Benjamin meets his great-grands

Today was a very special day for Benjamin.

 He finally got to meet his Nanna and found out she is a great cuddler.

And after meeting his Gran he discovered the perfect spot for napping after a big meal...

Sleeping beauty

Faith has the uncanny knack to be able to sleep anywhere.

And I mean anywhere.

Today she napped on our blanket box.  Afraid to wake my sleeping tiger, I let her nap a full two hours there.  Fortunately, this Sleeping Beauty rarely moves while enjoying her slumber.

A trip to the beach

It was a very windy day today.

And overcast which is my favorite kind of beach day.

And Grace is a girl after my own heart.  She just loves the beach.

Faith.  Not so much.

Funny thing.  She likes to play in the sand but hates, I mean hates sand on her toes.

Finally, she settled down and sat in David's lap.  Feet up high and safe from the sand.

David took turns tossing the girls around to their delight.

And Benjamin?  Well, he just napped the afternoon away.  What an awesome day.

Family beach photos

We went to the beach today.

And of course we had to take our first family picture together.

I must say they turned out great.

I have always been a fan of realistic pictures more so than posed photos.

Pictures that show us as we are.  Happy together with just a touch of chaos.

Little sports star

I'm not sure what sport Benjamin will enjoy as he grows up.

Maybe baseball.

He's a cute little slugger.

But then again, maybe he'll play football like his Daddy.

Of course, if he's anything like his Daddy he'll be great at everything he does.

Regardless, I'm sure he'll be an Auburn fan like his Momma and Daddy.

One thing I know for sure, taking pictures of little boys is just as much fun as taking pictures of little girls.

Benjamin rolled over

We always put Benjamin down for a nap on his back just like we are supposed to.

 The problem is that he doesn't like to sleep on his back.

So he rolls over and goes back to sleep.  Less than 4 weeks old and he's rolling over consistently all by himself.

Turtle in the pool

Today we saw a turtle swimming in our pool

 So we rushed out to the pool and scooped him out with a net.

Then we set him free to live happily ever after.

Just let her sleep

If she falls asleep, we leave her be.   And Faith can fall asleep in any position...

My sweet kids

Grace and Faith are best friends and already they both look out for Benjamin.  I hope the three of them stay this close forever. 

Wedding day dress up

Already I can tell that Grace is going to be a hopeless romantic as she grows up.  Today we were cleaning out our hall closet and moving stuff to a better home when Grace saw my wedding dress.  And she thought it looked just like a real princess dress.  And she asked very sweetly if she could try it on.  And of couse I let her.

 So we put it on her.

 And she turned very slowly all the way around.

 She already talks about getting married.

 She says, "I'm gonna marry Jack when I grow up."   Jack is a very sweet little boy that Grace has been head over heels for since preschool.  They go to the same school now but aren't in the same class.  Occasionally they see one anothe and Grace gets excited and tells me all about.  Ending by saying she's going to marry him one day.

 And today Grace told me that when she gets married she wants to wear my dress.

One thing's for sure.  Raising your own princess beats any fairytale.

Grace and Faith's room

Faith and Grace are sharing a room.

 They just both seem to sleep better at night with one another in the same room.

 So we put the bunk beds side by side.

 And decorated the growing tree on the wall.  The growing tree measures how tall we each are.

 Then there's a dress up mirror along the wall outside their bathroom.

 Speaking of bathrooms, here is Grace and Faith's own bathroom.

 They also share a walkin closet with plenty of room for clothes at the back.

And dress up costumes at the front.

Let sleeping girls lie

Faith has the uncanny knack of falling asleep wherever she happens to lie.  And as much as I love her, this little girl has a mean temper when she's woken up inadvertently from her nap.  So I have learned to let this sleeping baby lie.  Even when she's on top of the ottoman...

Benjamin's room

We've pretty much unpacked the house and finally started to settle in.

 This is Benjamin's room.  It's a good sized room.

 It has plenty of room for a big dresser, crib, and rocking chair.  It also has a large walkin closet.

And it's very own bath.  I'm sure he will appreciate that in years to come.

The beauty of nature

Our yard is bursting with color.  Which is amazing considering how long it's been since it's received any love and nurture from a homeowner.  After taking 6 months for us to close on our foreclosure, I can assure you that the bank did not weed or feed or even cut the grass once.  So while we have a lot, and I mean A LOT of gardening work ahead of us, I am stopping to smell the roses so to speak, and appreciate the beauty of God's creation.

 Our front yard is bursting with red knockout roses.

Yellow ones, too.

And I planted some pink hydrangeas where we chopped down a dead pine tree.

 Our back fence and gate is covered with sweet scented jasmine.

My how that jasmine smells wonderful!  Every breeze carries it across the yard.  It's heavenly.

And we have these bursting with color.

 I recently discovered they are crinum lillies and they are stunning.

 I'm not sure what this little guy is.

 Or this either.

 But I do know that this is a canna lily.

And they are proliferating around one side of our pool.  I'm going to transplant some to the other side and keep my fingers crossed that they'll take...

 

Even though our yard has been neglected for quite some time, I am eager to show it some love.  I can hardly wait to see how well she does next year after receiving some much needed tender loving care...