Fun, Funny, and Bragging

We decided to enjoy the nice weather this weekend and made a trip to the zoo. We packed lunch for the kids and they ate while watching the seals swim and bark. It was a very fun way to eat lunch!

The remnants of Anna's first peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She gobbled it down!

Look, seals!


Checking out the rhinos.

They were actually moving around, instead of just laying there!

Big girl going for a stroll through the zoo!

Anna surprised me and had her first milk shake yesterday. I gave Benjamin his milk shake in the car and was planning on sharing my ice cream with Anna when we got home. The whole way home she cried and just kept reaching for Benjamin and saying, "Pup! Pup!" (cup). When we got home, Benjamin gave her his while I was trying to get her some of mine ready. She's never been able to use a straw before and I looked over and she was drinking away!!! :)

"Mmmmmm! This is yummy!"

We did some fun art work today! Benjamin was very proud of his work (I was too)!

Anna is such a big girl already! Today she picked up her diaper after I changed it today. I told her to go throw it in the trash and she walked right into the kitchen and threw it away! While making dinner, I cut my thumb pretty bad and was having a hard time getting it to stop bleeding. Anna was throwing a fit b/c she wanted me to read her a book, but I couldn't really do it at the time. I popped a Baby Einstein video in to try and occupy her and told her to sit on the couch. She did that too! What you can't see in the picture is that she's tapping her leg to the music! :) Doesn't she look so big?!?!?!

The two Baby Einstein videos we have are from when Benjamin was a baby. He was not found of them at all, so it tickles me that Anna will actually watch them. The really funny thing is, Benjamin stops what he's doing and watches them too! A boy and his dog taken' it easy on the couch............

Little Three started kicking occasionally last week. The past several days he/she has been treating me to many kicks and wiggles! :) I love me a wiggly baby growing in my belly!

All Things Precious

One of Dave and Benjamin's favorite pastimes together (other than wrestling) is playing Wii. The other night, Benjamin wanted to be the one on the Wii fit board. It was so funny to Dave and I when Benjamin chose to do yoga and actually was doing the poses!

Getting a little help from Daddy during the ball drop game.....

It was in the 80's today, so we went out and enjoyed ourselves some sunshine! Anna had just woken from her nap when we went out. I thought this was so cute, she took her paci out, handed it to me, and said "bye bye".....as if to say I'm done with this Momma.

Benjamin loves blowing these. However, the poor guy is rarely very successful at getting any to blow away! :(

Teeth Shot! She now has three teeth on the bottom (a new one came in over the weekend) and her first top tooth broke through today! *Funny side note, Benjamin loves keeping track of how many teeth she has and is constantly reminding me!

Peak-a-boo!

Dave says this is the new edition of funny faces (after their silly Easter picture.....that continues to tickle us btw)!

Sometimes I think my heart very well may burst with how much I love these two and when I see how much they love each other!

Time for your close up, Mr. Benjamin. (FYI, he was the one that moved closer to the camera....after which he said, "Mine see the picture?")

Since Anna has been doing the stinker thing more often (see post below), Benjamin has been too!

One of Anna's favorite things to do outside is play in our makeshift ball pit. She kicks her legs and laughs and squeals and has the grandest of times!

****This next part is long and for some reason I can't get Blogger to let me keep them as paragraphs, with spaces between each one! Argh!**********

While we were outside, Benjamin came over and told me "Mine find a wittle spider and mine squished it." I asked him why he squished it (it surprised me that he did, b/c usually he won't touch bugs). His response, "Cause mine want him to leave, cause you no like them." How's that for a helpful son??

He's also been telling me lots of super sweet things. He tells me (and Dave/Anna) about eight hundred times a day, "You a good/nice Momma (Daddy/baby). Know that?" He frequently tells me that I look beautiful, especially if I'm wearing pink I've noticed! My favorite though was a little over a week ago. I had a week where I felt terrible and had the flu turn into a double ear infection (which really intensifies pregnancy dizziness/nausea). I laid on the couch a lot (as Dave was too busy to take off work) and he would come over to me, rub my arm and say (in the sweetest voice) "Mine promise your ears will get better, Momma. Mine promise!" How can that not make you feel better?!?!?!?

