My love

My baby boy is 15 months old. I cannot believe it. I just need to stop and breathe and soak in every second. I need to remember his little laugh, the way he dances to the Glee soundtrack, the way he says, "Mama."

I have to brag on my little Will for a second. I guess it's my blog, so I can do that, right? He is just such a sweet and gentle soul. We picked him up from the church nursery last weekend and the lady ran over to us. She said that she had wanted to meet Will's parents. She told us that she wished she could see what he would be like in 20 years. She said that he was the sweetest and most loving little guy she had ever seen.

That's my baby. He loves being around people. He has been a little more needy since the day he was born. Bennett has been independent since birth and Will needs to be held. He would read books with you for hours or just sit in your lap. He is talking more and more every day and is content to sit in his crib and read a book. He's my special little guy and I love him more than I thought possible.

Pic of the Day

Cute picture of Will, right? Just a sweet picture of my little guy playing in the yard. Nothing special. Until you look closer and see my half naked daughter in the back scaling a utility box. Just a typical evening for us.

Happy Fall, Y'all

Oh, Fall. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Okay, I'll give you two ways.

1. Football.
2. Fall Festivals

There are a hundred more, but those are my two favorites. And this weekend I got to experience both.

On Saturday Rob and I drove to Fayetteville, Arkansas to watch the Alabama vs. Arkansas game. Let me back up. WE GOT TO GO TO AN ALABAMA GAME! I don't think you all know how much that meant to me. When we moved to Kansas City, I knew I wouldn't be going to any more 'Bama games unless we went home. And they aren't usually playing games at Christmas. So, when a good friend e-mailed me and told me that that Arkansas game was an away game this year and that KC was only 3 1/2 hours from Fayetteville, I flipped. Who knew?

And so away we went. Let me preface this by saying that this was the longest I have been away from either of my kids. Yes, it was only a day, but when you live 14 hours away from your closest relative, you can't really go away for a weekend. We still got up with the kids, changed diapers, and all had breakfast together, but that was it. We had a wonderful baby-sitter spend the whole day here and Rob and I had our first day alone together in 2 1/2 years.

We got to the game and met up with our good friend Donnie who had blessed us with this amazing opportunity.

This was taken before the game started. Look at those two happy and excited people.

This was taken at halftime. Look at those two nervous and slightly erratic people.

I decided to pray in the third quarter. And I know, I know..... I know God doesn't care about football. But it was either a prayer or running on the field to strong arm Ryan Mallett and I didn't want to get arrested. So I prayed.

And whadayaknow? We won!! But it wasn't pretty. And I was sick to my stomach the entire game. This was me after the game and before we ran down the ramps singing "Rammer Jammer." I also know that song wasn't appropriate since we didn't beat the you know what out of anybody. But the only other song I could think of was "Eidelweiss" and I didn't feel like running down the ramps singing that.

It was an awesome day. I have to insert a side note here. When we got home the kids had been asleep a long time, so I hadn't seen them since breakfast. A record for us. Rob and I went to sleep and Will woke up at 2am bawling. He never does that and he wouldn't settle down, so Rob brought him into bed with us. He hasn't slept with us since he was an infant, so it was a rare treat.

Will was delighted when he saw me and he pressed his little body against mine and would not move. I would let him fall asleep and then move him to the middle of the bed. He would immediately wake up, cry, and move closer to me. This went on and on until I just let him snuggle against me. As long as he had one body part touching me he was okay. I guess he missed me as much as I missed him. He kills me.

So we decided to spend some quality time with the kids today. We found an arts and crafts festival close to our home and decided to check it out and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Bennett was THRILLED because she got to ride a horse. She absolutely loves horses. And every horse is either named Henry or Beauty. Every single one. She called this one Henry.


I call this one Rob.

Sliding down her biggest slide to date. Can you see how terrified she looks? But don't worry. She loved it once she got to the bottom.

And what would Fall be without caramel corn and apple cider?

How much do I love this weekend? Oh, and Roll Tide!

Freddy and me

Rob and I decided to check out a new restaurant in town. It is called Freddy's Steakburger. I don't really like fast food and I am not a huge burger and fries fan, but this place always has a huge line. The drive through is typically packed, so I thought we should see what we were missing.



We walked in and I heard a guy say. "Wow, this place is better than 5 Guys." That's huge in our book. 5 Guys kind of owns the market as far as we are concerned. It looked like a fun family restaurant. Definitely a step up from Taco Bell for instance. And there was a crowd, as always.

