We're Baaaaack!

Hello Again! I'm sure you thought we fell off the planet. We sort of did for a while. And since it's been almost exactly a year since I last posted I am not going to do a catch up post. WAY to overwhelming. We'll just start with where we are in life and introduce you (finally!) to Benson David Taylor who was born December 10, 2012. 
I've been writing my sister who is in the MTC (headed soon to the Philippines) and keeping her updated on our life. So this time I am going to post part of my letters to her on here because I have been telling her what the boys have been doing lately. And I will be doing a picture overload as well. These are pics of both boys over the past year. Well Benson's are more like over the past 6 months.

Casen has started saying really funny things. I mean he always says funny things but lately he’s said a few good ones. A couple weeks ago he woke up and we had this convo:

C: my dream made me feel sick

Me: what kind of sick do you feel?

C: Um, roast beef

Me: ?

He got dressed before preschool and I was helping him zip up his jacket

C: I look genus (said like genius but without the yuh sound)

Me: you look genius?

C: yeah. I look genus.

And this last one is a convo between Aaron and casen one morning when Aaron was trying to teach Casen something about grammar. See how that went:

C: is me going to preschool today?

A: no, am i going to preschool today

C: no

A: no, you're supposed to say "Am I" going to preschool today, not "is me"

C: is me going to preschool today?

A: no say am i

C: is me going to preschool...

A: no, it's am i, not is me

C: but i can't say that.

A: yes you can. say am i

C: am i

A: going to preschool today

C: going to preschool today

A: now say it all together: am i going to preschool today

C: is me going to preschool today

It was so funny to just sit back and listen to this. I was laughing so hard. He totally didn’t get it. Anyway, Casen is LOVING preschool. And I am LOVING that he has preschool. It is really one of the greatest things for both of us right now. He gets to go and learn and do activities and channel his energy and learn to share and play with other kids in a controlled environment and I get a three hour break and get to go home and catch up on cleaning my house, take a nap, get housecleaning done that I never get done or cook meals to have throughout the week. Or just sit and stare at the wall in silence. J It really is SO nice to have an extra 3 hours a day to use without my kids (Benson usually naps at this time). It’s also a recharge for me so I can be ready to spend all the time with Casen that he needs after preschool.
Here are some random photos of casen over the past...year or so.

Benson had his first haircut a few weeks ago. His hair was just SO long and would hang down over his ears and look awkward in front so we gave him a shave! It was nearly as short as Casen’s. I was a little worried at first, wondering what it would look like but I love it now. He is so cute (of course) and you can see his face really well now and all of his hair is the same length and because he’s still got the baby face it doesn’t look so weird for him to have a buzzed head. It’s only crazy different for us because we know he had hair before. So that was fun.

Before:

After:

OMGOSH he is SO cute. I am SO in love with this little guy! He has crawled a few times. Like twice he has done 2 crawls and then he gets down on his tummy and scoots, well more like swims around. He LOVES cords and is drawn to them wherever they are. I can never keep all of them away from him. He’s starting to understand when I tell him no and sometimes he listens. He also has started this thing where he will scream, like really loud…very loud, whenever he wants something and he isn’t getting it right away. This usually happens with food. I’m trying to teach him to sign “more” but I have a feeling that he will be screaming until he learns to talk and tell us that he needs more. Ugh.

He also likes to pull himself up on our coffee table. He’s still not strong enough to do this so he usually pulls himself up enough that his mouth is even with the edge of the table and then he loses his balance and smashes his face into the table. This happens daily. A lot daily. Poor kid. And he’s very offended when this happens and looks at me like, how could you do that to me? I know it’s super sad but it’s one of my most favorite things because it’s so hilarious that he even thinks I've done something and his offended cry is so cute and funny. Let’s be clear: I do not do anything to him to draw out this offended cry. He does it to himself. I just let him learn by experiencing it and it’s a little funny for me along the way. (you know, just in case anyone reads this and thinks I hurt my child for fun.)

And he’s so happy in the morning. I love going in to see him in the morning first thing because he always smiles really big and is super happy and cuddly. I LOVE It. 

here's some more random pics of him:

so that's about it for now! Life is good, we've had a lot of changes over the past year that I might write about another time if I get the motivation. 

Peace out home scout!