Sleepover Night

Sleepover night has been re-instated, much to Ben's delight!

Let me explain. First of all, Brian and I are firm believers that kids should sleep in their own beds. Both Ben and Grace have been in their own beds, in their own rooms, since we've brought them home from the hospital (well, Grace had to sleep in our walk-in closet for a week or two 'cause her room doubles as the guest room - but you get the picture). To each his own, but the idea of the "Family Bed" is definitely not something we subscribe to! Consequently, both my kids are great sleepers and have no problems falling asleep in their own rooms.

Fast forward a couple years from Ben's birthday. One night when Brian was working I decided to snuggle up with Ben in our room to watch a movie, and he ended up sleeping in there with me. We definitely missed the targeted 8:30 bedtime, but we had tons of fun giggling, pillow-fighting, and cuddling. Sleepover nights were born! From then on, we held sleepover nights two or three times a month. Until.... Baby Grace. Sleepover nights don't really mesh well with 3 am feedings, so we had to put our special activity on a brief hiatus. I haven't thought about it in a while, but last night Ben asked, out of the blue, "Is it sleepover night?". Well, you know what buddy, it IS sleepover night! (Thanks to your little sister sleeping through the night.) It was great to have our little tradition back again. The best part - at about 5 in the morning, I woke up to Ben BELLY LAUGHING! I thought, oh no, it is way too early for him to be up... but when I glanced over at him, he was fast asleep. Apparently something in his dreams was cracking him up. I rolled over and went back to sleep with a huge smile on my face, grateful for my sweet little boy and sleepover nights!

Grace's Newborn Photos

Welcome to the World, Gracie Belle! We finally have our little girl here, and to document the occasion, our friend Drew came over to take some newborn pics of her. He is just starting a photography business and we are so blessed that he is willing to "practice" on us! You can check him out here.

Anyway, here she is at approximately 10 days old!

We also wanted to include Ben in the photo session, but he wasn't really feeling it.

 I think we finally got this smile by threatening his life, or bribing him with ice cream...

I can't remember which.

The shot we chose for her birth annoucnement

Thanks again, Drew!

Giddy-up, Army!

If you come across a sweet puppy taking a nap in the shade, the best thing to do is to climb on for a ride.

 

 

The puppy will likely wake up. Do not be alarmed. Just hold on.

 

 

The puppy may not want to take you for a ride around the yard. This will probably lead to him standing up and bucking you from your comfortable seated position.

 

 

This is only a minor set back. Just pin the puppy down…

 

 

… and climb right back on. This is not the time to give up and quit. Your backyard riding tour is just moments away.

 

 

Unless this happens. If the puppy rolls over, you must abort your mission immediately. It is impossible to ride an upside down puppy. Just scratch his belly instead. If you’re lucky, he’ll fall back asleep and you can start over.

 

Congrats to Kel-Bel

This weekend one of my bestest and oldest friends got married in Dallas. Brian, Ben & I all made the trip up I-35 to celebrate Kelly & Justin’s big day. The festivities kicked off with a yummy bridesmaids brunch on Friday. Brian dropped me off and then headed to the hotel to check-in. I spent the rest of the day with the girls (we hit up a salon for pedicures) while Bri met up Grammy to drop Ben off with her for the weekend.



Later that evening was the rehearsal dinner, which I have zero pictures of. On Saturday I was able to spend most of the day with Kelly again. We hung out in Janet & Steve’s room for a while, then had our hair & make-up done together with all the other girls, then headed to the church. Here’s pretty Kelly Belly waiting to put her dress on.

 

Pre-wedding pictures – it was a really pretty day.



The beautiful Whiteside sisters – Kristen, Kelly & Kim. Now they ALL have new last names.



Mr. & Mrs. Smith looked pretty smitten during their first dance. :)



I had a ton of fun with these girls. :)



The festivities doubled as a couple’s weekend away with this handsome fella.



We don’t get away much, so we were a bit giddy.



I’m so happy for Kelly & Justin! It was such a fun weekend celebrating one of my favorite people.



Since Ben missed the party, we brought him by to say “hi” before we headed home. Thanks for a great weekend, Kel! Enjoy married life! We love you!

‘Hawk Watch 2008

We let Ben’s Mohawk grow out during the winter months (figuring extra coverage = warmer head), but Spring is here and it’s time to bring it back!

 

A Mohawk can make you look really tough… especially when you pair it with a brush burn on your forehead. Don’t mess with this guy!

 

 

However, if your little guy is a sweetie to begin with, a Mohawk won’t change things. Ben demonstrates that he’ll never be too cool to plant wild flowers with his Daddy…

 

 

… or to share Cheerios with his puppy…

 

 

… or to sit in the lap of a sweet baby-sitter. This is “More Liz”. In our lives we have Liz (Tanner’s Mom) and “More Liz” (one of our wonderful babysitters).

 

Ben likes to keep things clear.

 

 

We also found, this time around, that sometimes you have to take the ‘Hawk up a notch. Sometimes it’s not enough to just have a strip of hair sticking up down the middle of your head.

 

 

Sometimes you need to paint that hair red.

 

Around the house

Life for an almost 2 year old is pretty simple and fun. We try to balance our busy days of pre-school and trips around town with some quality time at home.

 

Sometimes we invite friends over to join us.

 

 

Other days, Ben just needs some time alone to ponder the meaning of life.

 

 

It’s a great idea to end every day with a nice warm bubble bath.

 

 

We’ve found that there’s nothing that freshly spiked hair and a snug terry cloth robe can’t fix.

 

 

Ben at 21 months

I don’t know what it is about Ben’s 21 month picture, but he looks like a little MAN! The past few months haven’t been filled with lots of big milestones. Instead, we’ve witnessed subtle changes in behavior that are moving my little guy right out of babyhood and on to bigger and better things.

 

It has been fun to watch Ben become a play mate – both at school and with friends and neighbors. He is learning to share and take turns and think of others’ feelings. When Ben does play, he is all boy… there are lots of wrestling moves and running and jumping and karate chopping around our house. Ben does not know how to just walk across a room. It always involves a roll or a leap or a crazy gymnastic ninja kick of some sort. Despite his rough and tumble ways, Ben is still SOOOO sweet and snuggly. He is just the most affectionate little guy. He wants to hug and kiss everyone. He does NOT take into account whether or not they want to be hugged and kissed. Hopefully he’ll reign this behavior in as he gets older. I personally do not mind as I cannot get enough of his hugs and kisses!

 

It’s hard to believe that Ben’s 2nd birthday is just around the corner. We are looking forward to planning his party and participating in lots of summer activities over the next few months!