As we were strapping Will in his high chair and getting Bennett settled down, we noticed all of the pictures on the wall. They were pictures from "Freddy's" life. I didn't even know Freddy was a real person. I learned later in life (not saying how late) that Ronald McDonald didn't actually start McDonalds. There wasn't a clown who graduated from clown school and decided to make the whole country fat, ummmm..... I mean happy. So, when I heard about Freddy, I just assumed some man in Ohio named Michael started it to make some money. But then we saw all of these pictures on the wall.

Wow! Freddy was real. And he looked nice. I studied his pictures as Bennett hurled a sippy cup at her brother's head and then I went and waited in line. Then I looked over and guess who was standing RIGHT beside me in line? FREDDY! THE FREDDY! He was just a nice elderly man waiting patiently in line, but I would have known him anywhere. I mean I had stared at his pictures for all of 30 seconds. I am just that good.

I was so excited that I had to have my picture with him.

I mean, come on. How cool is that? He happened to be in town for the big grand opening tomorrow of this particular store. He talked to us for a long time and even told Rob about his days in WWII. I was just glad Bennett didn't hurl a sippy cup at his head. I had only been a fan for about 4 minutes, but now I am a huge fan. How could I not be? Freddy is my new best friend and I will eat his burgers proudly. He even gave me a Freddy buck. He had them in his pocket and gave them out like a sweet grandpa who keeps candy in their pockets for their grandkids. I love him. I really do.

So, if you live in this area, go eat at Freddy's and support my best friend. I even have a "Freddy buck" that I will loan you.

First Day of School

Bennett started Discovery Ark pre-school today. I am not going to lie and say that I was perfectly fine with this. I know that it is time, but I was still pretty sad to see her go. Up until this point she has been at home with me every single day and everything she knows came from me or Rob. Every song she sings was one we taught her. It's definitely time to move on a little bit, but I was still a little misty. It's hard letting go.

This was our conversation on the way to school

Me: Are you excited for school?
B: Uh, huh. Oh, wait! Bennett ride a school bus.
Me: No, not yet, honey. Mommy is going to drive you to school.
B: NO!! Bennett ride a school bus!
Me: Sweetie, you won't ride a school bus until you are a lot older.
B: I so sad now.

Great. But she got over it in a hurry. She did tense up a little when we walked in and she told me, "Mommy stay with me at school." I wish I could, little B.

But she did wonderfully. I think she had trouble with her attention span (what's new) but she had a good time. This was our conversation on the way home.

Me: Did you have fun today?
B: Yeah, Mommy. I had so fun.
Me: Did you make any new friends?
B: Nope. Too bad.

I will say the best part of Bennett going to school (only on Tuesdays and Thursdays) was that I got to spend the morning with Will. I have not had any alone time with Will since he was born. It was SO weird. It was so...... quiet. Will played with toys and nobody snatched them away. Will and I read books without anyone getting jealous. We ran errands and I listened to my own music in the car. It was..... awesome. Having one child is so much easier. I had forgotten how awesome it was.

This will be a good transition for all of us. Bennett needs the structure and stimulation and Will and I need the time together. But, despite all of that, I was very glad when my baby came home where she belongs. :-)

Getting ready for school!

Naked little brother ruining the shot.

Watch out world, here I come.

Last hugs before I change my mind and keep her at home.

Let the adventures begin

Back to the peasant life

When you have been treated like royalty for a week, coming back home can seem rather unimpressive. Nobody here is calling me princess and if Rob tells me to have a magical day I tell him that if he changed poopy diapers for a week then I might consider it magical.

But we had a great time at Disney World. My parents joined us for the week and that was especially wonderful since they hadn't seen their grandkids in three months.

I swear though that things happen to me that do not happen to anyone else in this world. I'm convinced of it. Who else but me would call 6 months in advance for reservations to have breakfast at Cinderella's castle, write down the reservation number in 5 places, have B's dress and shoes ready to go, call again to confirm reservations, make back up reservations at another restaurant just in case, drive everyone else in my family nuts getting us there early, and then realize that we had shown up ON THE WRONG DAY!???!!!!??!

Sigh.... they got us in. Because they are magical. I, apparently, am not.

I have so many pictures to post so I am sure they will be spread out over a few days, but we really did have fun. It was so stinkin' hot though. Like ridiculously hot. Like I thought that Pluto was going to melt into a big pile of puppy fur. How do they wear those costumes in the heat? Seriously.

But my kids had the time of their lives. I cannot describe in words how adorable it was when Bennett saw the characters. When we rode the magical express from the airport to our hotel, Bennett was looking out the window and saying, "Mickey? Where are you? I'm right here!" I died a little inside. And Will went nuts when he saw Mickey Mouse for the first time. He was waving like crazy and yelling, "Muh! Muh! Muh" I wasn't expecting that and it delighted and surprised me.

