Watcha talkin about mommy?

Benjamin giving "his look"!


Fun picture of Benjamin from this weekend!

Carter's first cut

Carter with Emaline before the hair cut!
Carter with Lauren (Parker and Emaline's aunt) after she cut his hair!
Eating lunch with his new cut!

Carter made it a little over 1 year without having to get his hair cut, but it was time. We called him our little old man because he looking like he had a comb over using his long pieces on top. On Friday, we went to Parker and Emaline's house while their Aunt Lauren cut Carter's hair. Carter did such a good job. He looks so much better, and he didn't lose that baby boy look! Now I just need to add the hair and picture to his baby book!

Birthday Pictures

Ben, Carter, and London before the party
The birthday boy BEFORE cake. . .
during cake . . .
How do you like me now?
Carter thinking, "but daddy that's mine!"

Just a few pictures that I finally downloaded from my camera.

Trip to Monett, MO

Wesley, Ben, Harrison, and Carter
Wesley and Benjamin
Carter
Uncle Eric's possum cake for his birthday!
Wesley, Harrison, and Ben in September 2005 (our last visit to Monett)

We had a wonderful trip to Monett this past weekend. Ryan's oldest brother Eric (Rebecca, Wesley, and Harrison) live there. It only take us 7 hours by car to see them (this is a big improvement over the other places they have lived). One thing I can say about our trip, it was COLD!!! It snowed most of the time we were there, plus it was freezing!!!!! The little boys did a great job of playing inside together with the cars and train. The big boys did brave the cold to go on a goose hunt and a little fly fishing. The possum cake above was Eric's birthday cake. I thought it was pretty cool looking. Eric told Rebecca he wanted a red velvet possum cake and she found it. When we went to pick it up, we couldn't believe it. Rebecca and I had a great time catching up and visiting the little towns around Monett. We are looking forward to visiting them again, just not when it is that cold!!! By the way, snow is not impressive to me anymore. I am ready for the Texas heat. Bring on the 100 degree temps!

Growing Carter

I stole this idea from my friend PP. I am finally getting to talk more about Carter turning 1.

This is Carter at 2 months.
Carter at 4 months
Carter at 6 months
Carter at 8 months
Carter at 10 months.

We have been on a whirlwind adventure this past week and a half. After Carter's birthday, we went to visit the grandparents for more birthday fun. After that, we were back 3 days and then left to go to Monett, MO for 5 days. (I will blog about our trip to MO later). I can't believe Carter is 1 now. He is 22 lbs and 31 inches with 6 teeth. It is funny, he weighs 1 pound more than Ben did at 1, but is 1 inch shorter. He is now starting to walk more, or at least getting a little more daring. That will be the difference with him and his brother. Ben will try everything, Carter will take more caution. He is realizing how to play the game of, if I cry, they will notice and give me stuff! He gives great hugs and kisses.

Happy Birthday Carter!

Benjamin with Carter when he was 4 days old. Carter and Benjamin taken before church on Sunday.

Happy birthday sweet boy! Carter has blessed our lives so much this past year. I am thankful to God everyday for giving us such precious angels to raise! Ben is excited about Carter turning 1 today, he keeps asking, "I eat chocolate cake mommy?" That's my boy! I will upload more pictures later of the weekend.

Merriman moments

Vaughn & Carter hanging out, we finally got to keep Vaughn while her parents went out! Hope you had a Happy Birthday Aunt Darby!
Carter in his "chick Magnet shirt from Uncle Knox & Aunt Jamie!
Carter & Ben on an outing to feed the ducks and go fishing!

Yes, we went back. Ben with his fishing pole. This is the first time back since "hooking" daddy over 6 months ago! Ryan did leave his pole behind!

We also want to wish a very HAPPY Birthday to Aunt Melissa!

Pictures!

Sorry I didn't turn the picture! Getting ready for bed!
Ben with his cousin Dylan
Ben getting ready for bed.

To let everyone know, the kernal of corn did come out in the bath that same night. Through his nose, not the south end! Ben loves sticking his head under water in the bath, so we were hoping it would find its way out. So far, no more food up the nose!!!! The boys are getting big. Ben learns new words and sentences everyday. Ryan and I often get a laugh when he says something as we try to figure out which one he is repeating. Carter is happy as can be. He is still not walking. I figured he would be running by now. I think he likes being carried around. Maybe by his first birthday we can show off his steps! Ben has successfully slept in his big boy bed for over 2 weeks, YEA!!!

Where did the corn go?

Ben favorite saying. "Yep, that's right Daddy!"

