The Smallest Girl in the World

Jon and I recently came across this article about the smallest girl in the world. Her name is Jyoti Amge. She has a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia. (Thanks to Little People, Big World, I can pronounce that word.) She is 14 years old. She is 23 inches tall and weighs 11 pounds. Hummmmmmmm......... do those stats remind you of anyone???

Those were pretty much Bennett's exact stats at his 4 month check up. He has just recently passed her up in weight and height making this teenager smaller than my 5 month old. She says that she likes the attention. She is treated like a celebrity. Here is the entire article if you want to read it. I think she is about the cutest thing I have ever seen.

The Birds and The Bees

The other day I was watching Bennett playing with toys on the floor. I noticed that he was playing with one that had a lot of little creatures on it. As I looked closer I noticed that the toy was made up of birds and bees. My first reaction was to take it away from him so that it would not pollute his innocent little mind. What kind of a messed up toy maker chooses just birds and bees to decorate a toy with. Thanks China!
All this got me wondering........why do they call the birds and the bees talk, "The Birds and the Bees" Now, please don't explain to me what it is. I'm all current on that one. But if anyone knows why it is called that, it would really save me a lot of creative thinking. And creative thinking along this subject matter is rarely safe.

Too Funny Not To Share

While I spent Sunday School in the hall, trying to put Bennett to sleep, I was reminded of a hilarious story. A while ago Jon and I were asked to substitute in primary. Pretty much I teach while Jon sits with the kids and intimidates them to behave. Well, not really. It doesn't take them long to figure out the real Jon. We were teaching the 6-7 year olds. One of them was being particularly naughty. Eventually he asked if he could go to the bathroom. I was pleased to let him go, but also did not trust the little bugger to come back. So, I sent Jon with him. We were not sure of the bathroom protocol, but he was dancing all over, so there was no time to check. Shortly they returned. The boy looking satisfied and Jon looking..........well, I'm not really sure what to call it. Mad, embarrassed, disgusted, a combo of those. On our way to the car someone passed us and asked Jon, "Did you get that all worked out?" with a chuckle in his tone. I was a little nervous to hear the explanation for that when we got in the car. He told me that he sent the boy into the bathroom and waited in the hall. Shortly after he heard him yelling, "Brother Mayne, Brother Mayne" Jon tried to ignore him but he got increasingly louder. So Jon stepped in. Of course the bathroom was filled with a few other men and the boy was in a stall with the door wide open. Jon stayed right at the door, not willing to see what he needed help with. But, unfortunately for him, the boy made it known, very known. "Brother Mayne, I need you to wipe my bum" I wish I could have seen my poor husbands face. He kept telling the boy "NO, you can do it", and the boy kept asking him over and over, each time getting louder and louder. And of course, the laughs from the other men in the bathroom also got louder and louder. Since we were subbing, we had no idea who this child was, or where to find his parents. So, Jon told him he was going to wait for him in the hall. Eventually he met Jon in the hall and returned to class.

Now, I have never potty trained a child, but I really think that by the age of 6 (at least) they really should be able to finish the job. Poor Jon.

Recipe Blog

A friend and I have started a recipe blog. So, if you need to spice up your recipe box, you can check it out. Also, if you would like to post your recipes, just let me know and I can add you on. The more the merrier!

www.bunchofcooks.blogspot.com

Clarification

I guess I have a clarification to make. When I said they are going to test Bennett for a neglectful mother, I was totally joking. At least I hope I was. Like I said before, my mom works for my doctor and I have known the entire office staff for years. So hopefully I am in the clear from that suspicion. I am sure you all got my joke, but I would hate for even one person to take that serious. Y'all should know by now that I cannot be serious if my life depended on it, and I'm working on that. Being a grown up is no fun:(

Less Than 5%

A month has passed since we found out our Bennett is not growing at as fast of a rate that they would like to see. We were told to supplement formula and feed him at least 6 times a day. Monday I went back to the doctor to get him weighed to see if our efforts were helping. He weighed in at 12lb and 15oz. I was feeling pretty proud that he had gained over a pound. They pulled out the chart to see where he fell. I was shocked that he had dropped even farther down the chart. He is in the less than 5th percentile. So,they told us to start him on rice cereal and come back in another month. If he still hasn't climbed up on the charts they will test him for things like Failure to Thrive and A Neglectful Mother. It is natural for me to fear that they think it is my fault , but my mom works for his doctor so I am hoping that they believe that I am doing all that they tell me to and more.























Here he is trying cereal for the first few times. It did not go over very well. The poor little buddy was so confused. He has no idea what we expected him to do with a spoon. Each time we try it he gets better and better, but until he has it down we put it in his bottles too. He loves that!
















And here is the man of the hour sporting his new sunglasses. Yesterday it was the windiest day I have ever experienced since I have lived here. I thought I would try to counter out the bad weather by buying him some summer wear. I was sure it was a wasteful purchase because he would hate them. As you can see, I was so wrong. He likes them, and he even keeps them on. Now if only the sun would come out permanently so he could use them.

HE DID IT!

