1/2 Year Old!!!!!!

Well it happened, Anna is 6 months old today! She has been alive for a half a year already! How crazy is that? I was all prepared to be emotional about this milestone b/c I know that after this these babies change very quickly into toddlers. But instead I am just overwhelmingly happy and grateful for these wonderful 6 months that we've had with our cupcake! She is an amazing little baby and we love her so very much! As usual here are her month-by-month pictures......

This is how she usually sits, leaning forward like this, until I have to catch her as she falls forward! This is her typical big open mouth smile too!

You can really tell how tall she is in this picture, since she's sitting straight up. She had her 6 month check up yesterday (only 2 shots, yea!) and she has grown 3 inches since her 4 month check up! She's now 27 inches and in the 90th percentile. She weighed 16 lb and 6 oz which is the 50th percentile. So she's a tall girl! :) Everything checked out with her (yea!) and the ear infection she has is starting to get better, so that's a relief too!

I love her eyes in this one......


I actually only got one picture of Anna before Benjamin jumped up into the chair and posed for some too. I am having a really hard time getting him to smile for the camera though and keep his eyes open. Oh well.....

I may be silly but since I think 6 months is a big milestone, I took some more pictures of her and Dave was sweet and took us shopping and out to eat (with dessert) to celebrate our cupcake!

And of course we've had some funny Benjamin moments lately....

He likes playing with these gardening gloves and after putting them on recently he instantly started looking around saying, "Where's mine aldagador shoes?" After he found them, he went into the kitchen and turned on his little radio and started spinning around like a crazy man. Seriously, it was hard to get a picture of him, he was moving that much!


Saturday morning he was tickled when he decided to put on Dave's socks......

Also on Saturday, he was tickled when we went to a kids fest at the park and he got to meet a police officer and sit in his car. (He's really into police officers right now)

When I was taking Anna's pictures today he was running around like a mad man (big surprise I know)....

Including yelling, "Gah" over and over again. The last few months he has had a made-up word that sticks around for a couple weeks that he says (err yells) over and over again when he's wound up. For instance the last two weeks it was "ba boo" and now its "Gah". I think I preferred last weeks though, b/c when he says "Gah" it kinda sounds like he's working up a lugie. Not very pleasant! Such a goof ball we have on our hands! I see a lot of me in him though, so I guess I only have myself to blame! :)

Random Musings

Here are some random happenings in this Momma's life:

Watching your child eat breakfast like this and thinking, "Wow, that's the life!"


Being surprised that your two year old is able to sit and stare at Meerkats for 15+ minutes! (I think he liked that he was so close to them). He also enjoyed that there were tunnels that he could watch them crawl in. This is him giving them a hug.

*We went to the zoo earlier this week with my friend Rachel from college and we had a great time catching up with her. She and her husband are going to Zimbabwe for Missions and could use your prayers for safe travels and wonderful opportunities to share Jesus.

Having your heart melt every time your child turns to you and says, "Mine still sick Momma. Mine coughing. Mine Otay 'dough." This is how he spent most of yesterday and is spending this morning so far. He tells me, "Mine tired, lay on mines couch." Anna's getting the same cold too! :(


Thinking this is the sweetest little girl that has ever lived....


Enjoying watching Anna play with these funny socks on her feet....


Being happy we were able to spend time with Dave's cousin (in picture) and aunt that we haven't seen in 2 years.

Being amazed that your little baby is adapting so well to her crib that she had never slept in before and has even fell asleep on her own in it the past two days!

Having your heart leap into your throat just now b/c after saying, "Hey Anna what are you doing all the way over there?" (b/c she had rolled way off her blanket) your two year old went right over and lifted her up (in a very scary way!) and moved her back to the blanket. When asked if Momma should help, said two year old replied, "Mine big boy." Poor little sister!

Anna's Nursery

I finally got Anna's nursery finished this weekend. After waiting until Benjamin was out of the room and settled into his "big boy bed" for long enough, 5 coats of yellow (and learning you should use a primer when painting yellow over lavender) and a small hiatus from painting when I was having dizzy spells b/c of some thyroid problems I FINALLY was able to finish! I'm really pleased with the results and am excited to have a room just for Anna now! It's also really exciting for me to get to have a nursery all the way done the way I wanted since I never did when Benjamin was a babe with all the moving we did. Without further ado, here's my hard work.....





Do you notice anything extra in this picture?!?!?!

If you didn't catch it, that's Benjamin climbing on the crib looking down on his baby sister! I don't know if you can see it, but that's a little rocking whale next to the crib. It was/is Benjamin's and when I moved it into the nursery, Benjamin started dragging it back out and very calmly stated, "That Mine Big Boy whale. Not go in Anna's room." I explained that we had too many toys in the living room and he could play with it all the time in this room too and he seemed fine with leaving it be (for now anyway). :)


And here he is watching her some more as she checks out her mobile!


He is such an AMAZING loving brother!



And here's sweet Anna sleeping in her bed for the first time! Isn't she precious?

Hey Kelly, do you notice anything special in her bed?


