Lions and Tigers and Bears! OH MY!

I really haven't been a good blogger lately. I am sorry. I really have no good excuses. No, I take that back... I have plenty of excuses, but who wants to hear them?

So... let's see. Where to begin. After filing our taxes the other day with the TAX MAN(name that movie!)... we found out that we could not e-file because someone had already used Ben's SSN to claim him as a dependant. "Uh oh" Is right Ben! Who that someone is- we don't know... but it's awfully rude and inconsiderate of that "someone". And also quite worrisome that our not quite 1 year's identity has already been stolen. Now we have to wait on an investigation and HOPE that it was a mis-type and that no one really tried to STEAL his SSN. I'm trying to be very realistic though and plan on checking his credit report. My sister said "he's a baby and he already has a credit report?" Right?!!!!

This past weekend we drove to Knoxville, TN to visit my lovely cousin Laura (Lulu) and her family. We left straight after work Friday. I kind of feel bad now looking back on it because I don't think I was myself this weekend and probably wasn't much fun for her. Usually I'd stay up late talking the night I got there- but tired me didn't even think about it and went straight to bed and didn't realize they had stayed up waiting for us to come down after we put Ben down to hang out. SORRY! I didn't sleep so hot that night, so the next day I was TIRED but still had a lot of fun. Laura kept asking if I was alright, and besides being tired I was fine! We went to the Knoxville Zoo and Ben saw some of his first of the Wild Kingdom. We saw Elephants, Giraffes, Zebras, Bears, Lions, Tigers (oh my), a baby chimp, birds of all kinds, gazelles, a hyena, and many, many more... it was fun! Afterwards we went home, Ryan jumped on the trampoline with the kids, we hung out and ate good food and watched a movie. The next morning we woke up to a thin blanket of snow and then it snowed a little in the morning. I loved it! Knoxville really is a pretty place... I could see myself living there. It reminds me a lot of where I grew up in Flagstaff, AZ. It was sad to leave that day... I wish we could have stayed longer- and I really still do feel bad that I was having an "off" weekend. I loved laughing and giggling and being silly with them though. It was a good trip!

I would be lying if I said that the state of the economy isn't worrying us. We are trying to make some very overwhelming decisions in our life to cut down on costs and what we spend our money on. Luckily Ben has started to eat more and more "big boy" foods and is now starting to transition over to milk instead of formula- so we should be able to save a few bucks on that. He's a big fan of french fries, waffles, goldfish, spaghettios, carrots, peaches, and noodles. And he LOVES Ranch or Blue Cheese too, I'll dip my finger in it and then let him suck on it and he does the coolest little tongue thing! It's hilarious! He'll eat the pureed stuff still, but isn't as interested in it. It's so strange realizing my little baby is turning into a little boy and will be walking any day now AND is almost 1 years old! He's got such a cool personality and is so fun to be around. Last night Ashley came over to hang out while Jacob was at the church and she and I were giggling and Ben thought we were funny so he started laughing and that made us laugh even harder, then he would laugh more and so would we.... it was funny and cute! I wish we had it on video. His two top teeth finally broke through, thank goodness. Those were a beast... much more uncomfortable for him than the bottom two. Sucks that he still has a whole mouthful left to go through!

Well, that's all for now I guess. We're off to go see the newest addition to the Tubb family tonight! Congrats to Cecilia and Aaron and welcome to the world little guy!

Picture Pages, Pictures Pages...

Here are some more picts I took from the weekend. Our boy is getting to be so big!

Fun with Biter Biscuits! It was time for a bath after that!Before:After: I would caption this "What mom?"

He loves playing at the front storm door. It's great fun for him.

My favorite is the one on the bottom left... I love his face he's making and his little hands pressed up against the glass! Too funny!

Enjoying the Outdoors... FINALLY!

We had a pretty darn good weekend. I spent most of Friday night and Saturday morning finishing up the editing of Ashley and Jacob's wedding pictures. Then we headed down to Piedmont Park (in downtown Atlanta for those not around here) to meet up with Cecilia and Aaron, which we never got to find unfortunately, and to take pictures of Ashley G. and Brandon for their Engagement announcements. Parking was a nightmare and there were SO many people there, like SO many- but it ended up being really nice. The pictures seemed to have turned out pretty nice and it was a beautiful warm day and Ben had lots of fun with his daddy. You could tell that it did him a lot of good to be outside and get some nice fresh air. Plus he's so content even just people watching from his stroller. He's a very curious kid. He was as happy as could be while we were there and pretty worn out (as well as mommy) when we left! Afterwards, we went to a pizza place for dinner after the Park and then went home and to bed!

It's kind of a nice change once in a while to head into the heart of the City. We are definitely in "The burbs"... so we miss out on a lot of the eccentric and unusual (and sometimes SCARY) people and sites that the city has to offer. These guys were just jamming out... making a little cash, enjoying the warm weather... playing their music. Made for a picturesque moment.

Sunday we went to church and on the way home stopped at little park in the middle of the neighborhood with a swing set and slides, picnic tables and bbq's. We got Ben on the swings for the first time, and he LOVED it! He already automatically started pumping the swing to keep it moving! He's a natural! Ryan is now motivated to get him one for our backyard!

