Ben update

I haven't done a Benny post lately. There are just so many things that he's been doing or saying lately that are hilarious and it's hard to keep up with it all!
-Lately, he's had this thing with Alligators. Supposedly they're scaring him. Early this morning (4am) he came in to our room crying. I got up to see what the problem was and ask him what was wrong and he held on to me so tight and said "I scared myself!" hahaha, not sure what he meant I asked him if he was scared of something and he mentioned an Alligator... and then a mouse? I don't know. He might've had a bad dream or something, but he also has a stuffed animal that happens to be an Alligator we got from IKEA and he's been sleeping with it in his bed lately. So took that out of his bed and he crawled in and went RIGHT back to sleep...random! He's also mentioned being scared to go poop in the potty because of the Alligators... again, random!
-He loves to shove food in his mouth lately. Like he has to hurry and eat it. I don't know why he's started doing that, but I guess that's pretty typical.
-Whenever anyone passes gas... or as we say "farts" he says "EWWWWW! Roll da window down!" even if we're in the house!

-He's really been in to playing outdoors which is great probably because it's getting warmer. I welcome it whole heartily. He's been enjoying drawing with chalk and blowing bubbles a lot, and especially when I can blow him REALLY big ones. He's helped me plant some of our plants we've put in the yard. We even bought a little seed kit thing from the store that had pumpkin seeds in it that you start and then eventually plant in the garden. The seedlings grew REALLY fast and he loved watching them grow everyday on the window sill in the front room. Then after about a week or so we went and planted them in the yard and I let him do that part. He has also as of late been enjoying throwing and catching the "bisbee" (frisbee), mostly with Daddy. Ryan taught him how to hold his hands up to catch it, and he does a really good job! He's got a pretty good arm on him too, I've mentioned this before. I hope to get him in to some activity like soccer or something soon.

This was him throwing to Poppy

-Whenever we ask if he need to use the restroom he'll say "I just went pee" or "I just went poop"... even though most of the time he hasn't. It's the "I just..." part that gets me!
-we were all cuddling on our bed just now and he likes to rub our backs when we're tired just like we do his. And so I said "Benny, rub my back please" and so he rubbed it for just a second and said "enough?" and I said "no" and so he did it a little longer "that good?" me: "no, more please" so he continued to do it "enough?"... it went on for some time and it was adorable.
-He’s taken to talking back… something that I want to get in check REAL fast, because that’s not going to fly in my home.

-He loves to dance to music. And he’s starting to remember lines from movies. He was playing with his Buzz Lightyear doll the other morning and he was quoting the part with Buzz's dad saying "FATHER!!!!" in a quiet little voice!
- there's a Christmas CD I made years ago in the car. And he said "ooooh Mommy, I like that CD can I have it?" and I said "no... it's mommy's. It's our Christmas music" and he said "mommy. We go see Santa at the church. You have to get your Church clothes on Mommy. We go to Church and see Santa and sit with him."
-If he likes something he wants or thinks looks nice he'll tell you. He's good at giving compliments. He even opens the door for me at his school! He's said to me "I like your haircut mommy!" or "I like your dress mommy, it's like a princess!"
-after I've gotten mad at him or he knows he's not my favorite person, he'll come to me and say "I love you mommy" and then puckers up and kisses me. He loves to kiss and grabs our cheeks. Daddy mostly appreciates kisses on the cheek or nose, but every once in a while Ben really wants to kiss lips! It's pretty funny to watch them. He's learning the art of manipulation with the whole loving mommy when she's mad thing though! I'm on to you kid..... hehe
-I've mentioned before he's really sensitive, but sensitive to people's moods and emotions. The other night I was kind of sad/upset about something, and we were sitting on my bed and he said "mommy, what's the matter?" and I told him I was sad and he said "it's okay Mommy. Don't be sad. I love you." He always wants to make people's hearts happy and faces happy by fixing whatever is wrong. I hope he stays that way!
-When we ask him what he wants to be when he grows up he says "BIGGER!"
-I think he's starting to shy away from naps. Sad day. He hasn't been sleeping well lately, I wonder if it's a growth spurt or if it's simply that he's having dreams now... possibly scary ones. 

