tagged!

Not a relevant picture, but the post just seems incomplete without a picture of Ben.

I also don't know what the deal is with the font color and formatting. But it is waay past my betime, so it will have to stay as is. For now.

As a blogging newbie, I'm honored to have been tagged by Kelley to answer some questions that I have now spent way too much time thinking about! Here goes...

What was I doing 10 years ago?
I'd just graduated high school and moved from Nashville to Chattanooga to start a summer class at Southern Adventist University. My oh-so-helpful dad had also set me up with a cool on-campus job in the student finance office that fortunately started right away. (no lack of sarcasm in that sentence!) But everything happens for a reason as 10 years ago this summer, I was also meeting my future husband!
5 things on my to do list today:

1. make a dreaded trip to Walmart on Lakeshore. (the black sheep of the Walmart family)
2. get four hours of work done.
3. make a grocery list for my family's visit this weekend.
   do laundry.
4. mail party invitations!

5 snacks that I enjoy:
(should've asked for 5 that I don't enjoy - that would be easier)

1. trail mix - which I've had to ban, due to portion distortion
2. chips and salsa
3. Ritz crackers and peanut butter
4. Cheese: cubed, sliced, melted, in cracker form - anything except blue!
5. a toss up between fresh cut fruit, carrot sticks and chocolate chip cookies

5 things I would do if I were a billionaire:

1. Tithe and be happy knowing that the investment was far better spent then I could ever manage to do on my own!
2. Quit my job. Don't get me wrong - it's a good job. But when would I have the time to work with all the traveling and shopping I'd be doing?! (see how I snuck two other things into this one?)
3. Buy a private jet and hire a pilot so that we could see our families and friends at a moment's notice.
4. Wipe out debt from struggling women's and children's organizations.
5. Buy organic groceries.

5 Bad Habits:

1. snacking. See previous question. I could go without full meals in lieu of just snacking...but of course, I don't!
2. picking. I have a tactile obsession of attacking skin abnormalities/imperfections of my loved ones. So if I try to scrape off your blackhead, consider it a compliment!
3. comparing myself to others.
4. celebrity gossip. Who cares if Tom and Katie are planning for a little brother or sister for Suri? Me, that's who!\
5. being late. It's always been a problem, but has only been compounded since Ben was born. If I ever tell you I'm going to try to get there early, plan on me arriving almost on time.

5 places I have lived:

1. Nashville, TN (specifically the 'burbs of West Nashville, Brentwood, Hendersonville)
2. Chattanooga, TN during and after college
3. Bracknell, England during a semester abroad
4. Birmingham, AL since 2004
5. The big question! Wherever we settle down after Tyler completes his residency in 2010...

5 jobs I have had:

1. Server at The Cooker and American Cafe
2. Camp counselor, lifeguard and kitchen staff (gotta start somewhere!)
3. Communications Technician for McKee Foods, maker of Little Debbie products
4. Marketing Assistant for a billing and practice management company
5. Member Services director for UAB's Campus Recreation Center

I want to know more about (you're tagged):

1. Angie Davis
2. Kirsten Radnoti
3. Deanna Prentice
   

playtime with Daddy

Four months old!

(I "borrowed" this letter idea from Kelley. We'll all just tell Ben I did it for the first three months, but the files got deleted somehow!)

Happy four-month birthday Ben! This month marks one year that you have been part of our lives...although this time last year, you were smaller than a poppy seed!

In these past four months, you've grown and evolved so much. No longer our tiny newborn, you have doubled your birth weight at 16.4 lbs and are 25 inches long - 4 inches in 4 months! This puts you in the 75% percentile for babies your age, which means you like what the kitchen's serving. However Dr. Smith thinks it's high time to cut meals to 20-minute feedings. So far you are not a fan of having your food removed before you're finished, and while I see your point, Mommy's enjoying getting those other 30 - 40 minutes back!

