Two Little Monkeys...

Two little monkeys jumping on the bed...


One fell off....

And bumped her head!


Mama called the doctor and the doctor said...

No more monkeys jumping on the bed!!

Emmie Loves Beh-buh and other musings on motherhood

What's not to love about Ben? Emily just adores her big brother. She laughs at all he does, hugs and kisses him constantly and is positively forlorn whenever he's not around. She whines and whimpers when he's taking a nap alone. She stands at the door saying, "Beh-buh? Beh-buh?" and cries when we tell her she can't wake him up yet. When we finally tell her it's time, she runs to the door and yells his name with sheer jubilation. Nothing makes me happier than knowing how much my children love each other already.

I feel like the greatest gift you can give your child is a sibling, although I wasn't too certain when I first found out I was pregnant with Emily. To put it plainly, I was scared silly about having a second child so close in age to Ben. I worried about how he'd handle it, how I'D handle it and whether I was ruining everyone's life in one fell swoop. I remember talking to my dear friend April about it after we first found out. I called her crying and she helped me feel better about everything. She told me how wonderful it would be to have two babies so close together; how much they would surely love each other and how much I'd love watching them grow up together. She said, "can you imagine it?! They'll love playing together and be best friends. They'll hug each others little heads and it will be so cute to watch". She made me feel so much better at that moment and I couldn't wait!

We were so lucky and blessed with Emily. She is such a joy in our lives and no one feels that way more that Ben. He's loved her from Day 4(he ignored her the first 3 days;p). I can't believe how perfect this little humans are and that I not only made them, but get to be their mommy! I know this is all so mushy and cheesy, but capturing these pictures of Emily hugging Ben's little head reminded me of that conversation I had just two years ago, before I ever knew just how happy I could be to be alive. A lot of mothers will tell you that the happiest day of their life is the day their children were born. For me, every day since then has been the happiest day of my life. Because every day I get to experience my children is better than the last. Awwwwww. Schmaltz over;)

Halloween Sneak Preview!

Here is a sneak-peak of Emily in her luv-bug costume. Isn't she cute?! Ben has yet to pick his costume, so you might have to wait til Halloween to see his;)

The Carnival

The Benmily Show! went to the carnival this morning. It was just a little, rinky-dink event put on by our church's catholic school. It was perfect for Ben and Emily, though. They loved watching people go on the rides(they had no interest in riding themselves), loved the freedom of walking around on their own(no stroller! freedom, sweet freedom!) and Ben had a swell time in the bounce-house. I tried to entice them to play some of the toddler-friendly games, but neither was interested. Good thing I nailed 'em;) We only stayed about and hour, but fun was had by all.

Since it was still early, Ben got unlimited time in the bounce house! Fun!

These were the blank stares I got while trying to show them how to play the games.

The prizes were received with a little more enthusiasm!

Too Many Toddlers

I attempted to take Ben, Emmie and Hazel to the park on Friday. Baaad idea! Even with help, it was just too much. Neither Emmie, nor Hazel are proficient enough at walking and climbing to not be constantly within arm's reach. The trio often runs off in three different directions, so it's very hard to keep up with them. Hazel fell and bumped her head on the play-structure and Emmie fell off a bench, bumped her head in the same spot as Hazel AND cut her lip:( So, we're scratching "playing at the park" off our already too-short list of outings for the Three Amigos.
At least it will be winter soon and I won't feel so guilty about having to keep them indoors so much!

We met Ben's school-pals and the lovely Piper came that day. Ben never left her side. He made her cry at one point and I've never seen him look more concerened or guilty in his life!

Hazel and Emmie sitting in the stroller. Climbing in and out was as much fun as the play-structure.

Ben, taking a much-needed aqua break!

Miss Accident-prone '08

Emmie and Hazel throwing caution to the wind by climbing up the slide the wrong way;)

Milly The Starlet

No Hollywood starlet worth her head shots would ever be without a great pair of shades. Emily seems to know this inherently because she's suddenly become very enamoured by eye wear. She hasn't quite figured out how one puts on their fabulous sunglasses without poking their eye out, though. It's not as easy as it looks, OK?!


Beautiful Milly suddenly feels the need to go incognito.

She is deep in concentration as she attempts to put them on.

OK, now to straighten them and figure out how to keep them on her tiny nose and ears=)

Success! Have you ever seen a cooler baby?!

Alexandra's Birthday

We were invied to the third birthday of one of Ben's school-mates. It was held at a super-fun place called KidsPark. Normally, it's an all-ages drop-in childcare center and preschool, but you can also have your parties there. It's a big, open-space filled with fun stuff for kids; arts and crafts, things to climb, pretend-play, cars and other great things. Ben and Emily(along with all the other guests) had a total blast. We enjoyed brunch-fare, birthday cake and topped the event off with balloons and parting-gifts. I think I love going to these birthdays just as much as B and E do!


Ben's favorite area was the pretend-play section. It had a real keyboard, which was NOT connected to anything. That didn't matter at all. It was still the favorite toy!

Emily loved the food, the cars and the water fountain. She spent equal time at each of the three.

Did you know she loves sesame-bagels with sun-dried tomato schmear?
Neither did we! She scarfed it down, though=)

Ben was so happy to not only be at a birthday party with his FRIENDS!,
but to also have so much to do. He loved playing with Dakota in the climbing area.