It's the Simple Things

Had a great, relaxing weekend. We were outside for just about all of it. Finally, the rain has stopped - for now. The boys enjoyed playing in their little pool, the sprinkler, and the slip-n-slide. I don't think I've ever laughed as hard as I did seeing Chris go down the slip-n-slide. Grant couldn't quite figure out what he was supposed to do at first, so I talked Chris into showing him how it was done. See Exhibit A below. Good times!

Everyone kept saying to me, "You have to read them. They're such good books." I was hesitant about giving in. After all, I hadn't read a book cover to cover since before Grant was born. Out of curiosity mostly, I finally jumped on the "Twilight" bandwagon. Needless to say, once I jumped on I haven't looked back. In three weeks I have finished the first two books, and hopefully I will be finished with the third this evening. I'm completely hooked. Every spare minute has been spent reading. I just can't seem to put it down. I don't know what I'm gonna do once I finish the fourth book and am left hanging. The movie was good; however, I don't think I would've liked it near as much had I not read the book first. All of the girls at work are reading them or have read them, and Edward and Bella seem to be the topic of conversation practically everyday. Reading has turned out to be a nice change of pace for me, and I have found a renewed love for books.

So, if you're in the mood for something other than TV, check out the Twilight series. Great fictional entertainment!

On the homefront...

Ben turned 2 last Friday! He's not my little Bean anymore. He's officially a big Bean. He finally hit somewhat of a growth spurt and while he's still on the small side, he has filled out and gotten quite a bit taller. We've started the process of weaning him off of his paci, or should I say paci[s]. For a while now he has slept with two pacis. He puts one in his mouth and holds the other in his hands. As he's falling asleep he passes the one paci back and forth between his hands and occasionally switches it out with the one in his mouth. It's a funny thing to watch. His hands don't stop until he's completely asleep. The only time Ben stops going is when he's asleep.

He runs everywhere he goes and is constantly into something. It's funny to watch him when we visit some place we've never been before. He immediately starts casing the place. He starts at one corner and walks each wall around the room trying to figure out what looks like the most interesting kind of trouble he can get into first. It's amazing to watch his little mind work. All it takes is for him to watch someone do something one time and he can pick up on it. That being said, potty training is somewhat underway. I figured I'd let him go at his own pace with the whole potty training thing, but apparently he seems to be ready sooner rather than later. He's been using the potty for several weeks now. I've not taken the big step to big boy underwear as of yet but figure that will only be a matter of time since he's insistent on keeping up with Grant.

I took down the crib a couple weekends ago and Ben has transitioned quite well into sleeping in a big boy bed. Of course, sometimes he's not quite ready to go to bed when he's supposed to, but he's getting it - slowly but surely. Grant is now sleeping on the "bop bunk" as Ben calls it. The crib was the last bit of anything "baby" that we had. I toted a load of 4 garbage bags of outgrown clothes back to South Point last weekend for my cousin Mark. They'll be having their first little boy this summer. It is sad in a way that I officially don't have any more babies, but I am looking forward to what's in store for our family.

Here are some pics from Ben's birthday party in South Point. We all had a blast, and it was nice spending time with the family. Check out the cake mom and I made. It tasted sooo good!

I'm looking forward to an awesome weekend. The weather is supposed to be nice, and I plan on having all of my housework finished before tomorrow so I can spend the entire weekend with my three guys. Cookout tonight, Salem Red Sox game tomorrow evening, church on Sunday, and tons of playing outside. Sounds like a wonderful weekend to me.

So... another birthday come and gone. I won't lie. I was dreading turning 30. Every year on my birthday I tell Chris, "I don't want to turn another year older. I like the age I am." I'm not necessarily sad that I'm getting older but am a little pensive about the years ahead. Someone told me last Thursday, "You are living the last few days of your decade." Holy cow... can we say depressing? I recall my mom's "Over the Hill" party, and I remember thinking, "Gee whiz. 40 is old!" Obviously I now realize that 40 is not old but that is where I'll be at the end of the decade I'm now beginning. Sobering. It's sobering to me because I know the next 10 years of my life are just gonna fly by. When I got married everyone said to me, "Enjoy this time because it will fly by." It did. When I was pregnant with Grant everyone said, "Enjoy every minute because your life will change before you know it." It did. When I had Benjamin everyone said, "Take the time to enjoy your kids. They won't be babies for long." They're not.