WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?

Time seems to be flying by so fast. I know all my friends with small toddlers & babies are thinking the same thing. I can't believe Benjamin is almost 9 months old! 
Since the beginning of the year until about the first week of Feb, we have been sick. Not fun. Ben has had RSV and an ear infection ( at the same time), I have had 2 sinus infections and strep, and Matt has also had a sinus infection. It's so hard when you add little people to the circus of passing things like colds around. 
Matt went to Singapore at the end of January for a business trip. So Ben, the dogs and I all packed up & headed to Gigi & Poppa's house. It was kind of a crazy time. We were still on antibiotics (which FYI makes a baby poop brick red shi%t) and not feeling too great. But we did fun stuff like shop with Gigi, eat sushi, I attended a Thunder game, etc...They were so sweet to take us all in when we weren't feeling well. 
Also at the end of Jan. we had Benjamin baptised at the church we've been attending. I hired our neighbor, Shelli Stapleton to do some photography for us. We had some family over before & after and it was such a special day. The love, respect & support that were showed to us makes me 
grateful to have such an awesome family. 
So onto February.....Valentine's Day was awesome. Matt came home at lunch & surprised us! He had Chic-fil-A for lunch, a dozen red roses for Momma & a Valentine balloon for Benjamin! He was so sweet! We just love him!
Dad's birthday is coming at the end of this month....not sure what to get someone who is turning 60! Ideas?? Anyways, Matt maybe going to San Diego for business in March and back to Singapore in April. Yikes!
All this proves why time seems to be flying by so fast! I can't believe in May we'll have a 1 yr old baby! It's sure to be here before we know it!
Oh and yes, I cut my hair supershort. It takes 5 minutes to do and  love it. Below is a picture from Ben's Baptism.....on this day we were all so sick we almost cancelled. However, we pushed through it & I am so glad we did. What a gorgeous day!

A NEW YEAR & I'M ALREADY BEHIND

I won't go into much other than since Thanksgiving we have been busy. Had Thanksgiving then Christmas then a wonderful vacation to Florida. And since I don't have time & you don't want to read all the nitty-gritty, here are the pics:

Charlie, Melissa, Ben & Matt on Thanksgiving

Luke & Gigi with Ben on his 1st Thanksgiving

In case you didn't receive our Christmas card this year, this was the picture we chose.

Christmas

my 2 boys @ the beach in Naples

Looking cool @ the beach

3rd anniversary

BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE LETTER B

Benjamin Benjamin Benjamin is a busy boy! lately he is loving his rainforest jumperoo. He gets in the seat & can really get to jumping & bouncing around.
Last week we started him on baby food. We started out with squash & this week he is eating carrots. No picky eaters in this house. Let me tell you, he is a Towe/Dill combo for sure! We are lucky to have such a good eater:)
He is teething like crazy, but still no teeth. Please, Lord, bring my baby teeth! This is no fun:(
He is very interested in crinkly things. Like a diaper, a piece of paper, the crinkly wipes package, a candy wrapper.....anything that makes crinkly noise.
He is also rolling around like crazy. I can hardly set him down on the floor & he will already be trying to roll over. He is getting pretty good at scooting too. Not too much longer & this busy boy will be crawling!

That's all for now! More to come later!

A BUST!

Last weekend Matt & I attend OSU Homecoming walkaround and pre-game festivities at TU Saturday. Let me just say that we had a great time getting out as a family, however, we hardly saw anyone we knew. What a bust!
Halloween proved to be just as uneventful. Matt dressed like cousin Eddie for work. When he got home, the roles changed & I donned my vampiress gear to pass out candy....to all 4 (yes 4, F-O-U-R, four) trick or treators. What a bust!
Buddy managed to dig under the fence last night. While eating dinner, Matt heard some commotion & looked outside & saw Buddy sitting in our neighbors yard. Not a good thing because his pit/lab mix was outside as well as the 200 lb bullmastif. What drama. The dogs are in big trouble. BUSTED!
Ben is going to my parents for a couple days starting tomorrow. I really will miss the little guy, but in lite of recent events with the above mention dogs, we are in need of some kind of barrier, be it landscape, electric fence, concrete blocks...whatever. There goes a day of vacation Matt was planning to take to get OTHER stuff done around the house.
All of this, plus more is driving me crazy. We won't even go into the fact that 5 months after delivering Ben, I'm still dealing with insurance company claims etc....What a pain in the ass!! Even more frustrating is the my 11 year old cousins could do the work of whatever idiot I have been talking to.
Thank goodness I'm married to Matt. He never looses his cool. He is always supportive of me. He may not always say or do the right thing, but I know he always means well. He is the perfect husband for me & the best Daddy for our little family. When all these things start to go crazy, I feel so lucky to have him to lean on.
Oh did I mention Ben still has no teeth?! Dear God, please bring my baby teeth. This teething stuff isn't fun & has gone on long enough! Seriously.
Whew, enough for now!

