Best Purchase Ever

It's been more exciting than Christmas morning here today!
I ordered Josh a Cloud-b ladybug a while back and it finally got here. I knew he was going to like it, but I had no idea he'd love it so much! From the second I got it out of the box and showed him what it did, he's been bouncing off the walls with excitement and hasn't put it down. We've spent half the day in the closet or the bathroom because those are the spaces without windows.

This is a conversation we had this afternoon.
Josh: that mailman is SOOOOO nice!
Me: Oh yeah, how come?
Josh: Cuz he gave me this present.
Me: Um.... Yup.....

He thinks that the mailman is pretty much the greatest person in the world.
I've tried to explain to him out how the mail works before, but he's still not really getting it.
Every time I order anything and it shows up on the doorstep (which is a lot lately...I've decided ordering online is WAY easier than going to the store), Josh get's so excited and yells, "the mailman brought me a present!" He's in love...

And I think I'm tired of the mailman getting all the credit :)

I also think the mailman is going to have a hard time topping today's present.

This picture was taken right before bed, after a whole day of playing with it, and his face shows just how excited he still is about it.

Coloring Rocks

While we were down visiting family last time, I was baby sitting my nieces and they asked if we could color rocks. It's something that I introduced to them a long time ago, and they think it's fun, so it's become something we do a lot when we visit. This last time we were down, I let Josh try it for the first time and he loved it! We hadn't done it since our visit home, but the other day when I asked Josh if he wanted to paint, he said he wanted to paint rocks. It took me a minute to understand what he was saying, because you don't actually paint the rocks, you put the rocks in the oven for about 10 minutes and then color on them with crayons and the crayons melt. Once I figured out what he was talking about we went outside and he picked out a couple rocks to "paint." He had so much fun that now he asks me every day if we can paint rocks :)

Going on a Safari

We've had lots of sick stay-in-your-pj's-and-don't-leave-the-house days this week, so in order to not get too bored, I had to come up with some new activities. I didn't take pictures of any of the other things we did, but I did take pictures of our safari. We made binoculars and went hunting for wild animals.
Josh was SO cute! He was 100% in character the entire time. I'm pretty sure he thought it was real. The binoculars never left his eyes.

I really love the age Josh is right now. He's so much fun! I love that I can come up with things like this and he actually gets it now. His imagination is huge! It's awesome to see him develop and grow.

State Fair

It was another fun year at the state fair!

Lots of animals to pet, tractor to climb on, and awesome food to eat.

What's not to love?

Labor Day

On Labor Day we decided to take Josh to play at Blast Off again. Beau wasn't with us the first time we went, so I wanted to go again on a day when he could come too. Josh has so much fun there and it's really fun to watch him! He was a lot less timid this time, he just took off on his own and had the time of his life.

A Fun Saturday Morning

Our favorite thing to do on Saturday mornings is to go to the Farmer's Market. I love the Farmer's Market for a couple different reasons, but mostly because of the food (obviously), and the type of people it attracts. I love hanging out with the hippies :)
This year it's especially nice to have the Farmer's Market since we don't have a garden, it's awesome to be able to go buy fresh produce.
We've made it sort of a tradition that after we do our shopping we walk around down town looking through the little antique shops and end up at Great Harvest for some bread and then go across the street to the toy store.

Saturday mornings are the SO nice!

A couple weekends ago we also decided to go to the library while we were down town. That's where these pictures were taken. I'm really excited that Josh loves the library so much. It will be nice to be able to go there a lot this winter.

Benson at 6 months!

HOLY COW! I cannot believe Benson is already 6 months old! Time's going way too fast.

This little guy is SO much fun!
I get comments almost every time I leave the house about what a happy baby I have because he is always laughing and smiling, no matter what! He just loves life.

At 6 months Benson:

• Weighs 19 lbs 8 oz - 85%
• Is 27" tall - 68%
• His head is 18.5 cm - 99%
  
• Sits pretty well by himself, but I always put the boppy behind him just in case
• Sleeps from 8 pm - 6 am, then eats and goes back to sleep until 8 or 8:30
• Takes 3 naps, one and 10, 2, and a short one at 5:30
• Eats baby food like a champ, but still loves hit oatmeal the best
• Still taking AR meds morning and night. I've tried to ween him a couple times, but as soon as he misses one day he starts having trouble eating and spits up tons. On the medication he has no problems.
  
• Wears 12 month clothes.
• Is in size 3 diapers.
• Rolls over the second I put him on his stomach. I'm pretty sure he's never going to crawl, and I'm totally ok with that. I don't want him to, mostly because church is a nightmare when that starts and it goes down hill from there until 18 months.
  
• Loves his dad! All Beau has to do is walk into the room and Benson starts going nuts, squealing and flailing his arms around for him.
• Loves to blow raspberries.
• Smiles constantly.
• Wakes up SO happy in the mornings. I love going up to get him because he's so happy to see me.
  
• Nurses every 3-3 1/2 hours.
• Is content to sit on the floor with the simplest toy for a long time.
  
• Doesn't like the jumperoo for very long. I think it's too much exercise for the chunker.
• Absolutely loves to read books!
  
• Doesn't like Bananas.
• Lays his head on my shoulder when he's tired! I always wanted Josh to do that, but he never would.
  
• Doesn't take a binki at all. I finally gave up trying to force it on him.
• Is very curious about everything I'm doing.
• Doesn't fall asleep very often outside is crib. It's always a sad day when that happens.
• Thinks Josh is just so funny.

We are so grateful for Benson and can't imagine our lives without him. He is such a good little guy and melts our hearts daily with his sweet smiles and hugs.