Another Saturday Night...

Another Saturday night and I find myself blogging and reflecting on our day. Although today was not exactly action-packed, it was a good day and I managed to take over fifty pictures! Taking pictures is something I do quite a bit now that Benjamin is with us; he always seems to be doing something noteworthy- even if it is just looking especially cute. Today he was pushing his red car back and forth through the living room. He was so focused on the task at hand that I was hoping to catch him in the act. However, once again, he caught me with the camera in my hand and lost focus quickly.

Here is the first picture I took. Isn't he cute?

Here is the second picture.
As you can see, he's not so interested in pushing his car anymore.

One exciting event of the day is that Tim set up my Wii. I got it for my birthday, but this is really the first day we've had that he could spend some time figuring out the cords and getting everything hooked up. Well, he got it done and it looks great. We will be able to use it easily. Next, he will work on the Wii Fit- the rest of my bday gift! After Tim got things ready to go, we were anxious to try it out. I bowled and played tennis, and, yes, I did break a sweat. Sad, I know. I'm a bit out of shape. After my turn, Tim played golf.

Nice form, huh?

Later, Val joined us and we all tried out the golf game. I cannot remember who won, but it was not me! As always Benjamin was really excited to see his Aunt Val. Can you tell he's happy?

All that golf left us hungry so we headed out for some Mexican food at Mariano's. Although I love their food, I'm not a fan of the bear which resides in foyer of the restaurant. Benjamin and Tim, however, didn't seem to mind it much.


We tried our best to enjoy our meal, but Benjamin was a bit on the unruly side. Apparently, he was really hungry because he let out a scream or yelp between most bites. We could not feed him fast enough. This is the loudest he's been while we are out. Even though Mariano's is a noisy, family-friendly place, I think both Tim and I felt a little uncomfortable with Benjamin getting any negative attention or curious looks. Maybe it was just some first-time-parent anxiety.

After Benjamin's belly was full, he returned to his normal, laid back attitude. In fact, we ended our evening by shopping at World Market and Border's. He didn't seem to mind and enjoyed looking around at all the people. He even got some of his usual positive attention from strangers. As I was holding Benjamin and looking at the magazines, a teenage boy looked at him and said, "Those sure are big, beautiful eyes." Not exactly a comment I would have expected from this particular person, but I'd have to agree with him.

Nice, Long Memorial Day Weekend

Here are a few random photos from our weekend trip to Midland!

one of several attempts of a park picture

after lots of fun at the baseball game

a hug for Emma?

kitchen fun with Weezer

cousins sitting pretty in Nana and Poppy's front yard

This weekend we made the long trek to Midland and had a great time hanging out with the Wootan family. Benjamin had a nice time visiting his Nana and Poppy and getting reaquainted with his granny, cousins, aunt, and uncle. He seemed a little timid at first, but was quickly crawling all over the place and giving away many hugs and smiles for all. Next month, we'll be going on family vacation, but Granny won't be joining us so we wanted to visit with her.

In addition to his many performances of Patty Cake, Benjamin also did a great job sleeping in the pack and play and riding in his carseat. All in all, it was a fun trip. I'm pretty worn out tonight so I'll just name the hightlights!

• Benjamin ate oranges with Aunt Gina and loved them
  
• Olivia, Emma, and Benjamin had a great time swinging at the park
  
• we took in a baseball game (featuring a rain delay and Emma singing), it was Benjamin's first game; he met the Church's Chicken and tried some traditional ballpark fare, including popcorn, a hot dog bun, cotton candy, a cookie, and a snow cone (just a sample, of course)
  
• I discovered Benjamin's seventh tooth on the drive home today
• Benjamin turned 11 months

I'm sure this list is incomplete, but for now it will have to do. What a fun trip -wish we could get to Midland more often.

# 35

Well, yesterday I celebrated a big birthday, my thirty-fifth! It was a nice enough day- kind of reminded me a bit of the year that I've had- a test of endurance with some great moments thrown in to keep everything (including me) headed in the right direction. A highlight of my day was having dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Cosmic Cafe. Tim took me because he knows I love it and it's not a place he ever really wants to go, so it was a true birthday treat for me. I dined with the men in my life...

Benjamin Felix and.....

Timothy John. It was nice.

The food at Cosmic Cafe is all vegetarian (now you know why Tim is not a fan). It has a Middle Eastern kind of feeling, even has a meditation room upstairs; however, I just go there for the food. I love their hummus and my favorite dish, Tacos Trinity. Benjamin seemed to like the hummus, too. He's willing to try pretty much anything we're willing to share with him.

Benjamin actually spent most of the meal turned around checking out the people at the table behind us. If he could have, I think he would have gone to sit with them- Mom's birthday or not!

Aside from the dinner, it was just a busy, hectic day. The end of the school year is always a challenge; ask any teacher (or school librarian). Nerves are frayed, children are rambunctious, and well, vacation is the goal. At our school, birthdays are announced each morning on the PA, so I was the recipient of many birthday wishes and a couple of "Happy Birthday" serenades. Not bad. Thanks to technology, I recieved birthday greetings from many friends and family members, via phone, text message, FB, and email. I liked thinking about how I knew each person and how they had helped me celebrate a birthday in the past. How old was I? What did we do? What was going on in my world at the time?

