Happy Halloween

Hope your holiday was filled with more treats than tricks.

Happy Birthday Holland

Our little Holland has made it a year! Since we aren't crazy party people (and her birthday was on a Sunday) we just had a quiet dinner with family and woke her up in time to eat a little pie and open presents.

Here is what Holland is like at age one:

• total mommy's girl
• loves to cuddle, especially if she has her binkie and her blanket
• adores Bennett to no end
• just started pulling herself up to standing this week
• loves, loves, loves books
• a little too smart for my liking (she figured out how to open the DVD player months ago)
• not the most social baby, but has a great poker face
• eats pretty much anything, but prefers her carbs
• just a really sweet little girl

Happy Birthday Holland!

Just Thought You Should Know

In case of emergency, rest assured that we are in good hands.

We have the very capable Fireman Ben to rescue us. 

Since Bennett discovered Fireman Sam we have been playing firefighter non-stop. Bennett even builds his own firetrucks using my robe, his bag of tools, his bag of blocks and every throw pillow in the house, as well as an array of stuffed animals.

And while he will use almost anything as a fire hose, he definitely prefers this hose to all others. How else would he put out the fire in the bush (as he frequently informs me)?

And not one to be left out, Holland can usually be found trying to be part of the action.

Bennett has finally agreed that maybe Holland can be Radar, the fire dog. 

Poor girl.

Passing Time with the Perry's

This past week we were able to convince the Perry's to come visit us. Carli and I haven't gotten to spend more than an hour together since her wedding. It was too fun to have girl time whenever we wanted it, and both of our Kevin's were kind enough to let us spend every night chatting away. The Perry's were also lifesavers and watched Holland while I took Bennett for his stitches. I cannot thank you guys enough!

 It was so fun to finally get to meet Paige. The kids had a great time playing with each other and since they left Ben has been asking where Paige is. It was great to have them here. Come back and see us again!

(Getting three kids to sit still, by each other to take a picture...not so easy!)

My Official Welcome

 Before you have a boy everyone tells you about all the crazy things boys do and the multiple trips to the ER for various injuries. For almost three and a half years I have been pretty lucky. Sure, Bennett is a boy and does things that aren't the smartest (for instance last week he fell head first off of his toy buggy which I had told him repeatedly not to get on top of), but he has never managed to really hurt himself...until last weekend.

This past Saturday I received my official welcome to being the mother of a boy and he officially got his first battle wound. He wasn't even doing anything crazy-just slipped coming out of the shower.

He was a real sport about it all. He didn't want to go to the doctor at all, but once we were there he was wonderful. He held perfectly still through the multiple shots to numb him and the stitches. Despite his good behavior, I hope not to make any return trips any time soon.

Now if I can just convince him to try to keep this dry or wear a band-aid on it...

Wish me luck!

Labor Day

FAMILY + SHAVE ICE + SWIMMING + YUMMY FOOD =

ONE GREAT HOLIDAY!!!

Little Milestones

 Due to the outrageous cost of preschools here, we decided to form our own preschool with some friends. 

Last week all the fun started. Since then, Bennett has been begging for preschool everyday.

                                     

What three-year-old wouldn't love time with their friends singing, doing crafts and lots of other fun stuff!

(However, having pictures taken for your first day of preschool was not on his list of things he loves. Thanks Nancy for the pictures).

And, at the ripe old age of ten months, Holland has finally decided it might be worth crawling. It's amazing the things you can get to when you move. Let the bruised forehead begin!

Oops!

I think I failed to mention that we moved into our house right before we left on vacation.

And by right before, I mean 3 days before.

Yes, I have been home from vacation now for almost two months, but I am still 

unpacking...

hanging curtain rods...

trying to get the paint off the windows...

installing doorstops...

finding little this's and that's for the contractor to fix...

and having too much fun with these two...

And somewhere in the midst of everything else going on this little lady turned nine months and isn't so little anymore.

Our Summer Adventure

Because a certain someone came home from their mission...

...we flew (what felt like) across the world to see my family. We had a family reunion of sorts. We went to Lancaster County, and then we to Hershey, PA because Bennett needed to meet someone.

 We also went to two of the Smithsonian Museums. 

We discovered the museums aren't as easy to go to with two kids and short attention spans.

By far, my favorite license plate of the trip! It made it easy to remember what car we were parked by.

One of the best parts of our trip was meeting up with the Oesterle's at the National Zoo.

Kai and Bennett were like long lost friends reunited. For days afterwards Bennett kept asking when we were going to see his friend again.

Kevin had to go back to work, but I stayed with the kids for a while longer and we had lots of time to just relax and enjoy summer. It was great!

Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us crash your house! 

Can we come back soon?

Oh, The Places You'll Go!

Congratulations!

Today is your day.

You're off to Great Places!

You're off and away!

You'll look up and down streets.  Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.

And you may not find any
you'll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you'll head straight out of town.

It's opener there
in the wide open air.

 OH!

THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

You'll be on your way up!

You'll be seeing great sights!

You'll join the high fliers

who soar to high heights.

You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You'll be left in a Lurch.

You'll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you'll be in a Slump.

With banner flip-flapping,

once more you'll ride high!

Ready for anything under the sky.

Ready because you're that kind of a guy!

And will you succeed?

Yes! You will, indeed!

(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So...

be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray

or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,

you're off to Great Places!

Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting.

So...get on your way!

Oh, The Decisions!

Today I had a terrible time deciding which knobs should go on our closet doors. I sat. I debated. I agonized. I realized they are just knobs. I just picked some.

In building our house I have spent a lot of time agonizing over the littlest details--the way the paint was put on the crown molding, which way a door should swing, knobs vs. pulls, and on down the list.

But in the end it doesn't really matter.

Yesterday we got carpet. We are pretty stoked!

And we didn't even have to agonize over this decision.

You've Had A Birthday Shout Hooray

This little boy turned three on Mother's Day...

  

 On Saturday Ben celebrated by playing in the dirt (yes, he really loves playing in the dirt), 

going to Chuck E Cheese's, and eating dinner at McDonald's.

With it also being Mother's Day also he was pretty confused for most of the day. Half way through the day he wished me a Happy Birthday! However, when the cupcakes came out he knew it was his time. I think all he wanted was to blow out candles!

I hope the next three years don't go by quite as quickly!

Happy Easter

Out of the Mouth of Ben

Ben: Mommy, I think the cushions really miss me. I better take them off before they get really dusty.

Ben: Grandma has a baby in her tummy. (Long pause with some very obvious deep thinking) Grandpa will be so happy.

And my personal favorite; if you ask Bennett what his daddy does for work he replies, "he makes soda."

As Time Goes By

Six years ago we took the plunge...

And now-

several jobs

3.5 moves, 

2 kids, 

a couple college degrees

1 house construction 

and 7 proposals later

we would still sign on for our crazy life together.

Yellow House...

...black door?

...red door?

Where Has It Gone?

Somewhere amidst everything else going on this little girl hit the four month mark! I could have sworn we just brought her home.

She is still as happy and easy going as ever. As you can tell she has found her hands and almost always has one of them in her mouth.

I think we will keep her around.

Our Views

The view from Ben's room...

The view from the family room...

(Plumbing is almost done and electric is being run. Drywall hopefully coming soon.)

We are excited to get closer to waking up to these views everyday.