ringing in the new year!

So...it's been a awhile.

can you guess what one of my new year's resolutions is?

this will be a long post.
summing up the best of 213.
it'll be a long sum-up, so sit tight.

it's really crazy that this time last year bence was so small.

he was (literally) half the size he is now.

he was a ham even then.

 in march he was blessed....

 and met his cousin Peter,
(and lots of other family.)

 We had lots of snuggles with daddy.

and bence figured out how to roll over before he was three months!
he just kept getting bigger.

 and bigger. 

and bigger...

 and BIGGER!

While we were still in utah we had some great visits with our family out there.

Bence met another cousin, ruby!

 And he got some lovin' from great grandma. 

in July we flew out to visit our west coast family.

it was bence's first flight.

It was rough.

We'll leave it at that. 

But once we GOT there, bence was loved up by so many people, 

he didn't have time to get bored.

 He hung out with papa.

 and nana.
who fed him all sorts of yummy treats. 

(He wasn't as miserable as he looked.)

 he got to meet pappy and GG....

 and he hung out with poppo!

and we can't forget all the fun we had in nana and papa's pool.

 He didn't like the water at all....

can't you tell how miserable he is?

(he had the time of his life if you can't tell.)

While we were back, bence also learned how to crawl and walk.

basically one led to the other within a month.

crawling just wasn't fast enough!

we also got our family pictures taken.

 and we can't forget about this guy. 

we dropped him off at the MTC right before we left utah for good.

he's finally in brazil after waiting a good month or so for his visa.

we kept telling him he was going to be stuck in new hampshire for the duration.

we discovered bence's hatred of grass...

 we also went to a birthday party for one of those sweet cousins mentioned before.

Bence didn't notice ruby (the birthday girl) but he did notice the cupcakes.

this boy has turned out to be quite the eater.

for a baby that was early and so little at birth (5lbs 3 oz!)

he sure caught up fast. 

to be honest, he's a porker.

but we did eat lots of good food this year...

then came the moving crates....

we moved!

this was probably the biggest change we made in 2013.

we packed up all our stuff,

loaded it all into two of those crates,

and drove east.

for 2000 miles. 

Bence was a champ. 

He did a lot of this....

 and this....

 and this....

(i.e. tired pouty faces where he would stare me down until falling asleep.)

when we got back to Pennsylvania (this time for good!) we had some fun while the weather was nice.

we took bence to his first amusement park.

he was a little apprehensive.

henry and sawyer went to a couple ball games. 

 and then the amusement park again.

bence wasn't sure if he liked the rides or not.

 we also had a lot more visits with aunts and uncles and cousins.

"outta my way!"

 and we got to go to the beach in october.

 we drove down for a weekend and had a blast.

 papa lugged around B in the backpack.

i'm not sure who loved it more, 

bence or papa?

being carried around is harder than you think. 

 we also celebrated someone's first birthday!

 he had a good time....

and I think he liked the cake.

 and then it was halloween!

uncle cory titled this picture "darth taters."

it kind of stuck, even though he's eating apples.

 he was the cutest darth vader ever.

 in a reversal of roles, bence was my father for the trunk or treat.

Henry was wolverine. He did the beard and everything.

it was pretty awesome.

he looked like a real lumberjack.

 once bence got the hang of walking 

(around ten months)

he started getting into everything...

..and he broke more than one of mommy's things.

we lost a wreath,

and a pretty ceramic bowl uncle cory made,

and one of mommy's necklaces.

but we love him anyway!

(this is why you can't have nice things, right?kids!)

