Family Beach Pictures '15

Family Vacation '15

We loaded the car Thursday morning and headed south. And when I say loaded, I mean we couldn't have fit one more thing in it.

Both kids were so good. Bennett didn't sleep a ton, but he was a good traveler. One of his naps was interrupted when his float dislodged and hit him in the face.

About 2 hours before we arrived at the beach, Dusty told Avery Claire if she listened closely, she could start hearing the beach in this bottle. Her little imagination ran with it, because, what do ya know, those waves got louder and louder the more palm trees we saw! 

We had to hit the beach as soon as we were done eating dinner. 

The sound of waves knocked this one out in about 5 minutes. 

He found the beach pretty relaxing. 

Bennett loved the sand so much that he wanted to eat whenever we let him near it. 

It's harder to eat the packed sand, but a lot easier to crawl on it. 

We had some late nights, so these kiddos were tired! 

These two had fun playing together and sharing! 

These three had fun at the arcade. We left with a one stuffed animal, 1 basketball, and a few little knickknacks.

And we got the traditional airbrushed shirts. I know you can't see them, but those pictures were all fails.

5 Year Well-Check {and the Sullivan's}

5 year old stats:

46 pounds

43.25 inches tall

This girl had her 5 year well-check today. She's a healthy, tough girl. I was a little worried about shots, seeing as she has a flair for the dramatics. She was well-prepared and tough as nails. She flinched and scrunched her face and I waited on the tears, but they didn't come, through all three shots. 

I was a little worried when Dr. C started examining her belly very closely and asked me if she was taking any medicines. When I said no and he still looked weird, I realized her belly was yellow all the way down one side. And it scared me because it looked like a huge, almost gone bruise that I couldn't imagine how I'd missed. And, remember, she has a flair for the dramatics, so how could she have been injured that badly and never said a word? Then she reminded me that she'd spilt her green Icee pop earlier. We changed her shirt, but I didn't realize it had stained her belly. And she told us both we needed glasses because her belly was green, not yellow. 

She's all ready for Kindergarten. Her mama is not.

We leave for the beach tomorrow. So, Becca let me know a day or two ago that she wanted our kiddos tonight, so that we could pack. How did we get so lucky to have sweet, thoughtful friends that love our babies and whom our babies adore? 

VBS '15

Today was the first day of Bible school. We invited Addison to go with us several weeks ago. Instead of getting up when my alarm went off, I woke up 4 minutes before it was time for us to leave. I woke the kids up and got us ready and out the door in 12 minutes. We were gonna be late, but not too late. Until I ran over a huge rock and puntured my tire. I was ready to give up, but my husband came and gave me his truck and handled my car so I could get all of us to Bible School. 

These two were so excited about going together! 

This chick was so excited to have a friend going with her. I didn't get a picture of them together on day two, but you can tell how excited she was! 

We knew we were gonna miss day 4, but we had planned to go on Day 3. Until, after we were all ready, I realized Bennett's car seat was in Dusty's truck where we'd left it the night before. And by the time we got it, we were too late to go. Some days you win, some days you don't. 

Happy Father's Day

Dusty, these two are my greatest blessings, and I wouldn't have them without you. Thank you for being the best Daddy and the best husband. Ten years ago, I had such big dreams for us, and you have made every one of them come true. You're the fun in our funny, the teller of the bestest stories, checker of all weird noises, fixer of everything broken, putter-together of all toys and gadgets, and the calm to our crazy. I'm so glad you're ours. We love you so very much!

In other news, Bennett got a "pen" this week. The boy is everywhere. 

I'm afraid he's gonna be a climber, crawler-under-everything boy!! 

Happy Father's Day!!

This Papa is one of a kind. I love the way you love my babies, and the way they love you. I'm so proud to call you my daddy. You're selfless, kind, calm, loving, and Godly, all of the things I strive to be.  I love you so much!

Happy 8 Months, Bennett!

At 8 months, you:

- wear size 3 diapers. 

- wear 9-12 month clothes. 

- are not very interested in a bottle. You rarely take more than 4 oz at a time, usually not even that much. You are very interested in what the big people eat, though. 

- eat food mid-morning and at supper time. You pretty much like anything. You don't love green veggies, but you'll eat them. If they are mixed with something else, you don't even notice. 

- like to eat Puffs and the baby Yogurt bites. 

- went swimming for the first time. You LOVE the bath tub, so we knew you'd like the pool. We were right. You like the float, but you'd rather us hold you so you can really get to the water. And you'd really rather us just let you go in the water...you think you'd be just fine without us. 

- got your first tooth!! You actually got your first two bottom teeth within 2 or 3 days of each other. 

- such a happy, easy little guy. You're very laid back and go with the flow, most of the time. 

- are not big on sleep. We've done some sleep training this week, and you've actually taken naps in your bed that lasted longer than 45 minutes, which is a first for you. So we've been excited and encouraged. 

- still wake up during the night, usually once. You take about 4 oz and lay right back down and go to sleep, so I don't complain. Since you won't take a bottle during the day, I make sure you get one whenever you'll take one. Even if it's at 3 am. You usually wake up once around 3-4, take a bottle, then sleep another 3-4 hours. So, you're sleeping til 8-9 some days! 

- can go from a crawling to a sitting position. And you've started pulling up in your bed, too. Slow down, dude!!

- wave hi and bye

- are tough. If you take a tumble that I know would have been very dramatic for your sister, you might cry a minute, then you're over it and ready to go again. 

- have adopted a lovie this week - a monkey, George, named by sister. 

- LOVE your sister. You get so excited when she is around. 

- are such a loving baby boy. You're busy, and you're tough, but you give the sweetest, slobbery-est kisses. And you still love to snuggle when you're sleepy. 

- Bennett Dale, you are such a joy to us. We all love to make you smile and giggle and love every second of watching you grow. God could not have sent a more perfect addition to our family. We love you much, baby boy!