We had a fun and exciting dinner last night. Ben was going 90 miles per hour all day. It took him 1 1/2 hours to fall asleep at naptime. He was in high speed all day! Last night we sat down for a normal usual dinner. The boys had cheese pizza and corn. We said our prayer and away we went eating. Carter for some strange reason didn't eat, mainly just playing with the food - very strange for him! And Ben was slowly making progress on his dinner. I looked up to see a kernal of corn in his nose! "Yep, that's righ Daddy - in his nose! I jumped up to walk over to him, at the same time be began snorting it up his nose. I yanked him up as he was saying, "mommy, corn in my nose; mommy, corn in my nose." He also began digging his finger up his nose to try and touch it. I took him off to find something to yank it out with, no luck. He sneezed and coughed a couple of times, I thought my time had passed to retrieve it. We went back to the table to finsh dinner. All along Ryan is trying to tell Benjamin what a bad choice that was, how it could hurt his nose, and if he did it again, he would get spanked. I had to try so hard not to laugh. When Ben got up from dinner Ryan asked why I thought it was so funny!! I simply explained now I know how he feels. Almost everytime Ben gets in trouble, Ryan disciplines him and then simply shakes his head and says, "man, that is exactly what I used to do." So to finish my story, I was laughing because I was always sticking food (mainly carrots and green beans) in my nose and ears so I didn't have to eat them. I made several trips to the dr's office!! When I called my mother last night, I think she got the biggest laugh of all!

Big Boy Bed!

I just had to show off the pictures of Ben in his big boy bed. We are 3 nights successful and 4 great naps in the bed without problems. YEA!! He looks so small in the bed! We were really worried about the transition into the bed, but he has done an amazing job. I hope when the new wears off, it doesn't become a problem. He also got his first big boy haircut last night by mom and dad. Not so good of a job there. Ryan said I was trying to go for the baby mullet, so he decided we needed to touch up the back! We decided through the screaming we would take him somewhere next time. We are starting off the new great, lets hope we can keep it up!!!

Wow, what a great holiday!

3 Grandchildren at Mum's and Grandad's house on Christmas Even before church!

After church picture with my sister and her family.
More Christmas parties on the 26th!

I am so lucky to have lots of time off for the Christmas holiday. I was just thinking I was actually gone from my house for 2 weeks. That is fun because we got to travel and see family, but that is also 13 nights away from my very comfy bed!! It all started with my girl trip to NYC! Yea, I think this is the 7th year my mom, sister, and I have been to NYC around the holidays. We always have such a great time together. Everybody always ask, "Do you go shopping?" I usually reply no! They have the same stores we do here in TX, it is just twice as expensive there. I did find time to shop for my boys this year. I did spend it in FAO Swartz (don't check my spelling on that) and Toys R Us! Other than that, we just explored the city! After we came home, we went straight to my parents and spent several days there with my family. On the 25th, we headed to Ryan's family. His mother surprised us with a visit from Tampa! On the 26th, we headed to Hillsboro to have Christmas with my extended family and then off to Houston until the 1st! My sister lives in Houston. London had her birthday party on the 28th (she is a 25th baby) at Pump It Up. Ryan and Ben had such a great time jumping around burning off energy. Ben did jam his thumb really bad! It is still bruised, but it didn't hurt him bad enough to miss a beat jumping around like a crazy man!

Spending time with both families made me realize how time passes so fast. 2 years ago, Ben was just a tiny baby. Now, my 2 boys are growing so big! Carter is almost walking which seems crazy, but really isn't since he is 11 months. Were did these 11 months go, more importantly am I treasuring the moments into memories enough?

Santa and the boys!

He only sat on Santa's lap because he got the candy cane!
Christmas boys!
Carter, not too sure about the red man!

Well, I was dreading this year with Benjamin sitting on Santa's lap. But, he sat 2 times on it, with only a little fuss. And then he was fine when he accepted his candy with all smiles! Carter just liked staring at him with all the white hair. We have had a wonderful December leading up to Christmas with all the holiday parties. Last night, it was my college friend party. We took pictures of all the kids, and we took pictures of all the "new addition" this year. We had7 new babies this year, wow! And they were all in one house last night with the 6 older kids! The kids almost out numbered the parents. Looking at the boys picture, I love the matching outfits, but I wonder how many more years I can do that with them being boys. Well, it is going to last 1 more year because I already have their outfits for next year that match. Yes Ryan, I will stop after that.

Something I figured out this year that I want to share with you! I am usually that shopper that is always finished with Christmas shopping by October. The year Benjamin was born (2004) I was finished by the time he arrived 10/7. I wrapped all my gifts when I was home before Thanksgiving. Usually I give all of my wrapped presents to my mother at Thanksgiving to put under her tree. Well, this year, I don't know if it was because I added another child or I what (Ryan did win a promotional contest at work and his company sent him a Amer. Express gift card that was used for presents (we didn't get it until Nov.)) anyway, I just completed my shopping on Saturday. What did I learn. . . it is better to wait until the last minute. I feel that I saved lots of money by hitting the holiday specials. There are not Christmas specials in August or September! I wished I could remember how much I spent last year and compare it to this year, but I really felt that I saved money by waiting until November and December. Will this make me a last minute shopper, I don't know because it did make me nervous not having it finished. I will have to see what deals I find along the way next year! I probably will not blog again until after Christmas, so Happy Holidays!

