Plantation Boys

In order in the picture: Lincoln, Bradley, Benson, and Reese.  Age order: Benson, then Lincoln two weeks later, then Bradley a week later, then Reese 3 weeks after that.  At the time I was pregnant with Benson, there were three other women in the ward due within two months also having boys.  And here they all are six months later.  It's so fun to watch them all grow up together and see them all start to look just like their parents.  Another interesting factoid for ya, all of these babies are the first Floridians in the family.

Siesta Key

After my parents left, we drove up to Sarasota with our friends, Molly and Elliot. We stayed two nights and did some playing at Siesta Key. I would have to say this is probably my most favorite beach I have ever visited. Worth the hype, for sure. The sand never gots hot, which is fabulous, especially with kids. And it's super wide so it doesn't feel as crowded, even though being spring break it was just that. I am really bummed we didn't get more pictures of our whole group. We kind of slacked on the picture taking this trip, which is so un-like us. But here are a few of my favorites.

He's still got it. Sorry ladies, he's triple-taken.

Visitors

My parents came to visit last week and we had a total blast with them. They came in on Tuesday, March 8. On Wednesday, we went the beach, Lauderdale By the Sea. We chose this beach so Jon could snorkel but it ended up not being a goog snorkel day. Bummer. But everyone had a blast anyway.







Thursday was a stay at home day since Jon had to take the car for clinicals.  (He assisted in a 6 hour lipo.  It was really interesting to hear about, but also pretty gross.)  Anyway, On Friday we hit Alligator Alley on the way to Naples.  



Vanessa sure loves her Papa.

On Saturday, we went to the Miami Seaquarium.  Jon and I were pretty stoked to win free upgrades to a an annual pass.  We are so going back.  Vanessa loved it.



This picture makes me laugh.  Remember Benson's obsession with sucking on things?  He was sucking on the Pepsi bottle my mom is holding, this is how upsets he gets if something is taken away.



Sunday was an enjoy the Sabath day.  Monday we did a cruise along the intercoastal with a few minutes on the ocean.  And my Mom took me birthday shopping!  It was rather fabulous since we didn't take the kids, I got everything on my wish list.  Thanks Mom!  I was in serious need of some new clothes :)



On Tuesday, we went to Red Reef park in Deerfield.  Supposedly, this place has some great snorkeling.  We hadn't gone yet because it's $15 for parking and we didn't want to pay that until we could trade off snorkeling with someone to watch the kids.  We were slightly disappointed.  It was nice, but not really worth the $15 to park (or the drive).  Lauderdale is better.  But, Vanessa liked being burried in the sand.

And Benson loved his sweet potatoes.

The week went WAY too fast and we were sad to see them go.  We had a blast with them and Vanessa and Benson loved all the attention and spoiling.  Vanessa loves her new Nemo and Buzz.  And Jon and I sure appreciated being spoiled with our new clothes and stocking up at Costco.  We feel so blessed to have such wonderful family.

Gator Bait

Jon and I were pretty excited to try out camping in Florida.  We camped at a park about fifteen minutes from home.  But, we were the only ones there and the park is HUGE!  (Bonus points to Florida for having very awesome parks).  We had a bonfire with delicious smores and the world's largest marshmallows, compliments of Walmart.  (They weren't free, but Walmart carries them).  We pitched our tent, if you can't tell, a stones throw from the gator infested waters.  Okay, okay, not gator infested.  But, the week prior to this we were at this park and we did see a gator on the other side.  If it isn't Grizzlies, it's gators :)

Play Date

Vanessa and Lilly had so much fun playing in the dirt and getting as messy as they possilby could.  After, they had a nice bubble bath and then reward me and Cami with nice long naps :) 

Thanks for coming to play Lilly!

Miss Mischief and Mr Innocent

Vanessa has started the age of mischief.  And she's really good at it already.  At first, I didn't get pictures and I miss a few here and there but here are some classics over the last three months. 

Just helping out with some cooking

 This isn't just an emptied sippy cup.  This is drinking a sippy cup (of milk, no less) and spitting it all over the couch.

Apparently she wanted a cracker.  The stool is now housed elsewhere, since she is sitting right next to the stove here!

"I was coloring, and then I got hungry."

This one happened in a matter of 10 seconds.  I sat down to color her nails and the next thing I knew, there was pink nail polish all over her.  It's on her legs too.

"My turn!"---he didn't even seem to care.

And this is Mr Innocent.  He has that look that says

"SHE DID WHAT?!"

