Getting teeth pulled!

Trying to be a better blogger to keep everyone up to date, since I haven't been on Facebook at all lately :). 

Nate's adult teeth have been growing in on the bottom but his baby teeth just weren't budging, so we finally had to get them pulled at the dentist yesterday.  

Here is a before picture.. Weird, huh?

They let me sit right here, just outside the room.  He did so awesome, not one single tear !  He told me he was a little nervous, but he didn't act nervous at all.  Big boy!!

Giving him some "silly gas"

A little groggy and lips still numb..

He did have some pain once we got home and numbness wore off.  Dentist said that would happen because she had to dig deep to get the roots out :(

Big holes!!

Holding his teeth.. Check these roots out!!! These teeth weren't going anywhere!!  The one on the right was long too, but broke off (that's the one she had to dig out).  Ouch!

He was excited about the tooth fairy, she brought him five whole dollars for his first two teeth!!

Behavior Chart (Testing app on my phone)

Testing this blogger app, trying to do this from my phone..

Behold, our version of a "behavior chart".  At the very least, we'll get some laughs out of it.  We already have gotten a few :)

Ben is 11 months!

Oh boy, he sure is getting big, and SO FAST!  We've had a very busy summer so far, and Ben is doing great running around and keeping up with Nate and Lilly.  He walks holding on to things and actually has even started trying to take a step or two on his own!  Still stumbling a lot and mostly crawling to get across the room, though.  He just wants to go, go, go.  If he's fussy, we can usually take him to a different room and let him play and that change of scenery seems to do the trick most of the time!  I tried to baby-proof the play room (i.e. throw all barbie shoes and super hero swords away), so I don't have a heart attack every time he crawls over there, but we still have to keep an eye on him because his favorite thing to do in there is try to knock the TV over or pull it off the stand.  I cut even more hair off this month, it grows so fast just like his big brother!  He's got a major case of stranger danger and when any adults that aren't mommy or daddy get in his face, he very well may start screaming and crying!  He loves to play peek-a-boo and so far loves the water, and going to the pool with brother and sister.  He also loves to move the kitchen chairs back and forth on the tile, making a really loud noise which he seems to think is funny (I do not)!  I finally took these two large brown square decorative tins off the wall in the living room, because for some reason they were upsetting Ben terribly!   He'd crawl over there and touch them, trying to lift them off the wall, then scream and cry.  I had to go as far as to put them under my bed because he got upset every time he saw them!!  So funny.  Who knows.  

This is my friend, April's little boy, who is 5 months old here.  Ben loves him and tries to reach out to touch him when he can.  So sweet, they are gonna be good buddies!

Handsome haircut by Mom

Caught him sleeping like a pretzel.

In his big boy car seat for a month or so now..

                                       Some 11 month pictures.  Oh, how I love this boy so!!

July 4th FUN!

We had a great July 4th this year!  On July 3rd, the kids, Brian, my mom and I went to watch fireworks out at Big League Dreams stadium down the street from our house.  We sat next to some friends, so the kids had their friends to play with too!  We were way too close to the fireworks for Ben's comfort, and he was traumatized pretty good.  I was holding him but he screamed pretty much through the whole thing.  I don't blame him, it was really dang loud!!  Overall he did good for his first fireworks.  Then on July 4th, my sister and her kids came up from Waco and the kids had fun swimming and playing back at the house.  We grilled burgers and hot dogs and then managed to find a spot a few blocks away where we could sit and (kind of) see the fireworks over the lake.  Either way, we had fun!  

 Pictures from July 3rd.. 

Ice slide!  There was a small one, which Nate and Lilly both went down, and then there was a really tall one that Nate slid down too!  He was very brave!

We got crafty and made some flag shirts with hand prints, but Miss Lilly had to wear her dress that MeMaw and Papa got her for her birthday!

Ben was bear crawling to avoid the AstroTurf!

I don't think he really cared for his first taste of cherry snow cone Daddy gave him!

Sitting with their sweet friends enjoying snow cones!

Love Grandma!!!

ok, I had to post this funny, because this is what I wanted to make...

and this is what I ended up with!!  Whatever, close enough.  And it still got eaten, for the most part!  HA

Sweet cousin Avery taught Lilly how to make these loom bracelets, she can NOT get enough of them now!

Our attempt to see the lake fireworks from the street with the other chumps!  They were SO TIRED from swimming all day!

Lilly lost her first tooth!

It's been wiggly for quite a while, but she finally let me pull out her first tooth two days before her 6th birthday!  It was the bottom left, and the one next to it will be out shortly!

So here is a picture right after I pulled her tooth out.  She was a little nervous, but didn't cry at all and was actually super excited and laughing as soon as it came out.  She put it under her pillow and got three whole dollars!  I have it on good authority that the first tooth gets more money than the rest, so I told her not get her hopes up on the rest of them :).

Here's to the beginning of weird smiles full of gummy holes!!!

Nate and Lilly are SIX!! Birthday party and birthday quiz!

So, this year has gone by faster than any year of my life.  Is it the more kids you have, the faster the time goes?  Geez.  Anyway!  We pulled together an early evening pool party this year to celebrate Nate and Lilly's big sixth birthday.  We invited some kids from school, and a few of our neighbor friends that we always play with.  Of course my Mom came to celebrate, Aunt Alison and cousins came up from Waco and Aunt Stephanie came out from Colorado Springs, with her fiance Jerrod and his sweet daughter, Makayla.   They stayed with us for a few days and the kids hit it off great and had a blast playing together!  There was a lot going on so unfortunately I didn't get very many pictures at the pool, but I did take some of them opening presents at home after the party.

I did manage to get one with my phone at the pool before the party started!

 Taking a break from the pool to eat cupcakes!

 Ben was NOT happy at the party!  Poor guy, I think he was feeling cruddy from teething..

Presents!

One more cupcake, the next day, on their ACTUAL birthday!  We sang again to each of them separately, and I think they enjoyed getting their own song for a change!

 GOOF BALLS.

Fun with new toys!

Birthday Quiz-
I typed EXACTLY what they said when I asked them (same questions as last year):

LILLY
Favorite color- purple
Favorite movie- Brave
Favorite TV Show-Bloom
Favorite thing to play- Loom rubber bands
Best Friend- Paxton and Keira (girls from pre-k)
What do you want to do when  you grow up?  doctor
Favorite sport- Volleyball (?)
Favorite restaurant- Whataburger (?)
Favorite Book- Princess Puppies - "because I can read the whole thing"
Favorite Lunch- PB and J
Favorite Drink- Milk
Favorite Song- Let it Go (from Frozen)
Favorite Snack-  Crackers
Favorite Store- Target
Favorite Ice Cream- Chocolate

NATE
Favorite color- Blue
Favorite movie- Ninja Turtles
Favorite TV Show- Paw Patrol
Favorite thing to play- Super Heros
Best Friend- Colt (from class)
What do you want to do when you grow up?  Police Officer
Favorite sport- soccer
Favorite restaurant-Little Ceasars pizza (?)
Favorite Book- Superhero with a dinosaur ("DC Super Friends, T-Rex Trouble")
Favorite Lunch- Turkey cheese sandwich
Favorite Drink - Water
Favorite Song- This is how we roll (country song)
Favorite Snack- Goldfish
Favorite Store- Target
Favorite Ice Cream-Vanilla