Blue Monsters

So B and I were watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Facotory the other day, and I was remembering what a fun movie it was! I mean, a movie about candy and chocolate is right up my ally. Anyways, B's favorite part is when the girl turns into a blueberry. After watching it, he kept asking me if he could eat some blueberries. I stuck him and Christopher in the kitchen and gave them each a bowl of frozen blueberries. B kept eating them and asking me if he was getting bigger like the blueberry girl. I just told him he had to keep eating lots more to get that big. After a while, the blueberries began to thaw and the kids started to get blue all over thier mouths and fingers. Even after some decent scrubbing, they still looked like little frozen boys!

Christopher's First Haircut

So we finally decided it was time to get rid of the "baby mullet" that Christopher had been growing. His Aunt and Uncle and two cousins were in town for cousin Coli's baptism. The night before, Ben took him over to get a haircut from Aunt Julie. He was such a good boy! He was all smiles, and didn't try to wiggle or get away. Now he looks like such a big boy.

The many adventures of Christopher

Christopher has been quite a little busy body lately with his little adventures. On Tuesday, I was in my bedroom blow drying my hair while the boys were watching cartoons, or so I thought. When I noticed how quiet it was, I went to investigate and found him asleep in Benjamin's bed!

Then the other day, I opened his closet door, and his dirty clothes bag had fallen down, blocking the door open. I went into the hall to get the washer ready, when I heard some funny noises coming from his room. I went in to get his clothes, and found that he had climbed over them to get into his closet, but he couldn't get back out!

Today Ben went out to mow the lawn while I took the kids to the park. We had to run back home to take B to the potty (yea! no accident) and while we were inside, Christopher decided to help out his daddy. He was walking around the yard saying "mow, mow" Hopefully he will still be this enthusiastic when he has to do it for real :)

The birthday bike

So we knew that for B's fourth birthday we wanted to get him a bike. With the weather turning nice, we thought it would be a good idea to go and get him one before they were hard to come by. So, on Friday night we went to Wal-mart to find him a bike. He got on a few and tried them all out, and we ended up getting a little red Huffy for him. He liked it because there is a picture of a rocket on it, and it is red "like spiderman." B also picked out a blue helmet with spiders on it. So Saturday morning, after I got back from a baptism, B was running around the house in his jammies with the helmet on. We just couldn't stand his excitement, so he got to ride his new big boy bike on Saturday. Mom and Dad spent the day cleaning out the garage and weeding and cleaning the yard, while B was yelling "look at me, I'm doing it!" or, "I need a push." The bike is still a little big for him, but at least he won't outgrow it by the end of summer. By the end of the day, he was exhausted and slept great! (another advantage to having a big boy bike) The only downside of the day was that Mom and B got sunburns. I didn't even think about sunscreen, since we were all wearing pants and long sleeve shirts, but B got burned on the back of his neck, on his ears, and on his cheeks. Since he wore his sunglasses all day, he looked like he had spent a day skiing. I got burned on the back of my neck, on my hands, and I now have a permanent flip-flop line. What a way to kick off the summer time!

What's in a name

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so I am going to copy this idea from the blogs of a couple good friends! Here are what the names in our family mean and where they came from.

Benjamin Moss Nielsen- Ben is named after his grandfather, Benjamin Franklin Moss. His mother's father was a veterinarian in Cedartown, Georgia and was known to everyone there as Dr. Moss. I never had the occasion to meet him, since he passed away the year Ben graduated from high school. However, when I went to Georgia with Ben the first year we were married, I was able to meet many people who knew him. Each and every one of them exclaimed that Ben looked just like Dr. Moss, and then proceeded to tell endearing stories about him and the kind of man he was. When I see pictures of Ben's grandfather, I have to admit that the resemblance is unbelievable.

