Truly blessed...

Today was a very good day. Ben had his 6 month check-up, and he is happy and healthy! He weighed 21 pounds, 8 ounces and was 27 1/4 inches long - what a BIG boy! Tonight I was rocking Ben after his bottle, and I was singing...and Ben was singing with me...and then Seth came in and started singing. It was such a special moment, I had to write about it. Every morning and every night when I am holding my sweet baby boy, I think I must be the luckiest (most blessed) woman in the world - tonight I am sure I am.

We are the Champions!!!

Geaux Tigers!
Last night we won the CWS against the Texas Longhorns - LSU is #1!
Benjamin looked awfully cute in his LSU jammies clutching his tiger lovie - I cannot wait until he gets to the point where he understands LSU sports and likes to watch it (he may already like to watch it since he is TV obsessed!).
LSU fans love 1/2 dozen: oysters on the half shell AND CWS Championships!!!
Benjamin dreaming about a Tiger victory...Dreams do come true!!!
Benjamin at 6 pm with his "game face" on....Get 'em Tigers!

Half Birthday Boy!!

Baby Ben turned 6 months (or half a year) old today!!! I celebrated by baking him half a birthday cake (modeled after his favorite stuffed dog, Lemonade). I cannot believe how quickly these past months have gone by...Ben has learned so much and grown so much (he doesn't even look like his new baby pictures anymore!)...I cannot wait to see what is in store for us these next 6 months! He is now sleeping peacefully in his crib in his Tiger PJ's (it is not looking good for us now in inning 5) oblivious of the importance of today.

Pool and Watermelon Party a Success!!

Virginia enjoying a present

Virginia and Arden getting air in the "jump-jump"

Virginia with a cupcake AND a big birthday cake

Mrs. Cindy Rembert and Owen (baby tiger)

James and Ben in the pool

Chelsea and Ben

Virginia's 2nd birthday party at our house yesterday was a success!! We had a bout 35 people show up ready to swim, jump (we had a blow up "jump-jump"), and eat watermelon (and cake, cupcakes, cheetos....). The day was VERY hot, but the kids had a good time swimming and the adults found the shade. Baby Ben fell asleep IN THE POOL while Jared, James and T-Mark were pushing him around in his float (sooo cute!). Virginia performed her "naked baby" act for everyone at the party, and the cheetos were a BIG hit with the kids (especially Mary Elliott, Virginia's cousin). We had a good time with Emily and the kids this week, and I will miss them this week (especially that growing baby tiger!). The house seems very quiet.

Kyle flying off the diving board

Another successful day!

We have had a really nice, successful time with the three kids here in LC. We have been napping and eating at the right times, and swimming like crazy! Virginia and Ben are both super content swimming in the pool in the morning for over an hour (until the mommies are tired), while Baby Owen naps in the shade. Of course, Gracie always participates (sometimes when she is not needed...she ate Virginia's sunglasses today)! We have had tons of visitors - The Comeauxs, LeBleu's, Mrs. Cindy, Haiti, Cecile, etc...We watched the LSU game last night (all the kids wore their purple and gold) and just played inside tonight.
Morte to come....

Kaylyn's Getting Married!!!

This weekend I went to NO with Benjamin for Kaylyn's bachelorette party. I had such a great time, but I am very tired now. Friday I went to BR to have lunch with Scotty and visited with Angela before we got back on the road towards NO. Friday night I met everyone (the poker gang plus Kaylyn's sister, cousin, and a few of her sorority sisters) at "Pole Perfect Fitness" for an excited (and interesting toward the end) workout. Then it was back to the hotel (The Monteleone) to get ready for dinner. Dinner was very yummy (Crescent City Brewhouse), and I went back to Emily's afterwards to see my little baby boy. The next day we (me, Emily, Mom and Virginia) went to Orient Expressed for a disappointing sale (but the snowballs were GREAT!). We spent the rest of the day playing with the kids and shopping on Magazine. Saturday night was a surprise lingerie shower for Kaylyn at the hotel (all I am going to say is, "Wal-Mart, really?") and then to Dickie Brennan's for dinner. Then it was off to Bourbon...we lost two girls at the first bar (long story), then a few more at the third. I made it to Cat's Meow where we had a ton of fun dancing, singing and sweating (it was HOT!). I left with 3 other girls and left the rest of the partying up to a fearless few (Kaylyn, Kristin, Ashley, Stacy, and Andrea).

Today, Emily and I drove from NO to Lake Chuck with the three babies in the back (yes, I managed to fit 3 carseats and ALL the baby equipment into the back of my SUV!)...whew! We were off to a good start, but by the time we got to the spillway we had minor breakdowns from all three babies. We managed the organized chaos (as Emily calls it) until Henderson where we stopped off to feed the babies and get a rest from the car. Things were looking up (maybe it was the Icee, Junior Mints and M&M's) for a while until all hell broke loose. Virginia was extremely upset about something, Benjamin started to cry hysterically b/c Virginia woke him up and her crying and screaming scared him, and so it went until we got to LC...Little Baby Owen won the "best behaved baby award" for the trip and slept through the whole 15 minute episode.

All in all it was a great weekend...I really enjoyed spending time with my friends in NO, and I am looking forward to spending the week with Em, Virginia and Baby Owen. Wish me luck!!

Pictures of the bachelorette party to follow...

Baby Girl Turns Two!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY VIRGINIA!!!

Aunt Sarah and Baby Ben are bringing you a "prize" on Friday...and it starts with CAKE!!!

love,

uncle seth, aunt sarah, baby benjamin and gracie (the yellow dog)

Weekend in Review

We had a great weekend hanging out in LC....our pool has become one of my favorite things about our house - it is so nice just to throw on our suits and hop in (and a good tan doesn’t hurt either)! On Friday night Seth, Ben and I went downtown to China King (Seth is obsessed with Chinese food) for dinner. Saturday morning was a laundry (boo!) and baby-food making day (mangoes and apples for Ben). I must have been crazy, because our dishwasher was broken...Anyway, Saturday afternoon (after a quick swim) we went to the Lee's house to watch the Tigers beat Tulane yet again (CWS Bound!). Uncle T-Tom (I forgot what Aunt Mary said he wanted to be called now - something different?) BBQ'd, and Jaime and Aunt Mary played with Baby Ben (Tino was quite intrigued too). Seth thought Tino's name was Tito, so he kept saying, "Tito, tito..." all afternoon. Ben was not at all impressed with the bull (who is now HUGE), but the bull was very much intimidated by the bulldozer…I could not even make this stuff up! Sunday morning we went to church (where they were celebrating married couples – we had 4 who had their 65th anniversary this year!!!), lunch at McAllister's and then off to a baby shower with Ben. When I got home, we went swimming...and Ben was sooo happy in the water.

Grandpa Stan

Stan came over for dinner the other night and today to visit with Ben. At first Ben was a little weary of the facial hair, but he warmed up quickly. Ben and his grandpa read his favorite book (Hooray for Fish) together and played with his toys. Ben also impressed everyone by his untiring ability to "jump" in his Jumperoo - he literally jumped for 45 minutes today (2 sessions of about 20)!

Four Kids in a Pool

WE had some friends over last night, grilled burgers and let the kids swim (Ella, Jack, Caroline and Ben). They had a great time - splashing and kicking all over! They continued the splashing in the bathtub...

Jason and Jen stayed a little after everyone had left, and Jack and Ben played well together. Benjamin was fascinated with Jason's foot (he must be wondering if his foot will look like Jason's one day...the answer is NO).

Tonight Stan is coming over to visit Ben and have dinner - I will post pictures of that later.