Dear Bently,

I have so much to catch up on and no time to do it! So sorry in advanced if I skim a little!

First off, Christmas!! Christmas was crazy this year due to the fact that we moved to Vernal on the 5th of December. I felt like everything was rush rush rush because that's how it was. Rush to move, rush to unpack, rush to set up Christmas, just rush. That made it hard but honestly it was a very incredibly happy Christmas. Except for the fact Liv and I were sick! ;) Christmas morning you woke up at your normal time and were pretty content just to sit and play with the tablet. That was going very well till I started asking you what presents you think you got! Ops! Then all you wanted to do was go down stairs and open them! Livvy decided not to wake up till almost nine! That was crazy. When we finally got down stairs, well, you were adorable! You could literally just feel the magic of Christmas pouring out of you! The look on wonderment in your eyes had my heart melting! After inspecting all the presents you proudly exclaimed, "Let's open them!" Haha! You were okay doing stockings first and I think you got a ton of things you wanted! You did ask Santa for Jake and the Neverland Pirate figurines. It's one of your new favorite shows. We bought them for you and then Christmas Eve you informed us you wanted 4 guys not 3. You wanted the 3 main chractars and the bird. Ops. Too late. So when you opened it you asked where the bird was! Haha! We sorta just moved on. ;) You weren't too heart broken and still love your Jake toys! :) The highlight of Christmas is we got you and Livvy a play kitchen. Now we had this in the box in the family covered by blankets for a week. For your credit, you did really good not peaking. But it didn't last and you did get a slight look. So when we brought it down you eagerly exclaimed, "A kitchen!" It was adorable to watch you squeal in delight! You sure do love making us food. You'll tell us if it's a hot food or a cold food. If it's hot I have to blow on it and if it's a cold food I have to make a funny face after swallowing! ;) You also will randomly bring me silverware and insist I cut the food. To be told I love it! I'll play kitchen with you anytime! You never really grow up, you just get taller! :)

New Years Eve we went back to Davis county and spent it at Aunt Shawna's house! That was so much fun! You fell asleep in the car on the way down so you were not tired at all. So guess who stayed up with us till the new year? I don't think you got what was going on but you were eager to tell us "Happy New Year" and dance around! You then stayed up till 2 in the morning because you don't like sleeping in new places. The next day we spent seeing Grandma Kay Lynn and Granpa Paul and Grandma and Grandpa Hodson. We got our presents from them and you are a little too good at presents now and kept asking for more. I guess I need to teach you about gratitude before next year! :) All your Grandparents were exstatic to see you and I must admit, so was I. It made me a little home sick for the first time! We had a blast hanging out with everyone!

Driving back to Shawna's you fell asleep in the car but you made sure to tell us in your half asleep voice, "When I wake up I'm going to play with Kara!" You guys were best buddies this trip and were never apart from each other!

We were also able to see Gradma Curtis and Aunt Courtney, Brittney, Bryson, and Brynnlee, and the Hyers. It was a busy trip full of driving around and visiting everyone we could. We still missed some but it was fun! I told your Dad we can't go back for a couple months because it was exhausting! ;)

So today, 1/5/2014 was your first day in Primary! Now you were not prepared. I kept telling you there was no more nursery but you didn't quite understand. When I found your class and took you in, you suddenly grabbed onto my neck and wouldn't let go. You just sat there with your head buried. I tried to point out your best friend Riley (a girl from nursery, not your cousin) was there but that didn't really help. I didn't know what to do. I did not expect this reaction because you are usually such a brave child. Luckily I convinced you to sit in your seat next to Riley and you seemed okay so I left. I listened in at the door at one point and heard you eagerly exclaiming your desire to help so I guess you got over it fast! When I picked you up from Primary I asked how you liked it and the first thing you said was, "There was no sack or toys!" Haha! Nope there isn't. Then you told me next week your going to nursery. I think everyone wishes they could go to nursery! :)

I can't even describe how old you seem! I mean I have a kid in Primary! It's crazy to think about, but it's also so exciting to watch you grow up!

You do this thing were you sometimes will avoid crying. I can tell you want to cry  but you stop yourself. I always tell you it's okay to cry but you admittedly exclaim "no!" It's cute and sad! I hate watching you try and hold off the tears! You don't have to be big yet! Your only 3! You can always cry to me!

My new favorite thing you do is you will answer questions so adorably. I will say "Bently do you love me?" and you say after a long pause, "Uhhhh sure." Or "I guess so". You say these answers with the most interesting face. You talk out of the side of your mouth. It's crazy adorable. It makes me laugh super hard. Especially when I ask that question because in my opinion that should be a resounding yes! ;)

You talking out the side of your mouth!

