this one's for the grandparents

Here are some videos of the kids doing thier latest "tricks." I'm warning you that I'm NOT a cinematographer or anything close. I don't know how to edit out the boring parts or filter or anything like that. If you're not one of the Grandparents, you might be bored (but you'd better not tell me if you are, or I might have to ban you from the blog! :)) As for my family that hasn't seen Benson in action in 6-9 months...I hope you find it amusing. Don't cry, Guh L! :) :( As you can see, Benson can wave and play "Patty Cake," but is easily distracted by 'beautiful' or 'interesting' things, like the polka dots on the high chair. His new thing is his "cheesey face" or "scrunchy face." It's SO cute, and he's such a ham. He will be 9 months old on Saturday, and he's finally getting his first tooth (Bailey got her first one at 5 months!), which is a bottom EYE tooth...he's going to have a little jack-o-lantern smile! How cute is that? Bailey LOVES the movie Annie and has all the songs memorized, and sings them all day long. The funny thing is, most of the time she gets 'stuck' singing "Tomorrow" and doesn't know how to end it. She just keeps saying "...tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow..." over and over again. :) And she's not at all camera shy.

bucking tradition

my mother-in-law and I decided to buck tradition this year and go out to eat on Thanksgiving. We went to Cracker Barrel. Their turkey dinner was less than stellar, but I have to say, the over-all experience was very nice. It was nice to be able to spend the day relaxing with family. We had a busy week, though. Brandon took the entire week off, and we got a lot done around the house. We also finally registered my car in Texas (only because my UT registration was expiring), and we got our drivers licenses. I know those things are always a hassle, but as the saying goes, 'every thing's bigger in Texas.' Even the hassle. But I'm an official Texan now (oh, dear). We also did a bunch of yard work (which was completely destroyed yesterday morning when I came home to find a backhoe in my front yard digging everything up. The backhoe was there to 'remedy' our plumbing that was incorrectly installed causing our sewage to back up Monday night. But don't get me started. I just hope the big-bad-wolf never comes, because he'll blow our house of straw down.)

a week of milestones!

Here are some of the milestones from our week...Bailey got her first trophy, which ended a very fun soccer season (pictured with Coach Chip). Thursday starts T-Ball! I was hoping for a week off, but no. Benson can now sit endlessly with out being propped and rarely falling over. He's so cute. He just sat on a blanket and played all thru Primary yesterday. What a difference a week makes! Last week he'd fall over after about 30 seconds! This week he sat for 30 minutes! He was growling at his toys and making the kids (and adults) laugh, so I then had to take him out for a while.

i'm so glad when daddy comes home...

I took this picture last week, and just got it downloaded onto the computer. Brandon had just gotten home and Benson was so excited to see him, he was jumping up and down in his Exersaucer. Brandon picked him up and you could tell Benson was glad to have Daddy home. Benson is such a lovey little guy, and wears his heart on his sleeve. He melts my heart!

Unfortunately the poor little guy has an ear infection right now. He started on antibiotics yesterday afternoon, so I'm hoping he'll perk up soon. It's been rough for everyone. The worst part is, he's lost weight since his "8 Month Well Baby" check-up last week. He's down to 17lbs 4oz. Such a small fry! (Last week he was 17lbs 12 0z).

a fisher-price family night

I've been reading Bailey and Benson all of our Thanksgiving books lately, and trying to teach Bay what Thanksgiving is all about (besides Turkey and Pie). Mostly she gets all confused, and just like to play "Pirates" with the Mayflower (which is a super-cute, super-fun toy, that I'll have to keep out all year!). So for Family Night, I read our "Pilgrim" book and re-enacted the story, complete with the Mayflower coming from England (the fireplace), across the ocean (aka: Benson's play mat) to America (the ottoman). It was fun, and she wanted to do the "Pilgrim Play" all by herself when it was over. Best of all, when we asked her questions about the story after, she really remembered and got it straight! Benson mostly just wanted to taste it all, so we let him chew on the Captain.

I'm a Spaz!!

Okay, so I forgot to enable comments. I'm such a dork. I'm new at this.

Last night I went on a 'date' with my sister-in-law, Becky (check out her blog..."J.Wallace's"). We went to the Brad Paisley, Rodney Atkins, and Taylor Swift Concert together. She is my lone country ally in the Wallace Family, our husbands would rather be skinned alive than go to a country concert. We got a great deal on tickets thru a friend of Brianne's (my other sis.-in-law, check out "Stewart Scoop"), and had a blast, minus our soggy bums. (It was an outdoor amphitheater, and we forgot a blanket to sit on.) A lot of the nights entertainment came not from the performers, but from the group of drunks that sat in front of us. We pretty much smelled like a dirty bar stool when we got home (stale beer, stale cigarettes, and Houston Mud...which has a weird swampy smell). It was a lot of fun. I'm so glad to have such great sisters-in-law!

PS: Here is a cute little turkey (prounouced "Jurky" by Bailey) that Bay made. :)

How cute are they?!