-He's still pretty skinny. He's pretty finicky when it comes to food. He'll only eat veggies as long as they're baby food veggies. He's gotten taller... but he's still fitting in to his shorts he wore last summer. But I don't think that's going to last much longer.
-he's starting to be a little more precocious now. He's never been one to get in to things or to climb... and now all of a sudden he is. He still stays out of places where he knows he shouldn't be- but he's figuring out that if he pushes the stool to the counter in the kitchen that he can reach things we don't want him to have. Or that he can climb up the changing table in his room to turn the light on and off. Things like that.
-he still loves bath time and could sit and play in there for an hour if we let him. I can't wait to get him to the pool this summer.
-He's been doing some silly faces in pictures lately. Little Kung Fu moves and stuff.

I guess that's it for now. I'm sure y'all get bored of hearing all these silly details. Or if any of you that are around him enough think of anything else I need to add, message it!

Easter 2011

We had a good Easter. It was a gorgeous day. Ben asked if we could color eggs this year so I got one of those fun little kits and we went out to the garage and driveway to die our eggs. Ryan had actually never (to his knowledge) died Easter Eggs before so it was fun for everyone! Afterward Ryan traced Benny on the driveway a few times! We enjoyed sitting outside on the front porch for a while too. 

 

We spent the rest of the afternoon with Ryan's family. Everyone came so it was a busy house but lots of fun. It's always good to see extended family.

 

Ben and his cousin Nicholas

Little Stud

Ryan & I hid the eggs; the ones we dyed and the ones Nana had put together (which are far more fun because they have money in them!) out in the backyard. The kids went on their hunt and Ben had a ball. He really had fun with it this year. Nana & Poppy got them all Easter baskets too. I decided I'll do that for him next year. :) BUT I really want him to understand the importance of Easter and why we really celebrate it, and that it's about the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior... and not just a bunny and some candy. That part is fun yes, but not the important part. We were SUPER exhausted after having had a very busy week so we didn't stay too long, but did enjoy our time!

Nana & Poppy and all their grandchildren

Tornado Outbreak

I have lots to catch up on, but we have had some scary weather here in the South during the month of April. Since I've lived here in GA (almost 7 years, can you believe it?) I have not had to experience so many tornadoes. It's not good for my nerves, I tell you that much. For those who don't know already the storms yesterday and last night were REALLY, REALLY bad. The system that came through GA last night had previously made an ugly mess in other states, particularly bad in Alabama in the Tuscaloosa area. The cells of storms moved through Georgia between 9pm-2am, which seems to be the trend. And normally bad cells break up over time… but the particular cell that caused so much havoc in Tuscaloosa keep its power and also created havoc in Northwestern GA. Miraculously, we totally got missed. There were lines of storms above and below us. The City of Atlanta and up through Roswell (where we live) and the Alpharetta area were in a pocket that never stormed up very bad, with no particular explanation. We did get some rain and lots of wind. But NOTHING compared to what the other poor people got hit with. This, however, did not prevent me from staying awake until 1:45am watching the news and weather coverage for fear that the storms would take a turn for the worst and come our way. I wanted to be prepared and not be lifted up like Dorothy and taken to the Land of Oz. Although, I guess I’d be fine with that as long as my boys came too, and there were no flying monkeys. I supposed I’d feel right at home with the “little people”…

Here are some bits of info just for the record:

1. President Barack Obama toured rubble-strewn Tuscaloosa neighborhoods on Friday, declaring the devastation brought by a series of powerful storms and tornadoes was beyond anything he had ever seen. 
2. About 148 twisters Wednesday left a swath of destruction across 13 states, killing more than 335 people in six states, including 250 people in Alabama alone.
3. TWC Severe Weather Expert Dr. Greg Forbes says tornadoes were reported nearly continuously from just after midday April 25 through about 5:30pm EDT on April 28. That's a roughly 76-hour outbreak!  According to Forbes there have been 194 confirmed tornadoes, and still 126 reports of tornadoes yet to be confirmed! (taken from www.weather.com)
4. The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center has said some of the tornadoes on Wednesday may have been more than a mile (1.6 km) wide with wind speeds over 200 mph. 

