Benny at 8 months

In just a week or so, this kid will be 9 months, so I thought I'd should post some of the pictures I took to document 8 months. Isn't he adorable! I can't get enough of this guy!

I love this one for a couple reasons. It looks like he was trying to pose for me and I love his wrists.....lovin' the rolls!


We see this cheesy face a lot. I love it!
This guy has been workin' on some teeth. There's been some rough patches here and there in that department. Super grouchy! At one point he had 4 or 5 trying to come through. In this picture you can see the bottom two that were already in, but if you look close, you can see a few others that are peeking through (as well as a piece of goldfish on the left side).

This is my friend's baby. She's about 6 weeks older than Benny, but she's so much smaller (especially his noggin). I love how she looks like she's looking for help and Ben is so happy to be within striking distance.
This guy has finally mastered the pacifier. He did a couple months back. He always wanted it in his mouth, but couldn't keep it in very long. Very frustrating.

He's getting closer and closer to crawling. He gets up on all fours and rocks and rocks and rocks. He was anti-army crawl for a while, but finally started to use it in desperation the last few days. He really wants to be more mobile. This guy is amazing in the old school walker we have for him. He can get wherever he wants to go. It makes me laugh every time I see him start moving in reverse and he looks behind him to see where he's going.

He's our smiley guy! I love the reaction I get when I go get him out of his crib in the morning or after his nap. Yes....even when it's 5:30-6 in the morning (that's his hour of choice....yes, it's early, and no, it shows no sign of changing). He plays in his crib for a while and one of us goes to get him when he lets us know he's done rolling around and wants out. He's a great napper and adapts well with our ever-changing schedule.

I'm so excited to go home to Utah in a couple weeks to show him off to the fam.

Jasterpalooza

Still playing catch up, but better late then never.

Over Memorial Day weekend, we were asked if we could watch our friends 4 kids while they partied it up in the Hawaii. We took on the challenge and had a fabulous time! Their last name is Jaster, so we started calling the weekend Jasterpalooza.

On Saturday, we took the kiddos swimming at our neighborhood pool.

Here's Jacob, Isaac, Jason and Graham. Side story: Graham couldn't remember Jacob's name. He kept calling him "that guy". Graham didn't like it when sweet little Isaac called us "Mom" and "Dad". It was weird seeing Graham get so possessive.

Sophie, Lucy, and Abbie

Here's Ben-O chillin' on the sidelines.

Sunday evening we made homemade ice cream. Here's Jason and Sophie waiting for the good stuff.

Here's Sophie, Abbie, Jacob, and Lucy enjoying some of the good stuff.

On Monday we went to the beach with some friends in our new ward here in Oxnard and then went back to the pool for more water time.

Our house was so quiet after all the kiddos went home with their Mom on Wednesday morning. My kids loved having constant playmates and missed them when they were gone.

We had 2 of the 4 from Friday to Wednesday and all 4 from Saturday to Monday. Church was quite the adventure. It was only our 3rd week at our new ward, so many of the members hadn't met us yet. I could see people counting the kids and trying to figure out how we had 7 under the age of 9. It got a little crazy at times, but we were so happy to have them! Hopefully our kids will be as well-behaved as the Jasters were when we leave them at their house in the spring ;)!

Our Budding Ballerina

Lucy started taking ballet/jazz lessons at the beginning of the year. She had lessons every Friday afternoon and she looked forward to them each week. We're taking a break now that summer is here. Check out that pose......yikes.
There's a few funny things I want to remember about Lucy taking lessons:

-She refuses to wear tights with her leotard. She's always the only bare-legged ballerina out there, but she doesn't care. For Lucy, it's all about comfort (she takes after her mom in that department). She no longer is interested in soccer (sob, sob) because we had the same issue with the shin guards. She fusses and frets over how tight her ballet shoes, but somehow manages to keep dancing (although, she reminds me at the end of every lesson that they are uncomfortable).

-She always hopes that we're late for lessons because she hates doing the stretches. I try to get her to explain why, but she just says they hurt.

-the jazz moves "make her ribs hurt", but she still likes them.

With all the aches and pains this girl has, you'd think she was 60, not 6!

"Cause When Your a Professional Pirate....."

The two of them were crackin' me up with their, "ARRRR Matey!" and their, "Yo ho, yo ho a pirate's life for me!" (Although Graham says, "a pirate's after me") Lucy got the eye patch from school and Graham was ticked off that he had to go without. So, Lucy constructed him one out of paper and yarn.

P.S. 20 bucks to the person that can tell me the ending of song quote I used for the title. (SIKE on the $20....but I'll think you're super cool.)

