Happy Birthday, Richie!

Yesterday was Richie's 35th birthday! We actually celebrated as a family on Monday night, a day early, because I had a little surprise up my sleeve. The night started with homemade lasagna and peanut butter pie!




Then we moved to the presents! I gave him new shoes, Ben gave him some beef jerkey, and Owen made him a sweet birthday card...

"Happy Birthday, Dadby"

...and got him a camoflauge hat with lights in it, just like Pop and Uncle Minor have!

Tuesday morning, I surprised Richie by telling him I had the day off work! We took the boys to daycare anyway so that we could spend the day together. First we met Jeremy at Marche for a delicious breakfast. Then we headed to the shoe store to exchange the shoes I got Richie for some boots instead. Afterwards, we caught a matinee of True Grit and ate a late lunch with Jeremy and Tiffany at Burger Up. The fun didn't stop there, though! That night, Mrs. Paula came to keep the boys, and we had yet another kid-free meal...three in one day! We finished off the day with a stop at No. 308, an awesome new bar that some friends of ours recently opened.
I headed home around 11 to relieve Mrs. Paula and get ready for work today, but Richie's fun lasted on into the night...

What a rare and wonderful treat to get to spend so much time together! Richie seemed to enjoy all the birthday attention. :)

Happy Birthday, babe...you're older than me, but I love you anyway!

Month 6 with stats

Owen at birth: 7 lbs. 12 oz., 20"
Ben at birth: 8 lbs. 9 oz., 21"

Owen at 1 month: 9 lbs 5 oz, 22"
Ben at 1 month: 10 lbs 5.5 oz, 22"

Owen at 2 months: 12 lbs 14 oz, 24.5"
Ben at 2 months: 13 lbs 1.5 oz, 24"

Owen at 4 months: 15 lbs 11 oz, 26.75"
Ben at 4 months: 15 lbs 4 oz, 26"

Owen at 6 months: 17 lbs 11 oz, 28"
Ben at 6 months: 17 lbs 10.5 oz, 27"

Little Ben is still trending smaller than Owen in both weight (just barely) and height. He did have a bout of flu recently that really diminished his appetite, so I think that definitely hampered his weight gain. He started feeling bad Christmas Day and on the 26th it was obvious that he was a sick little guy. Luckily for Ben, he bounced back rather quickly. Unluckily for me, I caught the flu and it sidelined me for a solid 5 days. I rang in the New Year alone in bed shivering with fever. Yuck! Ben, here are some of your accomplishments at 6 months old:

• You are finally giving solids a chance. So far you don't love anything in particular, but you don't seem to hate anything either.
• You are rolling all over the place. You can roll from back to front, and front to back.
• Your drooling has lightened up a bit but you still love to chew on teether toys and our fingers. Maybe a tooth will be coming soon?
• Most nights you sleep all the way through the night - except during the days you had the flu.
• You really love your jumper, just like big brother did when he was little. You tolerate the activity chair but you don't love it nearly as much as the jumper.
• You made your first trip to Mississippi, checked on the cows the first time, celebrated your first Christmas, and also got to visit with Gi Gi, Granddaddy and Uncle Jon!

It's hard to believe that half of Ben's first year has already passed! He is such a sweet baby - he rarely gets upset unless he is hungry or needs a change of scenery. He seems to be growing and changing right in front of my eyes. I wish I could slow time down just a little bit, but at the same time, I am so excited to see him grow and watch his personality develop. What a precious gift our little Benjamin is!

White Christmas!

Well, Santa came and he brought some snow with him! It's not only Benjamin's first Christmas, but our first White Christmas! Here are some highlights....

Owen checking out Santa's snack plate - looks like he liked it all, even the soy milk!

Owen's stocking got stuffed! I love that the first thing he grabbed was Mr. Bubble :)

To Owen's relief, Santa remembered that we have a new baby! He brought Ben some sippy cups, teether toys, a ball toy, and some cars. Looks like Santa knew just was Ben was hoping for!

Jeremy and Tiffany came over to spend Christmas evening with us. They helped Owen build a wooden house that Gran and Pop got him. Note the safety glasses and carpentry apron!

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Love,

Anna, Richie, Owen, and Ben

Twas the night before Christmas...

Somebody forgot to restock the flour at the grocery store, so no homemade cookies for Santa this year. Instead, he's getting mini Oreos, some cheese balls, a glass of soy milk, and some carrot sticks for the reindeer. Hope he likes it!

Mississippi Christmas

Despite all the traveling we did during my maternity leave, the one place we didn't make it to was McComb. Somehow, I wound up going almost an entire year without going home. Talk about a major case of homesickness! Richie had to fly back to California to finish out the Sing 0ff, and I figured the time was perfect for the boys and me to head south to the farm. Ben, meet Mississippi!

