Wordless Wednesday - Eating a Bedtime Snack

Curly Hair???

Before Kate was born, we often joked that she would have stick straight hair. And we wondered those first few months since her hair was so straight if it would stay that way. Not so much!! In the last few weeks it has just gotten more and more curly. On really humid days the ends really start to kick up. I think we can officially call her curly headed. I really wonder if Matt and I could produce a child that doesn't have curly hair?? See what you think of it...

We had a great day today. We enjoyed a great long play date with our friends the Hancocks. The older kids played and the babies and mommies visited. Lots of fun! Then this afternoon Ben had swimming lessons. He is still doing so awesome. I was helping the teacher out today by sitting near the class to help in case anyone fell in the water (I guess I was supposed to dive in and save the kid in my clothes holding Kate). Being so close allowed me to see Ben in action. He listens so closely to Miss Rae and does everything she says. I am so proud of him!

Summer Days Drifting Away...

Summer is awesome! I love the lack of schedule and just the relaxed days. We have had a great day today. I got up early and started the weekly laundry (always exciting). Then this morning we headed off to the pool for a couple of hours! Ben is doing so good with his swimming. He is jumping into the pool and swimming a little bit. He is definitely more comfortable with the water. Kate is loving just being in the water. She likes her little whale float. She can touch the bottom in the baby pool so today she was scooting herself all around and trying to get in with the bigger kids. She thinks she is about 3. It is an interesting adventure to take a 3 year old and 7 month old to the pool by myself but I manage. We are getting into a routine with it so that is good. I don't know if I will ever manage to take any pictures at the pool as I am always busy with someone in my arms!

This afternoon everyone took a nap at the same time. I think that is about the second time that has happened since Kate has been born. The naps for Ben are a wonderful side effect of the pool. Tonight after dinner we went on a family trip to get some ice cream at Coldstone! Nothing like some ice cream on a hot summer day! Such fun!!!

Branching Out, Toy Story 3 and Fondue

Another great weekend comes to a close. It was a pretty low key weekend around these parts. Like I said there is either tons going on or nothing. This was a nothing kind of weekend. Friday night we just hung out at home. Matt and I are making our way through season 3 of "24" so we got in a few episodes.

Saturday morning we went for our usual breakfast and errand run. We did decide to branch out and not go to Panera. We went to Little Rosies instead. It was fine but we missed Panera and felt like we were cheating on it. We will be back next week...

Ben and Matt then headed out to see Toy Story 3 together. Ben loves going to the movies so he was so excited. He has been such a big boy lately. He has gone 2 weeks without an "accident" so he was in need of a good reward. They both loved the movie and it has been "to infinity and beyond" ever since!
Miss Kate and I just hung out at home. I got a few things done around the house and she played! This toy she is playing with is her absolute favorite. It was also Ben's favorite. I don't know what is so exciting about it but they love it!

Check her out with her cup! She is doing so great with her cup. I think pretty soon she won't be taking a bottle at all it will be only sippy cups!

Saturday was my parents 33rd wedding anniversary! I had told them I would make them a special dessert for after their anniversary dinner. At the last minute I changed it up and decided to make fondue and invited them and my brother and Kelly over to enjoy. I am sure it is just what they wanted to do on their anniversary. Actually they said it was fun to be together as a family. Crazy to think they started out as a family of 2 and now it is up to 8 of us. Every night growing up my dad would always end his prayers with "Thank you for Ann, Emily and Andrew." Over the years that has gotten longer and longer. Now every time he prays it is "Thank you for Ann, Emily, Andrew, Matt, Ben, Kelly and Kate." We kid him that before long he is going to spend all his time praying for us. He always replies "if I could only be so lucky!" I have awesome parents and it was great to be able to celebrate with them their 33 years of marriage.

So I made dark chocolate, peanut butter fondue with all dippers to go with it. It turned out super yummy. It was great to get to finally use that fondue pot we got as a wedding gift 7 years ago. I think we maybe using it some more!

Today was filled with church, lunch with friends and naps. Always a great Sunday! We are ready to start another week filled with all sorts of great things!

Swimming Lessons

Ben has been so excited this week to start swimming lessons! YEA!!! He loves the water so we thought it would be good to get him started on learning how to swim. He is taking lessons two times a week for 5 weeks at the wellness center here in town. His teacher is Miss Rae and she is great. The first day he wasn't too sure about putting his head under the water but today we went to our pool and practiced so he was ready! He is doing awesome. He is the youngest in the class but he is catching on really fast and doing exactly what he needs to do. We are so proud! We need to work on his homework this weekend of "big arms." I guess that means lots of trips to the pool. Not that I mind because it is 95 degrees outside.

Ready to start his lesson! In the water working on his technique.

Kate is along for the ride of course! She loves watching her big brother do anything so she is enjoying watching the lessons. This girl is going to love to swim. Every time we get her in the water she tries to stick her head under the water. She is already kicking her legs. Maybe a future swimmer for Auburn! This picture also captures her new thing for this week. She is really into pointing and reaching for people. So cute!

