And the new year begins... 2010 recap crazy stories of our life!

I still can't believe its 2011 already!! Ben is pretty much potty trained. Today at church he wanted to use the toilet by himself and didn't want me to follow him to the bathroom. Then he ran down the hallway to the bathroom. This was bathroom trip #2 and Ricky had taken him to the bathroom first into the men's bathroom. So, since Ben is running ahead of me he makes it into the Men's Bathroom!!! before I could get to him and he would not come out. LOL!! So, I had to wait in the hallway for him and it was pretty nerve racking letting him be in there all alone. I couldn't go back and get Ricky in case Ben came out while I was gone, plus Ricky was in Sacrament mtg.! So, I waited and after a few minutes he comes out and had gone pee. Hoping he peed in a toilet and not on anything or anyone, hoping he didn't put his hand all over a dirty toilet and that everything was ok in there!!! He was very proud of himself though and seemed to have more confidence in himself. Apparently he used the toilet during primary too and he did keep his pull-up dry the whole day.

I knew he was ready, but with all the changes that happened this last year, we were never stable enough to bring on this stressor for him, he was dealing with enough. We moved 4 times in the last year. From the only home he knew in Provo, Ut to Ricky's Parents house in Las Vegas, NV and then into an apartment in the SW part of town after Ricky was able to find a job. It was really hard, stressfull and overwhelming to deal with living out of suitcases with all our stuff packed away and then also not really knowing anyone in a new town and going from working full-time at an AMAZING job (seriously loved that job) and working out 3 times a week during lunch breaks, having Ricky around all the time and living in probably the best basement apartment in all of Provo and then leaving it all behind. We knew we were guided back to Vegas, but it was so hard to remember that when your life gets thrown into a tornado and everything is swirling around you in chaos. So, about 3 months after we moved into a great apartment, we were at my in-laws house for dinner and afterwards were watching a movie. Ricky was tired and all of a sudden was like "I'm tired and we NEED to go home NOW". The way he said this it was like ok let's go! He usually is not so abrupt and sometimes can be persuaded to finish the movie. Anyway, we get home and about 20 minutes later we hear gun shots and a woman screaming for help right outside our OPEN kitchen window. Ricky and I were close to the window and just dropped to the ground and then I looked up and saw Ben walking out of his room towards ME!! I had no idea what was going on. People upstairs are causing a lot of chaos too and so we thought maybe something was going on with them, but didn't know where the shooter had gone or was going to go. Every room in our apartment has windows or doors leading right to the incident. I have never felt more exposed and unsafe in my life. We hid in the master bath and called 911. About 5 mins and the cops and EMT were there and taking care of the scene. We were so shaken up!! and poor Ben was awake during the whole thing. Also, dogs started barking after the shooting and when Ben saw the lady on the floor he said that a dog hurt the lady. For weeks afterwards he would tell me that the dogs hurts that lady. It was sad, but we hadn't taught him anything about guns and so he didn't have any background to understand that a gun did it. But, Ben had to go to bed that night with police flashing blue and red light through his blinds lighting up his room. We felt a little ghetto that night. For weeks afterwards if Ben heard a dog he would get so scared and say "hurry hurry to the bathroom". He even liked to just act it out for fun and wanted us to sit in the bathroom just like we did that night. How horrible for my poor little child to have to experience this. Especially after leaving beautiful and peaceful Provo! So, then 3 days later our neighbor comes knocking on our door at 8pm telling us that he caught some kids with a skate board looking into our apartment through our living room window. We were home and in the living room at that time and the neighbor had called the cops. We were so freaked by everything that we packed up our things and camped out in Ricky's old room (all 3 of us) that night at his parent's house. How creepy to have someone looking into your apartment watching you live your private life!! The next day we went to the managers and asked to move to an upstairs apartment. We found a good one and moved again!! That was #3 in 6 months. We had tons of problems with our neighbors in that apt, because they said we made too much noise. Ummm....hello, we have a 3 yr old!! Yeah... they didn't get it. But at least we didn't have to worry about shooters or peeping toms. So the lady was shot 2 times in the stomach and survived. It was a random attack, apparently they followed her in and tried to steal her purse and she didn't know them. 3 days later they were caught and one was shot and killed, the shooter arrested. We still don't know who the peeping tom was, but noticed they had new renters for that apartment within a week. Then in October 2010 we moved into a beautiful house and seriously to be renting a house vs. an apt is no comparison. A house rules!! Its soooo much better and we are loving it. We even have a little back yard that Ben is doing very well playing in. Although, he really needs a playmate. :) Can we say Brother or Sister for 2011?! Hopefully, we starting trying about a year ago right before the shooting happened and then it just didn't happen. After about 4 months or so we just kind of let it go considering how stressful everything already was.