Benjamin also recently told Anna, "Anna you be quiet! You wake the baby in Momma's tummy! The baby is trying to sleep!" He talks about "Little Three" all the time and comes over and touches my belly and says that's where the baby is! He also yells at Anna and Milo whenever they are sitting on me and tells them they are on the baby! According to Benjamin, Little Three changes genders usually about 4 times a day!

Speaking of Little Three. I'm 15 weeks today and a few days ago, felt him/her move for the first time. He/she moved several times that night, but has only moved a few times since then. I can't wait for the baby to kick more, I'm pretty sure having a baby move around in your belly is one of the best feelings EVER!!!!

Some recent Anna funnies: Yesterday, when asked to say belly...she would lift up her shirt, grab her belly, and say "belwee". Today, while playing blocks she learned the phrase "Ah, man!" She would knock Benjamin and my block towers over and we said the phrase a few times. After which she said it every single time she knocked another tower over. She's getting close to saying (or at least a toddler version of) Anna and Benjamin, which is very cute. Without anyone telling her, she came over and pet Pepper and squealed "Pepper". I'm telling you, the girl is crazy smart and will say (or try to say) pretty much any word you ask her to! Another cute thing she's been doing is when we are out, she waves and says hi to people. Then, as they walk past her, she waves again and says bye bye! The funny thing is she has a different wave for hi than for bye! Also, anytime she does new things like this hi/bye thing or say squealing (loudly)....Benjamin does them too!

I know there's more and I so want to type as much out as possible, so I remember it.....but that's all I've got for now!

When Dave was closing the blinds tonight, he mentioned we were about to have a really pretty sunset if I wanted to go out and see it and get some pictures. He was right........

Benjamin and Daddy were on their way to do bedtime rituals, but came out to wave night, night to the sun first! :)

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!!

First Sleep Over

Our friends' son, Sam came and spent the night with us this weekend.....meaning Benjamin had his first sleep over! :) He's a great kid and they had a grand time together! Rocking out....

Everybody playing together!

Big girl walking! (You think we have enough toys?!?!?!)

Saying, "Hiiiiii!" :)

So big, she's already checking email!

Stinker Face 2.0

I think I've mentioned before that Anna makes a "stinker face", where she wrinkles up her nose and inhales/exhales really deeply. It's pretty hilarious. She has recently learned the word "stinker" and as soon as you ask her if she's a stinker or call her one, she makes the face! She even does it so hard sometimes that it turns to sort of a snort! :) Benjamin and Anna were doing it to each other this morning, so I decided to grab the camera so I could share the goofiness that is my kiddos! :)

All together now!

Benjamin was so tickled about them being stinkers together that he ended up smiling and laughing more than actually making the stinker face! :)

I just thought this was a cute up close of their sweet faces!

If you're thinking that this whole stinker face think sounds familiar, it probably is! Benjamin did a similar face/expression when he was her age too! If the pictures below aren't a good enough trip down memory lane you can check out this post or this one. I highly recommend checking them out, as there are other cute/less stinky pictures to showcase how adorable Benjamin was at this age! (He is adorable now too, btw!)

PS Anna started walking almost exclusively yesterday and is doing a great job at it! In fact, she's standing in the middle of the room shaking her hips back and forth to the music on the radio as I type this! Yeah, I know......she's adorable too! :)

Long Time, No Post....

= Looooong Post! So don't say I didn't warn you! :)

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I got sick and it decided to linger for quite a while. :( But I'm feeling much better now! We've been busy the last few weeks.....how could we not with these two cuties?!?!! I'm going to do a couple mini posts within this one loooooong post, to try and break things up a bit. Sorry if you can't make it through to the end!

Everyday Happenings
First up are just some random pictures of our life the past two weeks.........
"Aren't I the cutest???"


Anna LOVES to tickle my feet! I think it may tickle her more than me!


Don't you just love their matching long, beautiful eyelashes???


We took a trip to the Children's Museum here in town last weekend. Benjamin is getting pretty good form at basketball!