Tennis Shoes

My sweet little boy has been asking everyday for about 2 months if he could wear tennis shoes. He outgrew his last pair during the spring and I hadn't bought him any new ones. He has about 5 pairs of sandals for the summer but I hadn't found any good deals on tennis shoes and I refuse to buy anything not on sale or second hand. I just can't do it! So after many a morning of sad faces because he had no tennis shoes I gave in! I told him we would go buy a new pair of tennis shoes. He was so excited! He wanted a blue pair.

So today my mom took us to the PX (the store on the base here in town). They usually have things just a little bit cheaper and you don't have to pay tax. Ben found a pair of shoes he loved. He tried them on and they fit great (a little big so they will fit for a while). He was running and jumping and so excited. He wouldn't take them off so he wore them out of the store. Who knew a pair of shoes could make a little boy so happy! The rest of the day he has been super bouncy and excited.

Here are his new blue tennis shoes!

Proud new owner of the tennis shoes!

And Miss Kate was along for the ride. She enjoyed her first time to sit up in a shopping cart. She did great. We had a fun day out with Granna this morning running some errands and then enjoying lunch at Chic-fil-a!

A Special Mommy & Ben Day (300th Post)

So I was just noticing this was my 300th post! Can't believe I have written that much. I am really enjoying trying to post almost everyday (well at least when we have something exciting to post). It is helping me to remember what is going on in our everyday lives!

Yesterday was a crazy day. I had to work all morning. I saw 4 patients which is a bunch for me. Then I ran home and picked up Ben from my mom's and we headed down to Birmingham for an eye appointment. My mom was super sweet to watch Kate so we didn't have to drag her along with us. We made it to Birmingham just in time for our appointment. You may remember we missed one a couple of weeks ago due to the stomach bug and I had to miss one back in March because I got food poisoning. I was very worried that someone was going to get sick yesterday.

Ben did great at the appointment. His eyes still aren't focusing like the doctor wants them to. We have not been good about patching because Ben hates it and because it is so hard to fit into our schedule. So the doctor wants him to do some eye drops that will cause him not to be able to see out of his "good" eye and force him to use his "bad" eye. Bad news is the drops have some crazy side effects and you can't go in the sun with them in. That is not good for summertime. So we are going to hold off on them until the end of the summer and try using the patch between now and then. Pray that this can work and we can get his eyes back focusing right.

The appointment took 20 minutes and then we were back on the road. So we drove a total of 4 hours for a 20 minute appointment. Kind of crazy. But it was a special time for me and Ben. There hasn't been many opportunities lately for us to just hang out together. We had some good talks and also got to eat dinner just the 2 of us. It was really fun. It was also neat to get to hear all the comments people had to say about Ben when we were out and about. Everyone loves his curly hair and glasses. Since Kate has been around we haven't heard many Ben comments so it was fun to hear all those! I really enjoyed my time with my little man!

When I got home you should have heard Kate!! She started squealing and laughing. It was the sweetest sound. She missed me so much. I was away from her pretty much all day and she wanted her mommy! Made me feel so loved. I have the best kids!

Father's Day 2010

Wow! We had another amazing but busy weekend! Why do they go by so fast??? Friday night we enjoyed dinner and games with our friends the Johnson's. Then Saturday morning the kids and I headed out to do some errands (get ready for Father's Day) while Matt did fun yard work! It was an adventure for me and the kiddos. It was storming like crazy on the other side of the mountain but we had things we had to do so we just pressed on. Saturday afternoon/evening we went to a welcome party for the Auburn students that Matt teaches at the hospital. It is hosted every year by the Eilands on their awesome "farm." They may not call it a farm but it is to us. Way out in the country on tons of beautiful land. They have horses and a pond. Ben and Kate both loved the horses. We were too busy chasing the kids to take any pictures but imagine Kate and Ben petting horses and Ben running around having a blast outside. It was so much fun!

Then Sunday was Father's Day!!!!! I am so blessed to have an amazing dad and to also be married to the best dad in the world! It was a fun day of celebration. We have a tradition of giving Mother's Day and Father's Day presents in bed so first thing Ben did was take Matt his presents. Ben really wanted to get him a Robin shirt (Ben is Batman and Matt is Robin) but we couldn't find one so he got him a Captain America shirt instead (Matt's favorite super hero). I mean what dad wouldn't want a Captain America shirt??? We then got ready for church and headed out to breakfast at Panera. Church was great as always and then it was off to Chilis for lunch. Then home for naps!

Late afternoon we went over to Kelly and Andrew's for a swim and some dinner with my parents. It was great to get to spend some time with my dad as well. We all had fun swimming (it was so hot!!!). We even got in a game of Cornhole.

I LOVE this picture!!! You can see how much that little boy loves his daddy!

This picture made me laugh. All the boys were sitting and watching a movie. Some great dads and sons in this picture!