This is just a funny picture I had to share. I put her in this seat after she nurses b/c she is my little spit-up queen. Last night when I put her in it, she sat up in it and wouldn't lay back. It was like she was saying, "I'm too big for this Momma!"


Finally, here are the latest Benjamin funnies. He is talking more and more, so they are coming quickly and keep me laughing! :) You can skip if you want, I mostly just wanted to include it so I wouldn't forget it!


We have been watching a lot of Olympics and when the gymnastics is on and they are tumbling he throws himself all over the place and rolls around on the floor mimicking the athletes! When they do the high bar/uneven bars he shouts out "Like monkeys, Momma!" and continues to say they are like monkeys as they show the athlete waiting for their score!


He is becoming quite inquisitive and asks the following questions many times a day:
"That good Momma?"
In a perfect New York accent, "Cha doin?" (What are you doing?)
"Is that? Is that?" (Asking what something he sees is or more commonly and harder to figure out asking what a sound he hears is.)


He is very interested in his boo-boos lately. He gets one and remembers for a whole week usually. He checks on them several times a day and will usually start by saying "Is that Momma?" "That mine owie?" and then we discuss where it came from (which he almost always remembers). Finally he gives me a very serious expression and says, "Mine O.K. Momma. Not hurt. Mine owie not hurt me."


Benjamin really enjoyed our time in Charleston. When the beach is mentioned some how, he usually responds with, "Go Beach? Go Charleston now? Please go back Charleston?" Dave may have to go back for a few days for work soon and we were discussing it after he came home today. Without realizing Benjamin was even paying attention, the moment we said Charleston his eyes lit up and "Go Charleston Daddy?" came out of his mouth. After Dave said no we couldn't go, he preceded to beg, "PLEASE go back Charleston!"


Just this past week Benjamin has been trying to get his way by intentionally crying/whining and laying face down on the floor. It's very obvious that he is doing a fake cry (it sounds like a whine and he scrunches his face all up) and if it weren't obvious enough, he always explains to us what he's doing: Fake waaaa, "Mine crying. Mine laying on the floor."


This last one happened tonight. He is constantly using his feet (and has since he was in my belly). We have an on-going battle of him kicking us while we are eating and putting his feet on the table. I gave him about 5 warnings tonight at dinner to stop putting his feet on the table. After the fourth time I told him that was his last chance and if he did it again he would have to get down and wouldn't get to eat dinner anymore (he was mostly done anyways). Well of course he got a little awnry grin and put his foot right up on the table. I told him that he wasn't allowed to do that once again and that now he had to get down from the table. He then preceded to throw a big fit. When he does this I have found that it works really well to explain to him that he has to go into his room and have some quiet time until he calms down and then I will come get him. It almost always works. Tonight when I went to get him he was still whining a little bit and so I opened the door and asked "Are you calmed down now?" His response: "Mine not happy Momma. Mine crying" I couldn't help it and started laughing like crazy! :)

Photo Contest

A couple days ago I decided I needed to try and get creative with my pictures of the kids. So I've been torturing them a bit (just a bit). Here are some of my first go 'round that I took at our house. Your job is to look through them (if you can make it through all of them) and leave me a comment telling me which is your favorite of Anna and of Benjamin. Pretty easy assignment, huh? I will be disappointed in you guys if you don't participate! :) Seriously, is a little feedback too much to ask for??? Ok, so here we go...the home pictures:

Anna Home 1


Anna Home 2


If you think one of them together is the best, you can pick it too! :)
Together Home 1


Together Home 2


She had never smiled liked this before on the swing!
Anna Swing 1


Dave thinks this is a priceless pic....
Anna Swing 2


The rest of these are out and about. We headed this morning to the farmer's market downtown and then over to a cool park outside one of the Cummin's office buildings. And so begins some cute kids, beautiful surroundings, and little bit of creative photography..........
You like the matching hat and shirt????
Benjamin Car


Smiling through her paci!
Anna Car


Benjamin Tree 1


Benjamin Tree 2


Benjamin Tree 3


Anna Tree 1


Anna Tree 2


Anna Tree 3


Anna and Daddy 1


Anna Tree 4


Benjamin Outside 1


Benjamin Outside 2


Together Outside 1


Together Outside 2


Together Outside 3


Anna Outside 1


Anna Outside 2


Benjamin and Momma 1


Benjamin and Momma 2


Benjamin Outside 3


Benjamin Outside 4


Benjamin Outside 5

Benjamin Outside 6

Benjamin Outside 7

Benjamin Outside 8

Anna Outside 3


Afterwards we ate some lunch in a diner and Miss Anna had carrots for the first time......

Anna Carrots 1

"Aaahhh, I like these Momma!!!"

Anna Carrots 2

All done!

Anna Carrots 3

If you can't tell, we had a lot of fun! Benjamin loved running around in the grass in his bare feet, seeing the water fountains, climbing in the trees, and throwing rocks in the water. I had fun trying to be creative! Hope you enjoyed seeing the results and I look forward to seeing the results of your assignment! I'm planning on putting these into a collage frame and so you never know, you may just help me make my selections!!! :)