Christmas Past and Present

Christmas 2006
Carter - Christmas 2006

Benjamin - Christmas 2004
Benjamin - Christmas 2005

Wow! I can't believe we are already through with the first week of December. It was a little more difficult this year getting both boys to smile and LOOK during picture time! We are ready for Christmas and Santa. Ben and Carter love our Christmas tree, looking at Christmas lights, and telling you what they (only Ben) want for Christmas. Right now Ben is asking for Dora, cars, and baseball. Ryan says No Dora! Ban pulled a first, je sat in Santa's lap for a picture. I was amazed. But, then 2 days later, he didn't want anything to do with him again. I still hoping we can get another picture with Santa this year. I am excited about school being over for the semester, that will give me 2 1/2 weeks with the boys and big boy! Both boys are growing fast. Carter has 4 teeth now, I think he is cutting 4 more. Ben's 2 year molars finally came through - it was a tough Thanksgiving for us and teeth! I love looking at pictures from the past. It is amazing to see how much Ben has changed over the years.

A day to remember

Picture from my brother's wedding in April

November 30th is a day that I anticipate all year. Anticipation of anger, guilt, confussion, and sadness. 25 yeras ago, my father dropped my sister and I off at school. He kissed us goodbye for the day and left. I never saw him again. He went to work and had a massive heart attack, he died. I knew something was wrong when a teacher came and got Robin and I and took us to the house. I entered our house, it was filled it lots of faces that I knew. It is funny, I still see the bodies in the house, but I can't make out the faces. My mom was sitting on the couch crying. She was trying to explain to us that my father had died and was in heaven. How does a 5 year old take that! Now I am thinking, how does a young mom explain to her 3 children that they had lost their healthy father. The next couple of days were a whirlwind. Lots of people in and out of the house, normal as we knew it was no more.

Where am I 25 years later, older and still filled with anger, guilt, confussion, and sadness. I always thought losing someone would get easier. It doesn't. What have I learned from this. To love my husband and children like this is my last day. I have also learned that talking about my father makes it easier to cope. When we were little, we didn't want to talk about it, too much pain. Now, I am fighting through that to remember and enjoy the memories of my father. Two weeks ago we had a memorial dinner with our family for my father. I was very nervous about it. We had such a wonderful evening of family time. We heard several stories, but mainly we just spent time together. But the most important thing, life does go on and we need it too. God has the master plan for us, and this earth is just a passing stone to eternal life, when we all shall meet again. The song "I Can Only Imagine" brings tears to my eyes, because I know that I will be dancing; because I will finally be among my earthly and heavenly father once again.

Santa Baby!

Since our tree is up, we night we play by it (and try to keep Carter from grabbing the ornaments off of it.) I like to snap up sweet pictures of the boys. Here are three from last night.

Turkey Day

Carter crawling around after a big Thanksgiving meal!
On Friday night we went to Sundance Square for the Christmas Parade.
Family picture - Thanksgiving 2006

Wow! We had such a great Thanksgiving holiday! Ryan was able to work from my parents home on Tuesday and Wednesay, so Monday we headed out to Jacksboro. All of my siblings came in on Tuesday, thank you Knox (& Jamie) and Kyle for your effort to have family time! I think it has been at least 3 years since we have all been together at least once for a holiday! We left on Thanksgiving Day to go to Ryan's parents were the Merriman crew was waiting on us. It is a change going from my family to Ryan's family - the number of adults and kids doubles! We spent the rest of the long weekend with the Merrimans. We had a blast. There are 5 boys under the age of 5, so Ben had a great time with all the cousins. The played outside, played trains inside, and went to the park. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal, everyone made their favorite side dish. When you put everybody's favorite together, we get a WONDERFUL meal. And this is coming from a girl that has only eaten 3 traditional Thanksgiving meals in her life, thanks to Ryan! (3 because Ryan and I have been married 4 years, the first Thanksgiving we were in Aruba on our honeymoon, they don't do turkey and dressing there). Speaking of 4 years, Ryan and I had our 4 anniversary on Thanksgiving day. We had actually been celebrating it for about a week starting with the concert last Wednesday night. Our traditional anniversary dinner took place on Saturday night. We always get our favorite appetizers and put up our Christmas tree together (with the stereo blaring Christmas songs.) Looking back, all I can say is what a great holiday with the family! Ryan and I are blessed to have such a wonderful and healthy family.