Now that I'm a mother, I think of birthdays differently. May 20, 1974 really was my very special day when people celebrated my arrival and showered my parents and me with love and blessings. That is a comforting thought, even if it did take place 35 years ago.

Another Lovely Sunday

Well, we had a wonderful day! The meteorologists predicted beautiful weather, and they were exactly right. We got up (fairly) early this morning, ate the good breakfast that Tim prepared for us, and started cleaning up our house to get ready for Benjamin's playdate with Connor and Matilda. Then Tim and Benjamin went for a run while I took a shower and finished cleaning a few things. Benjamin took a nap during Tim's run; he seems to enjoy their runs together- awake or asleep.

Jessica and Matilda arrived first. It was so interesting to see Benjamin interacting with another little one. Although he does it each day at day care, I don't get to watch. Here's a great picture of Matilda and Benjamin taking a look out the window. Aren't they so cute? Only ten days apart in age.



Later, Mindy and Connor arrived. Here's a shot of all three playing with the zoo. Since these babies are all mobile, this was one of the only pics I got of all three in the same frame. They played very well together.



After the playdate and a nap while Dad went fishing, we went out to eat Mexican food at Chuy's. We sat on the patio which features an Elvis statue (yikes!). Benjamin found it interesting.




Lately, we've been ordering off the children's menu for him. For some reason, I'm finding this exciting. I'm sure this excitement will fade since I'll be ordering and paying for his food for many years to come, but for now, it's cool! Benjamin really enjoyed the queso, rice, and beans.



Finally, we walked down to Harry's and got some frozen custard - German chocolate and toffee crunch. Benjamin sampled and enjoyed both. We wrapped up our outing with a stroll down the Katy trail. All in all, this was a great day- especially since Benjamin took a bath, ate, and is now resting contentedly in his crib. Makes me wonder- is this what summer will be like?

Boy Genius?

The best shot of the day: teeth! I was trying to get a few pics of Benjamin playing on his own; however, I have to sneak up on him which is pretty hard to do at this point. As soon as he sees the red light from the camera, I'm busted and he usually comes over to me. This time, I got an extreme close up of two of his lovely new teeth! I was so excited to get this picture, and it was a total accident!

These two pictures are more like what I intended. Isn't it true that first time parents consider their children to be gifted, special, and off the charts intelligent? Well, that is how I feel about Benjamin. Just in the last week or so, he has figured out how to push the button on his zoo. He's so cute (and smart)- pushing the button and waiting for the animals to start spinning and the song to begin. We've been playing with the zoo since Christmas, so it's wonderful to see him make the connection. Later, I got one photo of him looking at his alphabet book. I was so excited that he went and got it out of his toy box and start "reading" all on his own. What a smarty. Tim and I are typical, proud parents of our little genius, Benjamin.

Morning Confusion

Have you ever had one of those mornings where you wake up and don't know what day it is? Today was one of those for me. Actually, I woke up and, for a fleeting moment, relaxed and thought, Aah, today is Saturday. I'm going back to sleep. I began to drift off. Then I thought, Oh no, it's not Saturday. It's Wednesday! I better get up. So you can imagine my horror when I finally realized that it was only Tuesday.

Luckily, Benjamin looked so cute this morning that I couldn't help smiling! He looked so adorable that I had to grab my camera and take a picture or two. As late as I'm always running in the morning, this may seem like a strange move, but I didn't want to forget how sweet he looked all dressed for school and standing in his crib. I'm adding a few photos for all to see just what I mean.

Anyway, it turned out to be a fine day- even though it was only Tuesday. School was good, and Benjamin took a nap on me while Tim went for a run. It was so nice to come home and not have any school work to worry about since my semester is officially over; what a great feeling! Then tonight, Baby Boy fell asleep on me again while I watched The Real Housewives of NYC. (I hope he wasn't listening....)

Mother's Day- The First Day

Today, I have been working on a blog for one of my children's lit classes at TWU, and I decided it was time to begin a blog for personal use - about my family, friends, and life in general.

Since today is Mother's Day, my first as a mother by the way, it seems like a great day to post my first entry. I will add a few pictures as well. Tim took a few snapshots of Benjamin and me at the end of the day. Taking the pictures was easy; finding a place to pose that would not show what a complete disaster our house is was challenging, however.

Despite the mess, today has been a great day. I got to sleep late and as soon as I woke up, Tim and Benjamin presented me with some proper Mother's Day loot. Then my sister Val came over and we all went to lunch/brunch at Another Broken Egg; it was good. There were families with babies everywhere. We fit right in. Benjamin chowed down on potatoes, pancakes, eggs, and even a little jelly right out of the package thanks to his daddy.

After eating, Val treated me to a much needed pedicure. It was really enjoyable, and everytime I look down and see my toes I feel happy. Finally, when Tim took my picture with Baby Boy, I couldn't help but marvel at the fact that my husband was taking a picture of me with my baby! Wow- I'm feeling quite grown up...yea, for Mother's Day and brunch and thoughtful husbands and new sandals and five teeth in one week.

Happy Mother's Day to my mom, Judy, and my granny, Mary, and all the rest of the moms of the world.