introducing...

Benjamin Joseph
May 9, 2009
1:06 AM
9 lbs.
22 in.

The last pregnant picture of Mom!
First photos with Mom & Dad


Wondering what the heck is going on
Meeting Papa for the first time
Sweet sleeping boy
Getting some love from big brother Daniel

Ready to go home!

first easter egg hunt

On the day before Easter, we went to a neighborhood Easter egg hunt. Despite a cool, cloudy day, we all had a lot of fun. Daniel got to meet the Easter Bunny... however, this was not his favorite part of the day.

He pretty quickly got the hang of hunting for eggs! Luckily, the egg hunt was split into different sections for different ages, so Daniel didn't get run over by the big kids and he managed to snag several eggs.


He was pretty excited to open the eggs and see what was inside, but he really had no interest in eating the candy (which was lucky because most of it was chocolate, which we're trying to stay away from because of his milk allergy). We brought a few decoy eggs full of Teddy Grahams and raisins, and he was much more eager to get into those!

Daniel also had the pleasure of meeting Buzz, the Georgia Tech mascot, who also stopped by the egg hunt. The Easter Bunny shouldn't feel bad, because Daniel was no more a fan of Buzz than he was of the Bunny.

Guess we'll have to stay away from oversized fuzzy creatures for awhile!

daniel's new room

With a new little one on the way, we decided to move Daniel up to a "big boy" room, complete with big boy bed, and let his little brother take over the nursery. Of course, we couldn't make this easy so it also involved moving our office (I won't show the before-and-afters of that adventure). Fortunately we were able to enlist the assistance of Papa Joe and Grandma Rita, otherwise we never would have finished (thanks guys!!).

After all the moving of furniture, the next step was painting! We decided to have a little fun and let Daniel get in on the act. He has kind of an abstract, modern art approach.

He's a very hard worker, though!


Daniel also delighted in helping assemble his new furniture.



Here's the final product. We still need some decorations, but overall we think it turned out great!


Daniel has adjusted pretty well to his new bed and the new-found freedom of being able to get in and out of bed himself. We've had a few battles of wills (i.e. putting him back to bed 15 times before he finally fell asleep), and most nights he still gets up once or twice before he nods off. But he seems to like all the space, and has an ever-growing collection of "friends" that he brings to bed with him (currently his dog, snake, and frog are the regulars). He's definitely turning into a big boy!

go duke!

In honor of tonight's game...

Go Duke!

snow!

We had a big event in Atlanta on Sunday - snow!! It was the first real accumulation of the white stuff since Mike and I have lived here, and we were so excited to take Daniel out to experience it. We got about 2 inches, most of which fell while he was napping. When he got up, we bundled him up in lots of layers (I guess if we lived in the north, he would probably own snowpants, but alas, he does not). He was a little skeptical at first, but once we started throwing snowballs he got into the winter spirit!

mom's weekend out!

I am a lucky woman. I have the best husband in the world, one who is more than willing to let me go away for a weekend of rest and relaxation while he stays at home chasing after a very busy 18-month old. (Okay, the boys may have had a pretty good time too, but I'm still very lucky.)

I'm also lucky to have the best friend in the world, Holly, who I was fortunate enough to live next to our freshman year of college, over fourteen years ago (holy cow, can we possibly be that old?). Fortunately Holly has a pretty great husband too, so when I suggested that we leave our little boys at home with their dads and meet up for a girls' weekend, she was all for it! Holly is pregnant with her second baby too, so we figured it was a perfect time to get together and catch up before our lives get significantly more complicated again. Here we are with our pregnant bellies - can't wait for our new little ones to meet!

We had a fantastic time last weekend in Greenville, South Carolina, conveniently located halfway in between our homes - which was our prime reason for choosing it as a destination, although I think we were both pleasantly surprised at what a great little city it is. We went to the spa for massages, relaxed at our hotel, walked along the river, and just generally enjoyed spending time together. Such a great weekend!

the zoo!

Grandma Deb and Papa Tony visited recently, and Daniel had a super time playing with them, including a really fun trip to the zoo. We now have a family membership, so we hope to take many more trips there this year! We planned it perfectly - it rained all morning, and we doubted whether we'd be able to go. But by afternoon it had cleared up, so we decided to go for it. I guess the rain kept the crowds away though, because it felt like we had the place to ourselves even though it was Saturday.

Daniel wants to walk pretty much everywhere on his own now. Strollers are for babies, apparently, and he is a big kid. Fortunately on this trip he had lots of hands to hold on to.
Watching the flamingoes with Grandma.
This elephant knows tricks! Daniel was a little freaked out by her though.
How cool is it to be this close to a panda (a sleeping panda, but still)? Not totally sure Daniel realized the panda was actually a real live animal. He wasn't nearly as enthralled as I was. Or maybe the tiredness was just starting to set in.
Okay, by the end of a long day, maybe a stroller isn't such a bad idea after all. Our tired boy eventually gave in.