Christmas fun!

We've been really getting in to the Spirit of Christmas this year and all its' festivities! We've been to a couple of houses that have more lights on them than any I've ever seen, seen Santa a couple of times (busy guy), baked and decorated cookies, spiced pecan, macaroons, banana bread and "practiced" my pecan pie for James twice to make sure it would pass on Christmas:-) We had our friends, The Weldy's over and decorated a Gingerbread train, with lots and lots of frosting and candy! It's been such a fun season, especially seeing the excitement in Benjamin's eyes when with a flip of a switch all of the lights come on in our house or singing Christmas carols in the car and of course, watching Charlie Brown's Christmas special. I've always loved the wonder of Christmas but now that I'm a Mom it has a different, more wonderful feeling, just as my whole entire life does.

Photo Shoot

Vicki took our pics again for Benjamin's 2nd birthday and even though Ben was having a rough day and didn't feel like having his picture taken she still managed to get some good ones.

Fun with the Postal family

We got together for a fun little dinner/birthday celebration tonight with Lindsey, Dan and Aaron and after dinner took a walk to one of the most brightly lit, festive holiday houses in the world, which also had a Santa! We sat on his lap and took pictures (Ben did not want to be alone with him and was more comfortable with me on Santa's lap with him), toured the house and had a wonderful night with our wonderful friends! The boys are so stinkin' cute together!

Ben turned 2!

Our little guy turned 2 on December 1st and although James had taken off work on his birthday, we did not know that I would be sick last week and our plans would have to be postponed. It's a good thing he only turned 2 and wasn't aware of our plans or the change and luckily James still took him out to have fun at McCormick train park and then spoiled him at the mall with Cherry Lemonade, Funnel cake and hot dogs. Here is Ben on his birthday, having fun with Daddy! He loves going to the park, swinging and sliding and James told me how well he climbs up the slide and how fearless he slides down now. Our wonderful boy has given us the best 2 years of our lives and we are extremely thankful each and every day to be able to share our lives with him!

Thanksgiving '09

We spent Ben's second Thanksgiving in Sierra Vista visiting James' Aunt Lynn and Uncle Pete and were luckily also joined by Mom and Dad and June and Julie and got to ride down with Auntie Grace and Uncle Paul and Doug and Nick! What an adventurous day we had! On the ride down our little guy got car sick so that was a bit unfortunate but it didn't seem to bother him, after it happened, so therefore we laughed it off and went on to have a fun day, eating, laughing and watching Ben run around the backyard and entertain everyone! Uncle Pete said he likes how uninhibited Ben is, how he will go to anyone and enjoy being held by them, even if it's been awhile since he's seen them. I hope he continues to have those sweet traits of being as friendly as he is now! All in all, even with all of the travels of the day, we had a really nice Thanksgiving and we are all thankful we got to spend it with The Michauds and The Lims!

Dinner with the Greats!

Having such a large family is a huge blessing, one that I am very thankful for but it means taking turns with our "sides" of the family and it's been a little while since we have seen my Mama Willie and Papa Gene so we had them over for dinner tonight, a little "early celebration". It started out with Benjamin showing Papa his coloring skills and giving Mama and I some time in the kitchen to get things started and visit, although he was on some of his best behavior tonight he was a complete showoff and garnered plenty of attention! He showed off his dancing skills during our lengthy conversation at the dinner table(after having eaten ourselves silly with a huge Scampi dinner and Ceasar salad). What a hoot that kid is, always making us laugh! It sure is nice to hear what a funny kid we have since we are the ones who spend the most time with him and think he is not only funny but a sweet, sweet boy who adds endless amounts of entertainment to our lives. I treasure time with my family, it was a lovely evening spent with my Grandparents, Benjamin's GREAT Grandparents, we are very thankful to have them in our lives! Happy Thanksgiving!

My little monkey had another fun day at the Zoo!

Grammy came down to spend the night and go to the Zoo with us and we were lucky enough to also have my Grandpa (Benjamin's GREAT) and his wife Grand-Mary, join us! We had a great day, gorgeous weather! We decided to fed the giraffes and when we were escorted up to the feeding area Ben kept clenching me tighter and after we were instructed how to feed them he kept saying "No, no", he DID NOT want to feed, touch or be close to those enormous animals with long black tongues and I had a hard time containing myself it was so funny to see him fearful and basically disgusted by them. After chasing my little animal around the Zoo we had yummy Cheeseburgers and fries and enjoyed being entertained by my friendly guy, he was going up to all of the tables near us, old or young, smiling and saying "Hi", what a charmer!

Our days are spent swinging, coloring with chalk, playing in puddles of water and getting dirty outside!

B 6

Ben and I were outside this morning, he was drawing with his chalk on our patio (great invention) and I was showing him how to do some letters so after A, he loves to say B! He says it over and over but we moved on to "C" although he thought 6 came after B so every time we got to B he would say "B6" instead of C. It cracked me up! It reminds us of bingo. B6! Silly little man!

Benjamin's 2nd Halloween!

What a nice night we had at the Postal house for a fun-filled Halloween party with little kiddos dressed in such cute costumes, fun glow sticks for Ben and delicious food and drinks! We stopped by Paul and Grace's on the way home and got to show off our adorable Li'l devil who happens to love his costume so much, he doesn't mind wearing it a bit (who minds wearing velvet?). All in all it was a whole lot of fun for all of us!

Another gorgeous day at the Zoo, this time with our buddies Aaron and Linz!

My baby garden, plants and flowers

Hugs and kisses

Lately Benjamin has been so affectionate, kissing us with his little pursed lips, on the cheek, arm, neck, wherever. He also likes to hug and feeling his little arms wrapped around your neck is one of the sweetest feelings. Yesterday we had to run to the store for a few things and he was in one of his "don't put me down" moods so I carried him, had my backpack purse on and grabbed a basket. As I was scurrying up and down the isles trying to get what I needed and get out Ben was hugging me tightly and kissing me cheeks over and over, he was loving me big time and of course, I was melting. People kept on smiling at the sight of this baby boy just being so sweet and cuddly. He makes the world a happier, more loving place to be! These little kisses and hugs sure do make up for the behavior of a boy who is soon to be turning 2:-)