My baby is 4!

Friday was Ben's 4th birthday. How time has flown by. It seems just like yesterday that I was trying to wake David up at 3 am and convince him that my water really had broken 5 weeks ahead of schedule. Ben was 3# 15 oz when we brought him home from the hospital just 3 days later. And now he is 4! We had a great weekend celebrating Ben's special day. David had friday and saturday off. On friday morning we made pancakes together, his favorite breakfast. Then we headed over to Pump It Up to play. On the way home we drove to 3 different Redboxes trying to find Kung Fu Panda. I finally convinced frugal David to go to blockbuster and rent it there before we burned all our gas money. Of course seconds after renting it there our friend called from the ONE redbox we hadn't gone to, to report they DID have it. I long for the day when money won't have to be such an issue in the little choices of our life. But knowing us, we will still hunt for the deals. Ben loved the movie and watched it twice in a row. Then off to Toys R Us where Ben played for 2 hours, telling us everything Santa should bring him. We went to Red Robin for dinner before heading home. On saturday Ben had a great birthday party. We took his soccer team and his cousin Elijah to the local fire station and had a great tour. The firemen were great with the kids and they loved it. David and I stayed up until 1 am the night before making Ben a unique firetruck cake. It was far from perfect, but we had fun making it and Ben loved it. We had a great weekend and enjoyed every minute together.

99 Balloons

I love this video on youtube. I saw it on the Oprah show on tuesday and wanted to share it with anyone interested. It is a father talking to his son Eliot, a baby born with trisomy 18. My little sister, Sarah, was born with trisomy 18. It was so positive and gave me a little glimpse into what life may have been like for her...a miracle and an angel. Grab a kleenex and enjoy.

Oklahoma!

Oklahoma, where the gas prices come sweeping DOWN the plains! I never thought I would see gas prices under $2.00 again! One of the MANY reasons I am not looking forward to leaving Oklahoma this June. As the time gets closer to move to Baltimore I seem to get more and more attached to Oklahoma. I am really going to miss it here. Honestly, I don't like to even think about it. I was the queen of Oklahoma jokes when we first moved here and now I am one of its greatest defenders. Maryland will have big shoes to fill.


We took Ben and Kate to get a pumpkin last night. It took a VERY long time to pick out the perfect pumpkin. It had to satisfy both David and Ben. David found one early on and spent the entire time trying to convince Ben it was "the one." In the end, Ben's determination won out and David gave in. Kate just had a good time climbing on the pumpkins and trying to pick them up.

Kate's hair has really started growing in and I managed to hold her still just long enough to attempt her first set of pigtails. Notice the large bruise on her right cheek. If you knew how active she is, you would understand! David is finishing up a tough rotation this week. We are excited to see more of him in November. We hope all of you have a happy and safe Halloween.

I've been tagged....

This is my first official tag. My instructions are to post the 6th picture in my sixth album and the fourth in my fourth album.



Ben's 1st Thanksgiving and 1st Halloween. How fitting for this time of year!

A Good Laugh

David's brother Mike introduced us to this website. We plugged in our pictures and discovered some great yearbook photos!

Just Because

I just wanted to share some pictures....just because they are too cute not too. Thanks again to Stephanie for capturing them. We have had an eventful couple of days. Friday morning we went to the zoo with some friends. Ben, Dyson and Haley found a sprinkler and got SOAKING wet. They were having too much fun to stop them. Kate loved the swings and carousel. Later that day we went to Ben's soccer practice and then met up with Mike, Christina and Boo for dinner. David was having a sleep over at the hospital so we dropped off some food to him on our way home. Boo slept over last night and went with us today to 2 of Ben's soccer games as well as one for Katherine. Katherine is awesome. She did this little move with the ball and faked out a girl. I was so proud of her. I wanted everyone to know she was my neice. Rob, you would have been proud! I think I remember seeing you teach her that move in your backyard. Enjoy the pictures! They are growing up too fast.

Our Tiger Soccer Star

Ben started his second season of YMCA soccer this past week. My friend Stephanie took some great pictures of him and the rest of the team. Something really clicked in Ben's soccer brain between last season and this season. All of the kids were awesome. They figured out the object of the game and ran with it. Ben said he scored 5 goals, but it was probably more like 3 or 4. He only cried one time when he bumped heads with another player. We do need to work on his little temper though. He wanted the ball at one point and struggled to get it out of a pack of kids so he started throwing elbows and fists around. The coach had to restrain him. If any of you have seen David play soccer you will understand where this temper comes from. I will admit it probably doesn't help to have my competitive genes in the mix either. He just might end up being a soccer star though. He is quick on his feet and has the needed aggression soccer requires. A big thanks to Boo (Paternal Grandpa in Thai) for making the drive from Lawton just to watch Ben play for the day. It was Boo's first day off after being on call for 10 straight days. I am sure it would have been nice to just stay at home. It meant a lot to have him there. And thanks also to Aunt Di and Katherine, the rest of Ben's cheering squad. Go Tigers!