Beware.

Very reliable resources {Benjamin and Mariah} have informed me that this penguin, which came in a Happy Meal, is quite terrifying to 15 month olds.



Right now, we are at my parents' house. Benjamin and I will be away with my parents visiting my grandparents this weekend. It's going to be very nice to be stress-free {or, as stress-free as I can be, as I will be playing single parent again} for once. It's been a rough few weeks around here. God is taking care of us, though, and I'm very thankful for my parents, who are willing to lug us out to South Carolina along with them. I'm very excited. Oh, and this guy...



will not be coming. However, these beauties...



oh yeah, they're coming. Cookies and Cream cupcakes... I'll post the recipe when I get home.

Anyway, tomorrow there will be one more blog post, and then I won't be posting until probably Monday's "Far Above Rubies" post {Proverbs 31:13, by the way!}. But I will be taking photos!

Take care, y'all, and watch out for the evil penguins...

Benjamin, you are fifteen months old!

I know you guys are probably thinking "How long is she going to do this!" - but I just hate passing up a month, and a post to be able to put down Benjamin's milestones. It is so important to me to reflect and keep record of these things! Who knows, maybe one day on down the line I will go back and reminisce, after Benjamin has left our home for a wife and job and children of his own... Sniffle!





I probably say this every month, but Benjamin, you have changed so much this past month! It is so shocking how much you learn in only a month. You just soak up everything around you and it is precious. This month you have learned to bark like a dog. Nana and Papaw said that you barked at Bailey while you were at their house. It is so funny! Just this weekend you taught yourself how to get down the stairs on your own! Of course, you have had a lot more falls lately {and when I say stairs, it is just three steps so it's not a big deal}, but you really like this new skill.





I love your mind. I love how inquisitive you are. You spent thirty minutes this evening figuring out a jar and lid, and I just loved watching your face. Everything is so new to you and fascinating. When we went outside today, everything in the yard was new and fascinating to you. 15 Months is such a fun age. I love it.







Your Well-Baby Checkup is tomorrow, but the last time we took you to a doctor {two weeks ago?} you weighed 22lbs. I don't really know how tall you are, but I always expected you to be bigger than you are because of how big your daddy was when he was your age. You are wearing size 12months clothing, and sometimes if you're not wearing your big ol' cloth diapers, your pants slide down your rear end. You may have chunky cheeks and a bigger than average head {hehe} but you really are slim and trim! It's probably all the running you do!





You are a little helper. Tonight you wanted the sponge from the kitchen sink so you could wipe down the counters with me. Nana and Papaw found an old cell phone they let you carry around in the dishwasher a couple days after you left - you must have wanted to help with dishes, too! You are so sweet and affectionate and we love you to death! I love my Benjamin hugs and kisses!



Benjamin, you are so goofy. You love to dance around and be silly. Our day is not complete without your belly laugh, or your broad, precious smile! You are the apple of our eyes, Benjamin!



Thank you for helping me become the mommy I have always wanted to be, and for helping me to slow down and smell the flowers every once and a while with my boy.



Or, the dandelions.

a recap.

This past week was so very uplifting. It was well worth every stretch of road that we traveled {9hrs to and from, give or take - mostly give}. It was well worth every nearly sleepless night for one reason or another. It was worth every blister on my foot that came from walking from school building, to Fellowship hall, to Auditorium... over, and over, and over.

I saw wonderful old friends and met wonderful new friends, and it was just so overwhelming almost to be with so many people of like faith. I love being a member of the church of Christ. I can't wait to be in heaven with all my brothers and sisters in Christ, and this past week was a reminder of that! I am so blessed with so many wonderful, loving friends and family.

And the lessons... oh, I wish you all could have been there to hear the lessons!

Here are some pictures from the week:

The drive up was beautiful... here are some pictures as we were driving through Alabama.



Here's Benjamin's napping arrangement for the week:


Benjamin absolutely loved class! Of course, he was very ready to be with us when we came to get him, but he had a lot of fun, and even got to wear a name tag!


Benjamin also went swimming for the first time in a real pool!







We got to spend a lot of fun with our roomies, Micah, Justin, and this darling girl, Reagan!







I do have a few more, but I'm saving them for later posts. So now you have something to look forward to! I know you're excited!

Now we are slowly working our way back to the normal routine... I am so ready for Benjamin to be back on his normal napping schedule!

I'll write more about the lectures later this week.

The Other Side

I had nothing to blog about tonight, until I visited my friend Micah's blog. If you remember, we will be staying with her family in a hotel room next week while we are in Memphis for the Memphis School of Preaching Lectureship. You have GOT to go check out her "Not-So-Good" pictures of her beautiful daughter!

Anyway, I have been saving up my "throwback" {Hubby informs me that this is the incorrect usage for that word, but I had to throw it in there anyway} pictures for a while so I could share them in bulk. After seeing Micah's post and realizing I have nothing else to blog about tonight, I decided I would share mine as well.

I just want to let you know first that if you have a weak stomach, you may not want to see some of these pictures. This involves chewed-up food, namely Benjamin's chewed-up food.

Here we go!

Our First Category is Blur!
A few pictures where Benjamin was too fast for my shutter! Oh, and Bailey.






Our Second Category is See Food!
Gross.





And my favorite... Funny Faces!
hehehe.



And there you have it! Life over here is not always picture perfect pleasant.

And I wouldn't have it any other way!

spring cleaning

My eyes are so heavy as I write this post. I'm sitting with Hubby on the couch, as we watch Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds {which freaks me out to the max}, and piddle around on our separate laptops. We have had a rather long day, and Benjamin's teething and obvious bad mood about it has only made it longer. We started off a little later than we meant to, and went to the bank, to Michaels, to Target, to Hobby Lobby, and then to Kroger - a trip that lasted a couple hours and left me ready for bedtime, though we had a few more hours to burn before then. Benjamin took a nap when we got home and we ate lunch and I began a long day of cleaning and organizing. Usually I don't spend so much time cleaning and organizing, but today I felt I needed to get something done after a week of Vacation. Tomorrow I will probably do some more cleaning {while the babies nap}.

I suppose I'm getting a leg up on Spring cleaning. Did you know that it is very close to being officially Spring? March 20th is officially the first day, in case you were wondering. Perhaps then the chill will leave the air. I know Spring is on its way because of these pictures I took yesterday:








I love seeing trees in bloom. I don't love Pollen, though. Anyone else have terrible pollen allergies?

Another question, anyone interested in Nutella-coffee frosted cupcakes? You have got to check it out!

Hope you all have a fantastic week!