Check out this link and article, surprisingly from BBC. The first view you see to me was the most impressive video. You can hear the guy panting in the background he's so freaked out. Crazy huge tornado. It was a pretty stressful night, but I feel so glad we weren't hurt. Not sure what we would've done in our tiny bathroom if something that big would've come over us. Not sure we'd still be here!

I don't like tornadoes.
This was from an email my cousin Mark Collier sent us. He lives in Guntersville, Alabama.
"Yeah, we're doing great.  We had a tornado miss our house at around 6:30 AM, by about 100 feet or so, but it got our neighbors'.  One of them had part of their roof torn off, one had a shed obliterated and several of them lost many 200 year old oak trees.  We had another smaller tornado follow the exact same path at around 9:00 PM that finished off the roof started by the morning one.  In all, our town had 12 tornadoes last Wednesday.  Several sections of our zip code were flattened, and almost everywhere else, there was significant damage to trees and stuff.

We spent six and a half days without electricity, and two days with no running water.  I dammed up the creek to catch water to use for flushing the toilets, and we had a 50 gallon drum of drinking water stored in the garage.  All in all, with our church-inspired emergency preparations, we managed with no real issues.  We had enough to share with neighbors.  No one on our road was physically injured (miracle).  Several people in the next town were killed.

Celeste and the kids were caught in another tornado while in the car later in the day.  They were driving along, and golf ball size hail started hammering the car, so they pulled over into a gas station.  Sheet metal and lumber started falling from the sky.  I stood on my neighbor's back porch and watched that tornado go rumbling by, knowing my family was in it.  I've never said a prayer like that one before.

I spent six days cutting trees to help people get out of their homes, roads, and driveways.  Being prepared at home allowed us to help others who were either unprepared or unable to do the work themselves; testimony to the wisdom of the Lord and his prophets!

All in all, it's been an interesting experience that has strengthened us.  Just thankful none of us was hurt.  By the way, they really do sound like freight trains...."

Andrea!

My BFF from Utah Andrea came to visit us and I'm just getting around to writing about it so I hope I can remember all that we did. We had a lovely time, I remembered all over again how much I miss having that chick around in my life! We hid from tornado warnings- twice, we went to the Temple Open House (I'll do a separate post), we went shopping, ate, went to the Dogwood Festival down at Piedmont Park, napped, laughed, watched Season 1 of Modern Family... had a ball basically! It was just what the doctor ordered and I'm so glad we got to have her visit. Ben loved having her here too because she read to him a lot and brought him books to read, and played with him lots.
Photo time! (If I can get stupid blogger to work right!)

Hiding in the bathroom from the tornado... we look scared huh?

Temple open house

Dogwood Festival

Cute Andrea looking AMAZING!

Ben loved Miss Andrea!

I loved our visit!

Let the Good Times Roll..

