New Bike & Yard Work

Bergen got a bike. We decided a while ago we wanted to get him a no pedal balance bike. He just pushes off with his feet, as he gets more comfortable with his balance he can start to pick up his feet and glide. We ordered it online and it came 3 days later, and then I had to wait another two days for Travis to get home to open it. I really wanted to open it immediately, but I knew if I was gone I would want them to wait until I was there. So I waited, but it was really hard :)

 On the way home from the airport yesterday we told Bergen we had a surprise for him. By the time we got home he was very excited for his "sa-prise". He was trying to sit on it before we even had it put together. He loves it! For two days now he's ridden it all around the house, up and down the sidewalk outside, around the entire block with mommy and daddy last night, and all around the house again today. Would you be surprised if I said he had to sleep with it next to his bed? Well don't be because he did :) It's only 6.5 lbs., so he can carry and maneuver it really easily. He's already taken it over dirt piles, the curb, Travis's legs, oh and the coffee table. Thankfully not riding it on the coffee table, but lifting the bike up onto it. We put a stop to that one. Silly kid! The pictures are of him riding it yesterday. It was pretty warm outside and his hair got super sweaty under that helmet, but he was a good sport to keep it on. He also had a water bottle he kept near by so he could take drinks to stay cool. I'm so glad Bergen likes it as much as we thought he might (especially since it was kind of expensive, no garage sale deal on this one).

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 This week we did a lot of yard work. Woohoo right?! Well Travis is woohooing that the fence is fixed and he can finally cross that no fun job off his list. First it was one, then two, and finally three posts rotted and the fence was REALLY leaning. And probably the only reason it hadn't fallen over was because it's been tied to the trampoline since last summer. In several places :) Travis had to take the fence apart, dig holes, cement new posts into the ground, then put the fence back together. I helped a little, mostly with the cementing part, otherwise I was on Bergen duty. 

We also worked in the front yard and planted 31 new plants. We had no idea we had gotten than many until we started planting and it was taking a while, a long while. Our neighbors asked if we were trying for yard of the month. Travis said no, just trying to keep from getting nasty letters from the HOA. (We may have been known to get mow your lawn letters every once and a while, but I hear we aren't the only ones so I don't feel too bad, AND almost every time we've gotten one it had already been done by then anyway. Seriously HOA people, take it easy, and save your stamps.) Our little pots that we planted in the fall are looking good. The mums survived the winter and are blooming again. I can't wait to see what the landscaping looks like in a few weeks after the new plants have grown a little.

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 I bought Bergen a few summer shirts and a couple pairs of shorts this week. The 18 month shorts were looking a little short, even though there was plenty of room in the waist. At the store he pointed to and picked out a pair of green mesh shorts. The next day he wanted to wear them. As soon as he got them on he said, "let's go running!" Of course! Daddy has mesh shorts that he wears running so it only made sense that Bergen have running shorts too. He wore them two days in a row and again today after church. I think they are his new favorite! Not to mention they are great for hiking, as in hiking up :)

Secret Capabilities

This week Bergen has surprised me with his secret capabilities. Like many his age he wants to do things himself. Things like pour the chocolate mix into his milk, but things like taking clothes off and on is more in the "mommy do it" category. One day I heard him open a drawer in the kitchen then silence. I called for him but got no answer. So I went looking. He was in our bathroom, pants on the floor, going potty all by himself. Now I knows he CAN go potty all by himself :) Wow Bergen, that's great! "No that's my great!" Anyway...oh yes, his secret capabilities. I also discovered he can help himself to an Oreo from the pantry while I'm in the shower. All he needs is a chair and reeeeeach. At least he usually gets one out for me too. And speaking of showers, Thursday morning some of Bergen's first words to me were, "Watch tbee, mommy? You take a shower. You dirdy!" Haha! So he's figured out he gets to watch tv when I shower. Or was it the Oreo he was ultimately going for? :)

This is Bergen helping Travis and I scrub the bathroom. I love when he says something is "really hard work!" Yes it is and you are going a great job. "No that's my great!" :) Every time! I really need another go to phrase. 

This week Travis and I took lunch and Bergen to the park. There were a couple of 4/5 year old girls that repeatedly told Bergen they were not playing with him! Despite his efforts to join in their fun, they refused to have it. He finally hunched over, walked back to me with the saddest face, and said, "it's not working." Just about broke my heart. After a hug and a little consoling he said, "I'll try again." Then ran to the playground to find friends to play with. Got to admire his persistence. 

So the next day I invited a friend Bergen's age over to play :) They had fun and were loud and crazy together, but had a good time. We went back to the park another day after school and played with another friend who is in kindergarten. He told his mom Bergen is his second best friend. Awwww, that's so cute. On Saturday we rode in their truck (this familiy's truck is a BIG deal to Bergen!) to the friend's soccer game. Bergen watched some, but soon had fun running and kicking soccer balls behind the line of parent chairs. When his friend wasn't in the game he played behind us with Bergen too. From the looks of it his friend had more fun with Bergen than he did in his game, but I could be biased. Bergen got dirtier than his friend that day, and Bergen wasn't even in the game :) This is later that day. He was so tired he barley cared to eat. We both had nice naps that day. Hooray for naps!