And Bennett was so incredibly precious when we had breakfast at Cinderella's castle. Only my daughter would walk up to THE Cinderella and say, "Hey! Ummmm...... where's Ariel?" She did love all the princesses and was thrilled to see them, but I think she was really only waiting for Ariel. They have a red headed connection.

And one of the sweetest and most unexpected things about the trip was how much time I got to spend with Will. I had to hold him constantly. Especially on the bus rides we took 4-5 times a day. He started saying more words and I spent so much time singing to him, holding him, kissing him.... we've only been home 24 hours and I already miss him constantly being in my arms. We actually loved just spending time together. The 4 of us had to stay in one hotel room together and I was dreading it, but it was kind of nice. I, oddly enough, miss it despite my trepidation beforehand.

We did have a magical time, not to be too cheesy. I am already thinking about when we can go again and Bennett has been talking about it non-stop today. Here are a few (okay a ton) of pictures.

It is the place where dreams come true.

Neither Bennett nor Will had any fear of the characters. They went right to all of them and would give them high fives and hug them. Very cute.

Me with my little princess. This one will be framed in my room for sure.

Waiting to go in and meet the princesses.

Okay, so I love this picture Rob took. This is sweet Bennett walking about the stairs of the castle to have breakfast. Is this shot killer or what? It is now my computer wallpaper. I just love it.

Happiness

My family with Cinderella!

Meeting Belle! I didn't really know why she wasn't in gold dress, but beggars can't be choosers. And I mean that literally in this case.

Princess Aurora or Sleeping Beauty. Will liked this princess. He pointed and stared a lot. I can't blame him. He's got good taste.

Oh my goodness. Look at my daughter's face. She LOVES Ariel. She waited the whole trip to meet her. This was the sweetest moment of the trip.

Adorable hugs with Snow White. Honestly, Bennett could not have been cuter meeting the princesses. She was about as sweet and adorable as I have ever seen her.

Riding Dumbo the flying elephant. A Disney World classic. One of my very earliest memories from childhood was looking up at this ride and thinking it was soooo tall.

Enjoying the main street singers!

My Dad really wanted his picture with Mary Poppins. He only grabbed Bennett so he wouldn't look like "that guy" having his picture taken with characters by himself.

My adorable kids with their favorite characters.

Stepmother and stepsisters.

Will rode every single ride except for the roller coasters. I was so proud of him. My boy ain't scared of nothing.

Family picture outside of Epcot.

They had great pools at our resort, but they best part was the statue of Ariel with her friends. That was way cooler to my daughter than the pool itself.

Pluto looks like he is choking Will and Bennett seems oblivious with this fact.

This was typical of Will throughout this entire trip. He would stand in awe and just babble loudly. It was so cute. We knew Bennett would have fun on the trip but it really surprised me how much everything registered with Will. He was so happy and playful and excited the whole time. I loved watching him take everything in.

Me and my girl with our other girl.

The obligatory head in the cutout shot.

Maybe my favorite picture from the trip. Bennett would say, "Kiss the girl" in a Caribbean accent like Sebastian the crab from "The Little Mermaid." She would come up to me and say, "You got to kiss de girl." I love it! And so I did. Of course.

The Nemo whisperer. And seriously- how cute is my little boy? I really think he is the cutest thing ever. And he has a personality to match. What an absolute delight!

WOODY AND BUZZ! Heck, yeah! Rob and I were pretty excited about meeting these guys. And Woody even had the name Andy spelled backwards on his shoe. Sniff, sniff...

Minnie Mouse just came up and sat by my Mom. I'm not going to lie and pretend like I was fine with this. I was all kinds of jealous and I still am. Not fair.

Waiting at our resort for our bus to the Magic Kingdom. How much do I love these little guys?

THE moment when she finally met Mickey Mouse. I cried. Yep, I sure did. And I would do it again. It really was the sweetest thing ever. She was so incredibly excited to meet him.

Family picture with Minnie and Mickey. I think we all turn into little kids at this point.

This was us waving at a parade as it went by. Rob likes to point out that in nearly every picture I am more excited than the kids. Is that wrong?

Daddy and daughter.

Main Street Electrical Parade. So fun.

Who knows? We were pretty loopy at this point.

Hanging out at Disney World.

Rob had a birthday while we were on vacation. What a great place to have a birthday.

Watching a parade. You never know what you are going to see while strolling down the street.

Playing drums with Daddy in Africa. Okay, in the Animal Kingdom, but close enough.

Hooray for Disney!


And finally, the castle. Taken by the best photographer I know- my husband. Little does he know that this is where I want to retire. We better start saving now me thinks.