New Pool

We were getting tired of Benjamin's splish splash pool because it is hard to keep clean and the water is always cold. So we took it down and bought him one of those cheap plastic baby pools. HE LOVES IT!!!! I filled it with water this morning so it could warm up for this afternoon, but he couldn't wait. He had to play with it then. Then the rest of the day every 30 minutes or so he would go to the window in the living room and prop his little elbows up on the window sill and just look out and stare at his pool. It was so cute!!! So here's a picture of him playing in it this afternoon. He had such a ball!!!!

(PS He posed for this picture! He was busy playing with his bucket and I said, "Benjamin, look at mommy so she can get your picture" and so he looked up at me and gave me this cheesy smile! How funny is that?!?!?!)

And here's a cute picture of Benjamin at Arnie's tonight. He was sitting in his high chair chewing on a piece of pizza and I looked over and he was just chilling....sitting back with his arms up like this. I started laughing and got the camera out and so he started being extra silly for me!

Byyyyyeeee!

I thought I'd post on some Benjamin updates of some new things he's doing. The most cute being that he says bye now. He kind of rediscovered waving about a month ago and enjoys doing it all the time now. He waves at cars as they go by, whenever someone says bye on tv, as we leave things like stores, restaurants, the pool, etc. Its really quite cute. To put it over the top, he now says bye as he waves. However, its not your simple bye. He has a bit of a southern drawl to it (must be from his time in Charleston) and its really high pitched and sweet sounding. You just have to hear it to get how cute it is!

He also is saying more and more words (finally!). He got some new books that just have a few big pictures and what they are on each page. He loves flipping through them and having us say what it is. He can identify most of them when you ask him, but even more impressive is that he's been saying them too. He doesn't necessarily incorporate these words into his speech throughout the day, but at least he says them while he's looking at the pictures! He also is starting to say his body parts. He has been able to point to them for awhile, but now he says them at the same time. His favorite is eye (usually while poking either Dave, the animals, or my eye at the same time). He also says mouth, head, hair, and nose. His favorite word is still hot. He says it all day long. Its very funny! He says it whenever he touches something even mildly warm and with all his food. He even uses it to get out of eating the food he doesn't want! Quite the character!

Another cute thing he has been doing is kissing. He has always been quite the little kisser (going to get him into trouble some day I'm sure). But now whenever you want something like if I want him to come sit with me or for him to come to me when Dave's holding him or vice verse and he doesn't want to, he doesn't shake his head no or anything. He just reaches out, lips perched and gives you a consolatory kiss. As if to say, "sorry I don't want to, but in case I hurt your feelings, here's a kiss to make you feel better and know that I still love you!" He does this all day long! Its hard not to laugh! He also is kissing my belly. He is quite the mimicker and only saw Dave kissing my belly once or twice before he had to do it too. So now if you ask where the baby is, he lifts my shirt up enough to see my belly and leans in and kisses his little brother/sister! How sweet is that! Dave was saying the other day, "I bet Benjamin is going to kiss the baby all the time when it gets here!" Won't that be so wonderful to see?!??!?!

Here's a picture I took of him last night. I figured I couldn't post without a picture! I had gone in his room to check on him before going to bed and he was lying flat on his back with both arms above his head with his hands resting on either side of his head. It was pretty cute! When I came back from getting the camera, he had already turned onto his side but still looked so cute and sweet with his hand up by his face that I couldn't resist snapping a few! Sleep tight!

CAUTION: Construction Zone!!!

Yep, He's Definitely a Boy!

In case there was any wonder, Benjamin is definitely ALL boy!!!! He's been having a lot of fun playing with cars lately. He had a lot of fun pushing a big truck around in a restaurant one day and since I've been looking for a big truck for him. They were all big and sharp (and expensive) or were remote control operated (a little much for the 18 month old). Today though I found this cool truck at Target. It is made of plush plastic and it makes noises and everything. Benjamin had a lot of fun pushing it around tonight! Notice his facial expressions in all the pictures.....they are priceless!!!!

Carrying the truck around.....look at that working face!

Eagle Scouts!

Here's a picture of Benjamin from last week. He likes to turn the TV in our bedroom on and off. However, lately has had some difficulty because of all the static electricity! Look at that hair!!!


We went to three of my cousins' Eagle Scout ceremony this weekend. We were very excited to celebrate with all of them and see all of my family! They even asked Dave to have a part in the ceremony....he was very happy to do it!


Here's all three Eagle Scouts and their parents! Good job guys! (Sorry the pictures are fuzzy, I don't know what happened!)


Benjamin had fun during the ceremony playing with my cousins. I was very excited to see this because he doesn't usually do well with other kids. This is my cousin Clara.....Benjamin really had fun with her!

Here's my grandpa and his three Eagle Scouts! So proud!

Pregnancy Update: Well I'm 7 weeks pregnant and feeling pretty good. I've had hardly no morning sickness, yea!!!! The last couple weeks I was really dizzy and lightheaded, but fortunately that has passed. Now all I'm left with is some major fatigue! I don't remember being this tired when I was pregnant with Benjamin. But then again, I didn't have him to chase after all day! But if feeling tired and more frequent trips to the bathroom are my only complaints, I'll take it! With Benjamin I was nauseous most of my first trimester, so I'm very happy to forgo that this time around!!!!!

July Is Off To A BIG Start

Well, I guess I should start off by saying this is going to be a very long post. A lot has happened for us already this month. So below is a lot of updates and of course a whole lot of pictures. As always, if you can't make out any of the pictures, you can just enlarge them a see them much bigger.

First, on July 1st I threw Dave a surprise birthday party at our house. We had a really good turn out of a lot of family and friends and had a really great time. Thanks to everyone who helped out and came to the party!!!! Here are some pictures of Dave as he was given his surprise. (He was blindfolded and everyone was out in the front yard)

Benjamin helping Dave open his presents.

And helping him blow out his candles!!!!

Benjamin enjoying some cake......mmmmmm!!!!!

And now for the big news..........Dave and I are expecting our second child!!!! I waited and took a pregnancy test on Dave's birthday so he could have a present on his actual birthday and boy did he!!! I woke him up to the news and we were both very excited! Benjamin and I were leaving for Dave's parents' lakehouse in TN later that day and Dave was afraid they would find out when I refused to do any water sports. Since he really didn't want them to find out without him there, he went down to New Albany with us and we told all of our family. I was a little overwhelmed tellling everyone so early, but with a little coaxing I agreed! They were all very surprised and excited!!! So we'll be expecting our next little one approximately the first week of March!!!! Yea!

After we shared our big news with all of our family we headed down to TN for some fun on the lake. It was a great week and we had so much fun!!!!

Here's Benjamin and his grandma enjoying a boat ride!

Benjamin and Dave enjoying some pool time!!!!

Benjamin's grandpa made him some BIG bubbles and he was so tickled with them!!!!

Isn't this a cool picture??? It looks like he's in the bubble!!!

Dave going for a ride on the tube! He also did really well wake boarding and tickled us all with his creative falls!

Jim and Frankie celebrated their 34th anniversary by going a tube ride together.

Falling into the tube together!

Off for a nice ride together! Just so you know, I have a lot more fun pictures, but I was instructed to be nice when choosing which pictures I posted. So out of the goodness of my heart, I decided to be very nice!!!!!

Benjamin in the driver's seat!!!!

On Saturday we got to sit on the boat and see a really cool firework display over the lake. Benjamin was so funny and really really enjoyed it and was pointing and smiling and going "ohhhhhh" the whole time!!!

We of course clapped after the show was over!!!