You are napping on a good schedule, laughing when there's good entertainment, and complaining when attention is diverted from you for longer than you'd like. You have just started to really befriend the pacifier (probably b/c we're using it as dessert to take your mind off dinner!). Sometimes you sleep through the night, but, although we've started a bedtime routine, we have yet to settle into a predictable pattern. All in good time.

Speaking of good times, you still l-o-v-e your activity mat, the bathtub, mirrors, the changing table and signing in the morning. My most-favorite noise in the world is your singing and cooing, which is how you wake and what you do after a good meal. We've spent a few mornings laying in bed talking, and I will cherish those times forever.

You are not enjoying car rides lately, and this may prove to be a challenge as we've got plenty in the coming months. Grandma and Mommy learned that if you have company in the backseat, you are a much happier passenger. You also have a short tolerance for the bumbo seat and jumperoo, although I can tell they're growing on you.

You are a bit concerned about your limbs - feet in particular - and lean over to inquisitively stare at them often. You are not concerned, however, about what you put in your mouth and will cram anything you can in there with such aggression that it's caused a couple of upchucks. That, and the incessant drooling, pretty much guarantees that all outfits must have a coordinating bib.

Your daddy and I are so thankful for a healthy and happy baby. Our hearts ache when we are away from you and swell with pride when we look at your sweet face. We love you more than we can even understand and can't wait to see your developments this next month.

love,
mommy

Kaitlyn, Hope and Carter came over for Ben's four-month birthday party!
(well, I didn't actually realize what day it was until after they left...
gotta love the blog caterpillar ticker!)

The girls checking out the boys...sigh, they start so young.

Carter and Ben: BFF

First Mother's Day

Mother's Day 2008
so happy and blessed to be Ben's mommy

This is late, I know, but that's one Mother's Day lesson I've learned: timeliness is all relative! This is also not going to be the poignant reflection on life as a mother that I wanted it to be, but that's another lesson I've learned: seize the moment or it won't get written/cleaned/done/eaten/insert appropriate "completion" verb here.

My first Mother's Day was very special. It started as all my special days do (as you're learning), with a homemade breakfast. Instead of me, it was Ben who slept in last Sunday, which meant that Tyler and I got to enjoy a meal together, at the same time!

After church, we braved the crowds at O'Charley's and just enjoyed some needed family time. I say that because Tyler left for an orthodontics conference in Denver on Wednesday and won't return until this Wednesday. I knew right away that seven days of single motherhood was not a challenge I was ready to face, so on Thursday I loaded up the Subaru and Ben and I are spending the weekend with my sister and friends in Chattanooga. On Sunday, Ben's travelling roadshow will make its next stop in Nashville to see my parents for a couple days until Tyler comes home and we can all be together again!

Here are some pictures from the last week!

Who is that big boy in Ben's hippo towel?!

Hanging out with Dad at my first Saturday night party. Don't I look nice?

Can you say over-stimulated?

I'M SO EXCITED!!!

first cold :(

Last week was Ben's first stay in the nursery at church! And naturally, this week was Ben's first cold. Poor baby was uncharacteristically cranky for the first part of the week, and then came the runny nose and pitiful cough. He even had a very low fever at one point, but as you can see, managed to smile through it all! (well, not the nose suctioning, but who would?!)

Thankfully, I think we're on the road to recovery now!

When you're sick, you just need a cozy blankie and your teddy bear.

Doesn't look like he's hurting too bad, does he?!

Feeling so much better by Friday!

belly laughs

Us at neighbor Charlie's one-year-old birthday party.

Not in the mood for smiling, just bubble blowing.

Here's a little video of Tyler making Ben laugh. We discovered this hilarious (in Ben's opinion) activity while Tyler was laying on a hospital bed last week waiting to see the doctor about his ankle surgery. Ben was laughing so loud, for so long, that the other patients keep poking their heads in to see what was going on! It's the funniest little noise and is absolutely contagious...so I apologize for the shaky camera work!