Okay. I can't hide back the excitement anymore. I'm excited! I'm excited for this month, for May and for June.
There are so many things happening just this month that are all so fun and exciting! The Atlanta Temple is reopening after having been renovated for almost 2 years. I have been so blessed to have watched it's progress over the last couple years, as I drive by it two times a day every day on my way to work. I am pretty excited about the activities surrounding the re-dedication, and President Monson will be here to do it. I hope we are able to watch the dedication, I have never seen one before. We are going to take a tour prior to the dedication though, and I'm pretty excited. If you're not a member of our church and would like more information, you too can visit the open house before it is dedicated. Click here. It's been interesting not having a functioning temple that we can regularly attend the last 2 years, it'll be nice to be able to go back more often.
My BFF Andrea from UT is coming to visit this week, which makes me as giddy as a school girl. I miss living close to her, and am SOOOOO stinkin' excited she's coming to see us. The last time she was here was when we were married 4 years ago- so it should be fun! We are taking her with us to the temple open house tour.
THEN... my sister Delinda will be in town for a short visit for an art conference at Emory, so we will get to spend an evening with her as well! And my brother just called and he is probably coming again next week for work! And I may have a couple of photo shoots this month as well!
THEN... We're going to Destin, FL at the end of May and I have a wedding to photograph the week before that. THEN... like two weeks after that (mid-June), we go to Utah! YAY! We get to see all sorts of friends and family (I hope!). We start off seeing our friends the Christensen's in Vegas and then from there on out I'm not sure what the plan is. But I hope we can see as many people as we can!  I'm so super excited to see my mommy and daddy and to squeeze and hug them and kiss their cute cheeks, and go to my sister Shauna's resting place to see the new headstone we all chipped in for in person. AND of course, all my nieces and nephews.... oh and I guess my big brothers too!
THEN... no just kidding... but it will be the 4th of July soon after that and we get a day off for that. We plan on doing other various activities this summer. Hopefully some tubing in Helen? Or even white water rafting? Camping? YES PLEASE! We will be busy! But I think we function well with busy.

Tulips & Daffodils we planted as bulbs

Who knew ferns could be so interesting?

We have been tending to our yard lately. I took a special project on this year, the flower bed in the
backyard behind our bedroom. It has been covered with leaves for pretty much the whole time we've lived here and I just got sick of looking at it and decided one Saturday to clean it up. I've planted some bulbs that I'm not really sure when they'll come up; some bleeding hearts and some astilbe. I know you care right? But my point is, I'm excited to see how it all turns out to be, because it's mostly shaded so it should be pretty lush in a couple years with pretty greenery and the flowers from above said bushes I planted.

Our veggie garden is growing pretty good. I'm trying to feel as much motivation and excitement about it this year as I did last... I'm trying. We planted asparagus this year though, which apparently has to mature a year. We planted carrots and broccoli this year and no tomatoes. Ryan's parents usually have a forest of them (literally) and so I figured we'll just eat theirs! Our front yard looks pretty good too. Lots of new plants coming up from bulbs we planted, and we just put some new mulch down. It's getting warmer and warmer out and all of the spring/summer noises outside are getting louder and louder. We were just sitting out on the front porch saw some bats, listened to frogs and an owl in the distance... pretty soon we'll have lightning bugs! And boy, we're getting our typical stormy weather too. Last week there were severe storms (which translates to potential tornadoes here in the South) and tonight we're expecting another. Too bad they're in the middle of the night which prevents me from sleeping, because... well, I'm a worry wart. I love the Spring here in Georgia all except for the HORRIBLE pollen and allergies I get from it and the tornadoes, oh and traffic.

Pollen Eyebrows on my planter

Not my fav.
Well, I'm not feeling well tonight so I better get some rest before the storms come a brewin'.

The Raintree Circle House

I didn't sleep a wink last night. Okay, that's far-fetched... I slept some, but was awake at least once every hour on the clock for the exception of a couple. So in that time, I couldn't turn my brain off and for some reason got to thinking of our house in Flagstaff, AZ and just how much I loved it and how dear it is to my heart still. And how I should probably write a little about it for my future prosperity.
I in essence grew up in that house, more than any of my siblings did really. I lived there from 8 years old to 18 years old, and before that in Southern California. We built the house over in the Fox Glenn/Continental area (for those of you still in Flagstaff or that used to live there like me). It was my mom's "dream house". When she was a little girl in South Africa, she read a book by Enid Blyton and in it there was a picture of an English Tudor home that she'd always loved. Our home was an English Tudor.