Our Beautiful Baby Boy, Ben-O

Benny is 7 months today! I can hardly believe it! It's crazy how much our lives have changed in that amount of time. This kid is hilarious! He's always smiling and laughing (unless he's teething) and his funny personality is already shining through. It seems like he steals the show whenever he's around. Even strangers have to stop and talk to him when they pass us in the store because he's giving them a big smile before they even look at him.

We always get comments about his beautiful blue eyes and his big smile....and big head, but once he gets some hair, it won't seem so large and in charge. Past experience with the other 2 kiddos has proven that to be true. We'll keep our fingers crossed. Funny side note story: At his 6 month check-up, the doctor ask if big heads run in the family. I laughed and said, "Yes, most definitely, they do." He then said, "Well, if that's the case, there's no need for concern." I was laughing about that all day.

We started him on solids at 5 months. We had a rough start, but he's doing much better. He just would not open his mouth! It seemed like we were always having to pry it open with the little spoon. Most kids take a day or two to figure it out, but with Benny it was over a month before he would keep it in and open up for us.


Look at that happy baby!


I got this picture at the beach. Isn't his outfit hilarious!


This is how he smiles a lot of the time. Big, wide, open mouth. I love it! I just want to squish him and hug him all day.


This guy is growing so fast! He's a little over 20 pounds and my back pain can attest to that. It's been good for my gun show, though. No weight training necessary when your carrying around this brick all day.


Here he is in the baby carrier on our walk a few weeks ago. He's getting WAY too heavy for me to wear this with him. Check out that grin!

He's been spending a lot of time in our old school walker we got as a hand-me-down when Lucy was born. He can sit up and play with toys for a while now, too. He's chewing on everything he can get his hands on. He's got two teeth that came in a few weeks ago. He always wears a bib because he is always slobbering or spitting. The spitting makes me laugh every time and he does it A LOT!

I wish this guy would stop growing so fast! His first few months were a little rough for me. I've had a rough start with all my kids, but I am enjoying him so much and wish he could stay this age for a long, long time. Love you, Ben-O!

Mother's Day

I have a whole lotta catching up to do, but I thought I'd start with the more recent stuff and get to the older posts when I get around to it. At least I have a plan, right?

My Mother's Day celebration started on Friday morning. All of the mothers of Lucy's class were invited to come to school for a little program. They sang a couple songs and gave us our little gifts. I loved hearing Lucy sing the songs. I was able to pick her sweet voice out of the crowd.


I had an absolutely fabulous Mother's Day! J Ray did a wonderful job making me feel special and loved. He got up with the kids while I slept in for a bit. I came downstairs to find an omelet, muffins, and waffles for me to feast upon. It got a little crazy trying to get ready for church at 9:00, (Mom shouldn't have enjoyed her sleep in quite as much), but we made it. I enjoyed some great talks and lessons on motherhood. I left motivated and not guilt-ridden (and that's a big deal in the life of Maggie Ray).

After church I took a very long nap. When I got up, I got to open my present. An ice-cream maker! Very exciting and very unexpected! Here's Graham and Lucy enjoying some of the good stuff.



This is me and the kiddos right before bedtime. Lucy and Graham were so sweet all day. Graham kept saying, "Happy Mother's Day, Mom" every few minutes. Lucy put on a few little dance and singing routines for me throughout the evening. There were even a few Lucy Ray originals that I got to enjoy.

I missed my Mom a lot on Sunday. I wanted to be at her house with the fam enjoying dinner. I have been blessed with an amazing woman for a mother. As we were walking home from church, I turned to Jason and said, "I miss my Mom today." Immediately I felt like a jerk. Jason's Mom passed away 7 years ago and even though my mom is a 10 hour drive away, we won't see Judy for a long time. My kids can't call her on the phone to chat. She was missed today, too. I always think of her and wish I could thank her for helping to teach Jason to be such a hard worker and a kind and thoughtful person.

I sure love being a Mom. I have been blessed with 3 special kids who keep me guessing and learning. Sometimes I feel so inadequate and I convince myself that I am doing this mothering thing all wrong. Hopefully, despite my lack of patience (AKA: yelling, criticizing, pinching.....yes, I said pinching....I'm working on it)they will turn out okay.

A Breakthrough!

It's a Ray family miracle! We can now add hamburgers to Lucy's very short list of foods she will eat!



Lucy has actually added a few things to her list in the last few months. She'll eat chicken now (not just chicken nuggets), although she doesn't like any type of seasoning or sauce on it. She eats meatballs, too!