Family Weekend

We had so much fun with our family this weekend. They left too soon. :O( We wish they could have stayed longer. But, we enjoyed the time that we had with them. We hardly saw Kennedy and Andrea the entire time. (except when they put on shows for us) They are quite an act!!! They sing, they dance, they recite poems. What multi-talented girls we have!! Those two are inseperable once together. I wish we all lived closer together. But, despite the distance, I think they are going to grow up being best friends. :O) They adore each other! As for Caleb, well, poor Caleb ended up getting super sick on Friday. He spent half the day throwing up, and the other half of the day laying on the couch trying to get comfortable. Poor kid. He was better on Saturday though. Guess he just had a 24 hr bug. It was a nasty one. Of course it had to hit him when we had people here and things to do. I felt bad for him. Most other weekends we just hang around the house anyway. But, this weekend everyone went out shopping and lunching, and Caleb couldn't go. He really wanted to, but he was too sick. :O( I'm glad he is feeling better now. Here are some pictures of the family.

Gramps and Benny

Kennedy and Andrea

Caleb and Ash

Andrea and Ben

The kids

Gammy, Judi, Andrea, Ben, Gecky, Kennedy

Steve with a lovely stache :O), Ash, Uncle Troy, Caleb, Ben, Granddad

Ok. So, Steve has been growing a beautiful moustache for Movember. This is for a charity event to raise money and awareness for prostate cancer. You can read about it here. http://www.movember.com/

Some of the guys in Steve's office have been doing this. He has until next Saturday to harvest this magnificent facial hair. :O) Isn't he gorgeous??? (in a 1980's motorcycle cop kind of way) ;O) If you would like to sponsor him, this is how you do it.

To donate to my Mo you can either:

Click on the button at the top of this blog and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account. When the site comes up: click on donate. Then donate to an individual. Enter the registration # 1630291. Then click on donate next to Steve's name and follow the instructions.

or

Write a check payable to the ‘Prostate Cancer Foundation', referencing my Registration Number 1630291 and mailing it to:

Prostate Cancer Foundation
Attn: Movember
1250 Fourth Street
Santa Monica, CA. 90401

All donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. The money raised by Movember is donated directly to the Prostate Cancer Foundation which will use the funds for high-impact research to find better treatments and a cure for prostate cancer.

Did you know:

Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in the US with one in six American men developing the disease and more than 28,000 men dying of the disease every year.

African American men and those with a family history of prostate cancer are twice as likely to develop the disease and should have regular annual testing starting at 45. All other men should commence testing at 50.

Prostate cancer is 90% curable if detected and treated early.

Here's to your health!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I think this has been the best Thanksgiving that I can remember. I am most thankful for that, especially since last year was probably the worst. That was when my dad was very sick and having surgery, and we weren't quite sure what was going to happen.
Well, thankfully, he made it through and has done very well over the past year. And what a year it has been! Among our countless other blessings, Steve graduated and found a new job that he loves. And then we grew and gave birth to our fabulous little Benny. We are now a family of 5 and the number suits us well. Caleb and Kennedy love their new little brother and are sooo good with him. They have definitely taught me a thing or two. We have had a lot of family come to stay with us since Benny was born. We LOVE that. We miss you all so much and we love it when you are here. After Benny was born, my mom put her entire life on hold and came and stayed with us for 2 1/2 weeks. She left her husband for that whole time and came and waited on us hand and foot. I don't think I could ever express how thankful I am for that. You are the best, Mom!

I am very thankful to Gramps, Granddad, Gam, Aunt Geckie, Uncle Troy and Andrea for coming to spend Ben's first Thanksgiving with us. This was also our year to have Caleb and Kennedy. So, we have had a full house and we love it. The only thing that could have made this Thanksgiving any better, would have been having Everyone together. I guess we will have to wait for Christmas for that. But, we did get to see everyone at Grandma's Paula's house over the web cam. Those things are so fun! I guess I am thankful for them, too. ;O)

Anyway, here are some pictures of our great Thanksgiving day! I hope you all enjoyed yours as much as I enjoyed mine!! :O)

A little nap with Gecky before the festivities.

This little turkey loves his Gammy.

The turkey frying set up. Notice Steve's turkey frying uniform!?!?!

After dinner, we went to Zoo Lights. The whole Phoenix Zoo is decorated with lights for the holidays. It is fabulous and I love it. It even rained on us, but it wasn't very cold. We had a very good time.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

All In A Day's Work.

Oh the life of my little Benny. He is such a good boy, and he is starting to have a little fun, too!

He wakes up and has a bottle. Sorry, I have no pictures of Benny eating. See, when he wants to eat, he means businesss. Mommy would need a few more hands if there was any hope of catching a snapshot during the feeding frenzy!

He is a happy camper once he has a full belly!

And so he plays in his gym.

Ok! We've had enough of the gym.

He gets changed.

A full belly, and a clean butt!! What more could a boy ask for? :O)

And so he sings!

I think he may be trying to yodel! He loves yodeling! I am trying to teach him. I love a good yodel! (no, I am not good at it. But that does not stop me from trying) :O)

At about this time, the frenzy begins again. This time he gets cereal in his bottle. Ooh, does he love that? Yummy!

And then he sleeps.

We now have a couple of hours before we go back to step one and repeat. Unless, of course it is nighttime. Ben is now sleeping through the night most of the time. Ahh, I can feel the bags under eyes getting smaller! :O) I love being Ben's mom!

Wanna Knuckle Sandwich

The young MonGoose never lets his gaurd down.

Grandma and Grandpa Come to Town!

Grandma Paula and Grandpa Michael came to visit for the weekend. This is the first time that Benny met Grandpa Michael. I think he liked him!! :O) We had fun, as we always do, and were very sad to see them leave this morning. But, we will get to see them again in just a couple of weeks.

Thursday Afternoon

Ben is starting to stay awake a little more during the day now. He usually sleeps for most of the night. Last night, he actually went to bed at midnight and didn't wake up until 8:30 am. I was even up before him. And I spent a lot of time looking at him to make sure he was still breathing. :O) He is just a good baby!

Ben's First Play Date!

Ben and I went over to Aimee's today for our first play date to meet Reid.

It was quite a hit! ;O)

Reid is so sweet. He was born 13 days after Ben. He slept almost the entire time we were there, unlike my little fuss pot. :O) (Who happens to be screaming right now! Gotta go!!)