Our Third Anniversary

Matt and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary on September 30Th. We decided to bite the bullet and go away together without the kids. This was our first time to leave Benjamin for any length of time. We were thrilled to get the chance to spend some uninterrupted time together, but I have to admit that unlike our previous trips this particular ride to the airport was filled with more apprehension than excitement. No worries though...I knew Benjamin was in good hands and by the time we landed in San Diego I was plenty excited. After we arrived in San Diego, we made our way to the cruise terminal, checked our luggage, and checked ourselves in. We had a few hours before the boat was taking off so we decided to take a cab over to Coronado Island for lunch.

We had been to Hotel Del Coronado a few years before during a work conference. We remembered that we had enjoyed a fantastic lunch there and took off to see if the scenery was as pretty as we remembered it to be.

Hotel Del Coronado is a beautiful historic hotel where the Marilyn Monroe movie "Some Like it Hot" was filmed. We had a really nice lunch and overall, it was a pretty great way to spend the afternoon I must say.

So eventually we made our way to the cruise ship and we were on our way to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. And this is what we saw when we got there! Isn't it absolutely gorgeous? The weather was perfect and the views were even better!

When we got off the ship we took a small boat for a cruise around the harbor and the bay. We saw Lover's Beach & Land's End, then we had a water taxi drop us off at a local beach.

Once on the beach we rented a jet ski and tootled around the bay for a while. It was the most fun! We were both impressed with Cabo and hope to visit there again.

In fact we had a very serious discussion about our future vacations there over a fruity drink as we pulled away and headed back to San Diego that evening :)

We had two days at sea to relax and have fun. We ate lots of yummy food, drank some good wine, and just hung out. I have to say I was feeling very relaxed and spoiled after a couple of lengthy and luxurious spa appointments! Yea me!

It was so great to spend some time as a couple and focus on one another. It was romantic, fun, and something I hope we make time to do as the years go by. While we were gone, Mr. Ben and Ava stayed with Gigi and later with Aunt Amy and Uncle Shane. Gigi posted pictures on Facebook so I could keep tabs from the cruise ship. I was really grateful that I could see how much fun they were having whenever I was missing the little munchkins! We were so happy to see them when we got home and I think they were happy to see us too. Now we have to get busy planning our next adventure....I wonder what it will be?

Another Haircut Post

So I call this his first big boy haircut. Gigi trimmed above his ears a little while ago, but it was definitely time for the real deal. He was shaggy and I needed a professional. I tried to wait until he was a year old, but we are all about being clean cut in our house so it was time...

Ben doesn't really look like he is buying this whole car story...he is too smart for all our tricks :)

Now he is looking at Ms. Maria like what in the h-e-double hockey sticks do you think you are going to do with that thing???

Now, my big man is just plain traumatized. But, for some bizarre reason I LOVE this picture. Obviously after it was all said and done Benjamin and Mommy are all smiles. Having your own baby is so cool.

Naughty Naughty

I promise I only looked away for a second. Benjamin is all over the place and into everything he can get his little hands on....and he is a quick little guy!

And then he looks over at me with this face. Who can resist this face?? It is a cute little face and at this point I could really care less about the mess.

But as soon as he sees me, he flashes that smile to distract me so he can flee the scene of the crime. Scary!

Happy Birthday Ava

Still playing catch up...hang in there :) OK, so just a few days after Ava started back to school we celebrated her 7th birthday. Yes, I said she turned 7. Sigh.

It was a Thursday so we decided to have an impromptu birthday party after school with two of the little girls that live on our street and who she now goes to school with.

I made a cake. It was shaped like a heart and it tasted good. It also looked like a second grader made it, fitting I think.

We all had a great time that evening. Ava went on to celebrate her birthday throughout that week and into the next with more parties and more cake. I can't wait for #8! (Well, really I want her to stay a little girl forever so I guess that is a lie.)

Better Late than Never

OK, OK, so I am a little behind in posting. But I am determined to catch up, starting with Second Grade. The second grade....really?? I honestly can't believe how time is flying by. Ava was all ready to start school this year, or at least go school clothes shopping anyway :)Please take special note of the very mature messenger bag in place of the traditional backpack. She is ahead of her time. What can I say??

Big time second graders tie their own shoes and apparently have LOTS of homework. Welcome to the real world my Love!

And like many of her peers, all Ava wants for Christmas this year is her two front teeth. She has the lisp & everything, it is pretty priceless.