More crazy stories to come... What a year and I'm glad to never have to redo it. Yuck!!! I have a good feeling about this year. Especially since I got to start off the New Year with all my family in New Jersey, then come home to great surprises and a Husband with a great work schedule compared to last year and then right off the bat I get to see one of my most dear and best friends, Kira, and her mom Lisa while they visited here because of a family reunion. It was such precious time to be able to see her and talk and visit.

Halloween...alittle late. LOL!!!

Here are some pics of our Halloween this year. We are also creating albums on Facebook to be able to post more. So, add us as friends and you can check 'em out. (Jennifer Cole and/or Ricky Cole)

Trunk or Treat. He is in love with Buzz and Toy Story!!

Ben on the bungee cords ride. Not sure what its called, but he flew super high in the air over and over again because the worker would bounce him. He kept asking to go higher and was never afraid. He would have gone all night too!! even though it was freezing cold and we forgot to have him wear socks!! It was truly amazing. I wanted to do it too!!

The pumpkin patch gives the kids a coloring page to color and bring back and you get a free ride. Here's his pumpkin. He said it was his scary pumpkin!! He liked the gray pumpkins they had at the pumpkin patch because we told him they were scary pumpkins. LOL!!

Picking out a pumpkin. :)

The carving pumpkins night!!

Benjamin 3 yrs old!!! Family Pictures...

Here are some pictures of Ben at 3 yrs old and our yearly traditional family photos.

Our Family October 2010...

Ben wanted to be the photographer and so this was the result. Pretty good!!

Awwww! Daddy and son

Love his facial expressions!!

Natural cutie!!

Outside our apartment playing with his new scooter he got for his birthday!!

The Tooth Fairy is making an early visit...

Well, its happening... I am sad because it means my baby is growing up. I know its premature and we'll have 3 or 4 yrs before they all start coming out and I think the prematurity (if that's even a word) of the situation is why it hurts. I want to see my child as still my baby!!!

So, here's what happened. About 1 1/2 yrs ago Ben hurt his front teeth and went through this whole healing process where they turned brown and then they went white again. Well, right after we moved to Vegas last year he got an infection on his gums right by one of the teeth he hurt. We went to a not so good dentist and she was not helpful but he took antibiotics and it went away. Then when we moved into our house the infection came back and so he finally went to a new dentist and sure enough, the whole tooth is infected and needs to come out!!! I'm very sad, because it is one of his front 2 teeth. I think we're going to be okay and I've been discussing it with Ben and he and Ricky seem to be taking it fine, like no big deal.

So, one more set of Family pics and videos of him with a full set of teeth and then on Dec. 14th the Toothfairy will be making a visit to our house to collect Ben's first tooth. A big moment that is coming a few years early. It's weird to me that it is so difficult for me and not for Ricky and I think its just because I view losing teeth as growing up and because it's happening before its supposed too and I wasn't prepared emotionally. :) I'm getting there...

Never take the normal things in life for granted...

We moved into our new home about 1 month ago and we have never been happier here in Vegas. It is so nice to have our own place, no shared walls and feel free to be our LOUD selves. LOL!!! Ben is having so much fun exploring and mostly climbing, jumping and running. Pics to come...

Today with Ben...

Ben: I love Jesus!

me: You do? I love Jesus too

Ben: i want to tell Jesus I'm sick. He has doctors, Jesus has doctors.

Attending church as a family seemed like such a far off miracle that I have since realized I took it for granted that my family growing up went to church together as a family and that when I got married it would be the same. We'd go to church as a family. Little did I know the path in store for us and we realized that Ricky would have to work on Sundays for now. After a long year of prayers and faithful endurance, Ricky got the opportunity to switch to evening shifts at work and attend church with us this last Sunday. Ben was so good during sacrament meeting! He mainly obsessed over his squirrel book and flipping through his mini scriptures. And then there was the occasional instant bear hug to Daddy and huge smile from Ben. It was so cute! It's been almost a year since we got to attend church as a family and I feel very blessed to be a family at church again! He still has to work in the evenings, but we'll take what we can get for now!

