Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Rock Ranch

We had a blast at "Wock Wanch" with the Doyals a few weeks ago and will definitely be going back! The weather was perfect and since it was the end of the season, there was hardly anyone there and we didn't have to wait in line for anything. It was awesome! I think her favorite part was the Tiny Town which is grouping of houses built for kids and it is so adorable. The least favorite part was seeing Curious George. I thought she was going to crawl up my back when he waved at her. She pinched the fire out of the back of my art too. Ouch!




The first ever pony ride. She liked it more than I thought she would but had a tight grip on Dan.



Holding onto the saddle like a true cowgirl.




Taking a ride on the train and proof that Ben was with us.




Tying the knot with her boyfriend, William, in the chapel.



She even gave him a kiss!




William knows cute boots when he sees them. MB insisted that she ride in the stroller with him. As a result, Lucy and Ben had some quality time together.




Talking to one of her clients in the dress shop in tiny town.



Excuse me, can you please hold?




Literally in the dog house (at the fire station)...I love that her tongue is out. She always has it out when she is concentrating on something.



Jumping on the big white pillow.




The last thing we did was the small train just for kids. I was amazed that she rode by herself! Maybe Lucy gave her some courage!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Smiley Britches

Ben is such a happy little guy and he makes the best sounds. I can hardly take the cuteness! This video reminds me of this one of Mary Beth.



MB wanted to help me get Ben to talk on camera. I love how she calls him buddy and puts her sweet hand on his face.



Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Cow and Cupcake

We had a fun Halloween and trick or treated with our buddies the Doyals. The girls had a blast and were surprisingly very brave about walking up to stranger's houses and asking for candy.


Is there anything better than a happy cow????




Well, maybe a happy cupcake!




Off to find the chocolate!


A little shy at the first house and hanging on to daddy's finger.




The pumpkin lady was very festive but I think I would have been a little hesitant too. :-)

Monday, October 31, 2011

Latest Addition

I have a new nephew! Wallis Drake Saunders arrived on 10/11 and is such a little cutie. Drake is two months younger than Ben and we know they will be great buddies. Drake was my middle name and I couldn't be more excited that he is carrying on the family name! He is a special little boy and we can't wait to watch him grow up. We were in Moultrie for a week and got to spend some great time with family.

The big sister and MB waiting for Drake to arrive in the nursery.

Drake and Ben meeting for the first time.

Ben was hanging out in my sling when we noticed that he had clasped his hands together. So sweet! Notice the Fancy Nancy sticker that MB insisted that I wear.

I love this picture! Those are two proud big sisters. It looks like MB will be sitting in Ben's lap before too long.

Sweet Drake being held by his great grandmother.

Drake with his aunts and uncle. Ben must have been sleeping during this photo. It was a rare occurance for all four kids to be awake at the same time.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Ben is Two Months and Lamb Photos

I am a little behind with my updates (although I am making some good progress in catching up). Ben turned two months two weeks ago and here is what he has been up to. The second month was a zillion times better than the first and each week just gets better and better. We are going to the heart doctor the week before Thanksgiving and we are hoping that his valve is opening with more ease.

- He is smiling all the time now and coos like crazy. After a month of no noises besides crying, these were much welcomed additions! When he smiles, he smiles with his whole body, it is the greatest thing and can make anybody's day better.

- He is sleeping through the night (praise the LORD!) and normally sleeps from 10:30pm to somewhere between 5:00am and 7:00am. Today he slept until 8:30am and I would love to see more of that! He has several cat naps in the morning and takes one long nap in the afternoon then has short naps again in the evening.

- He is 11.6 pounds, 22 and 3/4 inches long and his head is 15 and 3/4 cm which is 50% in all three categories. Just perfect!

- He is nursing very well and eats every two to three hours during the day to store up for sleeping so long at night.

- He is pretty sensitive to loud noises which is surprising since Big Sis has done her best to prepare him for this. If you sneeze loud and catch him off guard, he falls apart and it is the saddest thing ever. He can poke out his bottom lip and it breaks your heart.

- He loves his mama so much and thinks she is the greatest but his dad is the one who can get him to cackle. He is coming around to MB and is starting to smile at her some too.

