all about us.

8

Benjamin turned 8 on Sunday.  He finished 2nd grade on Tuesday, and he had his first sleepover on Thursday (his original due date!). 

 Ben is happy. Ben is smart. Ben is crazy. Ben is sweet. Benjamin is just about the best darn "surprise" anyone could ask for :) 

 As i searched through old photos, i really had a hard time chosing.  my initial set of photos was well over 300.  i paired it down to...well, i won't say.  *A-hem* *cough*.  Sorry.  I couldn't take any more out. i just loved remembering and seeing his little life of 8 whole years.  It reminded me how MUCH i am blessed with him and this sweet, crazy, family of mine.

So, again.  grab a drink or a snack...this is really just a mammoth of a photo blog!

yeah, with my 7 month old in arms...i wasn't really expecting this one!! :)

day before delivery! 
 

sweet friends at my side.. resting comfortably at 4cm. Not knowing i'd be begging to push in an hours time!

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

LOL 
 

3.5 months old and sitting up!

 

first pumpkin patch 
 
 
 
 

he KILLS me! that fuzzy head, his eyes, his smile...fat hands.. :)

 
 
 

first christmas...the paper is the best part!!

 
 
 
 

lol.  look at that wrist!! chunk-o. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

uncle scotty 
 
 

ONE!
 

father's day and his first time to the beach!

 
 
 
 
 
 

walking!!!

 
 
 
 
 

first hair cut...

he didn't like it.

 

him with his blue blankie. that was his favorite thing up to a few years ago!

 

this is the stuff you get when you try to get a good photo for the christmas card.

 
 
 

first snow!

 

big boy bed

 
 
 
 

rain....in san diego, it wasn't a common sight! 
 
 
 

Two!

 

Moving to washington! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

keeping his sick sister company..

 
 
 

bye daddy!

 
 
 
 
 
 

Three!

 

Adam moved to CO for a couple months, and would visit us every couple weeks by airplane.  So, every time one flew over us, ben would look and say, "daddy!!"  :)

 
 
 

TUSHIE! i'm big on baby booties. 
 

playing store

 
 
 
 
this is probably one of the only photos i have of me candidly taking care of my children, which is why i like it.  He's straight out of the bath :)

  

empathy :)
 

 
 
 
moving to Colorado! First airplane ride for both kids.  (i always forget how curly ashlyn's hair used to be!)

 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 

learning how to use the computer. Now he's a total pro. :)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

R.I.P, pillow. 
 

i never noticed the drawing on the chalkboard before! <3 
 
 

Four!

 
 
 

He was SO depressed on her first day of school. I've never seen anything like it. We got home, and he wouldn't talk, he wouldn't move...he just snuggled against me. i offered to do so many different activities with him, and all were responded to with an annoyed movement or shake of the head.  Only when i suggested we make cookies for ashlyn's after-school snack, did he get excited.  i let him pretty much do it all by himself. :) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(back in washington..)

 
 
 
  
 
 
 

teaching him to read.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  

Five!

first time to Disneyland!
 
 
 

Kindergarten!

 
 
 

first trick-or-treating

 
 

 
 

Stacey and her dog, bella, came to stay with us for awhile.  Adam wanted Bella out of the kitchen, so Ben took it upon himself to make a sign :)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Six!!

 
 
 
 
 

seven!

first lost tooth! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 I love him...this freckled-face ball of joy.  Blessed to be his mama.

happy 8, buddy :)

 

 
 

 
  

 

gangly and gorgeous

i think i'm starting to see that awkward phase in ashlyn...the lanky arms and legs that look too long for her body...her face hasn't grown in to her teeth..haha.  But good gracious.  i know i'm her biased mama, but i think she pulls it off well. She is so beautiful to me. i need to get a good photo someday of her relaxed face..her calm blue eyes and her pretty pink, full lips, her creamy skin with just a faint smattering of freckles... adam and i constantly look at each other in awe..we made her. she's so beautiful.

 I spent yesterday with her. We went to the history museum (her choice) and just wandered around looking at everything. She really enjoyed it, and said she liked the pioneer stuff the best. MINI ME, i tell ya! wow. My favorite part of the day, was when i was reading about one of the exhibits, and i looked down at her. She was looking at me, smiling, and suddenly leaned in to kiss me.  makes me tear up when i think about it.  She is really at a fantastic age.  She's old enough to enjoy things that aren't for kids, she can carry a conversation with an adult, she still is young enough to be silly and act like a kid, and she isn't tainted by hormones and the world yet. Not to mention, she can really be funny. It really feels like a pure, perfect age for a girl. I enjoy her so much, and i feel as though i 've fallen in love with her all over again.

she came out of her room yesterday, and i think my eyes popped out of my head. i NEVER looked this cute when i was 9. Seriously. I hadn't taken any 9 year old photos of her yet, and since she looked adorable, i decided to just snap a few before we left. 

 

This one kinda shows you those arms and legs :)

 
 
 
 
 

...and then she got silly...

 
 
 
 
they don't really like you taking photos inside the museum, but i snuck this one with my phone. This is part of the galloping gerty bridge (the very first tacoma narrows that collapsed)

 

after the museum, we went to Hello, Cupcake for a snack :)  

"mama, take a photo of me eating this cupcake and text it to daddy."   :) 

 

i know...it was ben's birthday yesterday, and i'm posting about ashlyn. But he's having a party on thursday, so i thought i'd wait til after that to post about his birthday. But i will say that he is VERY happy to be 8  :)

 

weekend

 This weekend was beautiful!! Sunny and in the mid-high 70's..gorgeous!

Saturday, we all headed up to Poulsbo for Adam's opening baseball game.  The kids and i just chilled in our chairs...reading, watching, and snacking.

no color correcting here...this is truly how bright and vibrant the colors were.

 

i snapped this with my iphone...it was too sweet not to :)

 

Benjamin informed me that he was making birthday invites for his party.  I wasn't aware he was having one, but i guess he is now!  These are so "him".   I love it.   

 

(i blacked out the address..not him. haha)

  
 

 i took this photo thinking about how hilarious it is that when they are babies, we have to do everything possible to keep them from doing this...lest they suffocate themselves.  But somehow, the older we get, it doesn't matter.  haha.  The sky starts getting light around 4:30...we do this in the summer to get a decent amount of shut-eye :).

 

i posted this one on facebook, but i love it, so i'm posting it here too.  This was friday night, and we sat upstairs just chatting for a long time.  I kept being struck that her calm, confident, thoughtful manner of speaking and tone of voice made me feel like i was talking with a grown up. It wasn't child-like at all. She had gone to the gig harbor history museum with her class that day, and she kept saying how she wished she lived in the early 1900's (talk about a mini-me!). She loved it. We have decided to go to the Washington State History Museum on Father's day since Adam and Ben will be at the Mariner's game to celebrate ben's b-day and father's day (they land on the same day). I'm excited to go with her.  
i leave you with these poppy's... they have been budding for awhile and i had no idea what they would be.  i LOVE poppy's! so i was super excited when they bloomed :)