Sarah...Empowered

Sarah was on the front page of the Utah Daily Herald!! So Awesome!! Had to share her empowering swing at the Smash Car event to help support the Boys and Girls Club and the kids that she works with. Wish I could have been there to join you in bashing that car. I would have loved to do that to my 1987 Ford Escort!!

My Favorite Picture below!

What a fun job you get to have!! Thanks for sharing!

TAKE...YOUR...SEAT...BELT...OFF

Yesterday Ricky, Ben and I were riding in the car to the store. Out of no where Ben, in the best robot voice EVER, says "TAKE...YOUR...SEAT...BELT...OFF" over and over again. Super creepy and super funny!!!

Letting it all go...

I have been inspired by one of my good friends, Spencer, who has lost 100 lbs in the last year!! Go Spencer!! So proud of you. I've decided its time for me to let it all go too. I have 40-50 lbs to lose starting yesterday! It's time to LET IT ALL GOOOoooo...

MaryKay Sale for July thru August!!!

Sale for July thru August is 35% off previous product packaging and 25% off everything else!! I'm so excited to try the coconut lime body set, the new satin hands peach set and the toning lotion. I love all their new eye colors too. I love the MaryKay products! Free shipping and gift with purchase with orders over $40 too!

Check out online www.marykay.com/jennifer.cole

Our Family...

Here are some recent pictures taken at the park. We've found some great parks here and Ben is having a lot of fun. We've been taking him swimming now that the pool is heated and he is such a strong swimmer! My goal is to see Ben swimming by the end of the summer. Right now he is just experimenting with putting his head under water, blowing bubbles, and doggie paddling while I support him. Its funny because he gets so excited while swimming that his mouth is wide open and he's just kicking and moving his arms as fast as he can. Its so funny and it reminds me of my childhood dog, Tiger, and his excitement to swim in our pool. LOL! He has so much energy and wants me to help him swim all over the pool and I don't know where he gets all his energy!

Ben has been asking "what's that?" all the time now and he repeats everything you say. We went to Walmart yesterday and the whole time we were going back and forth asking "what's that?" and answering each other. It was a lot of fun to see how happy it made him to play this game.

Ben loves to sing and will say "dance" and then start singing cuz he wants us to dance while he sings. It is so cute and you can't understand most of what he sings but he is super proud of himself. The other day he sang for a couple of us at a family party and after each song we would clap and cheer and he kept singing over and over so that we would cheer for him.

Mary Kay YAY!!

Hi Friends and Family! I am selling MaryKay. I love the MaryKay products and have a ton of inventory to sell. You can visit my website www.marykay.com/jennifer.cole to view the products. There are a lot of affordable gift ideas for the holidays that are coming up. Also, a great time to invest in taking great care of your skin. I have seen such a difference from using them and it feels good to know you're using quality products that REALLY work.

Thank you to all that have supported me thus far in my business adventures!

The Good life.... and then some!

Ben and I are sitting together while I write this. I'm trying to get into a routine here in Vegas, but so far all I've managed is to "sort of" keep the house clean and keep Ben happy. But we've had some fun times too. I will post pics soon. This is the start of my goal to write here regularly like all of you, which I love reading the updates and fun times you are all having.

Highlights of the last little while:

~Today I got "shampoo-ed". After Ben's bath I put lotion on him and he called it shampoo. After we were done he wanted to put "shampoo" on me. He used his pretend shampoo that came out of his dresser drawer and rubbed it on my face and feet. He LOVES his feet rubbed with lotion. It was super sweet cuz his hands are so little and soft. I love him!

~Last night, in the middle of the night, Ben woke up crying. It was the first time this has happened where he told us he was scared. It was so cute and sad at the same time. He was able to tell us that he was scared cuz a dog bit him. Not sure where he got that from though. We had to take his dog stuffed animal and doggie car off his bed and put it in the living room. But the only thing that really made him feel better was a quick family prayer and his favorite primary and non-primary songs. He loves pretty much any primary song, but his favorites for us to sing to him on a regular basis are the "popcorn" song and Barney's "I love you" song. Not sure how those became the 2 songs to always sing and oh when we sing the "I love you" song we have to rub and scratch his head.

~He has started exploring the scared emotion though in the last couple of weeks. Saying while laughing "baby scared" if he gets surprised by something and with being in the dark. Its interesting to see cuz he used to never care about the dark which was always so strange to see a child not afraid of the dark because they don't have a reason to be or something. Not sure what causes the changes.

~He loves to ask mommy and daddy to fix things for him, but he says "fick-ixt". So cute!