Our Flagstaff, AZ home on Raintree Circle

 We had wallpaper in EVERY ROOM IN THAT HOUSE! We also had "Dusty Rose" carpet in every room except for the rooms my brothers had, and they were blue. My dad landscaped the yard beautifully, he spent ALL the time he could on that yard- front and back. There were 2 ponds- one in front and one in back, a stream with a bridge, a hammock in the back next to the pond, a veggie garden on the side yard with a stepping stone path to it, a compost pile, a beautifully manicured Clematis vine (you can see in the picture) that climbed the face of the house during the summer months, and the list goes on. I loved being in our yard. I loved sitting on the front porch there and looking at the beauty my dad had created. We also would go on a search for Aspen trees to plant out in the forest in my dad's 1979 Dodge Ram (with NO power steering)! He found one especially for me, and it eventually grew to be the largest in the yard (in my head anyway). For a long time we were the only ones in the cul-de-sac too, and my neighbors Jill & Beth and Michelle & I used to play house out in the pine trees and make rooms out of pine needles. 
The house had 5 bedrooms, 4 upstairs and my parents master was downstairs. There was a loft up above the garage as well In what was first my sister Delinda's room, there was a "cubby hole" in the closet that when you went in to it was the opening between the slants in the roof and the walls in the bedrooms on that side of the house. Delinda made it her little safe place I guess, she took pictures of surfers out of magazine and stapled them to the walls (if you could call them that) and had lots of hidden things in there. The surfers were because she missed life back in Cali I guess. It was mostly used for storage, but that was a fun little spot to hide in. I remember it being kind of dark and creepy but fun because it felt so "secret".
There was a window in the bathroom upstairs that if I got on top of the clothes hamper below it, I could crawl out of and sit on the roof of the house. I liked it up there. It was where I went to be alone and to think. Although not very safe, it was definitely quiet and private. I love the sunsets in Flag and that was one of the best places to watch it. It had a good view of the backyard and of the neighborhood below. I always went out barefoot so that my feet could keep traction on the grittiness of the roofing shingles.
We had seminary a few years up in that loft above the garage, dad put up drywall for walls and painted a scene from the Old Testament on it with Brother Dohrmann. We also used that for storage some years, we used it to do haunted houses, we used it to hide and roll up paper and light it on fire and pretend to be smoking (haha), we had a BIG table my dad built out of plywood that had different sections on it- and we found different kinds of rocks and each had their own section. Like turquoise or quartz or fools gold. That was probably the beginning to my interest in Geology and my short lived school career where I majored in it.
Flagstaff has a lot of skunks. And there were a few that managed to find their way IN to the house. There was a direct walkway from the front hall, in through the kitchen, through the laundry room out to the garage. In order to save money on air conditioning, dad would often open all the doors and windows in the evenings to cool the house down. Well... one night two skunks ventured their way on to our driveway. One got REAL gutsy and walked right on through the garage in to the laundry room and that is where he was discovered about to make his way in the to kitchen! I don't remember how, but my dad had to carefully remove him from the premises as to not frighten him making him spray in the house!!! He was successful, but I just remember how scared we all were he would, and how we laughed about it afterwards.
Our dining room also doubled as a library. It was basically floor to ceiling shelves of books. I remember using the set of Encyclopedias on the bottom shelf for book reports. Isn't that crazy? Our kids probably wont even know what those are thanks to the Internet. Speaking of the Internet... I had my first experience ever with the Internet in that house!
Mom taught piano and voice lessons in the living room. That is also where were almost always had our Christmas trees as well. You could kind of peek down from the stairwell above in to that room on Christmas morning to see what kinds of presents we got.
My brother Greg had a bad relationship with the stairs. He would frequently fall UP them! He didn't live at the house very long, he was a senior when we moved to Flagstaff and then went on his mission right after that and then moved to UT after that. But anytime he'd come home to visit or even when he did live there... we'd occasionally hear a few thuds and know it was Greg and the stairs having a fight!
Our family room had a wood burning stove that we used in the winter. I loved watching my dad make fires in it. And I loved listening to it. It was so cozy, especially on those frequently cold, snowy, windy days there in Flagstaff. It was a Country Blue color and very my mom's style. She liked the "country" theme.You can see a smidgen of it below. The dollhouse was one that my dad put together for me, it was almost a replica of our house.