Awesome Hair Day and Animals

Vanessa woke up with this awesome hair (actually clear back in December, but I'm behind okay!)

It makes me laugh that it gets so ratty in the back.  I have to use conditioner to keep it somewhat manageable.

 This is Vanessa's favorite activity.  These were a Christmas gift that Grandma and Grandpa Purdy got for Vanessa when they came in town after Benson was born.  We were supposed to save them until Christmas, but I couldn't wait.  Ha ha!  She doesn't even know about Christmas and I'm the one that gets excited about her gifts.  We're doomed when she figures it all out.  Anyway, these animals (Littlest Pet Shop)  were and still are a hit.  She plays with these more than any other toys.  She carries one or two around almost everywhere.  Her newest stunt is "hiding" them in play dough or the sand.

She likes to line them up on the bookcases because they don't stand on the carpet.

Always Good For A Laugh

Vanessa has started saying the funniest things lately.  The other day, I went running with some friends at the park.  On the way to the car, I was holding both Vanessa and Benson which was giving me a good draft of myself.  I commented to Vanessa "whoa, Mommy's stinky."  Vanessa parroted, "Mommy stinky.  A poo poo!"
Which brings me to another point.  Am I the only person that talks in third person to their children?  It drives me nuts that I do this, because I don't want Vanessa learning to talk in third person, but I can't seem to help myself.

Another random, I've really been trying hard not to teach Vanessa to fear things, specifically animals.  She wants to catch EVERYTHING.  And, usually I tell her to go catch, knowing that she can't.  Well, she proved me wrong the other day when she brought Jon a LIVE spider.  Guess she can catch things.  Well, Jon picked it up with a tissue and threw it away.  I'm sure he explained some sort of yucky explanation while doing this.  Vanessa now enjoys picking anything black and yucky looking off the floor with a tissue and throwing it away.  Recent items: a pile of black thread on the carpet and an old raisin at the park.

Benson is growing like crazy.  I've been trying out the rice cereal a little more and realized the other day his obsession with watching us eat is not about the food.  It's all about the utensils and putting things in his mouth.  He still hasn't figured out the tongue movements for using a spoon.  But he sure can drool over sucking on the spoon.  His drool is crazy.  There are rivers of it.  He loves, wait, make that a need, needs to have something in his mouth almost 24/7.  He attacks things.  At the beach with some friends the other day, he was attacking me.  Trying to eat my shoulder, my dress, anything.  I'm pretty sure everyone thought I must be starving the poor kid, but he had just eaten.  He just didn't have anything in his mouth at the moment.  Benson did learn this little trick from his aunt, he satisfies his sucking needs this way occassionally.

Couldn't Resist

We're cleaning out the computer and I found this video.  I just couldn't resist.  It was taken clear back on September 2.  Can you believe how much she's grown!

Benson

Benson is now 4 1/2 months. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. He is so big. It's so funny having one so small and one so big. I am sure Benson will outgrow Vanessa soon.
Benson is chewing and sucking things like crazy. Anything that crosses his face he tries to catch and stick in his mouth. He loves to grab onto my face and then try to pull it into his mouth. With all this sucking comes intense drooling. I don't think he is teething, but man, he just doesn't seem to be able to swallow it all or something.
He is also becoming very observant of us eating. He watches food go into our mouth and sometimes yells at you, like he knows you aren't sharing. I did try some rice cereal on him but he couldn't quite get the spoon idea down. We'll try again in a week or so.
He has also recently learned to yell and scream. Not in a form of crying (though he mostly does this when he is mad)it really is just yelling and screaming. He also squeals like crazy and has a really cute laugh.
And amazingly, two nights ago he slept for 8 hours! I was beginning to think that I didn't make babies that slept for more than a few hours without needing something. Maybe there is hope after all....
And here is the cutie himself. I do have to say I absolutely LOVE that both my kids have Jon's eyes.

The Stats

So this is Vanessa back in May, when we first moved here. Notice the shirt she is wearing. It's size 9 month. This is Vanessa today. And, after a trip to the doc this morning, here are her stats. She is 21.7 lbs and 30.75 in. Both are around 25th percentile. This is Benson rockin the bumbo. I've only put him in it for super short periods (like two minutes)up until today. He lasted quite a while and I think he enjoyed it. His stats are a different sort of story. He is 15.8 lbs and 24.75 in. Both are around the 75th percentile. I'm not quite sure how we got two so different but I'm just glad he's the big one and she's the small one.

And this beauty was our sunset tonight. Life's pretty darn good.