Bump alert!

No, no, Jesus did not bring a baby to our front door. Kady and Dan are the lucky ones who are expecting a bouncing baby on February 28th. Congrats!

Mmm.

Ben is 5 months old today and instead of a cake, he got sweet potatoes. He really likes them, as you can tell by the pictures. Big Ben is as giggly and talkative as ever and has picked up several new sounds in recent weeks. He's a joy!

Seeing is his fingers improve the taste of the sweet potatoes.

Sticking his tongue out while eating.
Yum!!

Dance like no one is watching...

Too cute not to share

Not feeling overly wordy right now, so will let the pictures do the talking.

If you click on these photos, please pardon the bat in the cave...

Dock of the bay

Here are 2 cute pictures from feeding the fish yesterday at the marina. Audrey and Ana and Isabel enjoyed lobbing stale bread at the fish, and gasp....the seagulls too.

A good night.

Last night we had some family over and had a fun time with everyone outside. The weather was surprisingly cooperative for August and we were able to catch fish, watch the girls be silly, and enjoy good company.

Me and my bright eyed babe.

He's a charmer!

A break from fishing.

Dancing with Jenny-dog.
Night swimming.

Fun in Florida

It's been awfully busy here in sunny PC, and we've even had some not-so-humid-actually-bearable weather! Here is a peek at our recent activities.

Silly cousins

Pre beach trip carbo load. (Anyone who knows my mom knows that Rice Krispy treats are always around for special occasions).
Two redheads.
The best we could do for a group shot.
Mom and Dad.
Uncle Eric getting pulled in.
Fun in the sun.

Breaking news!!!

Somehow in all of this excitement of Fl and family I have failed to announce that Ben has his first tooth!!! The drool factor has intensified significantly in the past few days and on August 18th Ben woke up with a tooth! It's not one of the standard issue first teeth, it's one of the side teeth on the bottom left. If this pattern continues, maybe he'll have fangs and I'll have to rethink the Halloween costumes.

Loving the attention

Ben is just happy to be here and is enjoying all of the additional attention. He's been very flirty and has been quite entertaining with all of his coos and giggles!

Cousins

Ana and Isabel are THRILLED to meet their cousin Ben for the first time and also to play with Audrey. Ana and Isabel can hardly keep their hands off of them and shower him with love and toe tickles.

Making friends in Florida

While we are in FL we have been able to see my lifelong friend and her daughter who is only 5 weeks older than Ben. They were so cute together and enjoyed staring at someone so similar to themselves. Here are some snapshots of the perfect pair.

Flying high!

Audrey was flying high yesterday when we went to Pier Park and she saw the "big kid jump a roo." She gave it all she had for 5 minutes, and had a BLAST!

Hoping for Friendly Skies

With all the Tropical Storm talk in FL this week, I am hoping that we get smooth sailing from CLT to Ft. Walton tomorrow. Audrey, Ben, and I are hitting the skies tomorrow and going to visit Grandma, Papa, Tia, Uncle Eric, Ana, and Isabel. You can feel the excitement in the air, and Audrey's portion of the suitcase has been packed for a while now. We are looking forward to seeing the family as well and a dear friend and her darling daughter!!

We Wii, oui?

We caved. We got a Wii. Here's Audrey trying out bowling for the first time. She's pretty good too. She bowled a 109. (I'm still the family leader at 183...I am not competitive or anything).

Cereal anyone?

We decided to experiment with a little cereal today. Audrey was very excited. Ben and I were more or less indifferent, but we went for it and I think he even managed to get a few drops down the hatch.

Oh boy! Chow time.

Wait, where's the milk?
I don't think so.

What are you doing to me?

I guess it wasn't so bad.

Quote of the day

"Happy California. That's how you say Chinese in French."
-Audrey

Guess she is getting Kai Lan, Dora, and some PBS all mixed up. She then proceeded to say a bunch of things in Chinese, I think.

Why I wake up each day.

I'm sure your kids are cute....

...but take a look at this little man! He's just the sweetest thing, and cute, cute, cute!!!

Is this my child?

Audrey took a 3 hour nap on Saturday. If you know her, you know that this is practically impossible. She just doesn't nap, but woke up Saturday morning on the wrong side of the bed. She rolled over on the couch and stayed like this for 3 hours. No benadryl involved either! Guess even the perkiest get struck with the sleepies once in awhile.

A day at the park

Audrey, Ben, and I met some good friends at a huge park this week and had a wonderful time. I of course did not get many pictures because I was juggling two kids and a stroller, a Bjorn, and various and assorted other baby gear, but here are two that I did get. I'll post more when I get a glimpse at the pictures that my friend took.

In Memory...

SSGT Jacob Martin Thompson gave his life for you and for his country two years ago today. We love you and miss you, Jake.

My brother wrote this about Jake and I thought I would share.

Michelin Man

Ben must be going through a growth spurt. He has really ramped up his eating, which in turn has ramped up his rolls. I love 'em!

Quote of the day

"Ben, you are my best friend. You will always be my baby brother and I'll love you forever."
-Audrey

"Awwww."
-Mommy

Lazy-woman's Scrapbook

I use this blog as my scrapbook because I am not good at the "real" thing. I tried to have Creative Memories and failed miserably after about 2 pages and realizing that you need about a grand worth of gadgets to make it look good and then you need a nanny to have the time to do it = scrapbook dropout! Blogging is so easy, but I wish I had it in paper form to flip through....today I made that work! Any other lazy scrapbookers out there go check out http://blog2print.sharedbook.com/
It pulls all the info off of your blog and puts it in book form, then lets you customize the cover, back, then add a dedication and other cutesy stuff too. You can choose soft cover or hardcover. I think I'll have one made for every blogging year and save myself some paper cuts!

Tattooed Lady

I guess the biker bar really made an impression on Audrey. Here she is today after finding a sheet of tattoos Aunt ME gave her in FL. She did these all by herself too.

All I want for Christmas....

Is some peace and quiet. Poor Bailey can only hide for so long. She knows that Audrey is looking for her, always. Here is a rare moment of relaxation for Miss Bailey Cat.