

1. Surprisingly, I am not stressed at all! This is SO unlike me but I am embracing it.
2. Our yard looks fabulous and I get to enjoy it.
3. Our realtor brought a few "staging items" such as art and lamps and it looks really good. She said that people often buy her stuff and I can see why.
4. If I drag this out all summer, I could get a lot of dinners out while people walk through our house!

Boston's new words: Kick, Nigh Nigh, Apple

Braces Update

I had my monthly orthodontist appointment today and I would consider the following conversation with Dr Borgen good news :-)

Me: "Dr Borgen, not that I don't love having braces, but how long do people have them on for?"
Dr Borgen: "Well we normally say 18-24 months. But on your chart we thought 12-18months. And your lowers are looking really good, so I don't think you will even go to 18 months."
Me: "So I have had them for 7 months. Do you think about 5 more months?"
Dr Borgen: "Well next month we are going to put the final wire on the uppers. It will be stainless steel and be the last wire. So we will have a really good picture after that wire. Also, it is important that you keep the rubber band on as much as possible, because that will bring your jaw into alignment. The more you wear it the better"
Me: "I have been really good with the rubber band, wearing it every night." (Thought to myself: If there was a way to eat with my rubber band I would do it. That is how serious I am)
Dr Borgen: "See ya in 4-6 weeks."
Me: OK (Thought to myself: in exactly 4 weeks, no later)

More New Words

Over the weekend Boston just starting spitting out new words. He has a whole new vocab. I will try to remember all of them. So here goes.
Friday: Shoes, Socks, Juice
Saturday: Nana, Papa, Moon
Sunday: (No new words, took the day off)
Monday: Hoop (as in basketball hoop), Love you

Happy Mother's Day

Love you Mom.

Pre Mother's Day

Today I was jam packed busy. I had a list of things to get done and I knew not enough time. However, there were a few changes that came up that gave me the time to get a pedicure and manicure late this afternoon. They were both heavenly. So today at the Billups we celebrated Pre Mother's Day. I figured I might as well milk the new holiday and we went out for dinner and frozen yogurt. Lastly, tonight I will post one of MY favorite photos of me and Boston in the good old days. I am thinking of making Pre Mother's Day a yearly holiday :-)

Boston's new word: Wall

I forgot....

I forgot to mention Boston's new words for the day in my last post. His recent newbies are: Bubbles and Yep!

Auntie Ally

Last night Ben and I went on a date, a movie AND dinner. It was so great. But the best part of the night was we dropped Boston off with Aunt Ally and the boys, Ian and Gavin. They are beyond cute and super fun. Boston had a popsicle, fell in love with their big dog, Czar, and had all the strawberry milk in the house. When I told Boston it was time to go, he ran behind the couch and hid.

Here is Boston and Auntie Ally at his 1st birthday party this past summer.

Boston's New Words

I decided today to start a new section to my blog postings including Boston's new words of the day. I have been blown away by his increasing vocabulary and thought it would be good to share, but even better to journal. Boston already has a few handfuls of words that he uses, which include "hot, more, this, Daddy, Doug, dog, apple" and my two favorites "YUCK! and Momma."

But this week we had a HUGE breakthrough. He said "Please and Jesus!" I have hope that manners will one day prevail. I know the past 2 days he has added a few more words, but they have failed in comparison. Boston now follows his demanding "More!" with a polite "please" and when we pray for snacks and meals he says "Jesus."

Here is a photo of Boston when he was 10 months old. He is Ben's son and was born to talk!

Considering

In one of my earlier posts, I shared about some land that we bought. Well we have not decided to start building, so it is still the same pile of dirt and lots of trees. However, we are considering putting our house up for sale this summer or at least getting ready to. We are weighing our decision and trying to hash out different scenarios. We have asked a few different people, a realtor, someone that built a home before, our counselor, etc for advice. Here are some reasons to start now with putting our home up on the market:

1. It would be great to sell our home before we move and this would give us plenty of time.
2. If it took a year to sell, no biggie, we are in no rush because the new home won't be ready for at least a year.
3. We could have our profit now and contribute it to the building process.
4. Both Ben and I would like to take one step at a time, and not be cleaning up the house for a showing and ALSO trying to make decisions on the building process, seems ideal.
5. The yard looks great because we just had barkdust delivered :-)

Of coarse there are downsides which include if the house sells right away we could be in a transition crunch. We might have to consider renting an apartment for a few months or moving in with my dad. But we are starting to lean towards, we would rather make sure to sell our home and tough it out in a condo for a few months then have 2 homes or doing it all at once. So lots to consider in this process, and for now we are getting the house ready for open house some time this summer.