Brrr...Baby It's Cold Outside :)

Like everyone else this time of year our schedule is PACKED, but we are loving every minute of it :) Benjamin went to his first Christmas parade in downtown Tyler and boy was it cold!! Dada and Granpa Swanie took turns holding Ben on thier shoulders until neither one of them could take it any longer...Does this little boy just look like a snow bunny or what???

Max went to Austin for 4 days to the Texas State Assessment Conference and Benjamin and I made the journey down to visit and had a great time touring around downtown:

The Ben Man has become quite a great traveler...he slept HARD on the trip home...

The Ben Man got a great report this morning @ his 18 month check-up. He is officially on the charts in the 95th percentile in weight @ 31 lbs and has moved up to the 64th percentile in height. When I asked Dr. Austin about his head possibly being a "little large" he told me that his head is the size of your average 5 year old...oh what a smart boy we have (I'm sure it's all brain)!

Have I ever mentioned that this boy LOVES cooking!! Especially when he gets to lick the spoon...Max and I made our first Puerto Rican flan tonight...and it smells YUMMY :)

Mowing

This little boy wants to do EVERYTHING his daddy does...

The Ben Man as Pedro

This boy will do ANYTHING for an audience!

Summer 2009

What a great summer we've had! God has truely blessed our family beyond our wildest dreams! Max is now the Assessment Data Analyst for TISD and works from the Plyler complex. We are so thankful for his raise and he LOVES his 5 minute commute! We've all loved his Fridays off in June and July...3 day weekends are amazing...too bad he has to go back to working 5 days a week.

Benjamin continues to grow by leaps and bounds and his vocabulary is increasing! "Tree, Sit (to every dog he sees), and Geese" are the most frequent choices. Here are a few pics from the last few weeks:

Slammin it @ Dennys with Mimi and Swanie (while mom and dad went to Dallas for a night)!!
Playing w/ Dad...

Hangin w/ his 2nd cousin Alexis...

Playing w/ Kaden @ Mimi and Swanie's house...

Swimming w/ Dad...

Enjoying mom's McAlister's Tea...ok so this 14 month old's vice is definately iced tea!

Playing @ the hotel in Fort Worth...

Our favorite evening entertainment is watching this boy dance...dancing video to come...

Riviera Maya, Mexico

Benjamin is officially an international traveler...just minutes after ariving @ the resort we discovered that he LOVES the sand!

Dancin to the "kids show" - boy does this kid have some moves!!

Headed to the water...

Thru the jungle...

Floatin the lazy river...soooo fun!

Building a fort in the sand with Mimi and Swanie

And his legs are STILL crossed...

Walkin in the wave pool in his float...multi-talented!

This is what we like to call the "Cheese face" - All-Inclusive room service 24 hours a day definately brings out the cheese face in this boy!! Notice there isn't a single french fry left on the plate??? That would be because this boy LOVES them, and his aunt Casie has convinced him that no matter what his parents tell him he will NOT turn into a potatoe from eating too many fries!

This would be his latest party trick..."I'm not listening to you..."

The whole clan...

Just call him Pedro...

Needless to say we had a great time, and we are blessed to be home safe and sound...I think we'll keep it that way for a while...

First Birthday

Our baby boy is officially "1". Every mom knows what I mean when I say I cannot believe how fast this first year has flown by. I am enjoying watching him learn and grow so much each and every day. Here are just a few of the pictures that Jaime took @ the party...Thank you!!

Checking out his new toys...
His first Birthday cake...thank you Tracy!

Sunday afternoon (our 6th wedding anniversary) our friend Stacy Canion (http://www.canionphotography.net/) worked her magic at the Children's Park and took these awesome pictures for Benjamin's First Birthday:

How blessed we are! Thank you Lord!

Vegas Baby

Napping with dad on his first flight...
Riding the tram to pick up our luggage...

First limo ride...too bad Grandpa forgot to request a car seat...yipee! What a big boy!

The Fam @ Encore...the flowers are absolutely amazing!! This picture perfectly depicts Benjamin throughout the entire trip...trying to run away..ha!

Get me out of here...

Who says that Vegas isn't child friendly??? These sheer curtains provided hours on entertainment!

What a ham!

You would not believe how cloudy and cool it was on Friday morning...just chillin @ the pool!

Mimi, Swanie and The Ben Man

Walkin across the bridge to the mall with Mimi...

Dinner @ Isla...best mexican food around!

Palazzo @ The Venetian

It was full sun by Saturday...trying to keep this boy covered up is exhausting!!

Riding the tram from TI to The Mirage...not so exciting???

Cesears Palace...this boy was ready to move!

FAO Schwarz...HUGE toy store and we absolutely could not get him to leave the stuffed giraffes...this time next year we'll be wishing he would be so entertained by such a simple thing!

Memorial Day Weekend

These are the kind of scenerios that Benjamin seems to find himself in all too often these days...yes, this would be the floor of our closet...
Dylan is seriously the best dog ever...he is sooo sweet to Benjamin and lets him pick, pull and tug all he wants!

First Jet Ski ride...and he LOVED it!

Eating cherries with mawmaw and pawpaw...yummy!!

Holding on for dear life...

First trip to the Caldwell Zoo...

The goats just aren't Dylan...