Happiness

We had a long weekend that felt, at moments, like a real vacation. Lounging by lakes, sipping icy drinks, dining out, connecting with friends. The best part, by far, was having hour after hour of free time with my Green Bean. I wish I could somehow make every day a three-day-weekend day. Here are a few bits of happiness from the last few days.

The boy loves his dog. And he's beginning to love playing in the grass. He rips it out by the handful, and sneakily tries to eat it. It seems like I'm saying the phrase, "no no, we don't eat that" about five million times a day. Items such as balls of cat hair, paper and dirty flip flops fall into the "we don't eat that" category.



Nic is not a fan of these cowboy boots, but I think they rock. The boots speak for themselves.



Sleeping all snuggled up with Mommy doesn't happen very often anymore, so I savor the moment when it does.



Hot hubby and darling baby at the lake on a beautiful day. Does it get any better?



I was totally convinced he was going to poke his eye out with this thing. As of today, both eyes are still intact.



This was the first time we tried putting him in a restaurant high chair. He did a great job! And he kept busy charming all of the wait staff.



He's so awesome I can barely stand it.



And one more stealth shot of the monkey. This time he's walking along like a good boy/monkey. Lovely.



Have a great week.

A little fun from Monday...

We ventured out yesterday evening for some free jazz at the Pavilion. It was quite the adventure, indeed. Bennett was being extra cute, as per usual.



So, we've seen this guy a few times now... just a walkin' around the lake with his monkey. That's right, a monkey. Not a particularily small monkey, either. He's about the size of, say, your average 18 month old. Once Nic walked up to this pair when they were lounging on a park bench. The dude warned him. "Better not come any closer - he likes to dig in peoples' pockets..." Oh my. And sorry - this is the best shot I could get without "getting too close".

The Green Bean is all over the place now. I can barely manage to keep him anywhere near the nice blanket we put down, let alone keep him from crawling dangerously near puddles of bird poo that happen to land near the pavilion railings. But hangin' with Daddy is his favorite, and that Twins hat provides a nice distraction.





I'm thinking that our new neighborhood is going to make for some special childhood memories.

Old Spice

I smell like Old Spice. This is because somehow I have managed to forget to purchase a normal ladies' deodorant for, oh, about the past month. But Nic has a stockpile of Old Spice, so...

If I don't secure my elastic hair bands in some fashion before bedtime, Kitty will tear them apart and eat them. Hair bands that are left sitting unprotected on the nightstand are in real danger. So now, every night they come out of my poor excuse for a hairstyle (pile o' hair that is supposed to be a bun) and get wrapped ever so carefully around the corner of my pillowcase, where they can remain safe until morning. My pillowcase has a ponytail.

The "Q" key on the laptop is busted. It falls off every time you come near it. Is it ok to superglue a broken key back to the keyboard? Probably not a good plan.

Is there anything worse than being stuck inside at work when the weather is perfect? Wait - don't answer that. Because yes, I know that there are worse things. At least I got out to enjoy some early evening sun and a nice breeze the other day. I wanted to stop about fifty times and take pictures of everything that looked spring-y and pretty. However, I did not stop too much, lest I wake the King of Snoozles. He does not like stopping.



Just one picture of an especially twisty tree. And blue sky that just wouldn't quit. And spring green leaves making their first appearance of the year. Ahhh.



Our good friends welcomed their first little baby to the world yesterday, and I was literally dancing around my office this morning when a snapshot of his cute baby face appeared on my phone. Babies are the best. I wish these friends didn't live so very far away, because I'd sure like to be there in person to give baby a snuggle, mommy a big hug, and daddy a high five.

New baby has me thinking about how far we've come. It was not so long ago when Bennett made his arrival, but it seems so far away. He grows and changes at lightning speed, and it seems like leaps and bounds now separate us from his new baby days. So, though today is not a particularily important milestone, (he has offically reached the age of 8 months and 6 days), I feel like looking back for just a moment and celebrating the then and the now.



Happy Thursday, folks.

Travel System

You know how they market those fancy stroller/carseat combinations as travel systems? Well, this is our travel system. This is how we roll.



It may not be pretty, but it sure makes me laugh. The cart is an oldie but a goodie that my mother-in-law found at a garage sale. We originally acquired it several years ago with the idea that our dogs could ride around in it. After all, French Bulldogs have rather short legs, and making it all the way around a lake with them would have been nearly impossible without the cart. Who would have thought that it could make such a sweet baby mobile? Some lady actually walked past us the other day and said, "boy, that baby sure rides in a Cadillac, huh?" And she wasn't being sarcastic. I was puzzled, to say the least. We pile up our loads of random stuff, secure the carseat with a few straps, and off we go.

Mother's Day was great. We took the travel system and went for a walk. We love our walks so very much. The lake was especially beautiful and peaceful. I think it knew I needed a little peace and calm, and it delivered.



In random order, other fantastic Mother's Day weekend happenings included:

Bennett learning how to swing. Well, at least he sat in his first real outside swing, and he seemed to enjoy it. Soon enough, he'll be asking to go higher and higher, and I'll be biting my nails.



After work on Friday, I came home to this beautiful masterpiece. Daddy and Bennett are so very creative.



I love watching him climb. He looks like a little tree frog.



Eyes closed smoochies for Mommy's Day. He is scrumptious.



Best picnic ever. The spread included cheese, chocolate and strawberries. Eating outdoors is so much fun!







I sat back on Sunday and really thought hard about how lucky I am. To be surrounded by so much love each and every day... that's just the most I could ever ask for. It is a privilege to be Bennett's mommy. It is a joy to be Nic's wife. It is, well, something, to be the proud owner of two relatively stinky pets.

Now, to continue soaking up the spring sunshine! Later, gators.

At the Park

Yesterday, we escaped. We took a half-hour vacation. I packed up baby, blanket and ball, and we made the two block trek (only two blocks! LOVE the new neighborhood) to a vast expanse of grass and trees that sat empty, looking like it had been waiting for us all day. We relaxed. We played. And it was good.









We will be escaping to the great outdoors as much as possible now that the weather feels more pleasant. Bennett is just taking it all in - tugging at blades of grass, picking up little sticks, feeling the breeze blow through his fuzzy hair, and squinting at rays of sunshine. His world gets bigger every day.

And speaking of big, I have to say that I'm pretty excited about my new, big pictures! Bigger pictures = more Bennett wonderfulness.

To eat a puff...

Bennett loves these little banana puff cereal-like things that we got for him. The fine motor skills are rockin', which is a nice bonus. His high chair is like a little throne - perched at the head of the table, the prince dines. Captions for these photos starting at the top left and going clockwise:

1. "Well, what do we have here?"
2. "A puff! Into my mouth it goes!"
3. "Chewing is hard work."
4. "Give me another puff at once!"




He's hilarious. Happy Monday.