Benjamin's 1st Ear Infection

This is how I found Benjamin when I picked him up from school today. His teacher said that he just crawled onto the bean bag and fell right asleep. When I picked him up, he was drenched in sweat from the vinyl and the beginnings of his fever. :( I could tell this past weekend that he wasn't feeling well, but he was such a trooper in Texas. Luckily, this is his first ear infection (and hopefully his last!). God has really blessed us with two beautiful and healthy children!!!

Happy 30th, Stinkyfeet!

My cousin, Leanne, just celebrated her 30th birthday with a few of her closest friends and family. The kids and I made the trip to Texas with my parents for a quick, fun visit. Before we went to my Aunt Donna's house, we stopped by to see Papa and Lil...and Lil's rabbit. ME just loves seeing that rabbit everytime we're in Texas and acts as if it's her first time to see a rabbit each time.

Benjamin wanted to get in that cage sooo bad!

Leanne recruited me to help her paint some signs to hang around the house for the party.

It took no time for ME to warm back up to Tristan and just be silly with him!

She and Ethan had fun as well! I love how she's pushing the motorized cart!

While ME was out playing with their cousins, Benjamin had a better idea of playing around with their sweet, sweet dog.

Leanne and her boyfriend, Aaron, did a performance of AcroYoga for us. Rather than making the party all about her, it was a party to celebrate all of the people in her life through the years.

Benjamin was very hands-on that night! He fed Mama Sue.

He even fed Uncle Greg and gave him a few love pats.

A picture of 3 of the most awesome girls ever (Leslie, me and Leanne)!

We even got to show off some of our talent with the Wii Just Dance...obviously we didn't like the song choice that Leslie picked!

Benjamin and ME tried their hand it, too.

Benjamin just couldn't get enough of Sammy! I wish I could clone this sweet dog!!!

We got to hang out with Papa and Lil a little bit before we headed back to the Rock. I had to get one more train whistle before we left! ;)

Benjamin learned how to say "truck" and correctly identify one on our way back to LR. Pretty much from Hope to Little Rock, he pointed out every.single.truck!

Priceless!

NY Opera in Commerce, TX

One of my parents high school besties, Lawrence Harris (aka Larry Harris, former Houston Oilers football player) is an opera singer for the Manhattan Opera. He occassionally makes his way back home to Texas from time to time to perform and it just so happened to work out for us to see him perform on our way to my cousin's birthday celebration. We met my Aunt Vicki and Uncle Ricky in Commerce before the show. Sadly, we got to Commerce, TX at 3 and the show didn't start until 7 that night! So what does one do in Commerce you ask? Why eat at Lonestar Steakhouse, of course! Oh wait, that didn't take up enough time...so our next option was to spend two hours in Wal-Mart! Woohoo!

Thank God for the toy section!

I'm just glad we didn't get kicked out!!!

Who knew that you could have so much fun in Wal-Mart?!?!

Aunt Vicki and I even found toys for us..."Sweet Talking Ken".

You can say anything into Ken's hidden microphne, and he will say that anything back to you! I don't remember what Ken told me and Vicki, but obviously it was good!

Mary Elizabeth got to go backstage and meet Larry and his daughter, Sydney before the show. Apparently Sydney has an amazing voice just like her dad. Too bad I never got to hear any of it...Benjamin and I were kicked out of the auditorium before it even started because he made a squeal. Ugh!!!

I love a man with style!

As I got Benjamin dressed this morning, he was very persistent on putting this vest on after he saw it in his closet. Then as we headed out the door, he saw the reindeer antlers and insisted on wearing them, too. I love that he's got a hunter's orange vest on with his reindeer antlers! I just hope that this doesn't mean we have a future hunter on our hands...yuck! ;)

Let it snow, let it snow...let it stop!

For Central Arkansas, we had a lot of snow at the beginning of this year! And it was a lot of fun to be stuck at home with the best playmates ever (although it means that I'm school for an entire extra week in the summer)!!! It was so much easier to enjoy it, too, now that both of the kids can move around in the snow by themselves.

This was the first night it snowed in January. It came down in no time! Benjamin had no interest in getting all that gear on until he realized what was in store for him outside.

ME loved it, too, until she realized how hard it was to see while it was snowing. My little Diva had no interest in getting wet! Note to self...must invest in snowgear for next snowstorm!

