Coming to an End!

Carter (6 months) and Korley (4 months)

Well my summer is coming to an end - I mean 2 days end! I start back work on Thursday. We had a great weekend to celebrate or mourn me going back to work. Saturday night we met the Edward's at a b-ball game - yes, Ben was in HEAVEN!!! Carter and Korley went on their first official date; and I must say, they had a great time. Sparks were a flying! We had a great afternoon on Sunday, we went swimming. And then today, we went on our weekly trip to the zoo. I think I will miss not going to the zoo every Monday. Even though it is the same animals, it is different experiences every week! The Flecther's met us there. We got to ride the train 5 times. Benjamin talked about the train and rhino all the way home, or at least until he fell asleep! We are off to Mum's and Granddad's for Tuesday and Wednesday. Hopefully I will get more pictures of the boys up. Carter is sitting up on his own now!

Update on the boys!

Carter is getting very big. He is almost sitting up without support. He loves talking to Ben, he just laughs and smiles at him. He is such a sweet baby. I can't believe he is almost 6 months.

Sorry the color is bad with this picture; but I thought it was adorable, so I used it. Benjamin still loves baseball! We play and watch baseball all the time. We had to record a game so that we would always have one for him throughout the day. Now when we are watching a real game, he doesn't understand the commercials. We wants b-ball all the time! We are now using a softer ball (not a real baseball) because he can hit the ball into the kitchen from the living room. He is talking like crazy, and he has sooo much energy it is insane! We still go to the zoo weekly, but that will soon go to 2 times a month when I go back to work.
The 3 boys playing and the floor. I can't believe our summer together is coming to an end. I go back to work next week. It is hard to believe that I haven't been working in 6 months. I have the perfect job because that and good planning allowed me to stay home with the boys for a long, long time.I feel very lucky. I will be working part time this year. So I will still have every other day to spend with the boys.

Well, I Did It!!!

Well it was time, or that is what Ryan said! This is a picture of Ben and Daddy after his FIRST HAIRCUT!!! Yes, no more duck tail!

This was the before shot. I asked Ryan to hold up the hair so we could see how long it really was. I do admit, it was long! Benjamin really didn't like it. He did like the rice krispy treat we gave him to settle him down to cut it. After his bath, Ryan looked at me and said "I really think it is time to cut the hair." With hesitation and tears in my eyes, I said okay! Ryan went to get the scissors, and I promptly said, "If my baby's hair is getting cut, I will be cutting it." I think my better half just knew that I needed to do it; so without arguing, he passed over the scissors. I need to admit, there were a few tears in my eyes while cutting. It is silly, I don't know why. I love long hair on little boys. Or maybe it is because he would seem all grown up after the hair cut. I don't know, but I did wait until Ryan insisted! I didn't mind the comments from people (Note to self: Never make a comment about a child's hair to parents!) about the growing wings from the sides of his ears, or the precious duck tail that curled so tight (and was really, I am really long). I did have people ask if the mullet was coming back into style or as Uncle Chad nicknamed him "Billy Ray (Cyrus)".
After the 5 minutes hair chop, I looked at Ben and realized he looked so much older. I do admit the haircut looks great and it was needed! So here is the after shot with no duck tail. If you see us, please do not ask what happened to the curl in the back, I still may cry - j/k!

13 Thursday

(See #12, baseball accident)
13 Unusual/Interesting Facts about the Boys!

1. They were both delivered at night, in the same hospital, and by the same doctor! I was induced with both on their due date!
2. Carter has 2 different shaped ears.
3. Carter has a elf bite on his right ear (a little piece out of it)!
4. Benjamin's pinky toes turn in - like my family. I will not give away which parent, right mom!
5. Both boy's fingernail grow so fast, they get cut twice a week. They are also paper thin like mine!
6. Both boys looked just like Ryan when they were born. As Ben gets older, he looks more like my family (still has daddy's eyes), the older Carter gets, the more he is looking like Ryan's family!
7. They both weighed the same at 4 months!
8. Both have BIG BLUE eyes.
9. Ryan took a picture of Benjamin at 4 months. I entered it in a photo contest. The picture made it to the semi-finals. It didn't win, and I didn't by the $80.00 coffee table book that is was "supposed" to be in.
10. Benjamin's belly button is an inny, Carter's is an outty!
11. Carter has a birth mark on his left leg.
12. Benjamin has 2 scars on his face (already), 1 - falling into a cabinet door on Halloween this year, 2 - swing the bat to hard and landing into the french doors! Cried hard on both!
13. They both have brought so much joy into our lives!

Picture Time

Benajmin stealing his cousin's blanket. He thinks he is sneaky!
The brothers hanging out together in Houston.
Carter's first time with food (green peas), before shot of course! He likes peas, beans, and carrots. Squash didn't settled with him well!
Carter hanging out - notice the sticker on his knee. Ben and his cousin were "fixing" him up.

