The Beal Family

So I went for a little jog. I am not lying - I am SO SORE. My neck hurts, my arms hurt, my thighs really hurt! And the saddest part of all is that I only ran ONE MILE. It just goes to show how very very out of shape I am!


I even got a text from a little girl in my ward saying "I just saw you jogging". As if it was the most shocking and unnatural thing EVER.  Im telling you, I have so much respect for all you people who exercise! I just dont think I have it in me. At least not now in this life stage of never-ending baby madness. Im too tired to walk around sore.

Maybe someday Ill try again. But for now the memories are too fresh.....
Moving on.

How about a kid update? Because this is all I have to report!

Spencer is growing up so fast. He is OBSESSED with his cars, riding his scooter, and playing with his Toy Story toys.  We were heading home from the store the other night and Gabe leaned over and told me to look in the backseat. There Spencer was holding hands with Woody.

He is so sweet and sensitive and loves to be snuggled. (Spencer, not Woody.) And even though he will smack you a good one or pull your hair as hard as he can if you steal his toys (or look at him wrong)....generally he is pretty happy.  He is in full on "Linus Syndrome" and carries his Dee dees (binky and fleece blankets) everywhere. He is soooo little for his age (24 pounds/9th percentile) and lives soley on bagelfuls, peanut butter and honey which he licks out of the inside of sandwiches, occasionally a cracker or two, and gallons and gallons of almond milk. He likes to look cute and will let me style his hair and even sometimes brings me the hairspray!  His favorite book is Green eggs and ham which he calls : Ah HAM! Every page you read (would you eat it with a fox? in a box? In a house? with a mouse?) He replies with a cheerful YES!  He would seriously sit and be read to for hours. A total change from the wild daughter we have that will only read books if you focus on each page for less than 2 seconds a piece. Spencer is talking up a storm lately. He pretty much says everything but you can only decipher 50% of it due to the binky in his mouth and the sheer volume of shouting as he speaks. We worry about his speech because of his severe tongue tie but wont really know if its a problem until he gets older and we can see what he really sounds like! He is turning into a brave little trampoline jumper and can now do a "bummy" which is hilarious to watch. He is also a champion scooter rider like his sister and nothing is funnier than seeing his little body swerve around the neighborhood. We love him so much and constantly worry that he is fragile and small because compared to the rest of our beefcake kids he is the tiny one! 

Oh Benett. Our little Blanket eater. This baby is such a little prize I cant even tell you. He just spends his days laughing and being adored by our family. Brigitte likes to play babysitter and have me lay him on the floor next to her where she then puts bibs on him and wipes his face with wipes and shows him various toys and books. Its so cute that she loves him so much. At night when I tuck in the kids I fly the baby into their rooms (llike a ginormous fairy) and Benett kicks his doughy legs and laughs and laughs. He always has either his hand or toys or a blanket in his mouth. ALWAYS. His favorite blanket is the one I sewed for Brigitte when she was a baby because it has a 5 inch satin ruffle around the edge and he likes it up by his face. Everyone thinks hes a girl when they see him all snuggled up in the yellow and hot pink. Ive started to feed Benett bananas and avocados and although he LOVES being fed he doesnt get much down. I think he mostly enjoys chewing on the spoon. He nurses every 3 hours still and I dont really mind it because hes a quick eater and Im super lazy and do not look forward to the days of high chairs and "real food". Im quite happy letting him stay a baby! Hes starting to babble more and my mom swears he said Da Da over the weekend, but I dont believe her! We've

Oh Brigi girl. I am SO glad school is out for her because she is the little entertainer around here. She corrals spencer and keeps him running after her all day long. They do fight now that Spencer is learning to have an opinion and its been good for her to learn how to share and take turns. As you can see in the photo, Brigitte is our crazy fashionista. She will only wear exactly what SHE deems as beautiful. Yesterday it was no less than 2 pink "fruffle" skirts, one of which she wore pulled up to her armpits. She changes her clothes about a thousand times a day. She is WAY into my little ponies right now - the bad one called NIGHTMARE MOON. She draws me pictures of that pony every single day and also tells me that nightmare moon is to blame for everything bad in her life and also why she cannot for any reason be left alone in her room or have any of the lights off. She has a WILD imagination and is stubborn and emotional like her daddy :) She lives solely on ramen noodles and pink meats (cheap gross turkey lunch meat that she seriously eats by the pound.) She has the energy of a hundred power bars but is painfully shy with pretty much anyone besides her family. School has been such a challenge for her and she cried just about every day when I dropped her off. She was deathly afraid of one of her teachers and I have to say I wasnt a fan of her either. Thankfully the other teacher was really nice so Brigitte did ok with her, and she literally only had to go to school 6 times total. Next year she switches teachers and goes with a friend so I think it will be an easier time. If not Ill pull her out and let her stay home. If its not a fun social experience there is no point in shelling out $100 a month since she is already prepared for kindergarten. Ive been tempted to put her in gymnastics instead of school - I think she would like it way more, but we will see how she does in the fall.
 She says the most hilarious things including: mom, im having a little PROBLEM! And then I turn around and there is a usually a HUGE mess. She calls headbands "head bandaids", wash cloths are "swash cloffs", and anytime she she gets something she says: " I like this do I? DO I?" And then I have to say YES you LOVE it! And she says THATS RIGHT! Also, she calles Benett Little Chubba. Melts my heart!

I feel like I should include Gabe in this line up. He too has been up to no good and says some pretty hilarious things. We went to Utah over Mothers Day weekend for my cousins mission farewell and left 2/3 of the kids home (Thanks again Jory, you guys are saints!). We stayed in a hotel and it was FABULOUS! One day as we were leaving the hotel walking to our car Gabe whispered to me to look at the two girls sitting by the pool. It was only 60 degrees, and seriously 9 am, and there they were watching about 100 kids swim. They looked about my age and in typical Utah fashion they had fancy hair, designer jeans, and stared me down as we walked by.

When we got in the car Gabe told me that he had encountered them at breakfast down in the lobby and that it was the weirdest thing hed ever seen. One girl was standing there and like 5 kids were hugging and hanging on her. Then the other girl came over and the kids transferred over and started to hug the other one. I was like, so what? They are probably sisters and the kids were just giving her a hug! No he said, I think they are SISTER WIVES. What ? why?!

Because of THE WAY they were hugging.
Like HORSES. LEANING on each other.

I died laughing. But after looking at them by the pool I could totally see that they probably WERE sister wives! But dont ask me what that has to do with horses....Im Still trying to figure that out!