Ryan's brother Randy, his wife Rebecca and Ben's six crazy cousins (ages 12-3 years old) were all at Grammy and Papa Tom's house. Ben followed them all around like little ducklings in a row. Olivia was Ben's second mommy, insisting he give lots of "nose kisses" to which Ben (almost) always obliged. Valerie and Ben spent hours it seemed at the window or door looking at the dogs, 2 massive, black German shepherds. Ben learned the word "dog" and said it over and over again. He only liked the dogs when they were on the outside of the glass though. When they came in he gave a scream of terror I have never heard from him. I can't blame him, they are a bit taller than him and 10 times as long :)
We hung around the house creating chaos, checked out some parks, ate some good food, saw some faithful supporters, the Evans and Chamnessi (in Dallas on the way), and even went to the circus! Circus pictures are all on Aunt Becca's camera and they are just arriving back in North Carolina today, so I will post those later when she shares them.
While Ben did well while driving and played well with the cousins, he did not sleep very well at night. Ugh. The first night, Valerie woke Ben, but it didn't last long and both babies were back to sleep. The next three nights Ben was the only night time annoyance. He woke every hour for 5 hours one night, woke for the morning at 4am and refused to go back to sleep one night, etc. He napped fairly well, but just couldn't stay asleep at night. Our little family just doesn't like sharing a room ;) Hopefully, Uncle Randy, Aunt Becca and cousin Valerie will still love us!
Enjoy these snapshots of family fun.
Hanging out on the huge back porch in the sweltering heat and humidity.
Seats go fast with 13 people in one house - grab one when ya can.
Ryan and his brother. Once, Ben actually pointed to Randy and said dada and Ryan was standing right next to Ben!
Trying to keep up with the big kids.
Olivia getting some nose kisses.
We started to see some intense separation anxiety and jealousy. He gave a good scream when one of us left the room, but if it was on his own terms he would happily walk off with the cousins and leave us behind.
Valerie, an absolute doll. I love this pic of her.
It was so insanely hot at the park that the kids waited on the sidewalk for the sprinkler to spray them.
Not loving the lion, Grammy.
Kisses for Daddy.
Valerie and Ben watching the dogs. So sweet!
He was always a step behind all the other kids.
13 mouths is a lot of people to feed and it felt like there were people and kids everywhere. One night we even added 3 guests for dinner!
Remember: Our gender sonogram is tomorrow morning! I will certainly blog what we find out tomorrow.
2 comments:
And we thought we were busy before children! What did we ever do...?
Looks like a ton of fun!
Can't wait for tomorrow's pink or blue!!!
Amber, you look absolutely fabulous. Your new haircut is awesome! And Ben is so big. I think he'll be 5 before I ever get to 'officially' meet him. So cute. Can't wait for number two to arrive!
Post a Comment