Prince Charming

On occasion, Abbie cons Will into playing "princesses."
Will is always Prince Charming (or Prince Charmin'...as he says), so when I found this shirt, it was a must buy.
It worked great as his Valentine's Day shirt.
Unfortunately, I did not get group pictures done for our annual Valentine's card.
These will have to work!

My Angel is the Centerfold...

I may have mentioned before that I love cute, naked, chunky babies?!?!

Tonight's bath time was no exception, and Ben was a willing model.

I love this last picture. He turned his body ever so slightly, and put his cute little chunky hand on his hip. I think that was his signal that he was done showing off his cuteness!

Ben's New 'Do

Fresh out of the bath, sportin' a "faux-hawk."
Or as Will calls it, a caterpillar!
Either way, he rocks it!

Stuck In a Hard Place....

Remember I mentioned that Ben pivots and turns circles so much that he wedges himself under furniture? Well, here's where I caught him yesterday. I heard him crying, looked in his room, didn't see him at first glance, and then found him stuck under his bed.

He was mad!

Mom to the rescue!

Daddy's Work?

Let me preface this story with the fact that Abbie & Will have both been to work with Andy.
Abbie particularly likes to go.
They have both been on the Senate floor, and often during session, we watch him on the General Assembly website.
Yesterday, I overheard Abbie tell Will that she found daddy's work on TV.
"Wait a minute," she said, "maybe we'll see daddy."
Curious, I peeked around the corner.
Here's what I saw....C-Span, discussing the Fannie and Freddie Mae crisis.
Not quite daddy's work, but cute!

Who's The Fairest of Them All?

Will has a crush on one of Abbie's school friends, Allison. I may have mentioned this before.
Last week, while riding in the van with Andy, he announced that Allison was pretty. Andy said it came out nowhere. Andy asked if she was his girlfriend, and he said yes.
We periodically ask him about Allison. He gets shy and smiley. He always tells us she's pretty, and that she likes to play with dolls. Sometimes he gets to play with her when we drop Abbie off at school.
Yesterday, it was just me and Will. I was rocking him, enjoying some cuddle time, and having random conversation.
M: Who is your girlfriend?
W: You, mommy. (Melt my heart)
M: Who else?
W: Allison
M: Do you like the other girls at Abbie's school?
W: I like Hope.
M: Who do you think is the prettiest?
W: Abbie
How can this one little boy be so sweet? His heart is full of love and adoration for his sister....well, except when they're fighting!

So Close!

Where has the time gone?
Ben is 9 months! NINE MONTHS!!
We haven't had his official appointment yet because I slacked on scheduling it.
However during a sick visit, just a week shy of him turning 9 months, he was 20 lbs 8 0z.
So you have seen lots of Ben pictures, but what has he been up to?
We've been DaDaDa-ing and NaNaNa-ing for a good month/month and a half.
We're waving goodbye and saying our own version of bye-bye.
He especially waves and bye-byes when he sees a door.
We patty cake!
He tries very hard to pull himself when I'm holding him by using my shirt.
He absolutely does not hold still in my arms.
He's constantly turning and flipping around, yet he loves to be cuddled.
His hugs...oh his hugs!
He loves to wrap his little arms around our necks and hang on tight. We even get pats on the back.
But the best part?
He started saying ma-ma-ma the day after my birthday!
By far the best gift ever!



And then there is this....

Hmm...I see something I want.

Perhaps I'll crawl over there?

Getting into position...

And, I'm there!
We aren't crawling yet, but we are VERY close!
He is constantly getting into position and almost has his technique perfected.
For the past month or so he has been rolling where he wants to go, or turns circles while lying on his belly to get to his destination.
Sometimes he sits on his bottom and pivots around the room.
I often find him trapped under pieces of furniture from scooting backwards.
You're close buddy...So close!

Do you see what I see?

Not quite a Rorschach ink blot test, but Will had his own interpretation of this art piece found during a family bowling trip to SIU.
So what did he see?


A slushy with a moustache!
Come on...don't you see it?!?!
I wonder what this says about his psychological well being?

It's My Party....

And I'll pig out if I want to!
My birthday was Saturday.
My lovely cousin Haley was kind enough to make me these pretty cookies and send them downstate with her mom.
She made some very elaborate iced sugar cookies for Christmas and shared them with AIMEE.
None for me!
She rationalized that Aimee had just had a baby....well I must have been pretty unforgiving because I got my own.
My battery had died before I could take pics of all of them. They were so pretty!
This is the small sampling I took home.
I was nice enough to share the batch with visitors to grandma's house.
Happy Birthday To Me!
Thank you Haley!

And these last cookies were made by my children during their overnight stay with Papaw & Memaw.
I loved them equally!
I have always loved having my birthday the week before Valentine's Day.

My mom always had the little conversation hearts out during my parties. I love them. And I can vividly remember a heart shaped cake outlined with red hots. These cookies were a nice walk down birthday memory lane!

So, how did I spend my birthday?
It was bliss....pure bliss!
I requested to shop all day, and shop and eat we did.
I hit clearance rack after clearance rack, stocking up on next year winter clothes for the kids.
I LOVE good deals!
I also got their Easter outfits I had been eyeing from Children's Place.
We shopped for almost 10 hours.
Andy was a complete trooper, though he threatened to vomit in Children's Place,our last stop, if I didn't kick it into gear.
Some were disappointed to hear that I didn't get a thing for myself.
But it was a perfect day for me!
Does this make me old?
I can't wait to show all of you my big birthday present...our new bedroom furniture and my new bedding.
It totally makes up for not buying myself a thing on my shopping spree.
Just waiting on the bedding to come in.

Nice to meet you

Last week we made a visit to see Grandma Betsy.
Not only was Aunt Susan home for a visit, but Abbie, Will, and Ben got to meet a new family member.
My cousin Jenny.
She was home from Vegas.
The last time we saw her Abbie was roughly 6 months old.
Ben sure enjoyed cuddling with her.
My camera battery died before I could capture any more pictures.

Mya was there too.
Of course Ben had to pick on her...literally, and rough her up a bit!

Upside Down You're Turning Me...

Who remembers that song?

"Boy, you're turning me upside down, inside out, round and round....."

Upside down I went with the camera.

Have I mentioned I can't get enough of this boy?

Right Side Up

Or Upside Down!

Drool and all!

Love him!

Can't get enough...

Mya got hungry and cranky during their little play time, but I kept the camera out.
Another fun photo shoot with my Benny Buddy!

He loves his tool bench.
He always sticks out his little tongue when concentrating.
Andy has quite a few childhood pics like this.

More Mya

The little stinker refused to smile for the camera, but I did get to snap some pics of more cute little baby feet.
For the record, this little chic has some long toes!

Cousin, Cousin

Aunt Mimi, Uncle Drew, Mya, and Harley came for a couple of nights again.
Mya was very well behaved.
I think her mommy makes up all these crying at night stories!
Mya and I had more spa time.
Lots of splishing-splashing, and nail time of course.
Ben had fun with her too.
He can't wait until she can really play!