I was glad that Drew even got to be snowed in with us for a few days (that should give you an idea of how much snow we actually got since Drew's company closed!) so we could all play in the fluff!

We had a lot of indoor time with each other and all eating etiquette went out the doors! Painting with frozen blueberries was a fun, messy hit! Don't try this in public!

It was so fun watching Benjamin trying to walk knee-deep in the snow and falling after almost every step. But he never gave up!

Who says that sliding is only for warm, sunny days?

This was another reason that I enjoyed having Drew home during the Snow Days. I'm terrible at building snowmen!

But do you see any snowman? ME wasn't impressed with her daddy's snowbuilding skills either. ;)

This was Benjamin's face every time we got dressed to go outside because he hates being confined (which I guess he felt from his snow gear) and then he gave the same face whenever we had to come back inside. To stay in or go out? That was the question for this momma when having to hear him scream. :(

We made several bowls of snow ice cream. ME loved helping me make it as well as eat it! I just wish I could remember why she was making this face! I promise that she loved the ice cream though!

I just love his expression!

Do you see the snowman? What? You don't? Look real hard at the clump of snow in the center of the picture. An original snowman built by yours truly and then kicked by ME.

You wouldn't believe the speed a slide gets when wet!

Don't worry! We still tended to the yard while it snowed.

Every time it snows, I can't wait to watch Dixie frolic in the snow. There's just something about watching the excitement/curiosity of a dog in the snow!

More indoor time. Benjamin has adopted ME's love for Dora as well as her Dora backpack. He insisted on wearing it while watching his little Hispanic explorer.

Can you tell that we had a few too many days of being stuck at home and could get away with almost anything? I think ME has a future career possibility as a makeup artist! It took two days to get this off!

Little man + lots of brains=15 months

Benjamin is now 15 months and just pure fun! He's into everything and never sits still! He constantly keeps me on my toes (literally!). We are so blessed to have him light up our lives everyday.

I took this right after bath time. Don't you just love the do?!?!



Take 2...I tried giving him a toy to distract him from the blocks and get him to smile. He chose to ride it. Hey, whatever works!

Stats:

Weight: 24 lbs. (43%)

Length: 31" (47%)

Head: 19.25" (91%)

Who knew that he's so short and doesn't weigh very much? My arms could beg to differ, though! Even though his head circumference is a little on the large side, he comes by it honest...just look at his family history of domes (me, Drew, and Dandy)!

• Loves to push or ride anything and everythins (as you can see from the picture above)
• Loves to try to put my socks on for me (I'm wondering if he has any of his sissy's OCD tendencies)
• Can take his clothes to his frog hamper
• Can throw away trash when you tell him to take something to the trash
• Still LOVES to eat anything and everything
• Likes to play basketball and tries really hard to throw the ball into his 5-foot goal
• Is starting to play hide-and-seek by hiding behind curtains
• He shhh's people
• Recognizes hot and what to do with it...blow it. Everytime he walks by the fireplace (lit or not), he points and says "ha" (hot)
• Has started brushing his teeth. Santa brought him a toothbrush and he brushed his hair the whole first week that he had it. Now that he's figured out that toothpaste is on the brush and it goes in his mouth, he throws a fit when you take the brush away from him!

Happy 2011!

This New Year's celebration wasn't so glamorous considering I had the worst imaginable head cold (that's what the doc called it at least, even though I think it was sinusitis). Our glamorous night consisted of taking the kids to my parents house and coming back to our house just so I could sleep before 10. The only part about the New Year's party on TV that I remember was that I woke up at some point and I think I saw NKOTB and BSB performing together. Was that a dream? Or did I really miss out on a magical event? ;) I might have to search that on You Tube now that I'm thinking about it. Ha!

This was the extent of getting excited for the New Year.

Benjamin had a great time showing off one of his new tricks...putting pants behind his head.

Once again, ME found her way into LaLa and Dandy's kitchen to "help" make brownies.

They got to "help" clean up their house after the party. Aren't they considerate?

During the party, Benjamin showed off his rocking horse riding skills one-handed.

Doesn't McKenzie sport bling so well? :)

I just hope this love continues throughout the years!

ME is into posing for the camera these days and dressing herself. This is New Year's Day...she's sporting a lovely New Year's headband along with a Christmas pajama top and skinny jeans. I foresee a trend forecast!

I love how my mom always decorates their mantle for holidays. I had to show how she decorated it for New Year...I love it!