SPRING!!! (maybe?)

First of all, the pictures have nothing to do with the title of this entry. But, it's been a few weeks since I posted anything, and so I thought I should throw in some pictures to appease the grandparents out there.


Ethan's sister, Meghan, and her little girl, Rorie, came to visit for part of spring break this past week. It was so great to see Meg and Rorie. It was a very fun visit, and the cousins loved playing with each other. This first picture, above, is the first night they were here. Uncle Ethan is trying to comfort Rorie when she woke up in the middle of the night. So sweet.

Sadly, the only other pictures I took the whole time they were here, was at the play area in the mall. (No pictures from Frankenmuth, no pictures from the play group we went to, no pictures of our FHE....I was slacking. :) And the only picture I got of Rorie and Ben-Ben, who are just one month apart, is the third one above. They would just not hold still for one second.

I love these two pictures above - Anna striking a silly/excited pose, and Rorie looks like she's holding on for dear life (but really I think her feet are touching the floor. :)

Benjamin is so proud of himself for climbing to the top of one of the toys.

These two pictures above are when I'm telling Anna it's time to go. Anna - "But, mom, we just started a club." When I insisted, she turned and said, "Oh, alright. Bye-bye, friends. See you next time." Anna loooooves making friends. Her typical line is, "Excuse me, do you want to play with me please?" So polite, so sweet. :)

We stopped by the rides on the way out so the kids could pretend they were driving away. (No one had any quarters. :) So...

SPRING IS HERE!!!

I think. I know I live in Michigan, so there is no guarantee, but it sure feels like spring. Everything is melting away (for the second time this year). And we had some warm, sunny days this week. It has been heaven to go outside for walks again. The kids love it. Ethan loves it. I love it. Hmmm, anything else interesting? Maybe I'll just do a little update on my sweets....since, you know, it has been two whole weeks. hehe.

Benjamin: He still LOVES to point out any letters that he sees - on signs, on someones shirt, on food containers, anything. AND he has also been expanding the letters he chooses to say. He still doesn't say, "Look, ABC's!" when he sees letters, but he'll say, "Oook, BAT, or BHBH, or BAO, or KOKET, etc." It's pretty random. Oooooh, and listen to this, Benjamin has been stringing 3 and 4 word thoughts/sentences together lately. Like, "BABH, Daddy shirt, No." (Translation - There are no ABC's on Daddy's shirt.) Hehe. We are very excited for him! Side note - We have video of Anna at this same age, and there is just no comparison. She had a way larger vocabulary, clear pronunciation, and was just extremely verbal. It's fun to compare, and see the differences and similarities of our babies. And we are very happy for Ben-Ben's progress lately.

I feel like I frequently mention how exhausting Benjamin is, and it's true. He is in to everything, and is on the go non-stop. However, there are some pretty sweet things about his personality that I don't think I mention enough. Ben-Ben has become very snuggly and huggy lately. He'll just come up for random snuggles and hugs throughout the day, and it's so sweet. He always wants to give each person a hug and kiss before bed, even Anna (who only lets Ben kiss her cheek). He gave Auntie May-May tons of kisses when she was here too, so sweet. Benjamin still loves quiet reading time for a bit, and I have occasionally found him "reading" to himself - looking through books and saying the names of the things in the book. He does that with us, but to do it on his own, unprompted, is pretty great for a mommy to overhear. Ben-Ben also follows directions very well - like when we ask him to bring us something, if we ask him to sing with us, he knows to get his shoes and jacket when it's time to go 'bye-bye' (and he usually brings us ours too), and he is always ready to help "peek uh, puh way" (pick up, put away).

The nursery at church has been going great for him too. Well, I don't think he's gone yet without crying, but they say it always stops after a minute, and then he's fine. When we remind him, he tells the teachers, "Tay-koo," (thank you) when he leaves, and gives them a hug. The nursery leaders say that Ben is great with the other kids, easy going, etc. Yay! Okay, one last favorite of mine. When we ask Benjamin questions, he always puts some thought into it, instead of just mindlessly saying yes or no. And when the answer is in the affirmative, instead of yes, he'll say, "Yyyyep." Okay, I'll cut myself off...it's just such an ADORABLE age (and an adorable little boy).

Anna: Well, Benjamin's update took long enough, so I'll try to keep it short with Anna. Here's a quick, funny story about Miss Anna. She has been super giggly lately, and very aware of it. At church today before we went in, I told her that it wasn't reverent to be giggling in church, and that it would distract others. She was quiet for a minute. I looked back and she had her hand covering a huge smile on her face. Then, a little giggle escaped and Anna said, "But mom, it's too hard. The giggles just want to break through my mouth." Then she continued to giggle, her goofy little laugh. Haha! But she did manage to keep herself under control during church. So funny!

This past week we went to Good Will. We were mainly looking for a few new kids books for Anna and Benjamin (and we found some great classics!). Well, Anna saw the basket section and just really, really wanted one. I'm not much for clutter, or purchasing needless things, even if they are 50 cents. But I decided to give Anna a chance to convince me. When I asked what she would use if for, Anna said it would be her collection basket. She explained that she could take it on walks and collect things in it. Now, maybe we could have found something at home to serve that purpose...but maybe not. It was a perfect size, shape, sturdy, etc. for what Anna had in mind, so we paid the 50 cents and we made Anna's day. I LOVE the simple things in life. AND the weather was gorgeous that day (for March) so Anna put it to use immediately. Pine cones, branches, pretty rocks, leaves, anything that she thought looked interesting. Then she decided to make a nest for a bird with what she had collected. It was so thoughtful, that I couldn't bear to tell her that a bird would never choose to live in her nest. :)

Okay, final story about Anna. She has always been very creative and imaginative in her play. I guess I just assumed she knew she was pretending. Well, this week, we saw a little magic show at our play group. That night, Anna put on her cape, got a magic wand and said she wanted to do a magic show for me. Well, I thought she knew they were tricks, and just pretend. Nope. Anna was sincerely disappointed when she couldn't make things disappear. She kept trying and trying, thinking she wasn't doing it right. So sad! When we were talking about magic and tricks and pretending, Anna said to me in all seriousness, "I guess this means I won't be able to fly someday, huh?" Aw, poor Anna, learning life's hard realities. I love my litte sweet cheeks!