Hehehe

I needed a third elf. Phoebe would, in reality, never do such a thing.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Holiday Cheer

Go Elf Yourself! Enjoy, and Happy Holidays!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Ha Ha Ha!

Aunt Angie has Elfed herself again this year, as well as Abby, Ben, and all the other babies Abby knows! Here's the links to Abby's Blog. Enjoy! I'll get something made up for us eventually.

Happy Birthday, Aunt Angie

She won't get mad at me (I don't think) for telling everyone that Angie is the big 3-0! Don't worry, it'll be me soon enough. =P

HaHa! I had to show you guys this pic of "Scary Angie" from the New Kids concert. We had a blast! We'll definitely do that again, given the opportunity, birthday excuse or none!

Today, Ben and I went to Asheville to hang out with Angie and Abby for Ang's birthday. We ended up running late (why wouldn't we be?), so we only got to hang out for a few hours, but the kids had fun playing and eating mcnuggets, and mommies had fun talking and listening to the New Kids on The Block! :) Unfortunately there are no pictures. We just didn't have time for them.

There and Back Again, A Froggie's Tale

There are so many allusions I could use to title this post "Froggie Went a Courtin'", "Return of the Frog", "He once was Lost, but now he's Found"... Then there's, "The Adventures of Frog" or "Travelin' with Froggie" that sound good, too, but regardless of the title, the simple announcement is that Frog is home! Turns out, he's been in White Pine all this time. A lady and her grandson found him on the street, presumably right after he was dropped considering I went back fairly quickly. She said she doesn't usually pick up things like that, but something just told her to. Her mom called her Tuesday morning and said, "Ya know that frog... He's in the newspaper!"
Ben still doesn't know he's back. I wanted to wash him to get the "street" off of him, but also because the nice lady that held onto him for us was a smoker, so Frog is kind of smelly. I've done surgery to remove his croaker and washed him once, but he needs another go. Good thing I found out he still smelled AFTER I sewed him back up! Anyway, we're just greatful he's home, regardless of what kind of treatments he needs. I can't wait to see how Ben reacts after not having seen his Frog for so long.
Below are some of Froggie's past travels. You could almost play "Where's Waldo" with him!

In May at Dylan's ball game.

In June, digging him out of the deep deep toy box.

In August, getting a haircut with Mommy. (You can really tell Ben needed one, right?)

In September, shopping for birthday party stuff.

More September, following the family reunion. Frog wasn't front, but he was literally center.

September again. Can you spot Frog? He was hiding so he didn't get blown away when we were riding.

Happy Birthday, Ben!!

It's hard to believe it's been a whole year since Ben arrived! Here's a little look back at his first day and a comparison with who he is today!

Benjamin was just a couple minutes old in this picture.

This is later on his first day, after a bath and getting dressed.

This is Ben a week ago. He walks, talks, feeds himself, sleeps in his own bed...
imagine all the progress a whole year makes!

I'll update the blog, when Ben gives me time, with the words he's saying, how many teeth, height, weight, etc.

Goodbye, Froggie...

Well, I finally went and did it. Today, we lost Ben's beloved Froggie at Old Time Saturday AS WE WERE LEAVING! I feel horrible about it. He didn't seem to notice or care, but I sure did. I went back to look while he cooled out in the car with Aunt Angie. It seems Froggie had to have just been picked up by some kid or something. I've even put a lost and found ad in the Banner and the News-Sentinel!

He's had a really big day with very little napping, and as I write is having trouble winding down and falling asleep, which is unusual lately. I can't help but think, "What if I had Froggie that I could take to him?" I would never have thought about doing that if Froggie was still in the toybox, but of course, now that's what I wonder....

These pictures were made in May. I'm not even sure if I've cut 'em up and given any away yet! They are a fitting tribute to Froggie. Maybe we'll see him again someday, but I'm not holding my breath.

We LOVE the Fall!

Today Ben and I got outside and played. He walked around, a lot, and played with rocks. The 2 rocks he picked you'll see throughout the pictures. He refused to let them go, and they are now sitting on my desk! Rather than comment on each picture, I'll just let them speak for themselves. We played in the front yard at first, on the walk and at the porch, and then moved to the side and sat on a rock. He had fun, and I think we both loved the weather. Hooray for long sleeves!










