Fall Fun!!

This morning we went outside to play since the weather was so gorgeous! Ben had lots of fun playing in the leaves and helping mommy rake them up into piles!

And then unexpectedly Ben decided that he didn't want to wear pants anymore so he just pulled them down in the front yard!

Happy Halloween!!

Ben wasn't very fond of the red yarn hair hat and kept trying to take it off all evening!

He was very excited once he figured out that he was going to get candy at every house we went to!

Posing with his jack-o-lantern!

House Update

Just a quick update on the new house progress: They have pretty much finished the exterior!! It is so exciting watching it all come together!

Halloween Party #2

Yesterday we went to a Halloween party with our playgroup! Ben had lots of fun playing with his friends, spoiling his dinner by eating too many Halloween treats and playing Halloween games! Thanks to Preston's mom Jenn for hosting the party!!
Ben also enjoyed the nice fall weather by playing outside before church this past Sunday:

Halloween Party #1

Today we went to the first of 3 Halloween parties!

Allow me to interject this story about the costume situation: I have had a Raggedy Andy costume for Ben to wear for several months, but he really won't keep the red yarn hair on and without the hair there is really not much point to the costume. So upon learning that we would be attending 3 Halloween parties I decided to pick him up a costume to wear to them that he might actually be inclined to keep on and being so close to Halloween the pickins' are pretty slim, so I ended up with a pumpkin costume! I think it is just adorable but Daddy thinks it looks girly. I think Daddy is full of nonsense because when did pumpkins pick up a gender indentity?? And besides, Ben is only 2 years old! So anyway, we will use the pumpkin costume for the Halloween parties and try to wear the Raggedy Andy costume on Halloween for trick-or-treating!

Okay, back to the point of my post! We went to the first of 3 parties today and had lots of fun. This party was with our stay at home mom group! Ben got to play with lots of his friends and eat lots of yummy junk food, which makes for a pretty good day for a 2 year old boy!

Ben in his "girly" pumpkin costume:

Ben's friend Mikhai as a cute little giraffe:

Party Time!!

Today we went to a party celebrating Sam, Julia and Sophie's 2nd birthday! Ben had lots of fun playing with his buddies and, of course, eating cake!
As you can see, Ben gets very involved in the consumption of sweets:

And here are the stars of the day:
Happy Birthday buddies!! Thanks for inviting us to share in your special day!!

Daddy Rocks!

We picked up a few pumpkins the other day and Daddy painted faces on them so Ben could have some jack-o-lanterns!! Ben had lots of fun posing with the "ponies."

House Update

The builder is making rapid progress on our new house, so at this point we expect to be homeless for 2 weeks or less! They have poured our driveway and front porch:
They also have our cabinetry in (although not stained) and have begun the trim work:

Dentists and Tantrums...

Last week Ben went to the dentist for his first official checkup. He was obviously not at all happy with being there (and I can't blame him because I hate going too!). He did not have any cavities and the dentist said that his upper two year molars should pop through any time now!
Ben did enjoy looking at the fish in the dentist office's aquarium:
Not having fun at all with the dentist!

On another note, Ben has fully embraced being two and the cliche of "terrible twos." Last Friday he through a major tantrum after Mops and threw himself down in the church parking lot! He was at it long enough that I was able to snap some photos of my child's lovely behavior:

Happy Birthday Ben!!

I can't believe my baby boy is 2 today!! He had a great day celebrating with his family! He got way too many toys and ate way too much cake---the perfect day for a big 2 year old boy! Here are some photos of the big day:

Chuck E. Cheese

Today Ben celebrated his 2nd birthday with some of his friends at Chuck E. Cheese. Ben and his friends (and their mommies and daddies) all had lots of fun eating pizza, cake and playing all the fun games!
Ben riding in the bus with his best buds Sophie, Julia and Sam:
Ben's cousin Maddie driving the muscle car:
Ella and her daddy playing skeeball:
Aiden getting a skeeball lesson from his mommy Amy:
Ben just doesn't really understand the whole concept of skeeball and decided to do things his own way by walking the balls up and dropping them in!
Brett having fun with his daddy:
Ben hoarding his tickets that daddy won for him:
Ella, Aiden and Aiden's mommy putting out a virtual fire:
Ben riding on the horsey, which was his favorite activity!
Sophie enjoying a slice of pizza:
Ben was not at all happy about wearing his penguin party hat!
Ben's friend Addie was so in love with Chuck E. Cheese!
No, no Ben! Blow the flame out, don't try and grab it!
Cupcakes are sooo delicious!!
Two sweet girls sharing their cupcake!!
Mr. Sam relaxing with his mommy Laney:
Ben and daddy riding on the motorcycle:

Ben had such a great time with all of his friends and can hardly wait for tomorrow when he can celebrate with his family on his actual birthday!!