Bennett figured out how to roll over. He started doing it a about a month ago, but it has taken me this long to figure out how to put video's on here. It turns out it is really easy. I was procrastinating, because I assumed it would be more difficult for a computer dummy like me. Now I just have to figure out how to not talk while I film. There have been a number of video's I have wanted to post, but when I play them back I sound like a complete idiot. Not that this video is an exception, don't worry, I sound like a dork in this one too. I even say, " I feel bad". That is because every time we would do tummy time he would cry, like it was torture.
FROM THIS-














TO THIS-


This was his very first roll. How lucky am I that I got it on video!?! He is a pro at it now. He has even rolled over from his back to his front a few times. He still has to figure out how to turn that last arm around but other than that he has it down.

Vote Jon For President!

Congratulations to Jon. A few weeks ago he was elected republican vice-chair for precinct SR-1. I was waiting to post this until I knew what it was, but I still don't know. All I know is he is it.
When I first met Jon he made it clear what his plan was. Graduate, move to D.C. to do anything that they would let him, preferably a lobbyist or the president, he's not picky. This plan really excited me. I was even more intrigued when he took me there. I now know why he loves it so much.































Fast forward 4 years and here we are, still living in Utah, with a mortgage, a business, and a BaBy! I don't think Jon ever said, "When I grow up, I want to install Christmas lights", but it will do for now. Hopefully his new job as co-chair whatever will get him one step closer to that D.C. dream, and I am right be side him either way.

Birthdays, Baptisms and Blessings

We had a crazy weekend to say the least. It started early on Thursday with Jon's birthday and my birthday followed on Saturday. Sunday we blessed Bennett and that night we had a baptism for our nephew. So much went on that it was hard for us to stop and enjoy it.
We have taken a while to get Bennett blessed because we have been waiting for Jon's Dad to be be able to make it. He lives in California and was diagnosed with cancer just before Bennett was born. He was able to hold Bennett the day he was born and then he took of back to California to start treatments. This is the second time he has had cancer so the poor guy is a pro by now. The doctors said he responded much better to the treatments than they had expected. We will know on Friday if he is officially in remission but it is looking good.

Jon did a great job on the blessing. The pessimist in me was so afraid that Bennett would cry, spit up of get dropped. Ta-Da!! None of them happened. After the blessing Jon held him up for all to see. Bennett spit out his bink and his eyes open wide to look over the crowd. What a happy Mom I was when I heard the sigh of the congregation. I have never seen Jon more proud to show off his son.

After the blessing I was so relieved and relaxed to have that part over with.........serves me right. Bennett was being held by family behind us and they franticly handed him back. I would hand a baby back to if he was covered in what Bennett was. You guessed it, thick yellow goodness, was all over his stark white outfit. I hadn't even got pictures yet. :( Jon took him out to salvage the situation, but it was past the point of return. I just told him to take him home and I would get a ride home.
This was Bennett's outfit.

And here it is after he added his touch to it. I have it soaking in spray & wash and bleach in hopes that I can salvage it for some pictures.
Jon and I both have large families. We had the all over to our house after the blessing. It was nothing short of a miracle that we fit over 50 people in our house. I was expecting it to be a chaotic mess, but really it all went smoothly.

That evening our nephew Parker was baptized. It was one big Mayne family day.

We are good at making kids in our family. We are even missing some in this shot.
Parker looked pretty handsome in his suit. I was looking forward to getting a picture of the boys in their matching whites, but Parker is a little too old to match Bennett's white and yellow.

The whole weekend turned out so much better that I expected, but I am still glad to have it over with!!

3 month pictures

I get Bennett's pictures taken every 3 months. Now that he is over 4 months old we are finally getting his pictures back from last month. Seeing them now almost helps me forget what I night mare it was getting them.......but not quite.
When I had Bennett I left the hospital with 3 diapers bags full of promotional baby goods. If you have had a baby, you know what I am talking about. If you haven't pretty much it is full of formula, diapers, wipes etc. to try to entice you to buy their products in the future. Included was a coupon for a free package form a photographer. I have a favorite photographer that swore I would never cheat on but I figured I would give this one a try. If they didn't work out we would go back to my favorite. What do we have to lose?
That is a dangerous question. When we arrived at the address we found our selves in the Kmart parking lot. That should have been our first clue. We arrived 5 minutes early. All Mom's know how the world revolves around picture day. I had his outfit, nap, and feeding all scheduled at the perfect time to ensure the best mood possible. We checked in and the lady told us we would have to come back in a half hour. I tried to be optimistic and assume a half hour would be no big deal, which it wouldn't have been but we waited an hour and fifteen minutes. By that time Bennett was hungry, so we fed him and made her wait for us this time. When he was done eating he was tired and cranky, but the show must go on.............until he puked on his outfit. By default, he had a naked picture, and after an hour and a half we left with 2 pretty cute pictures. He looks a little washed out, but the real pictures are not this light. Although it would not be hard to believe since he has an albino Mother.

Clarification: For those who don't know me, I am not really an albino. I'm just pasty white. I can't tan, it goes from white to burn. There is no meeting in the middle. Lucky for Bennett he got his Dad's skin.