There was something else I wanted to say but I can't remember it for the life of me! I love you my big primary kid! :)

Love,
Mom

Dear Bently,

We moved! We are living in Vernal now, thus the hiatus in my letters! And the very best thing about moving, I'm a stay at home mom! I'm so super excited and have been loving being home with you cuties! On to the letter. 

So I fee weird starting this way but you have become much more independent in the bathroom! You can now basically do pee all by yourself! It's been super fantastic actually. You really don't like doing things yourself and avoid it if we'll do it for you. So it was a pretty big surprise where one day I caught you going potty by yourself! It made me wonder how long you've been doing it for. :) 

You've done pretty good with the move. You'll sometimes ask to go to grandmas or grandpas house and you ask about preschool but the translation has been smooth overall. I keep asking if you like the old house or new house better and you keep saying the old house. I guess we'll see if that opinion ever changes! 

So I try really hard to not let you see me cry, but sometime it happens. It's happened twice recently. Probably because I'm overly emotional with the stress of moving. Anyways the first time I was crying because I lost my wallet with a lot of cash in it. You were so sweet. You kept telling Livvy not to talk because mommy lost her wallet. You kept telling me not to be sad. The second time I was hiding in my closet so you wouldn't see me crying. Apparently you noticed and told dad mom sad. I go hug her. You immediately came up stairs calling my name and told me not to be sad giving me lots of hugs and kisses. I can't even tell how grateful I was to have you to cheer me up. You made my mommy heart just melt into a puddle! 

Last night dad was working so it was just me putting you to bed. It you asked me to lay next to you. I decided to enjoy the moment and I did. We giggled and talked and cuddled and you gave me tons of hugs and kisses!!! I love that you give me tons of hugs and kisses. I cherish moments like that one! It was so incredibly perfect I found myself tearing up just holding you and cuddling you and thinking of how fast you're growing up! 

We decorated the Christmas tree! You loved it of course! You did pretty good at putting the ornaments on actually. And enjoyed telling us all about them! The only problem is you still love the ornaments and often take them off though you have been told not to. I think it's mostly because of olivia. She is a bad influence on you. I don't think you quite understand that she is held to different rules than you. Last night you guys knocked the Christmas tree over! I can't say if it was you or liv but I believe it was a team effort. You mostly just thought it was hilarious! 

So I don't know if I've mentioned this before but you refuse to let anyone else have your favorite things as theres. For example your favorite color is green and so is dads. Whenever dad says his favorite color is green and adamantly exclaim "No! Your favorite color is blue!" You both have many arguements about this fact. Well it turns out giraffes are your favorite animal and they are mine too. So whenever I tell you giraffes are my favorite animal you always say, "No mom, your favorite animal is hippos!" It is hilarious to try and argue the point. But I don't mind too much because you are so adorable and I love you having favorites. When we went to the zoo you exclaimed, "Oh giraffes that my favorite animal!" You exclaim this every time you see green or giraffes or animal mechanicals, ect. It's pretty dang adorable. I love how excited you get over things now. 

Speaking of things you love all the Christmas lights. My favorite part is you have started adding L's into random words. So Christmas lights is chilstmas lights. Or today you said "plenguins" I don't know why you do it but it's adorable. :)

Alright this letter has become much longer than I expected. I love you my adorable little guy! I can't wait to celebrate Christmas with you!

Love,

Mom

Dear Bently,

I may have down played your sleeping issues. You just hate going to sleep! In face you tell us all the time, "I don't like bedtime!" I really think you are just scared! The neighbors make quite a bit of noise and you are always yelling "What's that noise!" When I tell you, "Oh it's just the neighbors." You say "I don't like the neighbors!" Haha! It's been frustrating and tiring! Then last night your Aunt Janaye was over and suggested I play you some music. To be honest, I thought there was no way that would help. You are very particular about how things are suppose to be done. But I went in and told you I was going to play you some sleep music. I turned on some relaxation station on Pandora and left. You were out like a light in 5 minutes tops! I'm hoping this could solve some of our problems! :) I'll let you know!

So we're moving in less than two weeks! I haven't mentioned it because I was waiting for Daddy to get the all clear on his shoulder injury and he did today! I'm excited for this new adventure and I am extra excited to be able to be a stay at home Mommy for the first time ever! Well excited and a little scared! But I know it'll be great! My biggest worry with moving is you actually. I don't know how you're going to handle it! I try and talk it up all the time but you mostly tell me you don't want a new house and your too little! I know the change is going to be hard and I just hope you adjust quickly. I hope you realize as your Mom I worry about you all the time! I don't think that'll ever change! So forgive me if you find me too controlling, I'm probably just trying to protect you!

