Our sweet girl-

What a cutie-pie... if I do say so myself! She's a sweet laid-back little gal (thank goodness). So far she goes with the flow and is pretty easy to calm and figure out what she needs. And I'm afraid to write it down for fear of "ruining it"... but she has been sleeping really well! She will snooze from around 11 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. and wake again at 6ish (her personal best was 11 to 5). Mamma is feeling a lot more rested and very thankful for it.

Mystery Reader / School Birthday party-

 Can you guess who the special mystery reader was at Ben's school?!

 It was Bubba! 

So... a mystery reader is a special guest who comes to the classroom covered in a mask and all the children try to guess who it is by asking the mystery reader a series of questions. "Are you a mom?" "Do you know someone in this class?" "Are you an aunt?" I think Ben was suspicious that it was Bubba towards the end, but he seemed genuinely surprised. The class figured out that it was a grandma so they went around asking who's grandma it could be. The teacher asked Ben if it was his grandma and he said "I don't know." Here he realized that it was HIS GRANDMA. Pretty cool :) Ben LOVES a good surprise.

 Bubba read a book to the entire class and they all wanted to share their favorite colors with her!

 Ben felt pretty special with his mommy, both grandmas and baby sister at school. All to celebrate his birthday (a little late... but better late than never, that's what I always say! PLUS, who wants their birthday to only last ONE measly day... seriously!)...

The kids singing the birthday rap for Ben while he wore the birthday sunglasses!

What is love???

At Ben's school they were learning about what it means to be a good friend and what love is. While I was dropping Ben off at school the other day, I noticed this giant heart hanging in the hallway and saw Ben's sweet answer. Pretty cute!

Miss Stripes

Happy #5!

Ben decorating his birthday cake - with sprinkles, black icing and red hots.

More Star Wars!!

Ben had a nice little party at home this year with cake, ice cream and presents. He has been very excited for his birthday and to be "five like A.J." This year Ben got lots of Star Wars items, a Lego alarm clock, paint-by-numbers, Sponge Bob PJs and Super Mario Sports Wii game. He seems so big and grown up - a lot of it has to do with seeing baby Nora and how small she is, but turning five is definitely a milestone. We love you big guy!!

A real bath-

At Nora's first doctor's appointment she decided to lose her belly button cord so we got to give her a real bath. Very exciting and exhausting for Nora. At the doctor we also learned that she gained weight... 8 lbs. 4 oz. he even put her on the scale again to be sure because she had gained so much. Yahoo, we have a good little nurser and a pretty laid-back little girl.

Daddy's Birthday-

We convinced our dear (and nervous) friend Lisa to hold baby Nora at Joe's birthday celebration. It's the beginning of a long friendship for those two.

Happy birthday, daddy! So much PINK to get used to!!