I Love You

Wow! We have had quite a week. Today Benjamin went for his first swim, on Thursday we survived a crazy rainstorm, and Wednesday we enjoyed a friend-filled play date. Best of all, Benjamin is trying to say, "I love you." It is so sweet. He is saying "Hi" quite often now, especially to the cats, but this week he said it to his Aunt Val when she stopped by yesterday. Who knows? Maybe on her next visit she'll get an "I love you."

Here are a few pictures from our week. The play date Wednesday was at my friend Gena's house; she was nice enough to host a crowd of rambunctious children when our friend Jamie came through on her way to Oklahoma. Jamie taught with us at here in Dallas and now lives just outside New Orleans. She has two children; I hadn't met either of them until her visit Wednesday, so I was really excited to meet her daughter and son. We assembled quite a precious group of children, and let me tell you, the house and backyard were wild as all the kids lived it up. We decided that next time we are all together, we need to meet up without the children if we really want to visit. It's hard to talk much when you're watching your little ones. In any case, it was a fun morning.


Jamie's son Tripp is a pistol. He is about month older than Benjamin but much smaller, faster, and more agile. He really enjoyed wrestling with Benjamin, and as you can see from the photo, Tripp won (over and over again). It was pretty funny; I fought against the little voice inside of me saying, "Hey, don't push my baby!" Benjamin was fine; he never stopped smiling. As my friend Lydia said, "This proves Benjamin is one laid back baby!"

Here's Benjamin playing in backyard. He enjoyed splashing his hands in the water. Gena's house is beautiful and so is her backyard. It was the perfect place for the kids to run through the sprinkler and make mud pies.

We tried hard for a group shot- here is one attempt! Not exactly successful, but aren't they cute?

This is a picture from today. Tim had just lowered Benjamin into the pool. As you can see, he loved it!! We figured that he would since he likes taking baths so much.

Our friends Lydia, Katie, Dave along with Zoe and Sam came to join us for a swim. It was a great way to start this hot, muggy day. Benjamin literally got his feet wet in preparation for a week at the lake which begins tomorrow. On that note, it's very late (or early) and I should be in bed.

Can't wait to see what happens next! Hopefully, Benjamin will keep working on his "I love you." I will not tire of hearing that one.