Happy Birthday, Aunt "Tari"!

We celebrated Kari's birthday at my parents house with the whole fam. ME sang "Happy Birthday" to Aunt Kari. I think we might hace a future singer on our hands. Ha!

What does Benjamin see in his Uncle? I mean, seriously, he loves his Uncle Bebo!

I see trouble!

Lanterns @ Wildwood

My parents took ME to Lanterns in the park at Wildwood. I'm still not quite sure what it is, but I think they celebrate a bunch of different culturs from around the world. I must say that after seeing the pictures that I'm jealous that they went without me. I will definitely be putting it on my calendar for next year!

Mmm...s'mores!
I'm sure that she ended up eating every bite of that and probably had chocolate somewhere on her face after it was all gone.

She and Dandy went to Mexico.

She got to hit a pinata.

ME got to put a lantern in the pond and make a wish. She wished for a "tow" (aka cow)...a purple one.

I just love this face!!!

I love how the skirt is bigger than her!

Never a dull moment!

Having two little bitties at home means that I rarely get to sit still. And now that it's getting warmer is no exception...we're just moving outside regardless of our attire. ;)

Princess Dora driving her boat. Don't you love the outfit?
I love that Benjamin is always tending to the yard!

They get along so well...how long will it last?

They love each other so much...how long will it last? Benjamin is showing that he found his belly.

Sweet 16-months

Benjamin is now 16 months old! He's a ball of energy, which means I constantly need energy myself and that Diet Coke has become my best friend throughout the day. Dear Lord, please don't ever stop making Diet Coke...Amen!

OK, back on track...what's going on in Benjamin's world?

I L-O-V-E that this was the first shot that I took tonight! The second I pointed the camera at him, it was like he does this everyday. Possible modeling career?

Benjamin hasn't met a stranger! He loves the word "bye" and will say it to anyone that walks by him along with a sweet little wave or squeal as if he's known them for a long time. His teachers say that he is so serious all day until he sees me walk in and he goes silly, crazy by waving his hands and squeal. Then the second I pick him up, he starts waving and saying "bye" to his teachers. Does he already hate school?

He has found his belly and is proud to show anyone that asks him where it is. The downfall, though, is ME wants to show you her belly, too. As for his other body parts, he knows that he's supposed to point to something on his head when you ask him, so he just points to his head for eyes, nose, and ears.



I may have already mentioned that Benjamin loves to climb on everything, so why would his Sissy's bed be an exception? Of course, ME doesn't think it's so funny! Check out all of her toys that he drug up to her bed.



  

 He can clearly say "truck" and "ball". We can't go ANYWHERE without him saying those two words. Just a side note, anything that's a circle might also be a ball.

Benjamin is starting to become a creature of habit. For example, his morning routine typically consists of him first going into our room to find Dixie and lay down with her, then he walks to the kitchen and points to the refrigerator and pantry for his breakfast (usually a breakfast bar and milk). I snapped this pic of them a few days ago watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.



Benjamin got written up at school for the first time. This makes me sad and laugh all at the same time! He's into pulling everyone's hair now and actually pulled another kid's hair OUT! That part makes me sad and ME is scared to be left alone with him now because of it and says "But he will might pull my hair out!". But the part that makes me laugh is what his report  (above) said. Needless to say, we have been saying "Nice hands, Benjamin" a lot in the Dees household recently! :(

Happy Valentine's Day

My parents gave us an early Valentine's Dinner and it was so much fun. Really watching the kids enjoy dessert was so much fun! Didn't you know that eating cupcakes with icing all over fingers tastes so much better?

Definitely my daughter...eats the icing first!

Benjamin is trying to get the concept of chewing things in small bites and swallowing. I think he's almost got it. Ha!

Nothing like dancin' with you Granddaddy!

ME showing off her new Valentine outfit before she headed to school for her party.

Benjamin wasn't so happy about showingoff his outfit before school. Too early to smile?

Benjamin is into singing into microphones these days, so Cupid was nice enough to bring him one.

ME was super excited to get a doctor kit with all of "doctor stuffses" in it. She says she's going to be a doctor when she grows up and will make us feel all better.

The kids and I took a gift to McKenzie. She taught us that a turtle says "I'm slow", so I thought a stufed turtle and book was perfect for her!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Sawyer!

After all of the snow, we got to celebrate Sawyer's birthday outside on a ranch. Although the ground was very muddy, it was a great way to get out and break free from our cabin fever. The kids loved getting to ride the horses and pet them.

Doesn't she look like a natural? Everyone pointed out her "English style riding boots". Yes, we're professionals! Ha!

ME wasn't so sure about the ride at first, but she sure didn't want to get off.

Benjamin lasted on the horses for about 30 seconds. He liked the idea of sitting on them, but wanted off as soon as they moved. And he loved hugging them.

The Birthday Cowboy. His mom and Aunt made him horse cupcakes...too cute!

MMM...I like coming to birthday parties!

"I love this party...there's chocolate!"

This is the aftermath of the party. As soon as I let Benjamin walk around, he headed straight to a mud puddle. Fun times!

Candyland=A trip to the ER?

We obviously had just a little too much time together inside the house due to the snow. Last Saturday, Drew, Mary Elizabeth, and I played a few rounds of Candyland (a big hit in our house right now!) to break up the boredom. I guess we got a little too competitive because ME got injured!

Drew kept beating us, and then during the last game, Drew was in the lead until ME caught up with him. She started rocking in Benjamin's rocking chair (she makes sure that everyone knows whose chair it was) and saying "I'm beating you, Daddy!" and then she rocked so hard that she rocked backwards in the chair and hit her head on the corner of the entertainment center. OMG...a bloody head...yucko!!! We had our RN friend/neighbor, Ashley, come over to look at it and confirmed that we should take her to the ER. Great...snowy roads and a Saturday trip to the ER. Lu ckily, the visit wasn't as bad as I thought it could've been! I just can't believe that in my 30 years here in LR, I have never been to the ER. And I can't believe that it was ME that we first took to the ER rather than Wild Man Benjamin!

Poor thing doesn't know what's about to happen to her! The bandage wrapped around her head makes it seems 10 times worse...they just wrapped it on her head to hold the numbing medicine in.

Patiently waiting on the doctcor while watching Bambi...on VHS!

She liked the thought of her "headband" until the doctor came in!

After our ER visit, ME should win an Oscar for her dramatic performance when she told people about her "hole" in her head. I think if I was her, I would pretend to get injured more often. She got Chick-Fil-A right after we left, her own pan of brownies from her LaLa, and a bucket of prizes from her VeVe. Everytime you ask her about her head, she tilts her head and says "Don't touch me, I have a booboo in my head" with the most pitiful look on her face.

A week later, we went back to her "brown doctor" to get this pulled out of her head. She, of course, didn't like being held down again, but as soon as she saw that it looked like an "M", she was fascinated.

Dear Lord, please keep our babies safe from anymore head injuries!!!