For lovers of Jane Austen

So, for those of you looking for a novel (and BBC mini series) that is similar to Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice--because let's face it ladies, you all are--then look no further. North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell. Its set in the British Industrial Era. It's amazing. I've been looking for a novel similar to Pride & Prejudice because I can only read it so many times and watch the many theatrical adaptations so many times before I need something a little different. I watched the BBC mini series of North & South and it's amazing! So, there is my suggestion for the day. Enjoy!

One month down

Can you believe January is almost over?! Holy cow! It's almost February. That's crazy. Anywho, not a lot to report today. Josh and I are giving talks tomorrow in church so we've been working on those today. I am going out with my friends for their birthdays tonight so that should be fun! We're going out to dinner and then to Second City (a comedy club where a lot of the actors go on to SNL and cool gigs like that). Fun times. Happy Saturday all.

Family

Well, my sister is officially in the MTC. She's going to be a fantastic missionary! All of my siblings came to town to be with her before she left, and it just so happened to be in time for Benson's birthday party! It was perfect! It has been 4 1/2 years since all the sibling were all in one place (we've all seen each other just not at the same time), and it had been almost 12 years since we had all been together in Batavia. Crazy!

I was told if I put these pictures on Facebook I would be in trouble...so I have put them on my blog instead :) haha!

Part of the whole Blonquist clan. Kerry (Aaron's wife) and their 4 kids couldn't be there, and Marilee (Andru's wife) and their 3 kids couldn't come. So just imagine 9 more people there:)

Sunday

Queen B and her girls

Sistas

Toto with her bros

Siblings

How we really feel about each other :)

Family (minus Benson because he was sleeping)

Papa B with his boys

Benson's grandparents. It was great having Gary and Cathy here for Benson's 1st birthday and his party! Thank you so much for coming!!! Miss you!

Hair cut!

Well, As you can tell from this first picture...Benson needed a hair cut. His hair is always in his eyes, so we decided to let Grandma Blonquist (on Sunday) just trim a tiny bit so he could see again :)

We only took a tiny bit off and we even forgot to get an "after" shot. That's okay because you can't tell it was cut, but at least it's out of his eyes now!!!

1 year check-up

Benson had his 1 year check-up on Tuesday. He was a champ! He's healthy and happy and that's all a mom can hope for! He got two shots--didn't even flinch! He got a TB test--once again didn't even make a peep. THEN he had to get his finger pricked to test for anemia and he only wiggled when I had to hold his finger AFTER the prick to stop the blood! He was PERFECT!!! He is much more brave than I am that's for sure! I can't believe he didn't even cry! What a wonderful boy!

Here are his updated stats!

weight--22 pounds (38th percentile--still a skinny little man!)

height--30 1/2 inches (70th percentile--right now he's on track to be 6'0 feet tall, but since ALL of his uncles, grandpas, his dad and extended family are all taller than that, we know he'll be taller)

head circumference--18 1/2 inches (70th percentile--right on track)

His soft spot is almost completely closed.

The doctor also said he's very verbal which was really impressive. Here are the words he says so far:

Hi (and he waves when he says it)

Dada

Mama (grandma)

Mom

Hot (he points to air vents and says "hopt hopt"!

Ba (ball)

Bo (book)

Bye-bye (just started this one; he waves when he says it)

Whats he signs:

All done

More

Please

Thank you (just started this one too)

Other things he does:

Waves at everyone

Points at everything

Claps at himself constantly

Blows kisses (just started this one)

Dances to everything

Points to his head when you ask "where's your head?"

He's starting to point to his nose when you ask, "where's your nose"

He stacks blocks (that's pretty impressive!)

He reads books to himself (it's so so so cute!)

He feeds himself (he's pretty messy so I don't let him do it all the time)

He's such a cute prefect little boy! He's super active which the doctor loved. He isn't walking yet, but the doctor said he's such a fast crawler that he may not want to walk because he won't be as fast. He checked his muscle strength in his legs and said he's perfect and will probably start walking very soon. I'm not worried about it. I'm glad he's taking his time and crawling more. They say the more a baby crawls the less chance they have of having other problems. Sounds good to me :)

The Circus!

Benson woke up Saturday knowing it was going to be a great day!!! He was in a PERFECT mood all day and he had so much fun at his party :) Thank you to everyone who helped out!!! As I mentioned earlier we had over 80 people there, so it was a great success! We had a blast! Here are a few pictures from The Circus!

The Photo Booth! My brother, Jarrett, drew the clowns and my sister, Katie, and my mom painted them. Didn't it turn out great?!?! All the guests had their pictures taken and I have posted a few throughout this blog post...

Face Painting station! Another big hit with the kids! If the older kids didn't want to have their faces painted I got cheap sunglasses for them to wear.

Prizes!!!

The Concession Stand-- aka The food...hot dogs, bratwursts, polish sausage, mini hamburgers, nachos, funnel cakes, veggies, fruit, mini sodas and waters, candy, candy, candy! We even had special hot dog trays and real nacho trays so everyone could have the real concession stand experience :) So YUMMY!!!

The kiddy pool full of plastic balls. I recommend this for every kid party!

The Goldfish Toss was a BIG HIT! We had real goldfish as the prizes. The kids were really excited to win real fish...the parents? Not so much :)

Everyone loved decorating their own cupcakes. Much easier than having one cake for everyone to share.

Random...

Livi loved the different activities and games. She did great!!! She did pin the nose on the clown, she got her face painted and she did the bean bag toss.

Spencer and Benson playing with balloons in the corner.

People enjoying the party.

Some of the young guests with Tori.

Maddy with her balloon animal. Josh made balloon animals for the kids. So fun!

The cupcake station at the end of the party...totally demolished :)

Avery and Sarah decorating a cupcake.

Jack playing in the pool

Peyton and Benson posing for a picture. They are buddies!

This was a big hit with the little kids!

Benson playing in the pool with the balls.

Random pictures...

That next night after the party was over we celebrated more as a family. Benson had quite the birthday weekend!