Love,
Mom

Dear Bently,

Yesterday 11/12/2014 was a pretty big day in your book! You had your very first dentist appointment! The day before and the day after we tried to talk it up as much as possible! I don't think you were very convinced because you kept telling us, "No dentist! That later!" "I'm too busy to go to the dentist!" Hahaha! But when it came down to it you went to the dentist willingly! I'm not going to lie I was a little nervous about how you would react! You used to be such an easy going child but now, being afraid of everything has made your reactions harder to predict. But you climbed up without hardly any hesitation into that big chair. I could tell you were nervous but you didn't struggle. They laid you back and your Dad and I could both tell you were nervous so we cheered, a lot! Haha! The dentist even remarked that you have a great cheering section! What can we say, we're supportive! :) They were able to brush your teeth and count them (you have 20) and the doctor said everything looks great! :) The best part is you got a toy at the end! You had a hard time understanding you just got one! You kept trying to pick multiple toys! :) I can't believe you are old enough to go to the dentist! And I am one proud momma of my brave little man! :) I love you Bently!

Love,
Mom

Dear Bently,

As a parent I am experiencing many things for the first time. Lately the thing that has me most intrigued is how your relationship with your children changes. You always love them! I love you now matter what! But as you've gotten older, and able to express yourself more, I feel closer to you in a different way than I do Livvy! You can tell me what your thinking and feeling. You tell me you love me all the time! It's actually my favorite thing you do! You randomly just say "I love you Mom!" You also love giving me hugs and kisses! To be honest it can be a little tiresome. You always choose to give me hugs and kisses at the most inconvenient times! When I'm really busy or trying to do something you go, "I need a hug and a kiss!" It's adorable and I've made it my new goal to appreciate these times! I know it won't always be cool to hug and kiss your mom! Sorry I got a rant! The point is our relationship now, I feel so close to you! I honestly feel like we have such a special relationship and I treasure it with all of my soul! :) I hope you always feel as close to me as I do you! :)

 

On a side note, the other night you were having an extremely hard time going to sleep. I think it has something to do with all the fears you currently have! After fighting you to go to bed for quite some time I just laid down next to you and to my surprise you fell asleep rather quickly. The best part was you took your little arm and wrapped it around my neck. Every time I tried to leave you just grasped me tighter. I loved every second of it and ended up falling asleep next to you!

 

I love you handsome boy! Thank you for being my very best friend!

 

Love,
Mom

 

p.s. Here are some selfies we took together this morning! You crack me up kid!

 

 

Dear Bently,

I forgot to mention one of the funny things that happened while we were trick or treating! We got to the house and Bently loved to knock! Livvy near the end got in on the knocking too! ;) Well Bently knocked and the door swung open. I guess it hadn't been shut all the way to begin with Bently and Olivia began to just walk inside there house! We're like "No no stop! Come back!" Hahaha! We pulled you out just as the owner of the home came walking up to the door! It was a little awkward to be standing there with their door wide open! Haha! Luckily it was someone we kinda knew! It was hilarious! You two are going to be partners in crime! I can see it already!

Love,
Mom

Dear Bently,

We have had the busiest couple days trying to fit in as many Halloween things as possible! It all started on the 29th when we went to "Pumpkin Palooza". Now I found this from a flyer and we decided to try it. Let me tell you, I was pretty disappointed. It was basically a bunch of business trying to sell you things. There was little to no Halloween activities let alone activities for preschoolers. But we did do the blow up toys. We paid a dollar to get in and then were informed that only gave us 10 minutes. Even though that was lame, it was worth it to watch you have so much fun! You seriously were laughing and jumping and singing with the music they had playing! I had a blast just watching you! :)

You also met Minnie and Mickey Mouse! We happened to be right there when they came out so we didn't have to wait in line at all. I was very curious to see how you would react. You are in a fears stage and are afraid of most everything! But to my surprise you gave them hugs and high fives and told them hello! It was adorable! :)

After that we went trick or treating to all the different businesses booths. It was a good intro to trick or treating and we came out with a fair amount of candy! :)

On the 30th you had your Halloween preschool program! Now you have been looking forward to this program for a very long time. Basically all month. You would ask us almost every night before you went to sleep if you got to be Spiderman at preschool the next day. :) Finally the day had arrived. You were on cloud nine getting into your spidey suit! You were shooting webs and talking up a storm! You were so stinking adorable in your program! I was worried you wouldn't sing loud because you tend to get stage fright! But nope, you and Brynnlee were the loudest singers in the whole group! You had a smile on your face the whole time and tried to do every single action! Of course your Mommy got a little choked up watching you preform. You just seemed so grown up singing all those songs with the other kids. I was so proud of you! :) At the very end when you had sang all your songs you yelled out with the biggest grin on your face "Let's do that again!" That's my boy!

