I is for...

is for I can't believe it has been so long since my last blog..
I have a lot to catch up on...

Lets backtrack to Valentine's Day... I came home to a dozen beautiful white roses. I was going to stop and get stuff to make a really nice dinner, but traffic was awful and I didn't feel like stopping so I came home and made Lobster linguine for dinner and Brad and I had some wine which was nice. If I have wine, I try to time it so it won't interfere with Benjamin's feedings. Then I got my valentine's from Brad and Benjamin. Benjamin got me a "Be my Valentine Peter Rabbit" book and he ends up giving his valentine to his mom.. How sweet. Then Brad gave me a journal so we could sit down together and write any memories that come to mind... dating, marriage, with Benjamin etc.. It was a very thoughtful gift. Our real Valentine celebration was to go out to dinner this past Saturday... I will get to that in a minute. I woke up on Friday, not feeling well. I had a really bad sore throat. Brad was able to work from home on Friday for a little while, so we ended up getting to spend most of the day together. On Saturday Brad's dad stopped by in the early afternoon for a few minutes. We were able to get a good picture of him with Benjamin. (for those who don't live here) we had very warm weather this past weekend and it was BEAUTIFUL! We decided to go downtown to the Falls Park and just walk around downtown. It was wonderful and the park was filled with people who all had the same idea. Brad's brother and Madison were down in the park at the same time we were and we didn't know it or even see each other down there. I was on a mission while we were downtown, to find the new Gelatto (SP?) ice cream place and I was successful! We had a fun time just our little family.
On Saturday evening, we got all dressed up and headed downtown for our Valentine's dinner. Brad's dad gave us a gift card to a place called the Brown Street Club. We decided to get there early and spend a little time walking around downtown for the second time that day, but our plans changed when we turned through one of the main intersections downtown and ran over a box of screws, which punctured my tire. Once we realized what had happened we were on a mission to get home quickly so we could have the car in the driveway. It never fails when you are in a hurry, you will get behind every slowpoke around... We eventually made it home, and my tire ended up looking like the following picture. We ended up taking Brad's car and we were able to make our reservations on time. We had the most wonderful dinner at the Brown Street Club. If you live in Greenville and want a nice night out, you should try it. There was live jazz music the entire time and it was just a great evening. My wonderful and helpful mother spent the evening with our little Benjamin. (I am so thankful for all the help she gives me) I don't know what I would do without her. Sunday we had a family get together to celebrate Brad's grandmother's birthday. We had a good time, with lots of good food. We were able to get a picture of the great grandparents, with their grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Well Benjamin is changing like crazy.. He is starting to really get chunky and get those chunky baby thighs.. Super cute! He is really becoming interactive with people and he loves to talk and laugh. I am really enjoying every moment with him. I think he is going through a big growth spurt because he has been getting up at 4 every morning for the past week acting like he is starving. This morning he gave me a HUGE scare. I had him at 4 and then I just stayed up and studied because this morning I took my dental hygiene mock national boards... After feeding him I put him back in his crib on his stomach... (babies are supposed to sleep on their backs now) I only do this if it is going to be a short time that he is sleeping and only when I can check on him often. Anyway... i turned on our video monitor and was looking to make sure he was breathing and I couldn't see his back moving... so I went in his room and put my hand on his back and there was still no movement. I jostled him and he still didn't stir... At this point my heart was dropping and I was about to freak out. I yanked him up out of the crib and started patting his back and basically ran into the hallway because the light was on. Right before I was about to scream for Brad he took a deep breath and started moving. I think he had just been in a VERY deep sleep, but it was enough to scare the absolute mess out of me. He never really woke up, but continued to sleep until he was ready to eat again. There is nothing like the fear that something is wrong with your child. Thank God he was ok.
Our little soccer player in the making. It is never too early to introduce the soccer ball.
I said i would never use TV as a babysitter, but I had to call the insurance company and he was really enjoying watching veggie tales.

I love his expressions
He is getting much stronger and lifting up much more.

He really loves his daddy!
Uncle Brent this outfit was in your honor... it says "Just Chillin"

Look how chubby he is getting! He looks so fat in this picture, but mostly it was the way he was sitting.