Bennett is 4!

Per usual...this post is running a bit behind.  About one month ago, we celebrated Bennett's 4th birthday...for an entire week!  Festivities began on Election Day.  The Ford Family turned our polling place into a temporary circus with B and ER doing their best to help complete the ballot and applying and re-applying stickers to any willing participant.  

...then off to school!  First time to celebrate his birthday with a class.  It was so cute.  Bennett proudly carried the earth around the sun 4 times, stopping each time on the month of November so the song could begin again.  Bennett's teacher is simply amazing.  

 

 

 After finishing the song and sharing with the class what he brought to share, all the children enjoyed a yummy treat and my little guy felt so special.
 

 

Blowing candles out of his iced sugar cookie with the Prather/Quinnette crew (plus firemen) later in the week.  Bennett was very specific about his dessert choice - no cake, no cupcakes.  Iced cookies...we obliged - 3x over.

 



 

...And finally celebrating with friends on the weekend.  Bennett's continued interest in firetrucks and firemen lead us to yet another fireman-themed party.   He had a blast!  It was an incredibly warm day for November and the festivities included time in a bounce house, along with face painting, "pin the hat on the dalmation dog" and more cookies!

 



Happy Birthday, Bennett!  We love you to the moon...and back.

 



Elly Rose is 2

We celebrated this little love's second birthday a couple weeks ago.  She was so excited and very aware that it was her birthday, she is now two and her turn to blow out her birthday candles!

She had her 2-year well baby visit last week and checked out great!  She is close to 25 pounds and 33 inches tall.  At the conclusion of our visit, her pediatrician said, "well, it was great to see you, Abby, and great to see your 2 going on 5 year old daughter." 

 



Elly Rose is so incredibly independent and so very sure she can do EVERYTHING by herself.  It challenges Zach and I daily.  She wants no part of being our "baby."  She dressed herself after Dr. Cumming checked her and as he is making notes in her file, she walks over to him and says, "Dr., I put my pants on all by myself." 

 

It made us laugh.

 



Her sweet little party dress made with love by my mom.  It is my hope that one day she will teach Elly Rose to sew.  Elly Rose's baby doll adorns a matching frock...so precious.

 



After a great evening with family and friends - pumpkin decorating and bounce house jumping - Elly Rose made a wish and blew out her candles.  She never let go of that plate - it was her turn!

 



We love our sweet girl and can't believe she is two!

 





School is IN!

Slightly behind in sharing, but we have been documenting all along the way! Bennett began Junior Kindergarten this fall and it has been quite the adventure. Here is the first day for both my littles before the start of a new routine. Summers are relaxing, unstructured and generally all about fun for these two. They stay home with an incredible young lady who has such a special place in our hearts.

On this morning, Bennett is heading to his first day of school and Elly Rose back to Kris's house...she also has a special place in our hearts - as she has cared for both Bennett and Elly Rose since they were babies.  Each takes with them a little piece of security and home.  I don't think Teddy has missed a day of school, yet!

 



 

Bennett working through his VTS (visual thinking strategies) of his interpretation of Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night.  We are fortunate to receive regular communication from Bennett's teachers - a weekly newsletter outlining what the children are focusing on and several pictures illustrating the week's activities. 

 

This JK program is 5 full days - it does include rest/nap time of about 80 minutes in the afternoon, but otherwise is a full day of playing and learning.  The first couple months have been a clear adjustment period for Bennett and us, as parents.  We are continually impressed with his learning and look forward to seeing this grow, but some days have been a challenge as Bennett arrives home quite the exhausted toddler. 

 

Just around the corner for us, Elly Rose turns 2...we celebrate halloween...Bennett turns 4!  It is so exhausting for him to wait so many days until his birthday finally arrives!!

sibling out-takes

Photo results from an IU Pep Rally a couple weeks ago.  While I would love nothing more than a nicely posed photograph of my babies smiling, this does make me happy.  It is who they are and while I call them photo out-takes, it is really all I captured...these and about 20 more just like it...



 

 

 

 XOXO



Traditions

I love our little summer traditions...doing exactly what I imagine we should be doing to soak up the summer months.  One of these traditions includes dinner picnics at Indians games where we arrive early and leave long before the last pitch is thrown, but have the best time anyway.

My troops.  They love running down to the outfield fence and back again.

Bennett took one look at this plant upon our arrival and said ever-so-confidently, "Look...its the Lorax, Mommy."  It made us laugh and realize how much of this little world he is trying to figure out. 

Rolling down the hill.  Not what I was envisioning when I dressed him in his crisp, white shirt.  His smiles were so worth it. 

A few days later, we joined Zach's parents and many, many others at the Annual MHCC fireworks party.  It is big and exhausting, but so memorable...we couldn't really imagine it any other way.  And as the littles grow and enjoy it more, so do we.

Elly Rose rides a horse.  She loved it.  Bennett not so much...

A failed attempt of a sibling photo.  Way too much anticipation to get to the inflatable activities. 

I love these two photos - they say it all!  Bennett did this slide 10+ times.  I finally lured him on to something else by going to get a balloon pirate hat (in case you didn't know).

This year, we lasted through the firework show.  It is an amazing show...both Bennett and Elly Rose loved the colors and lights. 

