Summer Fun Around The House

Well this past week has been an interesting one!  Benjamin has been transitioned into the 2 year old room at school and he is not the biggest fan at the moment.  He has loved his teachers in the 1 year old room over the past year and has not quite warmed up to the 2 year old room teachers. We are hoping that he adjusts in the upcoming week.  He has in turn been incredibly clingy to either Luke or I, depending on who has Samantha.  We are just taking one day at a time right now. 

In addition to this transition, Samantha has all of a sudden not liked to stay asleep at night for more than 2 hours at a time.  She is not hungy, but just waking up a little bit more.  Mommy is a little sleep deprived right now :)  She is going about 9 hours without eating, so I just need her to get the sleep down with it and we will be in good shape!

Besides these couple of obstacles, we have continued to have lots of fun.  Benjamin continues to be such a big brother and is really liking that his little sister is starting to get stronger and is becoming more interactive.  Samantha started sitting in the bumbo for short periods of time and when she is not using it, Benjamin thinks that he should be sitting in it :)  We have continued to make frequent visits to the park and spend as much time outside as possible without having a heat stroke!!! 

Here are a few pictures from this past week! 

Benjamin wanted to dress himself on Sunday morning to go to the park so Luke let him pick out his clothes, so we ended up with a swim shirt, swim trunks, and a backwards baseball cap.  Needless to say, he was the only kid at the park looking like this :) Oh the joys of children becoming independent!

Benjamin wanting to sit in the bumbo!

Clowning around!

Getting so big and strong!

Benjamin's Birthday Weekend

Benjamin turned 2 on the 23rd!  It is hard to believe that our little boy is already 2 years old; the time seems to move a little too quickly.  We celebrated his birthday with a little birthday party on Saturday, which was mainly family and one of his little friends! Benjamin has really been into Elmo the past couple of months, so we decided to go with the Elmo theme for his little party. 

Then on Monday we did everything that Benjamin wanted to do.  Luke stayed home with us to help celebrate.  We started the day with cinnamon rolls and his new favorite fruit...cherries!  Then we went up to the park, which is one of his favorite things to do.  Then we went to chick-fil-a and he played in the jungle gym stuff.  Then we had a big nap and then played outside with his new water table and in the little pool.  We capped the night off with his favorite fruit pizza and presents from mommy and daddy!

It was a very successful birthday and he was spoiled rotten!  We had a great time with our little man!  Here are lots of pictures from the past couple of days!

My buddy Hayes

Samantha is even celebrating!

Elmo Cupcakes

Mickey Mouse card that sings to me :)

Standing in my new water table

Playing with "big" bubbles that Grandpa Wink got me

Birthday breakfast....cinnamon rolls

Big Elmo balloon

"Where is Benjamin?"

Both kiddos on Benjamin's 2nd birthday

Daddy and kiddos

Such a big boy!!!!

This was probably the best part of the day!  Luke had the big Elmo balloon and was talking behind it and Benjamin though the balloon was talking.  Then Luke would chase Benjamin with the Elmo balloon and Benjamin was laughing hysterically!  It was priceless to hear this little boy laugh so hard and see the huge smile on his face!  He has brought so much joy to our lives and has had such a huge impact in just 2 short years!

Blowing out candles on my favorite fruit pizza!!!!

Samantha is 2 Months!

Samantha turned 2 months on the 12th and we went for her wellness check and a couple of shots.  She is growing like crazy and handled the shots very well!  She is sleeping pretty good and continuing to eat very well.  She is really starting to smile and grab at things.  She "talks" like crazy!  We are very lucky to have a very healthy and happy little girl!

Sleeping at the 4th of July VillageFest

Look how strong my neck is getting!!!!

Continues to love her time in the swing!

Look at my blue eyes!

Having Fun

This summer has been flying by.  It is hard to believe that I go back to work in 3 weeks. I have such mixed emotions, but know that it will be fine once we get into a routine.  Benjamin has continued to amaze us and has been such a great big brother.  He has his temper tantrum just like any other 2 year old, but he is always wanting to "help" with Samantha, so we are very fortunate!  Here are just a couple of pictures from my phone of the kiddos!

Loving TCBY

We are in the coloring phase right now

Last week we were getting ready to leave the house and Benjamin insisted on "holding" Samantha, so I let him hold her for a minute.  He got the biggest grin on his face and smiled for the camera.

Two Months

Hard to believe it, but Samantha is already 2 months.  She is growing like crazy and is incredibly interactive.  She is smiling a ton and is "talking" to us.  This past weekend she really discovered the mirror, so that is now her favorite activity.  We continue to do tummy time and she continues to get stronger.  Each day is something new with her and we are loving every minute, minus the major scream fests that she throws when she is incredibly tired. 

Here are her stats from month 2:
Weight: 14 lbs and 5 ounces (98th percentile)
Length: 24 inches (98th percentile)
Head: 15 3/4 inches (95th percentile)

As you can see she is a big girl, but at least she is proportional :)

Cheesy Smile

Body Parts

Benjamin really likes to tell us where his nose, ears, hair, head, etc. is.  He has started to show us where Samantha's ears, nose, eyes, etc. are.  The other night he really wanted to "hold" her so we set her on his lap with a pillow and he proceeded to show us where all of her body parts were.  You can probably figure out what he is telling us in each of the pictures.

He is growing so incredibly fast and learning things each and every day.  He now knows the ABC's and can count to 10.  Benjamin loves singing songs and is now starting to sing them to us.  He is at such a fun stage and we are loving that he can really communicate with us now. 

Samantha is doing great!  She continues to gain a lot of strength in her neck and legs.  She is sleeping great.  Last night she slept from 9 to 5:15, so we were thrilled with this!!!!  She makes lots of noises at night, so I am still getting up several times not knowing if she is awake or just having random cryouts, but we are so proud of our little girl.  She likes to take little cat naps throughout the day, which is fine especially since she is sleeping so well at night. 

Luke and I continue to count our blessings.  We have 2 wonderful children and are enjoying each day as it brings something different!

Here are our 2 little angels!

"here is her mouth"

"here is her head"

"here are her toes"

kissing her belly

giving his sister some love

Discovering A Firetruck!

On Saturday we bucked up and dealt with the heat and went to a friend's block party and they had a firetruck and the fireman come by!  It was the first time that Benjamin has seen a firetruck up close.  He has been fascinated with them ever since he began to understand what the sirens are.  The fireman attached the hose to the fire hydrant and allowed the kids to all run through the water.  Needless to say Benjamin had a blast and slept like a rock on Saturday night.

Here are some fun pictures from the evening.

Feeling the water with the nice fireman

Benjamin and his buddy Hayes checking out inside the firetruck

Getting to feel the water out of the firetruck

Checking out the water coming out of the fire hydrant

Crazy boys enjoying the water

Daddy and Benjamin checking out the firetruck

Happy, wet boy