No trip home is complete without a ride on the mule, even if it is freezing outside!

Uncle Minor getting a little workout doing some heavy lifting...

Ben's first time to check the cows - Owen loved everything except the smell :)

We had such a wonderful time with my parents and my brother. I got to see some of my oldest and dearest friends, Paula and Audrey. We ate some delicious meals and went to Pop's store Christmas lunch. We even opened our stockings and got some early Christmas happies! Although I had been nervous to travel so far by myself with the boys (and our dog Barrett!), the trip went better than I had hoped - we made it there and back just fine and in very good time each way. Thank you, Gran, Pop, and Uncle Minor, for a very special visit to my favorite place on earth!

Our Big News...

Well, not that kind of big news! I had mentioned several months ago about an opportunity Richie had that he just couldn't pass up, which led to Ben and me taking a trip to L.A. This opportunity - as if anyone who might possibly read this wouldn't already know - is a singing competition on NBC called "The Sing-0ff." Basically, over the summer, Richie, Jeremy and several friends auditioned to be on the second season of The Sing-0ff and, to our great surprise, they made it onto the show! Richie left for L.A. when Ben was barely over a month old. The show started with 10 amazing a capella groups competing for a record contract and a cash prize.

The first 4 episodes were filmed over the summer and the final episode will be live. The first episode aired on Monday, December 6, and it was just an incredible experience. Jeremy and his girlfriend Tiffany had lined up a viewing party at The Holland House, here in East Nashville. About 100 of our friends piled in to watch the guys make their national television debut on a big screen projector. Every time they had air time, the whole restaurant would yell and cheer for them. We couldn't stop smiling the entire night. It was truly an unforgettable experience! Now we just have to wait to see how far the guys will get in the competition. No matter how the show turns out, it has been quite an unbelievable ride!

Month 5

Yesterday, Ben turned 5 months old. I'm trying not to think about how close that is to being half a year old. But I do think about that a lot. Wah! Ben has continued to amaze us with his sweet nature, his quick and ready smile, and his awesome sleeping skills. We are back in our groove of sleeping 10 hours a night. Yes. Oh thank you Lord, yes! Granted, we still have nights here and there when Ben will wake up and want to nurse. I've been chalking this up to growth spurts. He is definitely a growing boy! He seems to always be hungry sometimes, and I am not always able to keep up with his appetite. We've started supplementing formula once a day when he's at daycare so that I can hopefully build up a good stash of milk before we wean. I would love to make it a year nursing him, so that's what I'm pumping myself up for. Nyuk nyuk!

Despite his voracious appetite, Ben just hates rice cereal. I've tried mixing it with formula. Hates it. Breastmilk. Hates it. Hates big bites. Hates tiny bites. Hates it, hates it, hates it. So I think we may just skip the cereal and move right on to veggies. I have a friend who teaches a homemade baby food class and she has offered to show me the ropes of baby food making. It might seem like a no-brainer - like, just mush up some carrots and call it a day! I tried making baby food for Owen and apparently it was horrid. Bless his heart, he gagged until he threw up. So I'm getting some professional help this time around!

We often get remarks, both from friends and from perfect strangers, about how easy-going and sweet-natured Benjamin is. He truly is just the sweetest little thing. He is very curious and loves to look around at what's going on around him. He is quick to smile and giggles often - especially for Owen. Ben continues to be fascinated by anything Owen says or does. It is just so precious to watch them together! Yesterday morning, we heard Owen go into Benjamin's room as soon as he woke up and the two of them just hung out together - Owen on the floor and Ben in his crib - for a while until I went to get Ben up for the day. Oh, I love my boys!

Other things Benjamin can do now that he is 5 months old:

• Push waaaay up and arch his back while on his tummy
• Crane his neck and turn his head to look at whatever has got his interest - sometimes he looks like a little owl rotating his head around to look at whoever is holding him
• He still loves to jibber jabber and has now added high pitched squealing to his repertoire. He only does this when he's very excited or if he is getting frustrated. It gets your attention quickly, let me tell you.
• His activity chair/exersaucer is a new favorite toy. He doesn't like to sit in it for long, but he is learning to spin around to all the different 'stations' and can manipulate all the different toys to rattle, spin, play music, etc.
• Sadly, he doesn't like being held like a baby much anymore. He would much rather be sitting up and looking around. He is quite a social little guy, but he also loves sweet moments of one-on-one conversations and interaction with his mommy and daddy.

It's hard to believe another month has already passed. November saw many happy celebrations - Owen's birthday, my birthday, Thanksgiving, and visits from both sides of our family. December has lots of fun in store with the premier of The Sing Off, hopefully a trip to McComb, meeting Santa for the first time, Benjamin's first Christmas, and more time with our families. There is certainly a lot to look forward to, but I am happy just enjoying each moment along the way and savoring these times with my children while they are still so young.