 I went to the temple with my mom over a weekend in november.

 we were bad parents and let bence eat a foot long twizler.

and we went to the park a few times.

 and once the weather cooled off and wasn't so hot and sticky,

bence and i started going on walks everyday.

 we learned how to bundle!

 and layer!

bence puts up such a fuss getting ready to go out.

he thrashes.

and screams.

and kicks his legs.

and throws a right little tantrum.

it's almost not worth the hassle to go outside.

but once we get out the front door,

he turns into a different baby.

he doesn't make a peep on our walks.

he's so observant and loves to look at everything; birds, trees, squirrels.

and when we put the stroller back in the shed,

and we walk up the staircase to our front door,

he writhes,

and pretends to be a limp noodle,

and does everything in his power to NOT go back inside. 

even if his little nose and cheeks are frozen.

 after thanksgiving henry and sawyer went hunting up at

poppo's cabin.

 they were lucky enough that they went the same weekend

we got this awesome storm.

i'm glad i didn't go.

unfortunately, it all melted before christmas.

but it was still awesome anyway.

 bence got to see santa for the first time.

he recently started crinkling his nose when he smiles.

he's not actually demonic.

bence knows how much i love putting up christmas decorations,

so everyday he would take the tree apart for me so 

i could redecorate.

he's so thoughtful. 

 he found the snow globe aunt pammy got him last year!

 When we went up to the coppersmith's on christmas eve, 

uncle cory was full of great stories.

 they held bence mesmerized.

at least for a minute.

 bence was also memsmerized by uncle cory's earings.

this boy loves jer-ly.

and then on christmas eve, santa came to visit!

(i.e. nana and papa!)

 and boy, did he spoil us.

(those gifts weren't all for bence, but he did 

have a disproportionate amount of presents 

compared to the rest of us.)

 this isn't the best picture.

but it was henry's big gift this year.

i made this huge map for him.

it's a map of budapest during a siege in 1684. 

henry lived in hungary for two years while serving a mission for our church,

so he loves all things hungarian.

it turned out so cool.

 anone else remember that cartoon, wayne-head?

 we also went to poppo's cabin the weekend after christmas.

 bence went sledding for the first time!

 he didn't quite get how to sit and hold himself upright

on a moving sled,

so we just laid him down and he just stayed there.

 daddy was pretty sweet and pulled us both around. 

 over christmas bence also learned how to climb. 

he can be a little stinker.

when i pull him down/off, he makes sure i know how mad he is.

i'm sure our neighbors know that he's mad too.

our new year's was pretty low key.

we're still of the mentality that we should be sleeping whenever bence sleeps.

so we were all in bed by ten.

it was so much better than staying up till midnight.

it's been a pretty good year.

we've seen a lot of changes,

and have a lot more coming,

but we're excited for the new year!

bring it 2014!

End of Summer

I feel like I always begin my blog posts with an excuse.

but this really has been the longest I've gone without blogging for about a year.

We have come to PA for Henry to interview,

gone back to Utah to pack,

driven back to PA for good (with a 10 month old!)

and finally gotten settled.

We have moved into a tiny little apartment in a tiny little town in Pennsylvania.

This town is so small, we literally only have one stoplight.

In the entire county!
(And it was only put in this year!)

We are getting used to driving 20-30 minutes to get anywhere.
or do anything.

Church is a good 40 minutes away-quite a difference from Bountiful, where we walked every sunday.

But we are acclimating!

Fall is here and we've embraced it with open-hearts.

(Let's face it-we are sick of the sticky heat of the east coast.)

Bence and I have gone on walks the last few mornings and relished in the crisp weather.

*disclaimer* we aren't REALLY Steelers fans....but we are fans of Nana's finds from Savers!

Bence loves to go outside, and is as quiet as a mouse while we patrol our neighborhood.

He is so observant...always watching and looking at everything around him.

Whenever we come inside after being out in the morning, he has a meltdown that usually lasts at least ten minutes.

He would stay out all day if he could.

I am so excited for fall!

We've made pumpkin muffins and pumpkin chocolate chip bread.

(sadly both those recipes were flops...)

But the pumpkin creamer we got for our hot chocolate is amazing!

Our apartment is small, but backs a forest.

I'm not even joking.

On google maps, you can scroll north of our building for over a hundred miles.

There's nothing but trees.

It is beautiful!

It also means I've seen some of the freakiest bugs known to man in the few short weeks we've been here.

