the birthday boy

A few days ago (March 1), Benson turned THREE!

B @ 3:

*LOVES all things "Junior" (Junior is what he calls ALL race cars) and cars

* 33 lbs, and 3 ft tall

* Likes to pretend he's a "Baby Jaguar"

*Loves to snuggle

*Loves to stick his tongue out when pictures are taken.

*Still carries a Bee (binky) and Ah-Ahs (monkey lovey) everywhere.

*Speaks in full, complex sentences

*Sleeps in a big-boy bed

*Loves to play outside

*Loves to run, jump and climb on anything

*Worships "Bub" (Bailey) and Dad

*Finds Brynley incredibly pesky

*Likes to help Mom cook

*Goes through about 10 napkins per meal, because he doesn't like food on his hands/mouth.

*Eats everything. All day long.
*Believes that Mom's kiss fixes everything.

Benson had two days of celebrating...due to Dad having school on Monday nights. So...on Monday, he opened a few of his presents

...like his Trio Blocks and "Birthday Monsters" book from Guh and Popf L. Along with some new "juniors" and a racing ramp from Mom and Dad, and a "Big Junior" from the Sisters.

We also went to lunch with Dad, and then to Chick-fil-A in the evening to play.

Then on Tuesday...

Benson had his cake and party.

And he opened even more presents...

{Like:}
*Backpack, binoculars, and clothes from Guh/Papa W.

*Big Blue Junior and clothes from the Stewarts

*More Big Juniors from Gavin and Laynie

*R/C car, potty, and undies from Mom and Dad

{which he thought was hysterical}

*More clothes and books from Guh/Popf L.

*Target Card from Aunt Kate and Brody (to buy MORE Juniors)

He love his cake I made so much, he tried to make the cars drive on the track when I wasn't looking.

{it was a hair raising birthday}

the growing goat

I've been meaning for weeks to write a post about how much our Little Goat is growing and changing.

But life happens.

First Benson got really sick with a bad chest cold/cough. And then, Brynley got pneumonia. She has been one sick little goat for the last week.

Although the medicine is helping her body heal (VERY SLOWLY), the side effects are nasty and makes for one sad/fussy/cranky baby. So between breathing treatments and diaper explosions, I haven't had time for much of anything. I'm lucky if I get a shower. And I'm exhausted from worry. Thankfully we have great family that helps. Dinners, babysitting, freezer meals and visits have saved my sanity this past week.

So here's what I was going post about originally:

Right after Guh and Popf left Brynnie finally (at 14 MONTHS! YIKES!) started pulling up to a stand. Within a day, she was cruisin' along the furniture. Her new skills open up a whole new world for her. And her siblings. For some reason, Brynnie is much more fun to play with now that she stands. Maybe she seems like more of a "human" as Bailey says. She's also become a bigger threat to Benson.

oooh...look what I can do now!

Just yesterday she stood solo, and has done several times since!

Her most favorite thing to do is ride her pony that Santa brought her. She will sit on it and

''rock out" to the music, or cruise all around the room. She's very good and very fast. Just like in her walker.

Some of the other notable accomplishments/changes:

*She's up to 19lbs! (oh-so-little still!) She's gained 2lbs in 2 months. The goat milk is helping 'bulk up' and grow.

*She's also sleeping much better now that we've eliminated cows milk and soy from her diet. Both of which she is allergic/sensitive to. It's a challenge, but worth it. She gets excited when I say "goat" because she knows it means a bottle is coming.

*She has outgrown her jumperoo and exersaucer. While she still fits in them, now that she can stand up and walk around she has no interest in playing in them. I guess at almost 15 months she used them much longer than most.

Hopefully soon I will have a post about her walking. Maybe by 18months she'll do it? My sweet little slow-poke.

"White Grandma and Popf"

A few weeks ago (it's taken me a long time to get this post done) White Grandma* and Popf* came to visit us! We were all so excited. At first Benson was shy, but as soon as we got home, he was all over "Guh and Popf". He LOVED having Guh read him stories, especially "Gregory the Terrible Eater," and "Go Dogs. Go." First thing he asked every morning was, "Where's Guh and Popf?" He couldn't wait for them to wake up and spend time with them. Benson loved going to the Dollar Store with Guh (and Brynley and I, but he was totally oblivious to us). Guh let him free-range (walk, not ride in the cart) and together they lallygagged down every aisle, filling the cart with whatever he wanted (which surprisingly he had a hard time with at first...he's used to only being allowed one prize). After the Dollar Store we headed to Hobby Lobby, where he rode in Guh's cart and chatted her ears off. When Guh had the tenacity to talk to me for a minute, Benson told me, "Mom, Guh's not talkin' to me." Ha!

After all the shopping trips, Popf thought Benson might need some "Man Time." Together they went to Home Depot (to try and hunt down a sprinkler part for us), Chic-fil-A, and then fixed our dishwasher. Benson LOVED running errands and hanging out with Popf. He also like to blame Popf for breaking his truck (which he really didn't).

One of the days the Leseberg's were here, we let Bay play hookey and we went to The Children's Museum of Houston.

Here's Guh and Bay doing a science experiment.

Brynnie playing the bongos.

Papa playing with one of the exhibits.

Bay and Benz riding a scooter.

Brynnie hanging out in the stroller, in a different outfit. It was all fun and games at the Museum, until Brynnie ran out of diapers, wipes, and spare clothes.

Another day, Papa and Guh took McDonald's and ate lunch with Bailey at her school

Best buddies.

We had so much fun shopping and eating out, too. It was also fun for Guh and Popf to be part of everything and see all the fun and funny things the kids do:

Like, Benson eating as much hot and spicy food as possible. Guh and Popf were very impressed (and proud..since they're both spicy food lovers!).

Like, how fun it is to be in Kindergarten!

Bailey dressed "Tacky" one day because her class was studying about penguins and reading "The Tacky Penguin."

And how big Brynley has gotten. Guh and Popf were quite impressed with her sweet and extremely patient disposition, speedy crawling skills, and sneaky towel thievery. Guh nicknamed her the "TowelaBryn" (get it?lol), because the first thing Bryn does when she goes in the kitchen (whether she's crawling or cruisin' in her walker), is to steal the towel off of the hook and scamper off with it and drop it somewhere. It's pretty funny and annoying. I can never find my towel.

Thanks, Guh and Popf for the great time and great memories! We miss you already!

*Benson refers/differentiates between his two Grandma's as "White Grandma" (Guh Leseberg), and "Black Grandma" (Guh Wallace). Seriously. At first we thought it was because of their hair color. But no. He is all boy. It's because of the colors of their cars. Ha! Only a little boy would think of that. *

the eye of the storm

(Eye of Hurricane Ike, 9.15.08)

(Eye of Hurricane Benson, any given day)

(Eye of Hurricane Brynley, any given day)

Both of my little Hurricane's were born with a major storm brewing on the back of their heads. Age brings explosive intensification of the storm surge. Ending up with identical disast-hairs:

The aftermath is terrible...Terribly cute. Terribly amusing.