Bubbles

Ben loves bubbles, always bring them to me to blow, even if the container is empty. He gets a huge kick out of popping them so the other day when we took a trip to Toys R US I found a "hippos" (that's how he says Hippo) bubble machine and scooped it up thinking he would go nuts for it. He was actually more afraid of it than excited by it but I have a feeling that will change. Here are some of his expressions...

Hug

When Ben woke up from his nap today we cuddled on the couch after he turned on his Zoo video, under a snuggly blanket. I kept telling him the name of the animals and he would either repeat me or say "No, no"...guess I was wrong and I don't know a monkey when I see one? A few minutes after we were snuggled together he said "Hug" and I asked him if he wanted a hug and again he said "hug", he just needed a little squeeze and I think my heart expanded a thousand times its' regular size. While being a Mom has its' challenges it also has some of the sweetest moments I've ever experienced! Hug...

Some of Ben's peeps

We've been having a lot of fun lately. A few things we've done are, going to the Zoo, most recently Ben got to go with his Best friend Aaron and those two little pups just crack us up, they truly love each other! We ask them to give kisses or high 5's and not only so they do it, they do it happily (much to the dismay of their Dad's, ha ha)! Auntie Ro and Uncle Sam stopped by and we read books and visited, we always love the time we get to spend with them and Ben seemed to want to show off his reading skills to Uncle. Then Grammy came down and we took her to The Children's Museum, the "happiest place in Phoenix", she enjoyed seeing Ben play and really get in to everything there! Every week is a new adventure with our little guy, he brings quite a bit of entertainment to our lives!

And he counts!

Today while Ben was having his peanut butter crackers we were counting them with him and he can repeat us but today he put them in his little cup and said "One, Two, Three!" My little man once again blows my mind! He has been really repeating so much of what we say and getting so good at remembering the animals in his book, it's really sweet to see him point to the bear and say "Baaaeeeaaaa", his own way of pronouncing bear. Loads of cuteness make up for the tantrums that seem to be coming more often, it's got to be frustrating to not "fully" be able to communicate, but he sure is coming along!

Words

Our little man is really starting to talk, mostly repeating us but also responding to us. I just asked him is he was hungry and he replied "No, not hungeee". He cracks me up constantly!

Swinging, sliding and story time

Great times at the Zoo with Grandpa, Grandma and Auntie Julie!

Love my family

Friends

Our good friends came over to play today and we were just thrilled to spend the afternoon with a few of our favorite people!!!!

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!