- He is the sweetest little thing going these days and we just can't get enough of him.


Five days - my tiny little jaundice nugget


One Month - getting chunkier but still rocking the jaundice tan


Two Months - my happy little man rubbing his big belly, I could just eat him up!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

She is definitely Two!


Although the last few months have been trying and MB is totally testing her boundaries, we are so in love with this little girl. She is the apple of her daddy's eye and we are working to push through the hard times to enjoy all of the special moments in between. Afterall, she gets her stubborness, determination and persistance honestly so we can't hold it against her for too long. Here are a few things that she has been up to.



- She is singing all the time! But don't try to jump in because she will stop you as she prefers to sing along. We are just now getting to the point where she will sing along with us but she still prefers a solo.



- Her imagination is so fun! She is constantly making up new games and things to play. The first time that she really started pretending was playing boat with our couch. She gets behind the pillows and she talks about all the animals she can see and where the land is. We made some binoculars to help her spot everything in the water.



- She still loves Barney so much and we have come to love him too. Sometimes that 30 minute episode is the only way that I get time to cook dinner. We have a DVD player in the car and although we swore we would never get one, it is the best thing ever and has saved us on many car trips!



- Popsicles, ice cream and fruit snacks are her favorite things to eat. She is still drinking two pediasures a day and scoffs at real milk.



- She started gymnastics at the YMCA and loves it! We go once a week and I assist her in the class. It has been a fun thing for us to do together and she is freakishly strong for her tiny frame.



- School is going great and she loves her two teachers. They say that she interacts more with them than the kids so far which isn't a real surprise to us. She is always around adults so this will be a good chance for her to interact more with kids her on age.



- She discovered that she can get out of her bed and walk out of her room without our permission. Since we moved her into the big girl bed, she has called for us every morning/after naps to come and get her which is what we asked her to do. It was a sad day when she walked out on her own. She can't open doors yet but her door knob didn't latch so she could just pull it open. Since we have been in a struggle with her about staying in the bed, Dan fixed the door so she can no longer open it and all is well around here again. We are all sleeping better!



- Potty training has been nonexistant. We tried for about 24 hours to put her in panties and do intensive potty training but it was a disaster. She was so resistent to it and would just stare me down when she was going to the bathroom in the living room and say "mama, I peeing". The nerve! She begged to go back to diapers and we decided not to push it just yet. When she decides that she is ready, I don't expect that it will take very long. Until then, our potty sticker chart will just have a few stickers from the random times that she decides to poop in the potty.




Although a little messy, she's not a bad assistant and enthusiatically says "okay mama, great" to everything that I tell her I am doing.




My fall princess!



Doing her best to ignore me and the camera. I think she had more fun collecting the leaves and making the crown than she did wearing it.

Beach in the Fall

If you have never been to the beach during the fall, I highly recommend it! The weather is perfect and you are able to sit on the beach without sweating but the water is still warm enough to swim in and enjoy. Even better, it is much cheaper and there are not any crowds! The last week of September, we were able to sneak away to Hilton Head for a few days for our first family vacay. It was so much work y'all but definitely worth it. Our car was packed to the brim and we used every last thing that we packed. Oh the joys of traveling with a two year old and one month old! You will have to ask Dan to tell you about his favorite part of the trip. He can give a pretty funny portrayal of all the time it took us to get on the sunscreen, get all of the toys, chairs, stuff together, haul everything to the beach, setup the umbrella, blow up the floaties, etc. only for MB to be "all done with the sand" after thirty minutes. We ended up spending more time at the pool and we took turns playing games with her and watching Ben nap in the lounge chair. All in all, it was a great trip away but we were glad to get back home!




Our first day out. She gasped and said "oh, so pretty mama" when she saw the ocean.

Making the journey through the dessert...it took her so long to walk through the soft sand.



Spending some quality time with daddy in the water was her favorite part.



She liked playing in the sand for a few minutes but then she got bored and wanted to back into the water.



This is what Ben and I did for most of the time that we were on the beach. We sat in the shade and tried to keep from burning.



This face says it all! That girl loved the pool.



We had this pool to ourselves for most of the afternoon. Lovely!



Wowzas, just look at those legs!