Monday, March 31, 2008

Long time, no post

We've been very busy since I last posted. Bentley and I were in Arkansas for 2 weeks. Two weeks is just enough time to visit everyone a couple times and eat at the places I've missed (Daylight Donuts, Miguels, Sonic, Homey Hearth, etc.). We were constantly going, which we are not used to. This was Bentley's second plane trip and he did fantastic again. On all but one plane we had an empty seat next to us so we could spread out a little bit. I didn't take very many pictures while we were there, but here are a few.

Bentley with his cousins, Abbie and Simon. Simon didn't want to pose for pictures.
He was getting really cranky because I had to keep waking him up to get him in and out of the carseat so I just carried the whole carseat into the house. I was telling a girl I used to work with about it and she brought her infant carrier for us to borrow. I am now very thankful we have the carrier at home. He almost always fall asleep in the car.

I taught him how to "give sugars." Here he is giving very slobbery sugars to his Aunt Erin.

He was trying so hard to roll over, but his arm was always in the way. The night we got home I laid him on the floor and he just flipped right over. Now every time I lay him on his back, over he goes. At first he would roll back over to his back (he started belly to back rolling at 2 months), but now it's like he forgot how. He doesn't really like being on his tummy for very long so he just gets mad.

First sippy cup experience: I put a little bit of milk in his sippy cup so he could practice with it. He did really well. I was surprised that he even held it.


Paul graduated from his second class today. He will start his third and final class at the end of May and he will graduate at the end of September. Hopefully then we will get to move. If he does get stationed here, we will be putting in for a change of residence. I don't like to complain, especially about something that we aren't having to pay for, but our house is soooo small. It's a long story, but we ended up with a two bedroom instead of three. There is a major size difference in the living space. Paul "cleaned" while I was gone, but really what he did was take all of Bentley's stuff up into his room. So of course I had to bring it all back down when we got home so we're cluttered again. It's going to be a real challenge to babyproof this place. I should probably start working on that.

McCollough Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Genealogy tree - Dynasty

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

New Toys

Over the last several weeks Bentley has become more interested in toys. It is so fun to see his excitement over everything. He's not totally coordinated and can't always move his arms the way he wants to, but he tries to put everything in his mouth. Here are some pictures of him with his new toys.

Reading a book in the bumbo. He really likes to sit up and be able to look around.



Trying to eat his stuffed duck.



In the jumperoo. He's starting to get the hang of it and kick off more. As you can see in the background of this picture, our living room is TINY and it has been completely taken over by baby things.



A little help from some board games since his feet can't reach the ground.



Jumping is very tiring.


And his favorite toy of all... his feet. He is constantly pulling his socks off.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

About Us

Since we are out in California now, I thought it would be good to have a place for our family and friends to come and get updated on our lives.

We are out here in 29 Palms, CA in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Paul is currently in school in the Marine Corps. Don't ask me what is job is going to be because I can't ever remember what it is called. It's something to do with electronic systems. I moved out here to be with him when I was 36 weeks pregnant. Bentley was born on November 10, 2007.


In 29 Palms there is pretty much nothing to do. We can get most of what we need on the base, but the closest big city is about an hour and half away. We recently discovered the Joshua Tree National Park. We have been going for walks there and will probably do some camping this spring. There are these strange looking trees called Joshua Trees. I wonder if these would grow in Arkansas.




Bentley now weighs 13 lbs. 3 oz. and is 24 1/2 in. long. He is growing so fast and learning new things every day. Here are some old and new photos of him.

About a week before he was born:

A couple weeks old:

Napping with daddy, about 6 weeks old.




2 months old:
3 months old:

The other day: