Best.Birthday.EVER!

This little prince

+ a homemade cheesecake (made completely from scratch by the world’s greatest husband) + sleeping in until 10:15 + a peaceful walk in the park and playtime on the swings + my Baylor Bears making to the Elite 8 = the best birthday for mommy yet! Yesterday was my (gasp) 29th birthday. Starting next year I no longer attach a number to my birthday. I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate than with my two favorite boys. Ben must have been super excited at the possibility of cake because he was SO much fun yesterday (at home and at school). Ben’s going to play with Lucy tonight so we can go out with Ashley and James. How great is it that I get the perfect present everyday in the cutest little monkey ever. Oh sweet Ben, you have no idea how much I love you!!!

Spring Break-chapter 3

Chapter 3-Orlando

We left for Orlando Wednesday afternoon. Ben was not too thrilled to get back in the car. Saying goodbye to everyone wasn’t too much fun either. But we will see them in July! My parents live about 90 minutes from Grammy’s house. Once we were there, Ben made himself right at home.

Ben found a stack of old bills that were going to be shredded. Such a happy a boy playing with paper. Maybe he’ll be an accountant???

Thursday morning we met two of my childhood best friends for breakfast. Brandy and Jennifer were the first two friends I made when we moved. Brandy’s little girl Abi is 18 months and Jennifer has Callie (3 years) and Wyatt (3 weeks younger than Ben). The last time I saw them, Abi was about 3 weeks away from making her debut. It was nice to catch up.

All the babies

Ben and his new buddy, Wyatt

After breakfast, we headed over to the Hyatt. Both of my parents worked here while I was growing up and my mom still does. Many of the people are like family to me. I call the guys my dad worked with my uncles. Working for Hyatt is a family affair. I worked there for two summers and my uncle and cousins all worked for it, too. I like to give Pops panic attacks and tell him Ben is on his way. Grams LOVED showing Ben off to everyone. He was a good trooper about it.

this picture is for Pops :)

So this is my mom’s desk at work. I count 14 pictures of our favorite kiddo on just this side of her desk! She calls it her Blog Wall. I love it!

No it’s not a girl’s hat, this is the hat that one of the valet parkers was wearing. I told him how awesome it looked on him so he sweetly let Ben wear it.

I found this looking through my baby album. My dad said it looks like me holding Ben, but it’s my Aunt Linda holding me.

Ben relaxing with Grams. I think they were discussing how talented Pops is at submitting his bracket picks!

These coasters are OLD and very special to me. I used to play with them at my grandparent’s house when we would visit. Grammy Boo and Grampy Dave would have loved Ben. Ben also learned cause and effect this week. He knows that when two things bang together, sometimes it makes a loud noise. It started with the toy Aunt Linda gave him. Now whenever he bangs to things together he scrunches up his face like this first before he even hits the objects. Hysterical!

Even though we were only in Orlando for two days, it was nice to be home. Daddy slept most of Thursday so he would be ready for the drive Thursday night (and I don’t think he really wanted to tag along on our adventures). I told Ben that we can do the Disney thing next time (maybe). It was fun to hear the Disney/Universal/Sea World fire works Wednesday night. You can hear them all from our house.

All that was left was the drive back…

Spring Break- chapter 2

Chapter 2-The beach and Grammy's house

We made it to the beach! Like I said in the previous post, it took 17.5 hours, but we did it! I’m not sure who was happier, us or my family. My parents, Grams and Pops, and my aunt Linda and Uncle Bob were already there with Grammy and Pal. It was the first time Aunt Linda and Uncle Bob had met Ben. Guess who had them wrapped around his fat finger in a blink of an eye?

After we got Ben out of his pj’s, he got to play with Aunt Linda for a little. She even got him a toy that you hammer balls with. He loves the hammer! We call it his gavel and that one day he’ll be a judge.

First order of business-go see the ocean! Grammy lives right on the beach, which is sooo nice.

The water was COLD and Ben was not a fan of it. He didn’t really like the way the sand felt either at first.

Kisses on the beach

With Grams and Pops the next day before they left. We had to try the beach again. He liked it a little more on Sunday.

Pool time! The pool was really cold so we didn’t go in it, but we tried out our Little Swimmers and the raft daddy bought. I think he just loved the attention he was getting by being silly in the water.

Family picture time before Grams and Pops went home. Not sure where Grams is and we know Daddy avoids pictures like the plague.

Grammy has been telling all her friends about Ben forever now so some of them came to see him. They even helped feed him dinner.