A COZY HOUSE

Burr! It's cold and windy outside! All the more reason to love our new house. It's so nice & warm and cozy! Love it!

Saturday my parents came up for a visit & we took Ben to a pumpkin patch in Owasso. It was so fun to have them here. My awesome hubby treated me to some pomegranate margaritas & pinion wood for the chiminea. Do you know I ran all over town to find that pinion wood? Finally called Reasors, they had 1 bag left & held it @ customer service for me. Love that store! It was such a nice chill weekend!

Tuesday my Mom came up for her weekly visit. She gives me a break & lets me get ahead on housework, a nap, whatever. It's always so much fun to have her around! And my brother was in town on business, so he stopped in for a couple hours. Ben cried when he left:( He has never done that before with anyone!

The Bendate: (Ben's update): He is such a great joy in our lives. We love every day with him. He is really rolling around, playing with his feet (and sometimes legs). He loves to un-velcro his diaper, he loves all of his crinkly toys. he loves his toy keys. he loves to laugh & screech out loud and talks. He is pretty independent. He does not want to be held all the time....this boy is ready to go!! I am feeling like he could be crawling in the near future....I am going to be an even busier Momma!

Perfect lil' pumpkin!

Uncle Bryan and Ben....what good buddies!

I think this weekend we are venturing out to Octoberfest! What fun. Should be a nice weekend and a treat for a hardworkin' daddy in this house! Let's hope the weather is nice!

THE STORY

This weekend was a crazy one! How 'bout those Cowboys??!! I am so excited football season is in full swing! And so excited for this awesome weather! It is so nice to sit on our quiet patio during the morning, in the afternoon or in the evening without breaking out in full sweat!

So Ben visited Dr Henley, his pediatrician last week for his 4 month well child check-up. He was 18lbs and 27 inches long! He is so tall his height was off the chart....literally! He was about 95th% for weight and height was 99%+. He did such a good job. He did not like his shots or the oral vaccination he got. It was sour. Why would you make something to give to kids/babies sour?
Anyway.....

I'm feeling very crafty lately. I feel like making tons of things. I have all these ideas in my head. But maybe I will just bake/cook instead. Have you been to pinterest? Love it! Makes me want to do everything I see!

Time to go, baby Ben is asleep and therefore, I should be too!

FALL

Finally! Fall weather is here! I can actually take Ben out & about without either of us pouring sweat. It is nice to be able to get out of the house every now & then. It was just too hot to do anything this summer with a newborn baby!
Last week some of my sorority sisters & their husband and kids came over for a cookout. It was so fun to have everyone together!
Ben has been growing like weeds. He is so tall he fits in 6-9 month clothes (but the body is too big). Oh well! He is into blowing bubbles & making noises with his mouth. He is a social baby & loves to talk & laugh. He is so fun right now! Last week Matt took Friday & Tuesday off work around the holiday weekend, so it was awesome to have him at home. He loved hanging out with his little buddy!!
Ben goes for his 4 month check-up in a couple weeks & I am anxious to see how much he has grown.
He loves watching Dinosaur Train & Sesame Street (I let him watch while I do dishes or wash bottles....no I don't sit him in front of it all day). He is really into reaching for objects & trying to put them into his mouth. Speaking of mouth, ugh, this baby is teething. He drools all day long & wants to eat everything. I'm hoping we can start him on some rice cereal in a couple weeks! He can roll over onto one side. He can do push-ups when he is on his tummy. He loves tummy time! Here are some recent Ben pics:

Doesn't he look cute in his sleep & play?

A little boy grin:)

Little Cowboy

Such a happy boy!

Thats about all the updates for now. We are excited about the cooler temps, cowboy football & spending time together as a family. More to come soon!