Thursday, November 14, 2013

5 years ago!

Oh this sweet boy has melted our hearts since the moment we first laid eyes on him. I can barely remember life before him, and yet can not believe he is already one whole hand in years. I remember being 5 and feeling so big. In some ways it is scary to me now that he has reached an age where he will recall his own memories and experiences one day.


This is photo number 44.  It struck me as funny seeing this.  5 years later we easily have a few thousand... 
 
 
 I could easily flip through web albums of our littles and their experiences all day long...
 
 
This was his second time meeting great papa...right at 6 months old!
 

 
 Today, Bennett went to visit Dr. Cumming for his 5 year old check-up.  He did a fantastic job of withstanding 3 shots in preparation for kindergarten next year.  And for the record...he is now over 40 inches tall and weighs 37 pounds.
 
 
First birthday fun with balloons!  I remember taking him out for pizza on his first birthday - it fell on a Friday - I think it was much more of a celebration for mom and dad...thinking back to this day one year ago! 
 
And some of my favorite memories...

 
 Handsome boy!
 
 
Funny boy at the apple orchard...


Didn't want to wait too long to get him a seat at Nick's!
 

 
ZooBoo with his cousins!  The timing was perfect for a day out with family while mom and dad stayed home with his brand new baby sister.
 

 
...melts my heart - our babies!
 
 
...arriving to Disney in his Woody jammies!
 
 
...exploring the beaches of southern Georgia!

 
...taking care of his "baby!"
 

...lots of learnning and growing in JK!
 

 
...bringing Teddy along everyday as a little security in his new, big world!
 
 
...always wanting to have fun and conspire with his cousins! 
 

...more beach fun in sunny Florida!
 

 
...exploring museums! 
 
 
..."Super Bennett" pose?

 
...our handsome boy at five!
 
 
...muscle pose with his birthday party friends!

 
...blowing out that candle.  For us, that expression says it all!
 
We love you to the moon and back sweet boy!!

Friday, November 1, 2013

Elly Rose turns 3!

We are amidst birthday season (with halloween smushed in the middle) at our house.  The anticipation of candles, cupcakes, parties, surprises, a new number to proudly share when that frequent question, "how old are you?" comes up in conversation...all very exciting and much anticipated by our littles.  Although, Bennett struggles to fully understand why Elly Rose celebrates her birthday before him...


This is on the morning of Elly Rose's 3rd birthday...it fell over fall break for Bennett and I, so we enjoyed a low key day of celebrating - complete with her pick of cider slushies from the lilly orchard...yum!  Bennett picked out this yo gabba t-shirt for Elly Rose for her birthday and she begs to wear it every day!
 
 
We convinced her into an outfit change for her lil party.  My mom made this sweet frock for her and Elly Rose was quite excited when she saw it.  This year, she helped to pick out the fabric, so upon seeing it transformed into an outfit, she was quite pleased.
 

 
And...another outfit change for the day - wearing a newly opened princess dress-up frock and necklace to go with her "kitty cat" cake...we are dabbling in all kinds of animated creations these days.
 

 
We wanted to include a few of her little friends in a birthday celebration this year.  After a little brainstorming, we decided to try Build A Bear.  It was so much fun to have a handful of little ladies select, fluff, clean and dress little bears...we loved it!  Wonderful hands on activity and a little dessert to follow.
 

 
Rosie decided very quickly that she wanted her bear to wear "colts cheer-weader."  Didn't even have an interest in looking at the VAST (I had no idea of the options) selection of clothing choices for a selected animal. 
 

 
Project complete!  Happy 3rd Birthday to our little spitfire of a girl!