It was an awesome weekend! I hope Matt felt very loved and appreciated. He is awesome!!!

VBS 2010

We survived our VBS week. It was a wonderful week. Ben and Kate both had a great time all week going to VBS. I really enjoyed helping out with the preschool crafts. The week was just fun. It was tiring for sure but so much fun!

Ben made some awesome crafts all week. I love this one with his picture on it. The theme this year was "Saddle Ridge Ranch." Perfect for little boys who love cowboys! He was saying "yee haw" in the picture. So cute!! Here he is singing and dancing in his class. He came home each day singing a song they learned.
He got to hang out with all his buddies. Here is Micah and Eli! They all had a great time.

Miss Kate did great all week. I was a little worried but the teachers quickly learned what she liked and she was a happy camper. She took her nap each day and ate everything they gave her. She loved playing with all the other kiddos. She was the youngest person to attend VBS this year so she gets the prize!

We are so thankful to have a church that loves our kids and loves other preschoolers. It is a privilege to get to work with the kids and share the love of Jesus with them. I pray that many seeds were planted this week that will grow in time.

7 Months!!!!

I am in denial that it is already time to write Miss Kate's 7 month post. I can't believe it. I have started a couple of times today but just can't do it. She is not already 7 months old. Time is flying! I want it to slow down. Right now is such a fun time and I just want to savor every minute of it! I need to get started planning that first birthday because it is going to be here before we know it. Here is what is up with Kate at 7 months...

• You continue to be the sweetest thing ever! Such a sweet and laid back little girl. Although as of late you have started to show a little temper when things don't go your way. You also get bored easily so you will cry quickly if you are not being entertained to your liking!
• You love to play with toys. You pick up everything in sight and chew on it. You are sitting up like a champ. You can do the "inch worm" crawl. Not off the ground but you can get where you want to go. You have made it across the entire living room rug.
• You are finally starting to put on some weight! I have noticed just in the last week or so that you look more filled out and today you weighed 15 pounds 2 oz. You gained 2 oz more than your usual 1 pound this month! YEA!!! You are wearing 6 month clothes and size 2 diapers. Your foot has finally grown some. Newborn shoes don't fit any more but you are still not in size 0 yet. You are just so petite. That is the first thing everyone says when they look at you (well after they comment on your hair). Speaking of hair. It just keeps growing and growing. You are so beautiful.
• You are an awesome eater!! You have no teeth but will "gum" anything we put in front of you. You are doing great with table foods like crackers, soft fruits, puffs, veggies. You also eat 2 bowls of cereal and 2 jars of baby food each day. You love to eat. It makes you so happy! You are nursing 3 times a day and taking 1 bottle of formula a day. You continue to sleep great. Bedtime is around 8 each night and you sleep until 5-6 am. You usually go back down for a 2 hour nap around 8 am and then a 2 hour nap around 1 pm. But you are also very flexible with your eating and sleeping. You go with the ever changing flow of our family.
• You and Ben have started playing more these days. He will bring you toys and will play with you. You still adore him!! No real stranger anxiety these days. You are doing much better in the nursery at church too.

Happy 7 month birthday Sweetie! We love you so much!!!!

I Can't Think Of A Title

This post will probably be a little random so for that reason I am struggling to come up with a title.

This week is VBS week at church. Lots of fun!! I am doing preschool crafts. Nothing like trying to make stick horses with 120 four and five year olds. It is a little crazy but fun. Both the kids are having a great time. Every time I see Ben they are doing such fun things. And Kate is smiling a playing every time I see her. So a good time is being had by all. One fun thing this week is that we are taking one of friends 6 year old with us each day. They just had a baby and she doesn't need to have to get the baby out to take Ann Alise to VBS. She is so sweet and we are enjoying her riding with us. Can I just say having a 6 year old is awesome! She is a big help to me. I now understand how people do it with more than 2 kids. The older ones can carry things and hold younger ones hands. Not that I am planning on trying this theory out but I now understand.

Funny story about our anniversary yesterday. Matt was actually out of town. He was speaking at a conference at the beach this morning so he left yesterday morning to head down there. So that meant we spent our actual anniversary apart (not a big deal since we had such a wonderful weekend together and we have been apart on our anniversary before). The funny part was that we both went out to dinner with other people. Matt went out with Brad and LeeAnn and I went to dinner with the kids and Kelly.

A sneak peak of Kate's 6 month pictures are up on our photographer's blog. You can check them out here.

Ok that is my randomness for the day! And a post isn't complete without a picture so here is a cute one of the kids from today.

An Amazing 7 Years!

It is hard to believe that 7 years ago today I married my very best friend!! He is truly is wonderful. I feel that I am the luckiest woman alive to have been given the gift of the past 7 years. He makes me smile every single day. He can make me laugh like no one else. He challenges me to be a better person all the time. We have been blessed with the 2 most wonderful kids in the world! Happy Anniversary Matt! I love you!

Here is what we were doing 7 years ago today...