Camping Out

This weekend we had a blast "camping out" for dinner with Gigi and Papa. Daddy is gone golfing so we decided to break up the weekend with a little visit. The kids enjoyed driving their truck full of food out to the campfire, roasting hotdogs, making s'mores, watering the flowers, throwing rocks and sticks in the pond, and digging in the rocks by the shed, finding snakes with Papa, and going on a nature walk with Gigi. Bella loved helping Papa by the fire. Benjamin was very concerned about how hot the fire was and eventually he was bribed to stand next to him if he wanted a s'more. haha Bella started out with an old snow hat to keep her ears warm and within minutes she threw that off as well as her jacket! I just love their funny faces as they try to eat their s'mores while getting the gooey marshmallow all over themselves! Thanks for a fun night Gigi and Papa!

It's a BOY!

Today was a big day! We just had our sonogram and the baby looked wonderful and healthy! We met with our doctor for a few minutes and then went to lunch at the Cheesecake factory to find out what we are having! This has been our tradition with each baby. We order dessert after lunch and hand the envelope to the waiter. Then, we're surprised by the candle they bring out! This morning the kids were so excited and full of energy at the doctor's office. :) Bella kept telling everyone she wanted a baby girl and the pink candle! Benjamin usually just says he wants a baby when you ask him. So easy to please! But Brandon had been coaching him to say boy and blue today.

I had a feeling it was a boy so I've been doing my best to prepare Bella in case it was a boy. When we handed the waiter the pink and blue candles she made sure to tell him, "I want the pink candle!!" Well, there's not much we can do at this point! Even though I've thought I've known it was boy this whole time, I'm still surprised that it's actually a boy. I'm so excited that the boys will be closer in age together and they'll end up sharing the bathroom in our new house. Bella was upset I could tell because she was really quiet and not smiling anymore. It made me so sad for her, I think I was crying for her, but she didn't shed a tear thank goodness or I would have completely lost it! I was trying to think of a million reasons why it's exciting for her that it's a boy but not one would make her smile. I thought for sure she would be so excited if I reminded her that she got her own bathroom and shower in the new house. She smiled for like half of a second. I asked her, "isn't that fun!" She looks at me so sad and says, "no mommy, I want a baby girl." I just had to turn around because I was crying again! Emotional and exciting day! I'm sure she'll come around soon!

Bowen Lynn is our baby boys' name! Lynn is my middle name and also my dad's middle name for whom he is named after. I hope he inherits many of his Papa's qualities! Bowen means nobleman and by now I guess we have a "B" theme going on! It's the only name I had for this baby whether it was a boy or girl. I somehow always do that.

Daddy throws the ball like this!

This month Benjamin's new favorite thing to talk about is how daddy can throw the football. We've been going to his flag football games and the kids have a blast cheering him on and clapping! Of course they love to try to give him high fives in the middle of the game so we're still working on when it's ok to actually give him hugs and high fives! His team is ranked #1 in the league so far! Some other perks to going to the games are seeing baby Max (Casey and Breahn's baby), seeing dogs, playing at the park, and of course SNACKS! Benjamin loves to offer daddy water at half time too but needs me to walk with him 3 feet to where daddy is standing. All those big guys can be intimidating! :)




My favorite perk.... donut holes!

Happy Easter!

We spent the night at Gigi and Papa's house after going to Jefferson City for my grandparents' Easter. Spending the night is always soo exciting for the kids! Bella can't wait to go to sleep in her bed at Gigi and Papa's! She's always getting "sleepy" in the middle of the day just so she can go and visit her room. Haha! We got up early as usual and the kids found their baskets from the Easter bunny. They got socks, PJ's for Ben and an outfit for Bella, bubbles, chapstick, a chocolate bunny, and stickers. Then they found the eggs that were hidden around the living room. We got ready and went to church with Gigi and Papa where there was another egg hunt! After church we had another amazing lunch of ham, asparagus, deviled eggs, rolls, and fruit salad. We had carrot cake, peanut butter brownie bites, and sugar cookies for dessert! Yum! The kids took naps and then we had the big egg hunt out back. It was so fun with so much territory to cover! The biggest hit these days is the new truck! Benjamin has gotten pretty good at steering and loves putting stuff in the back as he drives around! The girls were so cute driving their Easter baskets around! We were blessed with amazing weather to enjoy most of the day outside!

I'm so proud of Bella this year. She's really learned a lot about why we celebrate Easter. She goes on and on every time we see a cross about how Jesus died on the cross to wash us clean and now he LIVES! She's so sweet! She does go off on her own thoughts at times. She was telling me the Easter story one day and then added on that Jesus washes us clean of germs, and we need to remember to brush our teeth and spit out the toothpaste! "Don't swallow", she said! Benjamin really enjoyed the resurrection eggs this year! He really loved the rock which symbolized the boulder in front of Jesus' tomb. One day he grabbed the rock, unlocked and opened the door to the deck, ran out and threw the rock as far as he could! Luckily I found our Jesus rock! I explained that this was a special rock and that it doesn't belong outside. He seemed to understand because he didn't do that again!