Happy Birthday Uncle Dan...

...you get your own post! Uncle Dan celebrates the 3rd anniversary of his 30th birthday today. Audrey was really excited to share his cake and to help him blow out his candles. We hope you had a wonderful day!

Audrey had been waiting all weekend to be able to play with the party hats.

Aunt Kady and Uncle Dan's

We went to visit Aunt Kady and Uncle Dan this weekend and had a great time!! Here are a few pics to document the fun that we all had.

Little fish.

Swimming with Aunt Kady

Ben still not thrilled about swimming.

Uncle Dan looks like he is almost enjoying this. (Dan has a strict "no baby holding" policy until he has one of his own. This is as close as he's going to get to holding a child under 1 year old).
Aunt Kady and Ben definitely enjoying this.

By the hour or the job???

Are we paying our contractor by the hour or by the job? This is a pic of our contractor catching a quick nap on our porch. He DID do a great job, but it was too funny to us not to snap a pic of him snoozing while everyone else did the work!

Variety Show!

Hey jealousy! Bailey is soo jealous. She was the first child in the family and then there was a dog, a human baby, another dog and now another stinkin' human!! Argh. Bailey is dealing best she can and making herself as obvious as she can to get whatever attention she can. We love you Bailey, we just can't give you the 2000% attention that you request.

It's hard to get Ben to smile for the camera. He is soo giggly and happy and then when I pull out the camera he's asking "hey Mom, where's your face?" So, here's the best smile I got on camera today.

No, these are not my thighs, but the kinder, friendlier, baby kind of fat. Love it!

Story time with big sister!!! She loves him so much and really is very good. He better get used to the princess stories!

Random cuteness.

Here are a few random picture from Friday when Audrey and I were goofing around with Ben and the camera. Audrey LOVES to take pictures and I often find dozens of "artistic" shots of her feet, her favorite Dora doll, every other doll in the house, her fingers, the ceiling fan...you get the idea.

Daddy's helper

Audrey was very excited about Father's day! She woke Daddy up with a smile and a special gift she made, and lots of hugs and kisses. She helped Daddy in the office this morning and this is what I found on the camera.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to Jeff, Pop, Papa, Eric and all you other father's out there!!! It's been a fun Father's Day weekend here, except for the fact that Jeff is on call and is getting worked...regardless we had a good time! We managed to hit the pool with some friends Saturday and Ben made his first trip into the pool. He's gone to the pool with us before but always ended up sleeping through it all. Here are a few pics from the pool.

All dressed and ready to swim!
R.I.P. beach ball- it was stolen at the pool :(
Ben was not a fan of the water. I think the sun was his biggest enemy: need to get out the mini sunglasses.
Ben still not enjoying it. He decided to bail on the pool and nap.

Quote of the century

Audrey: "Dear Jesus, please bring us a girl baby because I really want a girl baby too. I love my boy baby, but I really, really want a girl baby too.
Mommy's thought bubble: "The only way we're getting a girl baby is if Jesus himself brings it to the front door."

Pudge-a-rific

Mr. Benjamin is 12 weeks old today!!! I swear he has gotten even pudgier in the past 2 or 3 days! He's deliciously fat and I love every roll! Wish I could say the same about myself, but you know how it goes....

All cracked up.

This is the second time in 10 days that Audrey has decided she wants eggs. The first time I was nursing Ben and she told me she wanted eggs and proceeded to get them out of the fridge and didn't listen to my cues to wait and before I knew it there were 12 egg s cracked in a bowl....we had eggs for lunch. Today I was upstairs folding laundry and knew that the "quiet' was just too nice. Low and behold, I come downstairs to find a bowl of 12 eggs ready to go. Anyone want an omelet or 5????

OctoMom

It's babies everywhere I look in this house! I thought I only had one! Audrey has recruited every baby doll in her house to be her "kids". They eat breakfast with her, play with her, watch tv with her, take a bath with her (as best the cloth ones can) and go to bed with her. Audrey even asked me to nurse a few of them, of course she said "pretend nurse them, Mommy, not for real." Thank goodness. Every time I turn around there is a baby doll in one of Ben's apparatuses. That girl is one busy Mommy!!!

Quote of the day...

Audrey: "Tell Daddy that Ben did it."
I won't say what she did, but I did ask her if she thought that Daddy would believe that Ben, who can't walk or talk, or even sit up actually did it. She said "yes." Audrey is very much of the belief right now that if you didn't see me do it, then I did NOT do it. Sigh....

The Little Monstah!

If you are not a Red Sox fan, then boo to you! Pictured here is the cutest Little Monstah you've ever seen. Kudos to Buddy and Mary Ellen for sending the adorable gear, made even more adorable by my handsome son, Ben! Here he is relaxing on the new screened porch. Audrey and I put him out there in his bouncy seat while I put the new furniture together and it was so comfortable he decided to take a snooze. Be sure to visit soon to enjoy the new porch with us!

Whew.

Did you miss me? Or maybe you just missed pictures of the kids. I think I've spoiled my readers with so many frequent posts, it seems like it's been a long time, but I guess it's less than a week. Let's see, it's hot, it's summer, and we've been busy. Ben is getting bigger by the second and Audrey continues to be an excellent big sister. My parents were here for a visit this past weekend, and spent lots of quality time with Ben and Audrey, and Jeff and I actually got to go out on a date with no children whatsoever! Here is a variety of pictures for your viewing pleasure.

A smiling Big Ben

So cute!

Enjoying Grandma time

Papa!

Date night.
Helping with baby brother.
What can I say...this is cute!Reaching out for Papa.

Surfin' on his tummy time mat.
Laughing with Daddy.Chillin in the bean bag in Audrey's play room.

Learning how to shuck corn.
Such a handsome little man.
Enjoying the 24/7 attention.Two tired kids after a long day of playing with Grandma and Papa.

Busy Day

We had quite a busy day today and enjoyed every bit of it...

Audrey and Ben cuddling on the couch. He was such a happy and smiley boy today. We had a great time making faces and sounds and watching him respond.
(I think they look so alike in this picture)

We went to the fountain today and had a blast. Here are Audrey and friends drawing with chalk in the water.

Doing the limbo under one of the fountains.

Gorgeous boy in green.

My hand tastes so good.

Top Chefs

I had a few helpers in the kitchen tonight. Hold your horses, that's right, I managed to cook a meal tonight! Of course, i use the term "cook" loosely, as I used pre-made crust and jarred sauces, but hey- it went in my own oven! Audrey and Ben were excellent helpers and here are a few pictures to prove it.