Slow Week

Pic of Carter (5 months) - his shirt says "Chick Magnet".
Benjamin (21 months) - my little helper - He can open the dishwasher (one of his favorite things to do), he thinks he is helping!

After a fast busy week with VBS, we took the end of last week and this weekend very slow. We did a lot of swimming. Ben has no fear of the water, he loves jumping off of the side and going under the water, popping back up, and doing it again. I think he swam for 3 hours on Friday and Saturday night, that is constant jumping! Good thing about it, he did sleep past 8 o'clock several morning this week (which is a miracle!, but he did throw a 6 o'clock in there too! We are off to the zoo today, we will try and stay cool! Hope you have a great week!

Thirteen Thursday

(baseball jersey in honor of BenJamer)

13 Things my boys do that makes me LAUGH!

1. Benjamin doing his wiggles dance!

2. Benjamin coming to tell me that his daddy isn't playing baseball fare! (Mainly him not wanting anyone else to bat!)

3. Benjamin cutting his eyes at me and laughing out loud when he thinks he got away with something.

4. Benjamin going through the house looking for me yelling "mom-mee", or "MAMA", and then finding me and hugging my leg!

5. Benjamin pretending to swing his bat to show people how to hit the ball.

6. Tickling Benjamin and listening to him laugh/scream out loud.

7. Feeding Carter and watching him taste the food for the first time (mainly because he gets this look of "what did you just put in my mouth?" - and then he spits it out - He WILL be my picky eater (mom, stop laughing, I know I deserve it.))

8. Watching Carter recognize his bottle, he starts kicking his feet with excitement.

9. Listening to Carter laugh.

10. Watching Carter turn completely sideways so he can see his daddy and brother playing b-ball.

11.Talking to Carter and hearing him grunt and talk back.

12. Watching Carter and Benjamin wrestle together, they both just crack up!

13.Watching Benjamin claim Carter when other kids come over and try to talk to him. He wants them to know that is HIS baby ( and usually he will say "my baby"!!

Hot, Hot, Hot!

The boys and I went to the zoo for our weekly visit to see the animals. It is so much fun watching Benjamin look for the animals, talk to the animals, and anticipate what animals are coming next. He has turned into my tour guide. We rode the train 5 times today, it is one of our favorite things to do at the zoo. I thought it was interesting that we didn't have to wait in line for it, and I thought it was unusual that the zoo wasn't that crowded. Well, I quickly found out why - it was HOT, HOT, HOT! My boys were troupers. We went by ourselves because all of our friends were busy, but it allowed Benjamin to walk around alot more, stare at the rhinos for a looooong time, and play in the gator area (not real gator, look at picture below.) But we miss you friends, so join us next week. On a side note, we have VBS at church this week. I just want to say PP and Jb, Great job,we are having a blast.
Carter staying cool with his fan, don't worry his fingers and toes are too chubby to reach the blades. It also doubles as a fun toy!
The boys on the train at the beginning.

Ben, Ben - The Baseball Fan!

Benjamin is crazy over baseball! Everything revolves around his bat, ball, and glove. Most of the time it is adorable. He is now asking to watch baseball over Barney or Bob (the Builder). We had to record a baseball game because that is the first thing he ask to watch in the mornings! Not to mention the fact he wears baseball pj's, and he will only take those off if we put another baseball something on him! He wants you to throw the ball to him so he can hit it, he loves throwing the ball to you (you must be wearing his glove). It is precious when he comes and gets you and says "play, play", and hands you his glove. We have even gotten him to say "Go Rangers!" His baseball lingo is funny. He loves to say "hit bat", "strike", and "play ball". One thing that cracks me up, anytime we pass the church he points and says "church". I say that is great Benjamin, what do we learn there? His first reply is "God" - good Ryan and I are dong our job. Okay, Benjamin what else do we learn there, next reply "baseball!" Okay so 1 out of 2 isn't bad. But the way I see it, his dad plays on a church softball team, so maybe church and God love baseball too! I bet it doesn't have anything to do with the huge assortment of balls in the youth room at church! So attached are two picture of my MVP in action. Well one of them was taken at a Ranger game, he was wanting to catch a foul ball!

Fireworks - No Way!

We spent the past couple of days at Table Rock Lake up in AK & MO with Ryan's older brother. We had such a great time. Both boys did super in the 7 hour car ride to and from. Carter was a great just being past around, put in his bouncer, and wearing the life jacket that swallowed him whole. Benjamin had a great time too. Although, everything we did started out with "No way". Ben do you want to get in the boat? - "No way!" Once we got in the boat, he was fine. Benjamin, do you want to get in the lake and swim, "No way!" Once he saw Ryan in the water, you couldn't stop him from jumping in. The only thing that was a for sure "No way" was the fireworks! Man did he not like the sound of the boom! Both nights (3rd & 4th), he had a death grip on me! Maybe next year, he will enjoy the fireworks! Thank E & R for a great trip! Attach is a picture of the boys on the 4th! Happy 4th birthday cousin W, glad we were there to celebrate!