Mom & Dad with the doll house he built me in our family room

I slept in every room in the upstairs by the time everyone else had moved out. I'm the youngest and Delinda is 5 1/2 years older than me so I had the upstairs to myself for a few years. My first room was in the front of the house, I got to pick out my own wallpaper and chose one that was pink with cute little hearts. I had a really cool window seat that doubled as a toy chest. The second room was even cooler, we changed it from a boys room (Greg's) to a much more feminine and older room with bedding that matched the valances and everything. I slept in the other two rooms, ending in what was once Delinda's room. It had wallpaper that looked like clouds. (I wasn't kidding when I told you that EVERY.ROOM had wallpaper!)
I really loved that house. I was heartbroken when my parents called and said that they were moving to Logan, UT and that they were selling. I often wonder what has been done to that house. I'm almost positive that the ugly (sorry mom) carpet and wallpaper were taken out, and that everything looks totally different. The front yard does anyway, no more beautiful landscaping- the new owners let the little Aspen trees take over the yard and you can barely even see the front of the house anymore.I loved that house as if it was a family member, I know that sounds weird... but it was such a huge part of my life and was always so super special to me. I know my parents both still miss it, maybe not Flagstaff itself but the house. I hope that the new owners are loving it and living in it as happy as we were.

3 years old...
As I've stated before, our little Dude has cracked us up on more than one occasion. He has been saying things like a big boy a lot lately.

For instance, we were all in our bedroom talking and Ben crawled up on the back of the bed and leaned over and said "mommy... I want muffins. I need a muffin in my tummy" and said it very matter of fact like.

He hasn’t been feeling super great this weekend, and now I believe him even more because I’m thinking I’m feeling like he was… but anyway, we were coming home from Nana’s house and he was watching a movie on his little DVD player. He said out of nowhere “mommy, my head hurts. I need some medicine to make it feel better. Okay?”

The door to the bathroom was just closed and Ben needed to pee (holding himself) and I told him to go and he said "It Smellllllsss", he has learned to be cautious of going in after his daddy!

He's been very defiant about going potty in the mornings. Not sure why. He's pretty much defiant to me when I tell him to do anything he doesn't want to. He'll listen to his daddy though, but sometimes he's not there to back me up.

He's learning about how Mommy's body parts are different than his and Daddy's... and that because of that, Mommy's are now "PRIVATE". hahaha We're now teaching him exactly what that means and now how to be respectful of that.

Our home teacher (for church) came over this week to visit. And Ben is known to be pretty shy at first, he has a hard time saying hi to people unless he knows them very well. When Jared was getting out of his car Ben yelled with excitement, "Oh I like him!!" and got really excited. When Jared was leaving Ben was standing on the couch and yelled to him "give me a hug!" It made Jared's night I'm sure and I was proud of him for being so bold!

I'm adding these as we go... whenever he says something funny I want to remember it and put in this post. This morning when I was getting him in to the car he said "Mommy, I want Daddy." Pause "I love him" pause "Mommy, I have a wiener and Daddy does too. You don't have a wiener. Boys have wieners." All I could say while laughing was "you're right!".

Right now, I'm super itchy. And cold. This is a note to my future self... that apparently, this time of year when the pine trees here in Georgia are doing they're pollinating thing- I get an allergic reaction in some shape or form. This year happens to be an incredibly itchy, fast moving red rash on my legs and arms. Couldnt' just be an itchy face (not just nose) like I got 4 years ago on the way to our honeymoon when you could see those darn pine trees literally shaking their own branches (seriously, it was NOT windy that day and the branches were moving up and down on their own) and putting plumes of pollen clouds in the air. And apparently my big sister Delinda used to have the same problem with these "hive-like" spots when she lived here too. Me no likey.
Dear Antihistamine, please kick in soon. I am incredibly itchy and spotty looking. Thanks for all your assistance, Heather.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