P.S. Ben has obviously gotten over his aversion to grass!

Boat Ridin'

Last week we got some fixin' done to our truck and took Abby and Aunt Angie to Rutledge while we waited. Abby had never been on a boat before, so Pop-pop and Nan-nan took us all for a boat ride! Here's some pics...

Abby took right to the boat. She loved riding! Of course, we know Ben does.
That day, he was all about looking at the water and pointing.

Poor Pop-pop. He got ganged up on!

I think Aunt Angie took this picture. Abby had lots of fun!

Kisses for Ben!

Abby snuck up on Ben and gave him a peck on the back!

As you can see, we took the boat to an island and ran aground
so the kids could play without their vests. They had tons of fun.

Abby had a blast walking on the shore.

I just wanted to add this picture. We had such a pretty view!

The Gibbons Reunion

In September was the yearly Gibbons family reunion. Ben went last year, too, but he was still in his cocoon (Mama's belly) then. This year he met some new people, and didn't seem to meet any strangers.

Even though he doesn't know her, Ben was all smiles for this lady.
(Sadly, I don't recall her name either!)

We finally got some pictures of Ben and Pepaw. For some reason,
we just never have the camera out when these guys are together!

Ben loves his Aunt Tonya, obviously.

After the reunion, we went to visit Aunt Dorothy.
She wasn't feeling well, and so we didn't see her at Panther Creek.

Just a quickie

Ben was very insistent today that he would feed himself his lunch, even the mashed potatoes.

Note the handful of potatoes

Doyle said he was gonna help himself, too.

Wow! It's been a while...

So, I've been pretty preoccupied with Ben, and making his breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, and trying (often unsuccessfully) to keep things cleaned up after us. (It's a lot harder now that he doesn't eat baby food!) I think I have a little "foodie" on my hands. There's virtually nothing he turns down! Previously, he didn't like grapes, but those are back on the menu. He's added, among other things, green and black olives, guacamole, and green peppers. He's up to 8 teeth, all 4 front top and bottom. Ben is also growing fast! He's already fitting well in a size 18 months!

Ben is trying so hard to walk. He does really well if he's holding on to something or someone, and can even walk if you hold his hand (but just one, he won't let you hold both). He's taken off across the den a couple times, and can sometimes make it kinda far before he stumbles or sits down. He's so funny. He runs with his arms up over his head. I have a little bit of video of it, it's just a matter of being able to import it and upload it, etc. Ben doesn't like it very much when I sit at the computer for too long. We also found out he's a pretty good drummer! When I get it all worked out, there will be some video of a few different things posted.

Now we are coming up on his first birthday! It's just under 5 weeks away. This has been the fastest year of my life. Some other things he's been working on mastering before he turns one are certain words. He has several that start with "b" and are sometimes hard to distinguish from each other. He has a newfound fondness for boats, and so when he talks about 'em is very excited and says "BO!" He also loves his ball ("bawl"), and I think we have a little southerner (as if he'd be anything else) on our hands. He sometimes sneaks in "bu" for book, "boo" for Pooh, and another "buh" sounding word, with a point upward, for bird. He's getting very good with "Tigger" and "Kitty" and thinks all dogs are "Sadie." He says this remarkably well. He recently started trying to say "Buffy" because I keep trying to tell him that all dogs aren't Sadie. He has more, but i could go on and on and on.... you get my point.

The following are pictures since the last post. I've tried, and think I got it, in chronological order.

July 19, 2008

Ben's first steak at Pop-pop's Bar and Grill.

Playing ball with Sadie

Playing pool with Daddy and Pop-pop.
"What do you mean I'm special?"

August 24, 2008
(yes, I slacked with my camera for quite a while)

A visit from uncle B resulted in a picture where you
can see both their faces! Imagine that!

August 29, 2008

Walkin' with Pop-pop

Making faces with Daddy

Driving the golf cart (in circles)

August 30, 2008
Driving the boat (is that legal?)

He looks like a big boy in this pic. I love his expression!

September 1, 2008Being silly

September 4, 2008

Getting ready for bed (he loves his toothbrush!)

September 5, 2008

Abby says "Here, Ben. This paci must be yours"

September 6, 2008

He's eating fajita fixin's. Chicken, cheese, avocados, and most
importantly, black olives. I think they may be his new favorite.

Ben is a little bookworm.