boo bear's dr's appt

today was benjamin's one year dr's appt.

apparently we had to wait a while because i took a million pics on my phone! :)

stats: 24 lbs 3 1/2 oz; 29 1/2"

some of my favorite things & accomplishments benjamin does these days:

• he loves, pines, coos and reaches for the boppy...and when he gets it he laughs and smiles so big.
• he snuggles up to me after he nurses at night, breathes heavily in my ear with his arms around my kneck, then looks at me a grins so big....we repeat that over and over.
• he gets very impatient when he is being fed or if he finishes his food he scrunches his nose and lips and makes a repetitive noise until he gets more food. we took video. i need to figure out how to upload it.
• he waves and sometimes says hi
• he gives you "five"
• he crawls very fast, pulls up & stands, and cruises...just started standing alone every once in awhile
• he thinks samuel is the funniest person around
• he is happy all the time unless he needs something and laughs a lot
• he shakes his head and shoulders back and forth when music is played or if something is funny
• he loves to be outside

benjamin is such a joy and we love him so much. he is a true gift and we thank god for him!

lizard love

samuel is very into lizards these days. i would go ahead and say he is obsessed! he wants to find them, watch them and catch them. he is constantly asking us to help him find lizards. he gets so excited when he sees them. and i am not sure if it is "lizard season" but we seem to have a lot of them in our wood pile and plants around the house these days. they are fun to watch (from a distance!) and see them change colors right before our eyes.

future baseball player?

so we got samuel some legit baseball pants and belt this weekend. normally he wears his football pants with his socks pulled up to look like a baseball player. this was inspired by our friend's, preston newberry, baseball birthday party.

samuel has been given a t, balls, bats, gloves, a pitch-back and helmet by his grandaddy and daddy in the past. we have the gear...now we need the look! we are missing some items but maybe in the future we will get those....maybe if he wants to play t-ball in the future. he found his winter gloves and asked if i could put them in his back pocket..."like baseball players do." i asked him to stand so i could take his picture and this is the pose he chose.

note: the red belt was chosen since it's the color of the rangers and REL baseball players and he likes wearing his dinosaur pj top these days...another obsession he has at the moment- dinosaurs...thanks to dino dan!

coffee pound cake

so it's monday afternoon around 4 and i am CRAVING something baked! i had no box cakes or cookie mixes and not enough chocolate chips to whip up some from scratch cookies. so i started flipping through a cookbook and got the idea of making a pound cake (since i had all of the ingredients) and i ALWAYS want something coffee flavored. side note: i think i am slightly obsessed/ addicted to coffee and coffee flavored things. anyway, i did a web search and found this recipe. i made the pound cake and it is good! how bad could it be with FOUR sticks of butter?! i cooked it a little too long for my taste but overall i would make it again.

my tips: i cooked it at 340* instead of 350* and i only cooked it for 75 min instead of 90 min. next time i will only cook it 60 min. it would be great served with raspberries or strawberries and even some homemade whipping cream. and of course a cup of decaf coffee would really round it off!

and just for fun...a little treat for samuel's teachers: just cut two generous pieces, stick them in a bag and tie off with some string. (the cake makes so much it's fun to give some away!)

my baby boy benjamin macarthur turns ONE!

happy birthday benjamin!

march 22, 2010

monthly pictures of benjamin from his first year of life!

peter rabbit party pics to come....i have to go through all 170 pics!

zoo day!

my oldest, closest friend, audra, was in town for spring break so we took the kiddos to the zoo. it was great to hang out, let the kids run, the weather was beautiful and the zoo wasn't too crowded. enjoy the many pics!

audra & me

libby, samuel & chip

look at that amazing white tiger

bird house...kinda creepy to have birds flying everywhere...which is why i had to go in because audra and her mom, bonnie, are very afraid of birds....bonnie is really really afraid of birds!

taking pics from outside the bird house

doesn't libby look like audra? she is so so sweet and beautiful!

i love samuel & chip's expressions in this picture. samuel & chip play so well together...they play buzz lightyear, robots, guns, chase, exploring and jump in the bounce house for hours.