Ben and Becky's birthday party

Ben shares his birthday with his second cousin, Becky, so we had a combined party for them tonight.

Benjamin even got his own little cake, which he thoroughly enjoyed! He loves blowing out the candles.

Becky got her own cake too.

And then he got to blow out the candle on the big cake!

See that look? It says, MIne! All MIne!

Yum

And more yum!

Presents. Benjamin got so many nice cars, boats, a bath toy, a small piano and even underwear!

We tried the underwear on when we got home and he did not want to take them off. So as a compromise, he wore the underwear over his diaper when he went to bed.

Becky got some nice gifts too: a watch, a Bible, a DSI and a sweatshirt.

They both had a wonderful time, as did we all.

Ben at 2

February 22, 2008

February 22, 2009

February 22, 2010

Ben loves to be outside and to play with cars, but his favorite thing to do is take a bath. Whenever he has a diaper change, he asks for a bath. And whenever he takes a bath, he asks for Sam. (or Sammy, as he calls him)

He is talking more and more and putting two and three words together. He loves to dance and loves anything that has to do with music and will even sing on occasion.

In the past few weeks, he has started not wanting to go to bed and crying at length about it. I decided to put him to be a little later, and he stopped the crying and started to go to bed easily again. He usually goes to bed around 9 and sleeps until 8, usually on the dot. He takes about a 2 hour nap in the afternoon.

We haven't seriously started potty training, but he has gotten the idea. He won't tell us everytime he has to go, but he does it every so often. One day I was watching him run down the hall, and he suddenly stopped. He turned around, went into the bathroom and got himself on the potty (he was naked at the time) and went to the bathroom. I was so proud of him!

Some of his favorite things are his cup and his "night night" (blankie). He takes both to bed. He will eat almost anything and he eats alot, alot of times more than Sam. He has a sweet tooth and loves cake and apples and oranges.

Benjamin, we love you. You have enriched our lives in so many ways and we can't imagine life without you! Have a wonderful year.

The Saints

Sam and I were driving along the other day, listening to the radio. One of the songs had a line in it that mentioned the saints.

"Mom, what are saints?" Sam asked me.

"Saints are people who believe in Jesus and have asked Him to take their sins away. Saints are the people who will live in heaven one day" I replied.

"Oh" he said. "I thought it was a football team."

Hmmmm.

An Abundance of Pictures

Homeschooling at it's best

His new favorite spot

Always in need of a bath

Just like Dad

Bible time- Sam had actually fallen asleep like this

Paul's 20th birthday

Guess who wanted to blow out the candles??

Paul's such a good big brother that he let him!

SNOW

Anna, Kristin, Ellie, Rebecka, and Renae

Wearing Dad's snow hat

The ugliest snowman ever

It was a girl....

Anna''s valentines day cake- her first attempt at fondant.

Silly Ben!

Update

I had to update my header. My children just won't stop growing older. Sigh.

20 Years

February 9th, 1990 at 10:52pm, my life changed forever. I had just given birth to a beautiful baby boy. We were estatic with this new addition to our family. We were just very naive as to what this would mean to the rest of our lives, as are all new parents.

I remember Paul saying to me soon after Paul, Jr. was born. "Can you believe he's going to live with us for the next 18 or 20 years?" I remember replying, "Can you believe there is going to be a time that he will NOT live with us?"

We didn't realize the love we would have for that baby, and for all the ones that followed (and are still following). We didn't realize the amount of work involved in taking care of a baby, then a toddler, then a little boy. We didn't realize that parenting was the most tiring, most heart wrenching job that either of us would hold. We sure didn't realize the cost involved in raising a child, especially when said child reaches the teenage years and eats seemingly non stop.

We didn't realize either, how a child can take your life and enrich it; how they can add life and joy to the home. Or how with one look, your heart can melt. We didn't realize as we had more children, how our love would multiply and expand to include each child with unconditional love. We sure didn't realize how unconditional love from a child can change your life.

On that night, 20 years ago, on a warm Florida evening, we knew none of this. All we knew was that the baby we held was ours and that we loved him with a fierce love, even though we had just met.

Paul John, Happy Birthday. You have been a joy to your parents hearts since the day we met. How proud we are of you and of the man you are becoming. Stay true to God. We love you son.

Boy or Girl

With Paul, my oldest, I did not want to find out if he was a boy or girl before his birth. His dad did. Very badly. And even asked the ultrasound tech behind my back what the baby was. Thankfully, she didn't tell him, because I KNOW there is no way he would have been able to keep that secret! But, I knew Paul was a boy. I knew as sure as there was a baby in my womb, that he was a boy, so I was really not surprised when he was born. I'll never forget Paul, yelling to me in the delivery room, "You got your boy!"

With Zack, the natural inclination was to want a girl. I don't remember wanting a girl real bad, but I do know we were pleased when we found out he was a boy. With him, we found out before he was born, and it was just as exciting as finding out at the birth.

Now, with Anna, Paul was beside himself hoping for a girl. He prayed and prayed and would not discuss boy names. I remember after finding out on the ultrasound that indeed, she was a girl, and then calling him. He was speechless and teary. I was glad to have a girl.

I wanted another girl with Ellie. I wanted her to be a girl for Anna. But unlike Paul Jr., I didn't know until the ultrasound that she was a girl, and we were so thankful for that.

I knew with Sam like I knew with Paul, Jr. I knew this baby was a boy well before the ultrasound. God had given me a name after I miscarried the baby before him, and it was a boy name. No surprises here.

I so wanted another boy with Benjamin for Sam. I thought he might be a boy and when we found out on the ultrasound, I was thrilled! Now Sam and Ben could be as close as Paul and Zack, and Anna and Ellie.

With this baby, I have no feelings what it might be. The consensus in the family is that everyone wants a girl. I would like another girl. However, I wouldn't be one bit dissappointed with another boy. Ever since I miscarried, I have always asked God for a healthy baby. The gender really didn't matter, as long as the baby was here and healthy.

I am 17 weeks, and should have an ultrasound within the next month. We hope to find out what the baby is. It makes it easier to plan and we just like finding out early. We have no boy names picked out, so if it's a boy, we'll have to start thinking about that.

But like I said, girl or boy, I will be thrilled.