We also finally got pumpkins on the 30th. We just went to the little fruit stand down the road and picked some out. I had no idea they would be so expensive! 24 dollars later we walked out with our pumpkins! Again, worth it because you loved walking around the pumpkin patch! Every pumpkin you wanted was either huge or ugly or rotten. You were not very good at picking out pumpkins! ;) We went home and decided to let you paint on the pumpkins instead of trying to carve them. You loved it! In hind sight I wish I wouldn't have given you black paint, it took over the whole pumpkin! But you were sure proud of your pumpkin! :) And you took such care to paint your pumpkin. It's funny beining a parent,. All these activities that weren't very fun for me, I LOVED because you had a blast. Your happiness is everything to me! Your happiness is more important than mine. I hope you realize I would do almost anything to give you joy! ;) (Excluding buying you every single toy in the store!)

Then it was finally Halloween! Again you had been asking us all week if it was Halloween and yet and then, it was! We had orange waffles (I died them) for breakfast. You of course didn't eat hardly any of it! Valerie invited us to go to her works trick or treat. They had all the desks in this huge office building supplied with candy and goodies! I didn't know what to expect but off we went! :) Well let me tell you, we probably walked out with 3 lbs of candy or more! Everyone told you to take multiple and there were so many desks to go to! We seriously could have not gone trick or treating that night because we already had more than enough! :) I thoroughly enjoyed watching you say thank you and trick or treat to everyone. You again got lots of good practice.

I spent the rest of the time getting ready for dinner. What started out as a small simple family dinner exploded into quite the event! We had Sue and Ron Hyer, Grandma Kay Lynn and Grandpa Paul, Grandma and Grandpa Hodson, Annie and Scott Dickey, and Melissa Hyer all over for dinner! Let me tell you, it was fun and stressful all at once! I think it's just a miracle it all came together as well as it did! :) You had a blast playing with your grandparents! You ended up feeding Papa Ron for a second! I guess you really wanted to play on his phone but he told you he needed to be done eating first! So you began to feed him! Telling him to swallow and asking him if his mouth was full! It was pretty cute! Melissa got you dress in your Halloween outfit and of course everyone gushed over how cute you looked! :) You were so excited to be Spiderman! OH and I would like to mention Janaye and Aunt Stacey and Uncle Jesse also came to dinner, just later! So I ended up feeding 15 people! Crazy!

I had a goal to get a really cute, really good family picture of us in our costumes! Last year we didn't end up with a picture I liked and I was so disappointed! So I was pretty dang determined. The lighting was perfect and we had someone to take our picture so we didn't even have to use a tripod. But alas, you and Livvy did not want to take a picture! Livvy was tired and you were running literally in circles through the backyard. I think you were pretending to be Spiderman which was cute but not what I was wanting. So we didn't really get a single good picture. I am thinking on my days off coming up I am going to convince your Dad to dress up again and go take a good picture in the leaves some where. We'll see if we have anytime for that! And and then you fell asleep in the car! Like zonked out! Hahaha! Luckily it was a rejuvenating cat nap because you woke up in a great mood!

Then we loaded up in the car and were off to go see Grandma Curtis who of course oohed and ahhed over our cute costumes and took tons of awkward pictures! ;) Then we went trick or treating joined by Stacey, Jesse, Janaye, and Courtney! We had so much fun! You and Livvy got so into it! And you were such a great big brother helping Livvy and making sure she got candy! You ran around and fell multiple times! (You are a little klutzy) And again we walked away with so much candy! You insisted on holding your candy bag even when you could barley lift it! It was pretty adorable.

Then it was time to go home and go to bed. I think you had a fantastic Halloween! I know I did! ;) Today you woke up and asked if we were going to go trick or treating tonight! I told you know and you responded with your typical "Later?" It was hard to explain to you that you have to wait another year before Halloween to come again! I can't believe you'll be 4 next Halloween! Time is going by too fast handsome! :) I love you so much! I work so hard to make sure you have fantastic holidays! :)

Love,
Mom