I'm thinking (and hoping) he's going to be an outside kind of kid. He seems to perk right up when he's out there getting that fresh air. I'm glad for that. He gets that from me! Sunday night we got to go to Newnan to visit some friends of mine, the Grush's. It was so good to see them! Here are some pictures!On another note, the poor kid is getting his top two teeth in- mostly the one on his left side. This time has been more uncomfortable for him I think then the bottom teeth were. I always feel bad for the little babies that have to go through this- so that makes just about every baby I guess. I've reassured him a few times though that he won't remember this and this too shall pass. :) I don't know about you mommies out there with children with teeth, but my kid seems to get this AWFUL cough/cold thing every time and he just doesn't sleep well because of it. Anyone else have that problem? Because of all of this, he's been pretty sensitive the last almost two weeks now. I'll be glad when he gets those chompers in. Also, I've decided I need to stop worrying about him choking on things and really get him going on real food and not jar food. I also need to convince him of it too. He seems ready to chew things, I mean- he "pretends" to be chewing when we feed him, even applesauce! So I'm thinking he's ready. We bought some things for him to try out... now we just need to do it! We're also pretty excited to start buying real milk and not formula and not spending money on jar food anymore!!! We're counting down the days! He's also picked up saying "ball". We've been trying to catch it on video... but haven't been very successful, but it's freakin' cute!!! He says it like "bawl". I love watching his little mouth while he says it! Makes us both smile! We love it! Well, that's about it for now!

A Shower of Bullets

I'm sorry I've been such a horrible blogger as of late. Life has been one crazy thing lately. I decided to do my typical bullets type post today. I just have a lot of thoughts and this is easier to get it out.

• I, and several other people I know, are scared of Peanut Butter at the moment. Especially living in GA where the peanut farmers and plants that produce it are under scrutiny right now. I have a bag of Valentine's Reeses Peanut Butter Cups sitting in our snack drawer here at work that no one wants to eat.
• I just got back from the creepiest and weirdest doctor's appointment I've ever been to. This is me never going back there again.
• I hate that I don't get to spend more time with my kid during the day. He's turning into a little boy. Only 1 month away from his first birthday! I can't believe it!
• I am happy my sister's phone interview went well today. Now it's waiting for March to come to find out if there's a second one.
• I have the ginormous bamboo at my desk that has just grown to be a really cool plant. Well there are 3 bamboo stalks and each one of them have a really large shoot coming out. SO, I decided to cut one of the shoots off and stick it in the water with the others to see what would happen... so far we're okay. It's lookin' a little sad and yellow- but I checked to see if it had rooted today and it has! So that's good news right? I hope so... that took a long time to grow!
• I'm finding that I have to wear my glasses more and more each day and I hate it.
• IT'S COLD today. Like REALLY, REALLY cold. It's 30 degrees, but with that blasted wind out there if feels like 19. BURRRRR!
• I'm craving Indian Food right now.
• I need a vacation... in the Caribbean.... St. Johns maybe.... for like a week long... with my family and good friends....
• WE'RE GOING TO SEE DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE in May!!!! YAY! I am pretty darn excited about that.
• We're going to Knoxville, TN to visit my cousin Lulu in a couple of weeks. It's been since we got married since I've seen her and I miss her! I'm pretty excited.
• I think my bone that's near my hip (but isn't my hip) is broken or has arthritis or something that doesn't feel so good.
• I hate bills.
• I wish it was Spring.
• Our work decided to "Go Green" (which by the way I am SO sick of that term...) and now stock the break room with utensils made of... CORN. Corn people, utensils made from corn. And don't you think for a second that they don't add a funky taste to the food your eating because they do! I'm sorry but when I'm sipping my hot chocolate from my corn spoon, I don't want to taste it.
• I want to go home and go to bed. BUT... I can't until things are done. SO I'm just going to go home. And now.

my parents wanted to see another video, said the other wasn't long enough, so this is a whole 9 seconds longer!

Chasing Teddy Bears

It's official... I have the cutest kid ever. That's all. This is mostly for my parents, this is a game they always play with babies and they love it, obviously. And he thinks it's so silly and always laughs as I'm doing the "one step, two step..." because he knows that "tickle you under there!" is coming! I love our guy very much. It's so incredibly amazing and fun to watch him grow and learn and develop into his own little personality. I love how when he's sleeping he has to have a blanky or something soft to cover his face with, he's always done that I don't think he'll grow out of that for a while or maybe ever. He does this little thing were he'll cough twice and then he sneezes. He HATES his diaper being changed. When I say "you want to go night-night?" now he'll make this little whimper noise like "YES PLEASE!". He's growing up so fast and learning and changing into a little boy. Only one month (and a day) until he's a YEAR OLD! Holy moly!
It's also official that Ben isn't scared of much EXCEPT for dogs with pointy faces. She's not afraid of Ally probably because she's just always been around. And we thought it was just Delinda's dog- but we went to some friend's house last night for dinner and they have a mini-dachshund and he scared the poop out of Ben too. It's kind of funny... I know I shouldn't laugh... but it's just funny to see his reaction. The way he acts, it's like NOTHING will make him safe. I would say he was more afraid of Delinda's dog then theirs though.
Life is crazy of course, but all is well. We are blessed with many things and people in our lives. We just found out I wont be getting the much hoped for raise we thought I'd get this year, but at least I have a job. No one in the company (supposedly) will get one due to the way the economy is right now. We have had a pretty good weekend so far. Yesterday was filled with baby showers, shopping, Photoshop, errands, and dinner at some friends. Tonight we're going over to the Terry's to hang for some Super Bowl. I wont be watching it, but I enjoy the company! Much love to you all.