Building Planter Boxes

We worked on our yard a lot this week. We have two of the three planter boxes we wanted to do finished. We went back for supplies on the third and ran into a bit of a hiccup. Someone told us we were using all the wrong wood, but eventually we decided it's fine. The last of the supplies are in the back of the car now to be finished this week. We decided to start our seeds in a little greenhouse type box in the house. The camera battery died just as I was going to snap a picture of that growth so far. I'm amazed! Nothing one day, something the next morning, and double that by evening. It's been really cool to watch.

Here's the building progress on our planter boxes.

Bergen loves digging for treasure! And he loves to use his "scoop scoop". I'm really excited that I think he is going to love the birthday present we have saved for him!

Sometimes we still find Bergen in funny positions on his bed. This was one of them :)

And in other news...We say, "that's great!" a lot in this house. This week Bergen decided only he can use that phrase, so I've gotten a lot of, "no that's my just great, not yer (your) great!" Funny.

We were doing something in the car and Bergen wanted me to refer to him as sweetheart. So I called him sweetheart. And he repeated it back to me with a big smile and a little giggle. A few minutes later we were getting out of the car and getting ourselves into the house. I asked him to do something and he replied with a, "ok sweetmommy!" Gotta love that one!

Occasionally Bergen will tell us himself he needs to go potty. Glad to be making another stride forward, and not just us taking him regularly to try and avoid accidents.

Easter

Our Easter was good. Yesterday Bergen and I spent a good 2 hours in the kitchen prepping food for todays breakfast and dinner. I was worth not having all that work today, but I still have a sink full of dishes...if only I could prep that away! This morning Bergen got to see what the Easter bunny brought him. To his enjoyment he got a movie and a Go Fish game. So far the game is working well as making matches and mini memory games. We're still working on the actual Go Fish.

We had a delicious egg hash, strawberries, and chocolate zucchini bread for breakfast. While the "bunny" hid the eggs we watched some of the new bible videos on the church website. While we watched it the second and third time Bergen was telling Travis what was going on. I love that those videos hold his attention and he's picking up on things. Along with reading from the friend I think these videos will also have to become a Sunday tradition.

Next we moved outside to hunt for eggs. Bergen was of course very cute and had a lot of fun with it. The pictures pretty much say it all. It's a good thing we had a hearty breakfast because I pretty much lost track of how much candy Bergen was up to, and by that point he may as well finish it all and have it over with in one day. Not sure how nursery went but I'm sure his teachers love us :) Quite frankly, even loaded on candy, today was no better or worse behavior wise for a Sunday so I guess it all worked out. By the time we left for church it was pouring rain so we only got exhausted after church Easter pictures in our Sunday clothes.

Coloring eggs...it's a messy task.

Got a haircut on Saturday, it was pretty crazy! Happy with the goods.

Egg hunt...found them. crack, crack, crack...open. *gasp* CANDY! let's open more!

Sorting the loot...chocolate goes with chocolate, jelly beans go with jelly beans.

Easter family...tired, hungry, hair and clothes a little ruffled, but had a good day.

Other news of the week...

I got to teach the lesson in Relief Society today. When my visiting teaching companion asked if I would cover for her after having a baby I said sure. On Monday I got an email from the presidency telling me it was for today. Oh! Ok, guess I better get crackin' on that. I've secretly wanted to be a Relief Society teacher pretty much since college, so I wouldn't be lying if I said I had a lot of fun doing it. It was about sustaining our leaders. I thought of doing a little object lesson that was kind of silly, but it seemed to be a good opener. I asked for someone really strong to come forward. I had them hold a 25lb weight (yes I lugged it all the way to church), which I called their "responsibility", over their head. Then I had two more people come up and help hold up, "sustain", their arms. I likened it to Moses holding the rod of God over his head so his army would prevail in battle. Then how we can do our part and sustain our current leaders. I got lots of participation so I think that's a good sign. I was still really nervous and thought my words weren't flowing out as smoothly as I would've liked, but several people commented on how composed and confident I seemed, not nervous at all. Little did they know inside my nerves were having a little party :) It was fun though, I enjoyed it.

So I might have a bone to pick with my brother! He used to do this sort of thing when he was a small kid. I don't know how in the world he communicated this to Bergen, but I just don't know of any other place he could've gotten this information, or even gotten the notion to do this. Travis said it was not from him. Last night as I was doing the dishes I glanced out at Bergen who was supposed to be jumping on the trampoline. Boy, was I in for a surprise! He was half naked trying to pee in the grass! What?!?!?! I ran out there and asked what he was doing. Just as I thought, he said, "I try-eene to go potty in the gwass." No Bergen we only go potty on the toilet. "No mommy. I potty in the gwass." As he pushes and pushes. Seriously?!? I just don't even know. At least it was our backyard and not the park. Hopefully I got him straightened out, I'll keep you posted on any more instances.

New Twin Bed

Bergen has just about grown as long as his toddler bed. Not only that we were starting to wonder how much more jumping it could withstand without breaking, and if not that how much more of Travis or I laying on it to read stories it could take. So we found some cute plans online to build our own twin size bed. We have many projects that last weeks or month and even years. Thankfully this was not one of them. In less than a week and a few late nights we had the wood purchased and the bed completed and set up in Bergen's room. It was a fun project to work on together and Bergen really likes his new bed!

Bergen helping to blow off the dust. (He soaked his pants with a water bottle so I threw his jean in the dryer while we worked. He didn't seem to mind.)

Helping daddy with the bed frame.

Ready for stain.

Old bed.

New bed.