On Monday ‘Aunt’ Kathryn flew in from Atlanta just to meet you. She is my very best friend. Ben, I hope you have a friend like Kathryn one day. She is incredible (and so beautiful and smart). In fact, go ahead and marry someone like her. You already have our approval. She even taught Ben how to ‘party’. It’s the cutest thing. He throws his arms in the air and starts squealing and shouting.

We tried the beach again with Kathryn and her mom, Charlotte (she drove up from Orlando). Much better this time. He even took a little nap under the umbrella.

Our little beach baby

Proof Daddy did join us on this trip. Like the outfit? Daddy bought you a Spiderman hat that matched his awesome shirt. He put it on when I told him his head was going to burn. So stylish…

We got in the hot tub after the beach. It was warmer than the pool and Ben LOVED it! We were picking sand out of his hair forever though!

Pal has a cat, Snow White, that Ben was fascinated with. When Grammy got out Snow’s toys, he thought it would be fun to play, too.

Uncle Bob is an AMAZING chef. I think Ben was very excited about the smells in the kitchen so he decided to help him.

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Daddy’s KITE! It got windy on Tuesday so Daddy went out and got some kites. Being the cool guy that he is, he let go of his and it flew into the neighbor’s palm tree. Looked pretty good. Luckily they hadn’t arrived in Florida yet so they missed out on the fun.

Playing with Charlotte on Wednesday morning.

Thank you so much for coming Kathryn! You are AMAZING and Ben is lucky to have an attorney like you to get him out of all the trouble you’re going to get him into as he gets older!

next up: to Orlando to see Grams and Pops

Spring Break - chapter 1

(note-for the sake of my sanity and extreme exhaustion, I'm breaking up our trip into mini blogs, kind of like chapters in a GREAT story.)

Chapter 1: And Away We Go!

I was a basket case about leaving for our trip. I was so nervous that our sweet boy would go crazy and I am so glad to say that I was worried over nothing! 1,200 miles and 17.5 hours in a car would drive anyone nuts, but not Ben. He is AMAZING!!! He maybe fussed for about 30 minutes total and we were able to drive straight there. We are blessed!

We left Friday night after Ben had his dinner and bath. Is anything in this picture for us or just Ben?
"Oh Mommy, why am I in my pj's and in the car? It's bedtime!"

Good morning sunshine. Ben slept all night and woke up around 6 (he did wake up during a gas stop and we had a moment of crankiness during a diaper change).

Playtime!

A happy baby boy during a potty break in Florida. (note-when driving to Florida, use the reststop bathrooms, NOT gas stations. ICK!)

We were so, so, so happy to finally arrive at Grammy's around 3:00.

Weekend Fun

First let me say -One more week until Florida! We’re not at all excited about it or anything :)

Secondly-don’t read the next paragraph if you’re easily grossed out.

Our weekend started on Friday with a huge first for us…and not a fun one! After fabulous playtime in the park, while I was feeding Ben his veggies during dinner, he kept fussing. Instead of being a mom who listens to her child, I insisted he keep eating (gotta eat those veggies-but I did end up just giving him half). Then after I gave him milk before bed I sat him up to burp him and he threw up EVERYWHERE! Daddy was making dinner and I just sat on the couch in disbelief. Daddy rushed over with bibs (because of course that’s going to clean it up) and then he did it again and then again! I was COVERED in the latest and greatest skin treatment. This wasn’t just some little spit up, it was something out of a horror movie. So gross. Poor kid must have just been too full because he was laughing and smiling afterwards. Me-not so much. We were expecting him to wake up hungry in the middle of the night, but he slept 12 hours and was great on Saturday.

Mommy’s favorite food is pancakes (and the ones from McDonalds might be the best) so Daddy picked some up on Saturday morning. Dr. G told us to start introducing ‘real’ food to Ben, why not try a pancake while wearing Christmas jammies?? Verdict = LOVED it!

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And yes we wondered if pancakes were what he should have after the previous night, but we’re first time parents so what do we know?

After a full belly of pancakes, he helped Daddy wash the car. He’s good at telling Daddy where he missed a spot.

Later we dropped Ben off at Lucy’s to play with Becky and then they brought him back to our house while we went downtown to Savor Dallas. He had such a good time, the kid stayed up way past his bedtime (and still woke up bright and early).

One of Daddy’s favorite things growing up was going to the Car Show. Why not start Ben in this tradition? Ben enjoyed showing us which car he expects us to buy him in 15 years. His top choices, Porsche, Mercedes or Range Rover – oh wait, those are mine :)

We ran into Daddy’s cousin, Cassie and her husband while we were there. It was Cassie’s first time to meet Ben. She used to cut Mommy’s hair before she opened up a salon for men. Needless to say, she loved Ben’s tresses!

In one week from today we’ll be at Grammy’s playing in the sand! So excited!!!

Nine Months

Oh dear boy, where has the time gone? I am still in disbelief that my precious boy is now 3/4 of the way to being one. And if you really think of it- 9 months of growing in my belly + 9 months old = 18 months of Ben in our lives. 18 wonderful and perfect months!

We had our 9 month check up today. We're slowing down on the height and weight. Dr. G said he looked great and commented 4 times on the size of his head. I finally asked if I should be worried. He said Ben is great and healthy and there are no worries. Ben got one vaccination today and was not too pleased with the nurse afterwards. I've never seen him stare someone down like that.


Report Card:
Weight: 22.5 (75-90%)
Height: 28.3 (75%)
Head: 19.3 (off the charts)

He didn't get letter grades this time. Maybe Dr. G is up on the new grading philosophies out there. Instead he said that he's "a big guy!" and "Doing great." Ben has some fluid in his ears, but there's no infection...and let's hope it stays that way.

like a little man :)

This is what we call 'Baby Jail.' Last weekend we were putting together a little cart thing and the Monkey wanted to help so he kept trying to grab the screwdriver. For obvious reasons, that wasn't going to happen so I moved his Pack n' Play into the family room and voila-a safe place for him to play. I was telling my friend, Michelle, about this and she read me some info about how this is beneficial to babies to gain independence and other skills. Turns out we're not horrible parents after all :)

Aunt Tina bought him this outfit WAY back when he was the size of a peanut in the belly. He wore it to church this weekend and looked so cute, but so big, too! My little baby is disappearing before my eyes.

Maybe Ben will bleed orange and blue instead of burnt orange (we all know green and gold is out of the question). This kid has 3 choices for college - UT, Baylor or UF. I don't think it's up for discussion either, sorry kid.

And last, but not least, our big news: HE CRAWLS! Yes it took him one day shy of 9 months, but by golly he did it- and just in time for me to start working out by chasing him.

♥

More tidbits about the big, bad 9 month old:

*likes eating, eating and more eating. He is so interested in our food and we're starting to enjoy letting him taste different things. He likes lemons and guacamole. Proof he does NOT have his Mom's taste buds (everyone can breath a sigh of relief). Yes we've snuck a tiny bite of a donut, too. He's also learned how to take his veggies that we give him and throw them on the floor for the dogs or hide them behind him. Starting early. I'm still at a loss of how to transition him off baby food and I'm not in any hurry.

*LOVES music, especially singing. Luckily for him my class is listening to lots of ocean music so I've been belting out some pretty spectacular renditions of "Under the Sea", "So Big! Blue Whale" and "Yellow Submarine". We can even thank Ashley for the "Tony Chestnut" song I CANNOT get out of my head. He will LOVE this song when he learns the moves to it. Singing to him really calms him down if he's upset.

*loves lights! As soon as we walk into a room he finds the light on the ceiling and waits for me to turn it on. This has always been a happy thing for him. He smiles and smiles and then lets out the biggest squeal when you turn it on.

*Has the most dramatic cry ever. They've even commented on it at daycare. I keep telling him he's too late for Oscar nominations. This is a mommy trait.

*doesn't care too much for tv. I recorded a tv show that many friends watch with their kids and thought he might like it-could have cared less. He did however record the news today while he was playing with the remote. Who needs baby shows when there's news on?

I know I say it all the time, but he's just a wonderful baby. His talking, laughter and even snores are music to our ears. Yes he fusses and has moments of being a stinker, but he is just perfect. I hate that alarm going off each morning, but knowing I get to go wake up my little buddy makes it so much better.

♥

I will leave you with a funny daycare story:

For the past 2 weeks the morning teacher kept saying he was having rough mornings and wasn't himself. I finally got fed up with this and had a chat with the afternoon teachers (I pick up so I never see the a.m. teacher). Turns out he's fine, just not being put down early enough for a nap. So I had Daddy talk to her and tell her that it should help if she puts him down for a nap earlier. Her reply: "But that's when we have foreign language and he'll miss it if he's napping. He loves his French." Not missing a beat Daddy replies: "well seeing as he's just learning English, I don't think it will hurt him to miss a few days of French." Guess who's having much happier days at school now?