Just another night

I don't want to forget tonight...nothing spectacular happened.  In fact, it was a night just like every other night.  We ate dinner, did baths, and tucked kids in bed...but tonight she wanted Mom to stay a little longer.  So we curled up in her tent.  We talked about what we are thankful for- "Rara and Jesus" she says.  I agree little one...She looks at me with her beautiful brown eyes and her amazing curly hair.  We read book after book.  She gives endless hugs, kisses, and cuddles.  She strokes my hair while she sings "A dream is a wish your heart makes..." and I just laid there and soaked it all in....because I know these moments won't last forever.  I know there will be nights where she won't say "stay here Mom, read another book Mom, talk to me Mom, don't go Mom"...and so tonight I stay a little longer...it was just another night...and yet I know it was just the kind of night I will long for one day.  This is the good stuff.

Great Wolf Lodge

For my Mom's 60th birthday last November, she decided she wanted her and my dad to take my niece Easton and Anniston on a trip.  The original plan was go to last November, but with Benton and Carter's arrival they decided to wait until now.  So they came this week and picked up the girls and headed to Great Wolf Lodge in Texas.  The girls had a blast!  My parents were rock stars- they played hard and gave the girls a fabulous time.  I am so grateful for the way that my parents love on my kids.  I love that they are making memories and I look forward to the many more to come.

Heading down to Texas.  Anniston is pretty thrilled that Nana and Pops have a DVD player.

When they first arrived, they decided they better take a little nap before hitting the water.

Worn out.

The girls waking up

Ice cream with Nana.  What a treat!

Coming in from the water, wet and cold.  On this morning, Pops braved the water with the two girls by himself.  Bet that was challenging.  Way to go Pops!

I missed Anniston a lot while she was gone, but I was also thankful for a little bit of one-on-one time with my little man.

More daily happenings

Just some more moments to remember.

I had to run to the mall to buy a gift for a friend and I let Anniston out of the stroller for just a second.  I turned around and found her on the floor.  She had found some shoes she liked, took her shoes off, and put these on....

And of course I caved and they came home with us...but after a few minutes of playing outside she came in covered in dirt and missing a shoe...I love this little adventurer.

Look how cute he is in his elephant towel!

I got Anniston's bouncer out to be ready for Benton soon...and I guess Anniston decided she wanted to play in it again.

Well hello there Smiles!

Anniston has discovered where Mom keeps her make up.  She started by getting into the lip gloss, as seen below.  At one point, she had smeared mascara all over her lips.  Oh my, it has started.

Chatting.  Love how much they love each other already.

Just being cute.

One night we decided to take a family walk to dinner.  By the time we got there, both the kids had passed out.  It was a very quiet dinner!

She likes to sleep with her glass slippers on

Anniston and I had a tea party.  Diaper, necklace, crown.  Perfect attire for a tea party.

Visit from Family

I always love it when my family comes to visit!  Last week I got the privilege of my mother AND grandmother coming to stay for a couple of days.  What a treat!  Four generations at our house.  Anniston had so much fun with Nana and "Nana Grape" (aka Nana Great).  She watched Tangled with Nana Grape while Nana took care of Benton and I think that might have been the highlight.  The Nana's read her books and took her to play at the playground at the mall and just showed her such a great time.  I was so grateful for their visit!

Watching Tangled

Nana Grape treated us to dinner one night.  We wanted to get a picture of Nana and Anniston but the sun was in her eyes...oh well, take what you can get.

Coloring at the table, looking like such a big girl.

Benton

My little guy is 5 months old.  We love him so much.

He is smiling a lot, he hasn't lost all of his hair yet (Yea!) although he definitely has the typical bald spot in the back, he found his voice recently and loves to use it, he is a bigger fan of his fist than his paci, he sleeps about 10 hours at night, no solid foods yet, he loves his raccoon lovie and his dog rattle, he enjoys the Curious George Pat a Cake book and Amazing Grace song that he gets each night before bed (he doesn't know yet that Dad sings much better than Mom so he seems satisfied to listen to me), he tolerates all of Anniston's affection really well, he has occasionally rolled over but he's not on the move, and he is just so sweet.  I love spending days with him.

Look how cute he is!!

More pictures of our days

These are just a bunch of pictures over the last few months that paint a picture of what our days look like.  One day I hope to get back to blogging more often and won't have to combine months of activities into a single post.

Anniston and Dad swinging at the park.  We love walking to the park to play on pretty days...and we take advantage of every single pretty day this time of year because you never know if the next day will be cold and rainy.

Anniston pushing her baby

Sometimes it's just more fun to put your pants on your head

Sitting in Benton's bed

Trains at Barnes and Noble

Helping mom scoop poop in the backyard.  This isn't the most effective tool to use.

Attending pre celebration prayer with her buddy Renne.

She really likes to hold Benton

Family walk.  It was a little chilly but still fun!

Reading to Benton

She loves this- vinegar and food coloring mixed with baking soda yields a fun fizzy game

Pajama party day at school

She found herself a new toy

Look mom, I got the scissors out all by myself and I'm going to pop this balloon....the things that happen while you are feeding the baby...

Cake pops...her favorite.

"Anniston what are you doing?"  "Going potty"

This girl loves to get in moms closet and try on her clothes.  I wonder how long she will think my clothes are cool.

Her favorite thing to do with Benton- lay on top of him

All wrapped up in her towel after bath...this reminds me of when she was a baby.  I love this.  She gets held in her towel all wrapped up while we sing "Rock a Bye Baby"...love these moments.

Nana Great and the kids

Singing a little song...

Loves the snow, just loves to walk around in it.

So proud- holding him all by herself

This girl loves Play Doh

But she loves puzzles even more.  We spend quite a lot of time playing with puzzles.

Pushing Cinderella

Giving Cinderella a bath

We had quite a few bouts of sickness this year.  The only perk of this is that she gets to go see Daddy at work, and she LOVES to see Daddy at work.

This girl loves donuts

Snuggle time

Time with Daddy

When it's winter and you are inside all day everyday, you have to get creative.  This was our color race game.  It was a hit.

I always tease Jake about how he has to get Anniston a treat every time they go to Target...but sometimes I give in too...mostly because when mom gets Anniston a treat, mom gets one too.

"Mom, Cinderella needs some tummy time"

So proud of her Valentine's box from school

Enjoying Benton's swing

Sweet friends loving on Benton

"Look what I found Mom!"...wonder where she gets this

Apparently Benton needed some glass slippers to complete his outfit

Benton trying out his Bumbo for the first time... 

And so of course, Anniston needed to try it out too...climbed right up on the table and sat down.

So I found these laying all around the house.  You may think they are door stoppers...Anniston thinks they are microphones...so off the wall they go to serve their true purpose, amplifying her beautiful singing.

One day I took the kids to the zoo by myself.  We had a great time and it was a beautiful day.  Anniston LOVED the bears, and the bears loved her.  They were drawn to her.  I think that runs in the family (referring to Jake getting bit by a bear in Colorado)...I took the double stroller which worked great until the end when neither one of them wanted to be in the stroller....so I was holding Anniston's hand, I was holding Benton, and I was pushing an empty stroller...I need a better plan for next time.

This was an awesome moment.  Jake went to tuck Anniston in for a nap.  I looked at her monitor an hour later and she was happily playing in her room while Jake was sound asleep in her tent.  Next time it looks like mom should do this job.

Helping mom make cookies

Siblings talking

She loves her zebra "dress" aka nightgown.  She wears it over her clothes on a regular basis.

Watching a movie together

Out cold

It's been a great winter but we are pumped about Spring!  Bring it on!