We were so cute and young looking back then! (and skinny!) 2006

4 years ago today! 2007

With Baby Ben 2008

2009

2010

2011

Yes, I'm pretty happy that Ryan & I found each other. I love my guy, so so so much! He makes me laugh every day, probably mad every day too... but mostly happy. hehe He's an EXCELLENT daddy to our cute little guy, and he takes good care of me. I'm so glad that I am his first & only love/girlfriend/kiss, etc. I'm so glad that he "waited for the right one" and picked me!!! Happy Anniversary lovey!

Happy Birthday to My Mommy

Today, I'm grateful for lots of things. VERY grateful in particular for my mommy. Last week on the year anniversary of my sister's passing we found out that my mom had a pretty bad blockage in her heart. Today she went in for an angiogram to find where the blockage was and how severe it was. Depending on the results they were either going to put stents in or do open heart surgery, pretty much on the spot. Today is my mom's 74th birthday too! We've been praying so hard, we've had friends and family praying... it's been a bit scary. She's been in and out already, luckily no open heart surgery is required and they already put the stents in. So not only am I grateful for people praying for us/her, for answers to prayers, for my mom... but I'm also grateful for the Immunologist she goes to that heard her coughing (a symptom of heart problems) and advised her to have her heart checked. She's had this cough for YEARS. And because of whatever prompted him to listen more carefully and tell her to check that and the fact she even coughed- she has been able to take care of a life threatening problem.
She's recovering like a champ. And thank goodness for technology because I've felt so helpless being so far away, and I was able to see her via Skype on my brother Greg's laptop. I was able to tell her I loved her and happy birthday. She looks great and should be going home tomorrow! Thank you to everyone who knew and prayed. Thank you to my loving Ryan who has been my rock and shoulder to cry on and support. And who has been also so concerned about her. I am one lucky chick!!!
I love my mom very much. I love both of my parents, and the love and support they give each of their children and grandchildren. They are amazing people and I'm so lucky to be their daughter.

Uncle John came to visit!

My brother had to come to Atlanta for work, and we got to spend a whole 2 hours with him last night! It was a super nice visit; he was able to visit our home for the first time and then we went to dinner. Ben was in HEAVEN with him! We haven't heard him giggle or be silly like that in forever. Uncle John brings that out in people! He was irreverent and was teaching him naughty things and we didn't even care... because, that's what crazy Uncle's are for right? After dinner and after dropping him off at his hotel Ben CRASHED on the way home. All that laughing and getting tickled and Uncle John playing air guitar on the Ben-guitar wore him out! I am so glad we got to see him and spend time with him, even if it was just for 2 hours!

I'm an old lady...

My cutey pie

at the mall after dinner

I had a wonderful birthday. I took the day off and spent most of the day with Ashley getting a pedicure and lunch and then dinner with my boys. It was JUST right. A day off, beautiful weather, relaxing pedicure, time spent with my fav people. Sunday (the day before) we had dinner and cake at the Terry's house which was also lovely. I'm an old lady... a whole 32 years I've been on this earth!

isn't my husband so sweet?

Me and Ashley at the nail place (I have super bad hair)

Ah.... hot leg wrap after a sugar rub. Luvs!