~He also likes to pretend to cough and exaggerate his cough into a coughing fit and have us pat his back to help. He will say he is choking, but he says "baby focking". He is so dramatic and loves to act that I hope we can get him into some children's play once he's alittle bigger.

~We went near Mt. Charleston to visit the snow since its been in the 60's here and we miss Utah sometimes! We found a cool place near the ski resort and were just going to walk around. But we ended up finding a broken plastic sled that was enough of a sled to sit on and slide down the mountain. I know... super ghetto, right? :) But it was soooo much fun! Ben was all dressed up in his snow stuff (from last year!) and he and I sledded down a slope we found. Ben loved it cuz it was like a slide and he loves slides. Then he had brought his little toy airplane and decided to put his airplane on the sled and send it down the mountain. So funny! He also has enjoyed making ice cream cones out of play dough and he kept grabbing at the snow to make little balls that he called his ice cream. He loved eating the snow. This trip to the snow was so different and it was fun to see Ben having fun and I love his imagination.

~Benjamin loves trucks, airplanes and boats. He is such a boy! He is obsessing over some airplane that we were given second-hand from someone that we bought a desk from on craigslist back in the day. He takes it everywhere and sleeps and bathes with it. Too funny!

Well, I think this was a good start. Time for naps. I usually don't feel like napping but I got Ben's cold today and only a couple hours of sleep last night cuz I just couldn't get to sleep. I actually wasn't even tired yet when Ben woke up.

Here's some statistics ... although some of the numbers had to be assumed. Benjamin wears an average of 8 diapers a day (not counting the times he had the runs). Which means we have changed approximately 5840 dirty diapers. and at an average of 30 cents a piece, we have spent over $1,800 just in diapers ... that's not counting the wipes. ...... Baby's are VERY expensive .... but we love him and he's worth every diaper.

Seven Peaks

Well ... It's really sad that summer is coming to an end. Our season passes to Seven Peaks Water Park will soon be worthless. But we did make good use of them though. We went to Seven Peaks many times this summer and we all loved it. Here are a few pictures of us having fun at 7 Peaks. You will have to ignore Benjamins pink swim diapers. We accidentely bought him girly ones .. and we weren't going to return them ... and he doesn't know that he's wearing girly swim diapers.

I really wanted to get a picture of him on the red tyre because I like the colours .... but the water was freezing cold and Benjamin wasn't very happy. Nevertheless, I had to post this picture of the red tyre because its the only picture that I got ... sorry that he doesn't look happy.

Here's Benjamin getting a kiss from his Mommy !

I like this picture .. its one of my favourites.

He likes to count ... 1 2 3 ... and JUMP. He will do this over and over again. He really loves the water.

A quick note. I finally learned how to get Benjamin to play with his toys ... it is so easy now. All you have to do is start putting them away ... and suddenly he starts screaming and decides that he wants to play with them. I calculated that 1 hour of play time for Ben takes us 2 hours to clean it all up.

That is a poor return-on-investment .... so why bother ?? !!

I was in the mood to put some more pictures up. So I found some pictures of Ben doing some gardening. The following 2 pictures is of him wanting to cut the grass. Of course the push-type lawnmower wasn't manly enough for him, so he wanted to use the high powered ride-on tractor.

And now he's watering the tomato plants. He knows he has to fill the watering can first.

And if you're really strong .... you might be able to get the water into the tomato plant .... otherwise you take the short cut and water the concrete walk path.

Gardening is too hard for Benjamin. He'd would rather now use his hammer and try some handyman work ... perhaps the dinning room table needs a beating ?? .... and everything else around it ??

I can't believe its been like 4 months since my last blog entry ... sorry family and friends! Anyway, I've slapped some pictures on here that we have taken over the last 4 months of Benjamin. He is growing so fast that we can't keep up with him. Most of you have probably already heard that we are returning to Vegas to take the next step in our lives. We feel that the opportunities are limited in Utah County, and we don't really desire to move any further North. Vegas is the most sturdiest stone to jump to.

Anyway, here are the pictures. The following one was taken on a hike that we went on, and Benjamin was sitting in the toddler carrier. It's really hard carrying him in the toddler carrier because he jumps around so much that it gets very uncomfortable. All he wants to do is be on the ground, running around, and pick up rocks. But this particular day the ground was very muddy and we didn't want him to get muddy ... he didn't like that he had to stay in his carrier. The smile you see in the picture is probably the only smile he made on the whole trip.

