19 Months, 3 Weeks

Emily is 19 months and three weeks old. This age is significant to me because she is exactly the same age as Ben was when Emily was born. I can't believe it! This fact just blows my mind for some reason. I can't believe she's the same age as Ben was when we added her to the family. Ben seemed so much bigger, older, I don't know... I guess I can't wrap my mind around the idea that she's getting so big, so quickly. I guess it's time to have another!


Ben at 19 months, 3 weeks.

Ben and Me on Mother's Day '07. I was in labor with Emily and would have her just 6 hours later.

Emily and me sharing a hug!

My beautiful baby girl...growing before my eyes:(

Please! No More Pictures!

New Year's Eve at The Children's Museum!

We met some family-friends at the Children's Museum on NYE and had a great time! We spent most of it(as you can see!) playing in the water area despite the 40-degree weather outside! I never go unprepared anymore. I learned the first time to bring extra clothes for both! We participated in a NYE countdown complete with confetti and finished the trip with ice-cream as usual. Here are my favorite pictures from the day!

Poor quality but I love the look of joy on his face=)

Emily finally enjoys the water area as much as Ben. She quickly went from this...

To this! Sopping wet!

Little People(GRRRR)

Little People, for the uninitiated, are short, stout, hard plastic characters that come in various play sets for toddlers. The sets range from elaborate to paired-down but all make some sort of annoying sound and/or play a stupid song you can't get out of your head. They typically come with too many accessories that don't attach to the sets and therefor get lost easily. Ben received his first LP set on for his first Christmas, but didn't get to play with it til after his first birthday(I follow the age suggestions to a T). Ever since opening up that first set(a zoo play set that played all the animal sounds when you placed the animals in their habitat), I have loathed Little People and all they encompass. If I had it my way, my children would never play with these things; meaning I'd never have to hurt myself stepping on the people, wake the babies up by accidentally setting off one of the sets(that DON'T come with off-switches most of the time!) nor would I lose the vital accessories or people that make the sets fun.

The latter predicament is my current #1 reason for hating Little People. As you saw in an older post, Ben received a little house. He loves it. He plays with it several times a day and I love that. It totally sparks his imagination and it's so fun to listen to him play with it. My one caveat is that he wants the Mommy, Daddy AND Baby with the set at all times and we almost never have all the people at once. I've solved this for now by telling him, "Oh, the mommy is at work!" or, "The baby is at preschool". Sometimes we have two daddies and one baby. Sometimes we have a single mom living there and often we have a childless couple living with an assortment of matchbox cars, dinosaurs and various animals. We have more than one of each family member, but they're never all at home at once!

As much as I loath these toys, I love them for one very good reason: Ben and Emily love them. We recently added an airplane and school bus to our collection and they couldn't be happier. I guess I just have to find a way to live with these damn toys...I'm too much of a softie to refuse them toys they love to play with!


Milly says, "Little People aren't just fun to play with; they're tasty, too!"

Emily the Stewardess makes sure all passengers are seated comfortably.

Like any good "Stew" she'll switch seats around til everyone is happy.

Bathing Cuties

Last Stop of the Day!

We stopped at Dan's other grandparent's home before driving back. We were so happy to see his cousin Melissa, her husband Keith and their sweet baby boy, Maverick! Maverick is a very special baby, as he was born premature AND on Christmas Day. He is a healthy, happy little guy and we were thrilled to spend his First Birthday with him as well as Christmas day! Both Emily and Ben adored him and it was so fun watching the next generation of cousins play together=)


This is how Emily looked the whole time she played with Maverick. She was absolutely besotted, except when he wanted to play with her baby doll. Then, all bets were off! She's still learning how to share!

This is Maverick, the birthday boy! Isn't he adorable?! I loved him to bits.

This was one of our attempts at a group shot. We got many cute photos, but they all had insane red-eye that even editing wouldn't fix:( This is the best of the bunch. Don't they look alike?

Talk about bad pictures! Ben is trying to escape, Emily is picking her nose and Dan's dad is just trying to keep them in place long enough to get the shot.

Presents at Papa's

The second stop of the day was to Dan's Dad's house. We enjoyed a delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings and got even more presents! These gifts were the hit of the day. A xylophone and a viewmaster for Ben. Emily got a Dora nightgown and a teddy bear. Ben hasn't put his "noculars" down since opening them and both love the xylophone! Thanks, Papa!