Ben's 3rd Birthday

Phew! What a fun few days it's been. Let me just start off by writing a conversation Ben and Ryan just had, because I'm still laughing about it. I told Ben to go get his jammies from his room (not really meaning it because I knew I'd have to get them). Ben was too busy playing with the totally awesome tractor Uncle Clint gave him tonight for his birthday, so Ryan said again "Benny, go get your jammies!" (but in a nice encouraging voice) to which Ben replied "I can't..." and then continued to play. Then he said "my leg is broken" hahahahaha! Where does this kid come up with this stuff? He's so hilarious, and getting funnier and funnier everyday. The other day we were out in the yard and out of the blue he yelled "OH MY GOSH!" and has been telling us "oh! good job [Mommy] or [Daddy]" when we do something either for him or really any time. He also really needs to know where he has gotten everything he has. Like where did his shoes come from, meaning did someone give them to him or did we just get them at the store... "who gaved this to me mommy?" is what he usually says. Yesterday I took the day off and we had A LOT to do, starting with his 3 year check up. Well folks... He grew a whole 2 inches in 6 months! This is BIG! He had only grown 1/2 an inch from his 2 year check up to his 2 1/2 year check up. So I guess he made up for it the last 6 months. However, he's only gained 2lbs in one year... but... he's proportionate. And the doc doesn't seem to think there's a problem. And well, he doesn't have tall genes... that's all there is to it. His parents and grandparents are not what we call "tall" people. :) Anyway, he's healthy and doing everything the way he supposed to. Except for maybe eating veggies, but at least he'll still let me give him baby food veggies. Better than none at all... right?

Okay, so anyway- back to the birthday festivities. I swore I wouldn't do a huge party until he was like 5... but it kind of turned into one unintentionally- but I'm not saying this was a bad thing. We have lots of people we love and who love our dude and we're SO grateful for that. Thursday was his actual birthday so I took a half day and took cupcakes to he and his classmates at the daycare. He was pretty excited about that. I think so excited that he didn't sleep very well the night before. When I got there he was pretty darn excited to see me, not sure if it was the cupcakes he was excited to eat or if it was me. :) Here he is in his cute hat they made him with his buddies at the daycare eating cupcakes.

And here we are with his friend Cooper who jumped in on the picture. I thought it was pretty cute. Ben doesn't look too thrilled, but he also looks like Coop's got a good handle on his throat, so maybe it was just that!After we left we went to the store to pick some things up. My brother and his girls sent a card with some money in it, so I told him he could buy something with it. We also decided he could pick one thing out for mommy to buy also. Ryan was buying him a tricycle on the way home from work, so we wanted to get him something else small. My brother Greg and his family send Ben a birthday card with some $$ in it, so I put half in his piggy bank and let him have the other half to buy something with. We found a fun puzzle for him to buy and a fire truck that lights up and makes lots of noise. (yay...) And then headed home. Ryan came home the tri-cycle or "bike" and then we headed to Chick-fil-a for dinner because that's where he wanted to eat. And wouldn't ya know it, he FELL ASLEEP in the car! We ate then spent some time together and went to bed.

Saturday was the party, we got ready for it during the day, including the executing of the Pirate Cake for Ben since that was our "theme". We asked him what kind of cake he wanted and that was the answer we got! We got the recipe, or idea from Betty Crocker and it was pretty easy! Ryan did most of the work! (He's cute huh?) I also I tried to pick up all things pirate related. And this was the first year that "goodie bags" were required... I guess not required but I thought it would be fun. (We had the bucket left over from Halloween so I served chips in that, Ryan had that random treasure chest I put the "booty bags" in, and I got 5 free invitations from Shutterfly.com! Before the party started we went to grab a couple of things from Home Depot. We realized that they were doing their free kids workshops so we stopped for Ben and he and Ryan made a Home Depot race car! I love those little workshops, and so does Ben! I don't want to bore you with party details, other than Ben had 3 girlfriends come; Aubrey, Ella, and Zoe! He was the only boy, again! Lucky guy. He had fun and I think he thought it was awesome to have friends over to sit at his table with him and to be crazy! In fact, at one point he came to me while the girls were playing and screaming and laughing and he said "mommy... those girls are screaming..." then later when I was holding Savannah he came up to her and said "her cute". I just can't believe my guy is a big boy 3 year old! Look at him! So handsome! Geoff gave him the pirate shirt for his birthday present, it was PERFECT!
We sang, opened presents and ate cake. It was a lot of fun, and we were grateful for the friends that came and presents and for making his birthday special! BEN! YOU ARE LOVED!