Jen's Public Declaration

Jen somehow forgot to mention that she was baptized this weekend. We decided to apply for membership to our new church - Community Christian Fellowship, and you have to be baptized as a believer. She was baptized as a baby but never as a believer. The church happened to be having baptisms that same day so we signed Jen up. I am so proud of her. She reaffirmed her faith in Jesus Christ and declared it to the church body.

Spring has sprung!

It was a beautiful 75 degrees here today, so we spent lots of time outside.

The morning started by going with the church playgroup to House of Bounce. It's a great place for little kids, with 3 huge inflatable jumping things, the kind you see at carnivals. One just to jump in, one with 2 huge slides, and a third with an obstacle course complete with "rock" walls. Drew loved it and can't wait to go back.

We came home for lunch, then headed to WallyWorld to get a patio set. Now that it's so nice, why not take advantage and eat outside more often?? Our deck is rarely in direct sunlight, so it's a great spot to be. Got that set up while the kids played, then had dinner.

The best part of the evening for me was when we were still outside, and I was at the bottom of our hill with Drew. Aaron was just getting Ben ready to go inside for a bath. I was getting up to head back up the hill when Drew said "Mommy, can we lay here for a minute just to watch the sky go by?" It was so incredibly cute and sweet, I couldn't say no. So we talked about the clouds and their shapes for a bit before heading in for his hose down. He was so filthy from playing outside all afternoon that the bathwater could have used a bath after!

Ben's 9 month checkup

We had his checkup this morning, and things went really well. He is now 22 lbs 5oz, 28 1/4". The dr was really impressed with how quickly Ben has gotten mobile (crawling since about 7 1/2 months) and warned me he may be an early walker based on his observations in the office. Overall, things look great, and he got the all clear to eat whatever he wants except for milk, peanut butter, shellfish, and honey. Ben is going to LOVE what that means for him!

I'm a bad blogger

I admit it. I really let too much time go in between! So, here's a montage of what's been going on.

Our real snow a few weeks back with a big snowman:

Ben is now 9 months old. He's quite the climber now too. He gets up the stairs faster than you can blink. And, don't let him catch you napping. This is what happens!

He drags the potty chair over to the couch now when he wants to get to something. He's just too much.

Drew will be going to preschool in the fall. Anyone want to help me potty train this kid? I told him he can't go unless he can use the potty every time, and he said "I'll use it every time when I'm there. At home I use pull-ups." I think we'll have to go cold-turkey.

Here's a few more pics of the boys. The kitchen door shot is how Drew entertains Ben alot lately. Ben sits at the door patiently waiting for Drew to ride his bike by, and then stands and goes nuts for him when he appears.

Also, here's pics of mommy and daddy with the boys. We managed to get a few in before church one day.

One last Drew funny...last night before bed, he insisted he needed to finish watching Blues Clues. So, Aaron told him to make sure the tv was off when it was done, and then come to bed. I checked after I heard him come upstairs, and he'd done it! He watched his last 10 minutes and came right up to bed. Now if he'll only listen so well as a teenager...

Hmm...mistaken weather forecast

We were told to expect about 1/4 - 1/2" of freezing rain today. What did we end up with? 6 inches of SNOW. Drew loved it, and got to build a genuine snowman with Aaron today.

But as for the weathermen...I think they need to check the computer models once again, or (and I know this is a crazy thought) look out the window to see the heavy snow before they say "It'll just be rain primarily today."

Ok, I realize this is VA and all but...

You want to know what they consider "close schools" worthy down here? Let me show you:

Isn't that crazy?? Now, this is actually snow, not ice. Just snow.

On the other hand, Drew loved it. He got to make a baby snowman. He loves, loves, loves to play in the snow and doesn't understand that what we get here is nothing. Ben got to go outside for a bit too, but he was not impressed with the cold.

We're back in VA!!

We had quite a visit up in CT! It was so great to get to see our family and friends. An update on the accident...no insurance and no license leads to this being handled by my insurance as an uninsured motorist case. Thankfully we have a great company (Travelers) and they are taking full care of us. We have a rental for the next few months most likely as parts for my van aren't readily available. The perks of having a brand new van I suppose....

The boys are doing great. They are both so happy to be back home. Drew turned 3 on January 30th, but is still insisting that he is 2 1/2. He hasn't "accepted" that he's getting older. Ben is now 8 months and crawling like a madman, as well as pulling up on anything he possibly can and cruising a bit too. I can't seem to leave him anywhere now! The boys are great friends and spend whole days entertaining each other. Ben loves to follow Drew everywhere, a habit I'm sure won't soon be dropped.

Here are a few pics that we had done while in CT: