The weekend and Mama's Day...

We went to the Winking Lizard on Saturday, walked around down by the river, ate ice cream, visited the pet store (Mike was considering getting Ben a pet turtle for his b-day until we found out the cost involved!) and went to bed early. It was a laid back and chilly day...but we had fun together.

Brother and sister being cute and silly together...

Here are the three great-grandmas who we love and appreciate for all they do for our little family. Ben and Nattie are so blessed to have people they love (and who love them!) to care for them when we are at work. (Of course we love my grandmas too and wish we lived close enough to celebrate with them today!)

Finally, here's me and Nana at The Barn this afternoon. It was only in the 40's, but at least it was sunny. We love our mamas and Ben and Nattie love their Nana and Grammy so much!

Happy Mama's Day!

Overkill...

I know I'm verging on blogpost overkill this week...sue me. :) Here are, yet again, more pictures of my little sunshine girl. I think I have a real weakness for snapping her photo (starting to feel a little bad for Benny now...she definitely hogs the blogosphere with her face these days!). Of course I love my little man too, but this sweet thing will only be my baby for a few more months, so I'm documenting her every, cute, move.

We went on a short hike this evening. Being outside just makes me (and the rest of my fam) happy...

Yet another lovely art piece by my little Monet... :)

Ben the artist and silly Nat...

Ben brought this home from preschool today. It made me smile. He is actually getting better at drawing people, if you can believe it! I think it looks just like me...don't you?

While Ben was at preschool I snapped these photos of Nat. I told her to smile for the camera...this is what I got. Oh my...

Such a sweetie and such a girl...she somehow learned to put her purse on her shoulder. :)

Nattie, where's your head? Where's your nose? She's getting good at pointing out all her body parts and she LOVES to lift my shirt and touch my big ol' belly (Mike's too!).

Just in case you haven't seen enough of her yet...here are a few from this afternoon. She was smelling the flowers from my Azalea bush and soaking up some sunshine...

Wagon ride and some other stuff...

Ben really wanted to pull Nat in the wagon this week. It was all fun until he decided it would be a good idea to pull her full speed down our fairly steep driveway straight toward the street. Luckily, she survived and enjoyed it...most of the time. :)

Searching in the mulch for "rolly polly" bugs...

Just had to showcase Nattie's new flower headband. She might be wearing these darn headbands for a bit longer since she still has minimal hair and is frequently referred to as a "cute little guy." :)

Finally, a quick Benny story...Lately he's been having a little trouble with the whole "obey your parents" thing and this day, in particular, he had been a real pain in the rear...with one thing after another. Well, it was the end of the day and he and Nattie were in the tub. There was a bar of soap up high on the ledge and I told him not to touch it. Next thing I know he's got it and is rubbing his eyes screaming and freaking out that "it's burning!" I was irritated and pulled him out of the tub to get him ready for bed. In his crying, burning eye fit he said..."Mom...I'm sorry. I've done hundreds of sins today!" I wanted to start laughing and tell him it was more like 10-15...but I didn't. :) He said, "But we are all sinners, right?" I told him we were and that, as a Christian, we are already forgiven, but that it is always good to ask for forgiveness when we know we've done wrong. He said a prayer before bed to ask Jesus to forgive him for all his sins. I told him that tomorrow was a new day and he could start fresh. He just makes me laugh...even when he is being a booger!

Night of the Nakeds...

Usually my kids are dressed (well, if not in real clothes...then jammies at least!)....but tonight they were ready for bathtime a little early and decided to strip down in preparation. I let them have a little fun being "naked in the room" before we headed up to the tub. Apparently, when I was little I loved to run around with minimal clothing on and yell "naked in the room!" My how times have changed.... :)

Nattie was cracking up at all Ben's crazy nude dance moves (don't know where he gets this...promise?!). Anything he did...she did! I love the picture of him acting like a total whacko and her just looking up at him like he's so cool. :) By the way, I promise we feed Ben...he's just a shrimp (he's wearing 2T undies and he'll be 5 in a month!)! Oh and Nattie had her 15 month check-up today...she was in the 95th percentile for height (32 inches) and only in the 25th for weight (21 lbs). Tall and lean...but built SO different than her big (skinny) brother.

Here are a few camera timer shots of me and my naked children...

This is Nattie's newest facial expression...it's evil Nattie. She makes it A LOT and everytime it is followed up by the cheesy grin. I don't really know why they go together...but it always gives me a chuckle.

Just a few other pictures from my camera this week. Papa came up with this creative use for our fleece blanket....

Ben wanted to read to Nattie before bed tonight and she was really listening and sitting still for him. He made up every word on every page...but she was digging it. :)

New day...

Last night I was awake for two hours in the middle of the night with some major anxiety. It's probably hormone related, but irritating nonetheless! Everything is always worse in the middle of the night, isn't it? I was so glad to wake up this morning to sunshine and happy kids (except for 10 minutes of drama from Ben because he couldn't draw a zebra at preschool...apparently he's only good at drawing dogs according to him?!). I took the kiddos to the park for a picnic and some fun and I feel MUCH better now. These little people make everything right.

We played on the playground...

and hiked to the pond....

and sat in a Magnolia tree...

I love these cuties and I'm so thankful for the blessing I've been given!

The peanut...

Today Mike and I found out we're having another little BOY! He is healthy and growing perfectly. We feel so blessed! Benny has been telling me it's a boy....and he seemed confident that Natalie was a girl too. I'm beginning to wonder if he has special powers?!? :) This evening Mike asked him what he thought we should name his little brother and he said "Judas"....ummm...no! I can assure you that one is not on the short or long list!! We asked him why he liked that name and he had no response. WEIRD! I think that's worse than Louise (his name of choice for Natalie before she was born!).

Here's the little peanut's profile...

Take a closer look...can you tell what the arrow is pointing to?? :)

Tiny little feet...so cute!

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart." Jeremiah 1:5