Aprile Marie Cleveland- I am not entirely positive if this is right, but this is what I remember being told about my name. I was told that when my parent's found out that I was a girl, and I was due in April, that they liked the name and decided that is was right. However, I was an impatient child (not much has changed) and came early. Even though I was born in March, the name still seemed to fit. My parents added the "e" on the end, since it made it more of a name and less like a month. I still have to explain it to people all the time, but it has grown on me, and I really like it! I think the middle name might be after someone, but I'm not sure. I guess I should ask!

Benjamin Moss Nielsen Jr.- When Ben and I found out we were expecting, we picked a girl name and a boy name. Ben and I really liked the idea of our first child carrying on a family name, and we decided to have our son carry on his family name. I felt like Ben's name was a combination of his father's line and his mother's line, and I also felt like this name was held by some pretty remarkable men! On the day we got our ultrasound and found out we were having a boy, the doctor also changed my due date-our son's due date was the same day as his great-grandfather's(Benjamin Franklin Moss) birthday! That was all the confirmation I needed to know it was the right name. Even though Benjamin came early (takes after mom with the impatience) he looked like a Benjamin from day one. To keep the confusion to a minimum in our house, Dad goes by Ben, and son goes by Benjamin. We started calling him "B" because when he was little, that's all he could say from his name. It stuck, and he has been B ever since!

Christopher James Nielsen- With this pregnancy, we didn't really decide on names in the beginning. I had been thinking about names in my mind, and was pretty sure we were having a girl. When we got our ultrasound and found out we were having another boy, I really wanted to name him after my side of the family. My father's name is Chris, and his dad is Jim. There are a lot of men named "chris" in my family, and I really like formal names, so Christopher seemed like a great alternative. Put that with James, and you get a really nice sounding name! We thought that Christopher might go by C.J. as a nickname, but B was able to say "Chris-u-fer" when he was born, and the long name has stayed-for now....

That's what is in our names, what's in yours?

A Monkey Funny

I forgot to post the conversation I had with B in my last entry, so I thought that I would add it so everyone else could enjoy it as much as I did. So, on Monday we were driving to Lee's along 400 E, when B says from the backseat, "Mommy, where is the policeman?" There is often an officer posted alongside the road, but not today, so I reply, "I don't know, B" And he says to me, "Drive faster mommy, and maybe he will come." Yup, he's right.

My Birthday

So I haven't posted in quite a while due to the tons of family fun I had for my birthday! It started out with my little sister Carrie coming up on the day before to spend a couple of days with us. The two of us got in some girl time with shopping for clothes and makeup. The next morning was my birthday. Benjamin woke me up by coming into my room without any pants on to tell me that he had wet the bed. Great, what a typical mom way to start the day. Then on the way to his room I look out the window to see the ground covered with snow. Double yuck! But the day took a turn for the better when I got to B's room and he yelled "Surprise" and I saw a present inside for me! Ben and the boys got me a cute hallmark card and a figure of a mom with two boys. To make things even better, Ben went out before I got up and picked up my favorite donuts and chocolate milk for breakfast. Carrie and I spent the day watching Enchanted, painting our toenails, and coloring her hair. When Ben got home from work, we went to Firehouse pizzaria for dinner. On the way in, we ran into our friends who were also there at the same time for a b-day dinner for their son. (good choice of restaurant Andre) So we all enjoyed dinner together. The day after the B-day we went to Dad's for another birthday dinner of Hawaiin haystacks. Afterwards, Jo, Halie and I went to Old Navy and Target (two of my favs) for some quickie shopping, since both stores closed while we were there. Dad and Jo treated us both to a big breakfast the next morning before we made our way over to Mom's place. Daddy and the boys stayed at her place for a nap while Mom and I headed over to the mall for some more birthday shopping! I can never get enough of shopping with the girls since my usual shopping is with my monkey entourage, and they don't like to go anywhere for more than 10 minutes with a minimum of 2 snacks. We wrapped up the day with dinner in Layton with my Grandma and Grandpa who treated us to the delicious food at Outback Steakhouse. All in all, not a bad way to turn 28! I was so busy having fun that I never got my camera out, but Ben snapped this photo of Grandma and Christopher with his phone.