It's official. Seth is an adult.

Tonight my little brother graduated from high school.

 My mom and dad are so proud.

 They have a lot of life changes going on right now.  New grandbabies being born, the last of their own babies growing up and moving out. 

 As typical of most high school graduations, lots of long speeches were made.

Then the graduates walked across stage and received diplomas.

 Seth really is a handsome young fellow.

 He's smiling because his oldest sister was waving like crazy trying to get him to look and smile for the camera. 

I must say that I am so very proud of my little brother and I have high expectations from him.

 He is moving out from Mom and Dad's starting a life of his own.

 He better make his two sisters proud.

We all expect great things from him.  College.  Career.  Responsibilities.  Eventually a family. 

The whole American Dream.  And it all starts today... 

 

Best of luck, little bro.  We are so proud of you and we expect so much more to come.  Make us proud like we know you can.  You can't go wrong with a family like this that loves you and supports you.  And we're praying for you. 

Home sweet home

We've been enjoying our new house.  Especially the pool.

 Well, most of us anyway.  Faith does not like her life jacket.

 But after seeing Grace tossed in the air by her Daddy

 She decides her jacket is tolerable.

 And she ends up having quite a good time in the pool.  I'm a bit envious.  I can't get in yet.

But I can still enjoy the poolside fire with everyone else. 

Home sweet home.  There's no place I'd rather be.

Another visit to the doctor

Today we had another visit to the doctor.

 To test Benjamin's bilirubin levels again after being on the light all weekend.

 We're confident that he's doing better.  He's been eating and pooping a lot.

 Pooping is how babies get rid of bilirubin.

 And he's not looking nearly as orange.

 His little belly is discolored from the light.

 He weighs a respectable 6 pounds 14 ounces.

And his levels came back great.  So no more light.  Hooray!

Hot donuts for dessert

After our alligator adventure

 we needed a pick-me-up.

 And what better than a hot donut

and tall glass of cold milk?

It doesn't get much better than that.

We took Benjamin to see the alligators

Today we decided to go on an adventure.

 To see the alligators at Alligator Alley.  Pappy is a bit fascinated by alligators because he had a pet one live in his bathtub when he was a little boy.  I kid you not.

MeeMee was impressed by the feeding, too.

I just enjoyed watching everyone else.  I've been numerous times with the kids.

And while this was Benjamin's first outing, he pretty much slept the entire time.

Those gators are quite large.

And the crunch of bones breaking in those gator jaws never ceases to send chills down my spine.

We had the opportunity to hold a baby alligator.

 It's skin is so soft.

 This little guy reminded Pappy of his pet.

 Then we fed the big gators.

And they are quite large.

Some as big as 13 feet.  I'm thankful for the fence between us...

My little glow worm

It turns out the Benjamin's bilirubin levels are a big high.

So we have to hook him up to a UV light until it comes down.

So in the meantime, our little baby is glowing.

He doesn't seem to mind a bit.

Benjamin's first trip to the pediatrician

Benjamin had his first pediatrician appointment today.

 He napped until we took his clothes off.

He's not a fan of the scales.  Neither am I.

 He weighed 7 pounds.

 He's a little orange, but doing great.

Home, finally

We came home today.

 Finally.  I didn't know this at the time but I didn't have to stay at the hospital for a full 2 nights.

  I could have come home yesterday... And I would have if I had known.

 There's nothing like sleeping in your own bed. 

And it's so nice to be home.  My inlaws surprised us with balloons on our mailbox.

Grace was ready and waiting to hold her little brother.

And Faith just wanted to look at him.

The excitement was just too much for her and she konked out sitting up...