Shoebox appeal

We had a Relief Society meeting today packing up shoeboxes to send to Africa. It was really fun! It really reminded me of the lessons we have where you hear about the Restoration sisters providing real relief to people when they were sick or working on the temple or something. We don't seem to do a lot of that these days, so I think it was a great idea. We did about 10 boxes in the hour we met during the day, and there were still loads of items left to be packed. There's an evening session too so I'm sure there will be lots more.

Ben was a little star- he was all cute and smiley, flirting with the ladies while we were working. Then when we broke to eat he fell asleep and didn't wake up until I had just placed the last piece of cake in my mouth! Perfect! He's getting bigger, such a cutie.

Westonbirt Arboretum

About a week ago we went to the Arboretum (which is not the same as an abattoir) with Benjamin. I love it there so much! I was hoping to upload some pictures to show how beautiful it was with all the autumn colours, but it's not letting me upload at the moment so I might have to put them on another time when it's less busy.

The Arboretum is where Dave and I got engaged, so it's a special place for us. It sounds a bit cheesy but I found it really moving being able to share that special place with Ben, even though he was asleep the whole way round! We've been back there a couple of times since we got engaged but being there with our little boy was just so meaningful to me. Like the start of a new era again.


Dave looks good with a pram :)


Look at this amazing red tree- I can't believe something so natural can be so red!


The bridge!


I took this picture of Ben when we got home- he likes sucking his entire fist instead of a thumb or a dummy (pacifier). It's kind of cute; it's what I get to hear in the middle of the night when he wakes up to be fed so you'd think I wouldn't like seeing it, but I do :)

It was our first proper going out somewhere day out for our family, so was very cool. It'll be fun when he's old enough to look around and enjoy things. Can't wait to take him to the zoo!

The joys of vaccinations

Ben had his first vaccinations yesterday and I thought I'd got away so easy! He only cried for about 15 seconds after they jabbed him (in both legs at the same time!), then settled immediately when I got him in a cuddle. So I was like, cool, that was easy. Last night wasn't even that bad: he woke up once more than usual but went straight back to sleep after a short feed. This morning, however, I barely recognise him! He's been screaming constantly since about 6am, only taking a break to feed (which, thankfully, he seems to want to do every hour or so). Poor little man!

I thought a lot about whether I wanted him to have the injections, because I don't want to just do things to him because they are expected or because the doctor said, and eventually decided that I wanted him to have them. I'm not having second thoughts, but I'm shocked by how traumatic it seems to have been for his poor little body. I have to keep reminding myself that it's so much better than him having one or several of those horrible diseases.

I know vaccinations can be a contentious subject, but I really believe that God has facilitated science to help us to overcome some diseases to balance out the fact that there are so many new afflictions these days, like cancer and severe allergies. I mean, maybe people were dying of cancer 500 years ago and doctors just didn't know what it was, but still, imagine how much less funding/time there would be for researching it if we still had to deal with epidemics of polio, tetanus etc..

Well, hopefully Ben will be more cheerful when he wakes up. I'm going to try to cut his nails while he's still sleeping!

My first ever blog

Well, check me out, I'm starting a blog. I thought it would be fun to have something of a record of my life, now I have Ben and things are getting interesting. How long I am able to spend on it will depend on the baby of course :)

Not a lot happened today- I went to the supermarket and looked after Ben at home. We had a really nice day though, with not too much screaming. Ben's had pretty bad colic since he was about 2 weeks old, so it's hard work sometimes- yesterday was a nightmare! But he's been fine today other than throwing up a few times.

This isn't very interesting so far.... Oh well, hopefully I'll improve as time goes by. I'll put some pictures up if I can work out how!