Spiders with red legs,

giant praying mantises,

(Giant...as in the length of my foot!)

and hordes of stink bugs. They are gross.
Our landlord has also warned us repeatedly about bears.
No biggie; we've just been advised to be very aware of our surroundings before leaving the house.
Nothing to worry about at all!

but the trees have turned the most vivid and beautiful colors I've ever seen this time of year.

And before the trees turned, they were the most vibrant green I've ever witnessed.

I'm pretty sure everything out here is much more colorful than out west.

Back to the master of the house.

Bence will be a year old in just a week.

I can't believe it.

It seems like just yesterday he was this little peanut.

Now he's a giant Peanut!

He has such a big personality.

He still doesn't like to sleep,

but in the last week he's made vast improvements.

That may be because i've finally given up trying to rock him to sleep and i've started to let him cry it out a little.

He usually doesn't make it more than ten minutes before he crashes.

He also loves to eat.

(See above picture)

He's particularly fond of the following:

Spaghetti,

cheese,

MANDARIN ORANGES!

pears,

peaches,

green beans,
yogurt drops,

black beans,

eggs,

bread,

meatballs,

and most of all...

ICE CREAM!

He'll be your friend for life if you share your spoon.

He also really likes those weird canned sausage things for babies, but I can't stand the smell of them.
So we're never buying them again.

Bence is also very inquisitive.

He loves to play and touch everything.

Just yesterday he discovered the shelf where all our videos/DVDs/Blu-rays are stashed.

He likes to pick them up, look at the cover, and then throw them over his head as he reaches for the next.

He also loves his binky.

Those of you who follow me on instagram or facebook probably remember,

but as I was unpacking his toys, I found his binkys from the hospital.

He hasn't taken them since he was four months old, but I just threw them in with all his other toys.

He found one, and hasn't let it out of his sight since.

I have to admit....it is really nice to have him take a paci again.

Especially during church,

or at the supermarket...

anywhere where there's other people, really. 

It's hard to get action shots that aren't blurry!

Bence is very mobile now.

He started to walk here and there when he was about ten and a half months.

And boy, does he have it down now.

He's started to run.

Usually that ends up with him doing a face-plant, but he's pretty close to figuring it out.

When daddy comes home from work, Bence gets so excited his little legs move faster than he's capable of.

and Bence just LOVES it when henry gets home.

He jibbers away in baby-talk and squeals and screams in excitement.

It's pretty cute.

He's also figured out how to climb.
Last night while Henry and I were sitting on the floor in front of the couch.
Bence climbed on my legs,
and I thought he was trying to give me a hug.
Turns out he was only using me as a step ladder to get onto the couch.

He's had a cold the last couple days, so he's been a little clingy-er than usual,

but he is such a happy and friendly little man.

He will go to just about anyone.

(including the greeter at Sams Club)

which makes it really hard to be an overprotective mother.

How can I say I  don't feel comfortable with a complete stranger holding my only baby

when he leans out and holds his arms out to them?

Oh well, I guess Bence is just more Christlike than I am.

He is also turning into a little mountain goat.

At Nana's house last weekend....this may have happened....

He is turning into a real explorer. 

These are just some more pictures from our summer.

We did so much!

We visited with lots of family,

saw a ton a cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

Went to a few ball games,

ate lots of good food,

swam in Nana and Papa's pool,

went to some amusement parks,

and (obviously) took a lot of pictures of Bence. 

Goodbye summer, we had fun!

As I mentioned before, we are in the middle of packing for a cross country move.

I'm really not liking it. 

My whole house is torn apart. 

And I don't know where anything is.

But it's temporary! 

(At least I keep telling myself that.) 

Soon Henry and I will find our future abode in the lovely state of PA

And we'll be settled once more! 

In the meantime, I have a bunch of videos from the last few months or so that I've never posted. 

Some of them are super short (and somewhat silly) video clips.

I have a hard time deleting any videos of Bence.

So they may not all be winners.

But I know nana won't complain, so here's a bunch!