Anna and Daddy got in on the action too!

They have this cool house that you can climb through with secret doors and paths and all! Anna's all the way at the top! (Dave was with her by the way!)

Two beautiful faces looking down at me! :)

Building contraptions!

After the museum we ate a picnic lunch and then headed over to the playground for a bit.........

Doesn't she look SO big in this one??

Benjamin and Anna playing with their palms after Palm Sunday Service..........

I'm amazed at how good a Daddy my husband really is! He's been working hard with Anna and teaching her how to use a spoon when she eats. She's a quick learn and is already starting to get it down! Although, this isn't a good test probably.....considering it's ice cream and all! That's good motivation for anyone!

Benjamin enjoyed his too!

Anna really loves the cats! Hearing her say "cat" is probably one of the cutest sounds around! Dave was trying to get a shot of her enjoying loving on Pepper, but she chose to be a camera ham instead! :)

Aquarium

Last weekend we went to the Aquarium in Cincy and met up with most of Dave's family. Jimmy and Shawna had a surprise for us all (see Jack's shirt).........

Benjamin with the weird turtle-alligator. He was HUGE!

This is Dave's favorite picture of all! He says it should be captioned "Like Mother, Like Daughter". He gets a little frustrated with me b/c I have my eyes closed in a lot of the pictures he takes of me! :)

Frog time!

Benjamin and Grandma looking through the telescope!

Easter Festivities

We've had a lot of fun celebrating the gift of Jesus dying for our sins this weekend. From pancake breakfasts and egg hunts, to coloring eggs and making cards, and celebrating Jesus.....we've had a wonderful time (hence the 50 million pictures)!

Our church had a pancake breakfast followed by an incredible egg hunt (over 7,000 eggs) on Saturday!

Benjamin is for sure a pro by now!

Anna did a great job as well! She surprised me and got right in on the action!

"Easter eggs!!!"

Enjoying her first chocolate candy!

Benjamin was more than stoked with his candy!!!

We got a nice family picture too! :)

After the egg hunt, we came home and colored eggs and made Easter cards!

The Easter bunny came!!!!

The kids would not cooperate at the same time for a photo with their Easter baskets. After looking through them last night with Dave (and having one of the best laughs of my life) I decided to go with the goofiest one.....since there wasn't a good one! :) Feel free to leave a comment with your own caption for this one. Dave was cracking me up with his!

We have a walker!!! She can walk all the way across a room, but still crawls most of the time. I think it's b/c she's so fast at it! Although, she's choosing to walk more and more every day!!! Dave wanted the caption on this one to be, "You got a camera, Momma? Oh yeah, well I've got chocolate!!!"


Showing off her candy to the dog! Zoe know she's an easy target for table food and usually sticks close to Anna with food!

Benjamin putting his chocolate bunny in the fridge. We learned this trick from last year. It makes it so they don't melt the chocolate in their fingers as much when biting into it!

Anna got a sucker!!!!

And Benjamin got peeps!

They both looked ADORABLE in their Easter outfits!!!!

Sorry for the shade in his face. It was really sunny and this was the only direction I could get him to look where his eyes weren't all squinty!!

An Easter hug that turned into a tackle/kiss!

They really do love each other so much!

Anna was so happy to be outside, I had a hard time getting her to look at the camera for pictures, but this one shows her dress really well.....

Pretty girl!

Peak-a-boo!

After church and naps we drove to a bigger town that's about 40 minutes away. We ended up going to this Chuck-E-Cheese type place that was called Bouncertown. When we first got in there we were worried there wasn't anything our kids would enjoy doing. However, after a little time warming up Benjamin was going down these like 20 foot blow-up slides and through these American Gladiator style blow-up maze things and having THE TIME OF HIS LIFE!!! It was such a joy to see him so happy!!! They had a blow-up area for 3 and unders and Anna had a ton of fun in there. She went up this blow-up fire engine slide and would slide down it all by herself! She did it about 40 times!!! They were both hungry and tired after, so we were able to enjoy a nice, quiet dinner together! It was a great day!!!!