My Birthday Dinner

We went to the Third Floor Fish Cafe in Kirkland for dinner with John & Aimee. It happened to be 1/2 price on bottles of wine so we had to order a couple!
We had a really nice leisurely meal (quite rare when you are used to eating with toddlers!) and it was fabulous!

Rev Kev and John (Kevin got ordained yesterday so he could marry John & Aimee when they wed in September so we called him Rev Kev all night).

Us and the beautiful sunset.

It was such a fun night out- thanks for meeting us John & Aimee and thanks a million to Ryan & Megan for watching the kids for us! You all helped make my 32nd a great one.

My Birthday at the Zoo

We went to the zoo on my b-day with Megan & Hadley and Sarah, Braelyn, & Bennett. Megan brought cupcakes to celebrate which was so sweet. Hadley was really cute, she could hardly wait to give them to me.
Braelyn enjoying a b-day treat!

Miss Hadley was in heaven!

A creepy self portrait:)

This was the view the poor boys had most of the day!

A day at the zoo with 5 kids 3 and under is an interesting kind of "fun"!

A Softer Side

I feel like I'm always blogging about how crazy Lauren is but I don't always show this side of her. She actually has a really sweet compasionate side that melts our hearts. This gal is quite caring and very motherly when she wants to be. The other day she was putting Honey down for a nap and couldn't have been any sweeter.
She made sure she was all covered up and was talking so sweetly to her.

And of course she had to cuddle with her to help her fall asleep. I love catching her in moments like these.

Rock 'N Roll

Auntie Meg was a rock star at the rock 'n roll marathon and made running 26.2 miles look like a piece of cake!
Meg & Sarah, her running partner.

Auntie Meg and her cheering squad- Ben was beyond thrilled:)

Right of Passage

I think every kid has to do this at least once!

Lauren & Kelly's Soccer Lesson

Lauren has been really into soccer lately (our Mommy & Me "team" starts in July!) so she wanted my friend Kelly who is a soccer champ (her team just won the Canadian Provincial Cup, check it out: http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/20090621198398/sports/sports/sliders-claim-senior-b-women-39s-soccer-title.html) to give her some pointers.
Ben of course had to get it on it as well!
The lessons lasted all of 3 minutes but it was still really cute. Lauren wanted me to stay inside while she and Kelly played. Thanks for coming over to play with us Kell- we all love you to the moon and back:)

The One Year Old!

Big News around here- Ben gets to face forward now and he's loving it! He had his 1 year check up on Tuesday and he's doing great. Here are the stats since I know they are always a fan favorite:

height- 30 3/4 inches (80%)

weight- 22 lbs, 8 oz (48%)

head- 18 1/4 inches (50%)

Ben is showing us that he is no longer a "baby" and demonstrating his opinions. We've seen a handful of tantrums and even a few little hits here and there. I'm thinking our sweet little Benny Boo has realized he's gonna have to be more of a fighter if he wants to keep up with Lauren & Hadley!

Swim Lessons

Lauren & Ben both started swim lessons this week. Ben cried the whole time and we didn't get any pics- hopefully next week will go better. Lauren however- LOVED it and thought she was ready to swim on her own within minutes of class starting.
Doing the "scoop"
She pulled herself up and "dived" in about 20 times. This kid is fearless.

After each dive they were supposed to "scoop and kick" to the rope and back to the wall. I thought she'd be so tired afterwards but no such luck! She didn't want it to end.

Not a fan of my look here but I love how intently Lauren's watching the teacher. I have to say, I was pretty proud of her listening skills with the teacher. She doesn't listen to me at all but I was glad to see she listened to her!

My Little Voyeurs

I'm kind of notorious for "spying" on the neighbors (hope no neighbors read this!) so I was laughing pretty hard when I caught Ben & Lauren watching the neighbors get their yard landscaped the other day! I'm so proud:)

The M's game- the fancy way

We went to our first M's game of the season last Saturday with Kev's parents. Just the 4 of us, no kids (thanks mom and dad!) We scored the fancy seats and got to sit in the Allstar Club. It was spectacular and we felt like royalty!

Matt & Kevin

Sheila & Me

Not sure we'll ever be able to go the game as "regular folk" again:)

Ben's Bash

We had a little party today for Ben with just family. It was small, intimate, and perfect!
Ben taking his first bite of cupcake which he LOVED!

He was so cute with his gifts. He showed a lot of interest in them and wanted to play with them all.

Yeah- daddy is holding me upside down- so fun!

Lauren of course had to put on one of his new "big" shirts and enjoyed reading one of his new books.

He devoured his cupcake.

Yum!

So good!

Lauren was quite the helper. She had just as much fun as Ben opening and playing with all the gifts. She kept telling everyone thank you for Ben:)

The cutest one year old! (at least I think so)

Our Little Birthday Boy

This morning Ben got his own Cozy Coupe! He is in heaven.
He's been checking it all out, it's fun to watch him. He's like his daddy, very thorough when it comes to his cars.

So far his favorite thing is opening and closing the door.

The Big one year old!

I can't believe a year ago today I was being admitted to the hospital right about now to be induced. Ben is even more perfect that we could have ever imagined. When we only had Lauren I always said I was content with just one child but knew I'd like to have another baby. Now that we have him I feel complete, he has made our family everything I've wanted it to be. We love you Benny Boo Boo!

Val's Daycare

On Tuesday I watched Braeyln and Bennett for a few hours while their mom enjoyed a kid free birthday lunch. I happened to also have Hadley that day. It was wild but also lots of fun!
I just set up the back deck with all sorts of activities and let them play. Kevin kept joking that I was running a daycare.

We had a picnic outside for lunch.

The quad was a huge hit. So much of a hit that it was put away:)

This picture just cracks me up. Bennett trying to be a dog and drink out of the water table and Lauren is of course naked and trying to get into the water table. Tuesday was an adventure, but lots of fun! Luckily I got to go get a pedicure and have a drink with the birthday girl that night to unwind:)