Swimming at SeaWorld

The weather was warming up and it was time for Ben's inaugural trip to the SeaWorld water park. Tanner and Liz came along, too. We swam and splashed until our lips turned blue and we can't wait to go back!

Stopping by to say hello to Uncle Chuck
at White Whale & Dolphin

Ready to get our swim on



Help, Liz!

Venturing out on my own

Should my lips be changing colors?

Not quite big enough for the lounge chairs yet. Whoops!

  

Springtime in Gilmer

We travelled up to Gilmer to see Grammy and Grandad and to take part in Jessica & Brad's wedding shower. It was a fun weekend - the weather was really pretty and it was nice catching up with our family.

Group photo with Grandma Barrick after the shower

Enjoying being outside at the farm before church

Ben loves snuggles from his Grammy!

Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day

Did you know that one day a year Ben & Jerry's gives away FREE ice cream?! Well, they do. This year it was on April 17th, so we headed down to the River Walk to get our free scoops. We anticipated long lines, but we didn't have to wait at all. I guess it's because we went in the late afternoon. Sure, we probably paid more for gas and downtown parking than we would have paid for a pint of B&J at Wal-mart, but this was much more festive. Plus, the we got a balloon and a walk through the park along with our ice cream. :)

We parked next to this park and had a nice walk down
to Ben & Jerry's!

Super excited about his balloon!

Worried about the stranger holding the
camera, or perhaps sad that the ice cream
is all gone!

Wheeeee!

Ben’s 1st Easter!

Sweetie came to visit us and we had a nice little Easter celebration at home. We went to church on Saturday night. I didn’t ask, but I think that this was the verse that was taught in Ben’s bible class:

“Never take your word of truth from my mouth,
   for I have put my hope in your laws.” Psalm 119:43

Ben really took it to heart, because when we got in the car, my mom said from the back seat, “Look at him… he’s making a funny face!” I looked back at Ben and pressed his cheeks (which were all puffed out) and they were rock hard! I pried his lips open to find an entire baby bible folded and stuffed in his mouth! WHAT.IN.THE.WORLD. Only Ben!
Sweetie wasn’t our only visitor! The Easter Bunny made a little delivery on Sunday morning. Ben was excited to play with his eggs and the goodies in his basket.


I don't know who this bunny guy is, but he sure is generous!



Puffs! My favorite!



Hey... is there more stuff in this thing?



Can someone open this PLEASE!

 It was a sweet family time this weekend and we are looking forward to teaching Ben about the true meaning of Easter each year as he gets older!

The Deck

The men in this family have been working hard on a special project around here... a deck! I have been so impressed with all of them - Grandad (Wayne) even showed up with surveying equipment and I can say with some confidence that our deck would beat anybody's deck in a contest of levelness. They had to overcome a few obstacles including using a jackhammer (yes, you read that right) to dig the post holes because our house is sitting on a big rock, and failing to dissuade me from wanting to have the boards laying on the diagonal. It took a few weeks and lots of hands. Brian, Brad, Wayne and my Dad all did lots of hard labor. I even got out there to help lay a few of the boards. Ben acted as General Contractor and did a fine job of supervising the group and keeping them on task. Thank you, fellas, for all of the hard work. The deck is beautiful and I can't wait to enjoy it!

Brian's expression here is not encouraging

Aaron sharing his own deck-building expertise

Seriously... surveying equipment. I was amazed.

Paw Paw is SUPPOSED to be working, but who can resist
that sweet little face?

The finished product - getting a nice spring shower.

Baby face

Ben reminds me of that song: Baby face... you've got the cutest little baby face. His many expressions are priceless! Here are just a few that we've captured recently.

Having a blast on the rocking worm!

Oh, Army, what big teeth you have!

I like you better with your mouth closed!

So handsome!

Smush face - I just want to bite those cheeks!

You found me!

Excited to meet my new friends, Aaron & Joshie!

Ben at 9 months

Spring has sprung and our little bug is 9 months old! A nine month old baby is a MOBILE baby. He is on the go! He gets cuter and cuter and we are having a blast!

Here are the milestones and changes that we’ve seen over the past three months:

Ben got his first two teeth at 7 months.

Carrots were his first food after cereal, and he LOVES carrots, though honestly, he hasn’t met a food he doesn’t like yet. At 9 months he was eating pretty much anything we let him try. He loves cereal bars and sandwiches and anything else that he can swipe from our plates.

He got his third & fourth teeth at 8 months.

He learned to hold his own bottle and then mastered the art of the sippy cup.

He says consonant sounds… mostly bah and da da da

Ben learned to sign “more” and he does it all the time!

He started crawling and pulling up in his ninth month.

He loves his “Walk Along” and anything else that can function in the same way (a cardboard box, the laundry basket, etc).

We just love those sweet grins and chunky cheeks!