We headed toward the car  (while still watching the fireworks) in an effort to be headed home right after the finale, and we stumbled upon two firetrucks that Bennett had to check out.  We didn't realize until we were quite close that the firemen were laying on top of the trucks watching.  They quickly jumped down and invited Bennett to watch the finale from the truck. 

Here Bennett is illustrating fireworks in the days that followed.  This was so impressive to Zach and I because drawing/coloring have NOT been of any interest to Bennett until recently.  We are now creating artwork several times a day...

Diggers and Dump Trucks

Our neighborhood is not on city sewers and after many years of "planning" to do the necessary work to have the infrastructure in place, it is finally our turn.  Consequently, this has meant months of road construction either on our street or the streets on all sides of us.  Most recently, our street has been dug up and pipes inserted, completing the first step. 

While this has meant inconveniences on many levels for us, the children on our street have been loving the activity of dump trucks arriving early in the morning and plenty of excavators, diggers and bull dozers staying parked through the night after the workmen leave for the day (playtime!).  One other perk is NO traffic...and while this is a bit of an annoyance as our nanny is trying to arrive and we are trying to depart, besides the rumbing of trucks, not many other cars attempt what is left of our road. 

What you see when you look out any of our front windows...you can almost make out our mailbox hiding behind the mound of dirt.  And speaking of dirt...the dirt and dust on our cars is so embarrassing.  But there is really no point in washing.  Yet another reason why we could use som rain!

This is the best way we can think to keep four children of moving an inch.  They were so excited to be standing atop the excavator, but with only a few inches for their little feet (and no shoes on 3 of the 4??) - they each glued their backs to it. 

Elly Rose has perfected the word "truck" and is sure to alert us each time she hears one coming down our street.  Bennett asks in all seriousness if he wears his hard hat, can he go help the workmen?

Big Girl

Elly Rose is 20 months and one week today!  Last Monday we made a visit to our beloved pediatrician for her 20 month well baby visit.  She did fantastic - no shots, necessary.  She is growing and changing like a little weed.  At her one-year visit, Dr. Cumming asked if she had any words.  That was my primary concern...she couldn't say anything.  While there was lots of jibbersh and we were confident she understood us, she didn't have any specific words.

Fast foward 8 months...she speaks complete sentences (sometimes) and does so clearly.  Even expressing a now familiar "I don't want too" when we ask her to come inside or take a bath or any other task not at the top of her list.  She is still calling Bennett "Bubby" and she talks to him and asks about him constantly.

She now weighs almost 23 pounds and is 33 1/2 inches long.  She tries so very hard to keep up with her big brother.  And does not take it well when we do not allow her to do something Bennett is doing.  Examples include riding his newly borrowed big boy bicycle or going down the big slides by herself. 

She loves coloring, we are fairly certain she is left-handed.  She loves babies, eating and swimming at the pool.  She does not like stopping her activities to go to bed, when toys (or food) are taken from her and when she can't keep up with Bennett.

Our sweet baby is growing up so fast!  She has quite the interest in potty training and does pretty well.

Elly Rose is silly.  She does things now (good and bad) to see what type of response she gets from one of us.  From putting things in her mouth she know she should not to still climing on everything...we have to keep our eyes on her.

Beach Vacation

Just a few more of the many, many photo memories we have from our SSI and Sea Island adventure.  We love creating these memories with our children and family.  Bennett remembers so much about his experiences now - taking them with him and talking about them in ways that make sense in his bright little mind.  He was flipping through photos on my phone the other day (previously Zach's phone) when he started shouting, "its my lighthouse, mommy!" 

 

Sure enough - there was a photo of this same lighthouse taken one year ago when Zach went for a quick solo visit to SSI to see his parents and had snapped a picture with his phone. 

This year, Bennett got to go to the top of the Lighthouse and he loved it.  He walked all the stairs by himself and circled the balcony upon arriving to the top with daddy.  He loves lighthouses.  Thanks to Fireman Sam for introducing them, of course.

 

This little love was fearless of sand and water - ocean or pool.  It was all an adventure for her.  And you had to keep a tight grip because as the winds around the tropical storm built, the waves did too.  She was fascinated by the feeling of the ocean pulling the water and sand back from under her toes.

No shying away from the splashing waves for this one.  Poppy kept a tight grip on her.

Bennett on a search for shells and fish.  We brought home starfish and discovered crabs, mollusks and many other unnamed, yet interesting creatures.

Bennett and his boat.  He loved placing it in the water and seeing where the waves would take it...

 

"Louie the Hawk" with Grams and Bennett.  Louie would stand watch around the outdoor dining areas at the Sea Island Beach Club to keep the other birds from nibbling on our food.  You could touch him when he was wearing his beak protector.

The changes in tide, determined by the moon, are interesting on the island.  I don't understand it but it makes for the occasional great sandbar, interesting fish and shell hunting and great beach walks.  We usually did ours shortly after breakfast...7 a.m. give or take.  

Elly Rose teaches Charley about suckers!  E. Rose really did think Charley was her baby for the week and Charley was happy to play along. 

Loved spending extended time with these three - the many miles and busy work/life schedules doesn't allow us to see enough of one another.

Our sweet babies on their final morning before heading to the airport.  We went to the beach before breakfast on this morning, still in jammies, Bennett so excited to look for sea creatures and Elly Rose just to run along the ocean.  We blew kisses and waved "until next time..."