Oh ... here's Jen carrying Benjamin in the carrier. Jen gave me a break by taking him. When we made the deal, she strategically failed to mention that the backpack that I now had to carry was significantely heavier than Benjamin !

Here he is playing at the park. He won't go anywhere without is purple phone. He calls it his "hello". He likes to pretend that he is talking to someone. This has been his favourite toy since Christmas 2008.

We were outside blowing bubbles. Here he is running around trying to catch them. He loves bubbles and he will play with them for hours.

This following picture proves that Benjamin DOES have some Ashford Genes !! Just 10 more minutes and 3 more chapters, Benjamin will have broken Jerom's record.

Here's Benjamin practicing to be a big brother by feeding Jude. He loves taking care of Jude, and making sure that Jude always has a blanket. Whenever Jude spits up, Benjamin will say ... "Ewww Sick"



This following picture was taken at the 4th July party. He loves hats !





Oh .. haha .. this is him being an explorer. His name is Explorer Benjamin. He is scouting the Provo Valley before sending forth his troops.

Catch Up Time !

Hi Everyone! It's been a very long time since I have updated the blog. We have all been very busy, especially with school ending in about 2 weeks. I have a few projects that are due and I've been working very hard. Firstly, I must mention that Jen is the one who decorates the blog to make it pretty ... I got nothing to do with the girly ribbons and stuff !!

Our family is doing very well, and we are all very happy. Benjamin is growing so fast and he's learning knew things everyday. We love him so much. Here is a picture of him eating his breakfast.

Jen is doing very well at work, and she loves what she does. She has also been going to the gym a lot to work out. Her personal trainer has been working close with her to help her build muscle. She can now bench-press 90 lbs. When I saw her do that, I decided it was time that I started to work out too because she's going to over take me ! I been lifting iron since !

I finally graduate with a degree in Technology Management and Facilities Management. I am very excited to start working again, and begin providing for my family. I have applied for multiple jobs and haven't had much feedback ... I hope I can find a good job in these bad economic times.

Benjamin has a thing about shoes ... he has always loved shoes. We bought him a pair of green Crocs the other day and he loves them so much that he wants to sleep with them on. He also likes my snowboarding boots. Here is a picture of him getting ready for bed.

He likes to open the coat closet and pull all the shoes out. He then tries them on and walks around the house with them.

We went to the park last week to get some pictures of Ben. Here are a few of them.

He's good at walking .... but he's still learning how to walk up and down stairs. Here are a few slip-ups !

Sorry, I know its mean .... but I laughed when I saw these pictures. It never hurts him. He only gets upset when his hands get dirty, and he comes running to us so we can brush his hands off. However, when he fell this time, he got wood chips in his mouth ... and I don't think he liked the taste!

He loves to pretend he's talking on the phone. He would pick up random objects and put them to his ear and say .. "Hello?" and he will say "hello" over and over again. I don't know what object he is talking to in this picture. But obviously the other hand is an oven glove that he pulled out the drawer and put it on his hand.

You can't tell in this picture, but we have a baby gate that seperates the living room from the kitchen. He got smart enough to learn how to open the baby gate by jumping on it. It got very annoying, so we put the rocking chair in front of the gate to make it more difficult for him to open it. We later discovered that the rocking chair was a safety hazard because he climbed up on the chair and tried to go head first over the baby gate.

We wanted to drive up the canyon to play in the park. We have a special park we like to go. Its up in The Provo Canyon near the South Fork park. When we got there, there was still snow on the ground, and we weren't equipped with winter clothing. So we had to find another park. We randomly found this park that has nice walking trails along the Provo River and it was very pleasant. We went there to have a turkey wrap picnic, but we ended up eating in the car because it was windy and cold. Benjamin had fun playing with his soccer ball, and he has learned to throw it, and to kick it. The other day when we were in the cultural hall at Church, some other kids his age were trying to throw the basketball into the hoop and bouncing the ball like they should. Benjamin comes along and starts kicking it. Here are some pictures of our trip to the park.

This bridge is very old, and the planks of wood are poorly maintained. Benjamin kicked a plank and it knocked him off balance and he fell. He got splinters in his hand that we could never get out. It hurt him for a couple of days; I felt bad.

I think that catches you up on the last 2 months! The next 2 months will be adventurous too. We are going to New Jersey to attend my Sister-in-law's wedding, and a week after that we are going to Colorado for a family vacation. We are looking forward to it. When we get back, thats when I am hoping to have a job lined up, or continue to actively seek. Wish me Luck !! I promise I will update on here more often.