Before and After!
Wil The BarberThen it was time for Ben's party! We got home and cleaned up the house the rest of the way, cooked and the troops started rolling in. We had a lot of fun, the weather was absolutely PERFECT, and Ben was really good! (He did get a 2 1/2 hour nap which really helped!)
Here was the cake eating. He liked the frosting a lot more than the actual cake of course. He was pretty cute.
Not sure why I decided that I needed to growl when forcing his hands in the cake... but whatever. Opening presents... look at how he's sitting! I love it!
After presents, he was pretty worn out... some people had left, we gave him a sippy with milk and he was OUT.
He also graduated to his new big boy car seat thanks to Nana! He really loves it and really didn't take much to adjust. He spends a lot of his time in the car with me, so I think that's why he does so well. He loves it though, it's a whole new perspective for him.
So it was a good weekend, we had fun! I'm going to bed now, because I went to bed late last night and I'm tired. Here's a little giggle to cheer you up if your feeling blue, or just to cheer you up!




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 
I would caption this "What mom?"