Wonder Ava & Super Ben

This picture just makes my heart melt. They play so well together. Ave is a fantastic big sister and he just oohs and awwwws over her. Ava decided it would be fun to put a cape on "Super Ben" while they were playing over the weekend. See his beach towel "cape" tucked in his shirt pictured below?

Is this priceless or what?

Then Ava helped Super Ben crawl through a tunnel o' toys that she built for him. Thanks to his trusty cape, he zoomed right through! They are such a joy :)

Baby Jail

Well, the time has come for the baby gates to come out! Ben is all over the place, into EVERYTHING and must be contained. Since we do not have a game room or dedicated play room- some creative thinking has come in to play. So, Daddy installed extra wide baby gates on each end of the smaller living room and turned it in to a dedicated play space. So far so good.

Super Ben has had an exciting week exploring his new space. Now I know why the term "testing limits" exists!

Hi Mommy! Somebody put up Ben sized walls so I can pull up on them :)

This is typical Ben right here....trying to figure out how this whole baby gate thing works. And trying to figure out his escape plan I am sure!

Hopefully this is the only time he is ever behind bars! (I shudder to think! Oh Lordy!)

Cutest little jailbird I've ever seen. That is for sure! He is such the charmer.

The Littlest Chef

One of the fun things we did for Ava this summer was sign her up for "Cooking with Kids", a day camp at our church. It was a week long for several hours in the afternoon. It was the neatest thing and she LOVED it! All the kiddos got to cook different dishes, make their own cookbook (pictures above) and learn about dining etiquette. The best part was on the last day all of the parents were invited to come for a luncheon put on by the kids where they served up some of their favorite creations. I think it was such a great opportunity for her and she really seemed to have a lot of fun. She was quite proud of all of the things she accomplished like learning to cut with a knife, etc...now I have a little help in the kitchen :)

Shhh, I'm Hiding!

I took these photos a while back, but am just getting around to posting them. I think this onesie is so funny. I bought it for him when I was just 4 months pregnant. I think it really fits his personality. Plus I love his chuncky little legs in the last picture. They are quite popular with the ladies.

The Latest

Check out Ben's latest accomplishment! I am so proud of him! He is such a big boy :)

Busy But Fun Week

***Guest post written by: Ava Leicht & Jordan Generals

This week Jordan, Sher Sher, Ava, & Ben had more fun than usual. We hit it off in fun places!

First we went to church on Sunday morning.Then we went to Westwood Gymnastics gym for Reese's birthday party. It was so much fun! From swinging on the bars to front flips in the pit. The next day we went shopping plus we had a Wii tournament and we all had the most fun in a long time! On Tuesday we had 4 hours of more gymnastics fun at gymnastics day camp!


Wednesday came and that meant Schlitterbahn It went by so fast because we had 7 hr. of non stop water slide fun! We were so tired when we got home after all that sun. But it was still a awesome rockin day!

On Thursday we had a relaxing day of swimming, painting, and sleeping.

And today it's Friday, a day of more painting, swimming, and a special lunch filled with Sonic burgers, chicken strips, and cherry limeades. Now we can't wait till this weekend. We had so much fun this fabulous week! Goodbye:)

Man on the Move!

Okay, since BEFORE day one Ben has grown and changed at his own pace. I am pretty sure that is par for the course when you have a Mom who does most everything by the book. I remember when I was pregnant with him, every time we went in to the Dr. to measure or check something or another he was always just slightly behind the curve. Nothing alarming he just did things on his own time. At seven weeks we went in to check for a heart beat and got zilch, nada, nothing. Went back at 8 weeks and everything was perfect. Went in at 20 weeks for the ultrasound and they checked for the four chambers of the heart, ummmmm yea it didn't look good. Went back just days later and he was A-OK. (It was at this point that I just asked if I could start coming in for testing the week after they typically scheduled it, thus preventing any additional freak outs for Mommy) My point is that Ben is on "Ben-time" and when he gets good and ready to do something he does it. No amount of prodding, "practicing", or anything else is going to speed him along. Well, for the past nine months, not much has changed. I threw away the "book" a looong time ago. I know those milestones are just general markers and perfectly healthy normal kids hit them at all different ranges of time. So just in case you were wondering what all this rambling is about....Ben started crawling this week. He has been getting really close for quite some time. But this morning it was like he just woke up and decided he was going to do it.... so he crawled all the way from the sofa to the fireplace! (it is about 7-8 ft. I am guessing) Not bad for his first time. I snapped these just a few minutes later...I am obviously not a professional, but you get the point.

Portraits: Benjamin 9-months