Father/Son Football Night.

Ben and Harris headed to Chick-fil-a's first annual Father/Son Football Night last night.  To say Harry was excited would be an understatement.  The kid was beside himself, literally bouncing off the walls.  He could not wait to get dressed up in his UGA gear and even had an opinion about what Ben was going to wear.

And by opinion, I mean Ben put on a shirt and Harris walked in and said, "Really?  You're going to wear that?" 

Ha.

So Ben changed, only to be told again, "Really, Dad?  A red shirt with Uga smoking a cigarette?  Really?"  Harry was cool with it, though, once he realized that Uga did not, in fact, have a cigarette in his mouth but rather a pennant.  All was right with the world.

The girls and I met up with our boys at Menchie's after the dinner date.  Harris leapt out of the truck, yelling, "It was AWESOME!" and doing some kind of pelvic thrust at the same time.  Not too sure about that one.

Evidently, the boys were greeted by "teenagers" (shout out to the local high school football team), treated to a tour of the kitchen area, and saw a few people wearing "disgusting Georgia Tech clothes" on their night out.

Babe immediately asked Ben when she could have a "Daddy/Daughter football date night."

I don't think I've ever been more excited for a football season.

Celebrate.

My birthday was last Thursday; I am now thirty-two years old.

Thirty-two.  I have now been a fully licensed driver for half my life.  I don't really know why that's significant, but it is.

Even though I had to work all day and spend the evening at Harris' PTA meeting, I really can't imagine a better way to celebrate than simply living my every day life.  I seriously LOVE my life and fall into bed most nights thinking, "I can't believe I get to share my life with this group of people."  Seriously.  I love the people I do life with.

Of course, no birthday in our household would be complete without the morning birthday balloons and gift opening ceremony.  I had such fun opening my "soft pink blanket to snuggle up with on the couch" from the kids (including my Hershey bar and the latest Teen Mom drama magazine) and cannot wait to head out for an evening on the town with my favorite man on the planet.  How quickly he's learned that my love language is, without a doubt, quality time.  And not to be outdone, I am well aware of how important gifts are to that man. :)  We strike a pretty good balance around here.

It was a fun start to the morning.  It's such fun to get excited with the kiddos and to look forward to traditions (no matter how simple) as a family.  Even if it does mean waking up a little earlier than usual just to celebrate...

The kids and I continued the celebration with dinner at Johnny's on the way home from school, and then Ben and me got a little "alone time" while Mom kept the kids so we could head to PTA. 

I'm pretty sure our evening was merely a preview of the busy-ness in store for us over this next year.  I seriously can't wait. :)

Bring it on, 32.

Milestone.

She's so ready to be grown. 

I love her just the way she is. :)

I know, though, that this is only the beginning of the many "big girl" milestones that will take place over the next few months. 

I'll prepare myself to both laugh and cry at the same time.  That seems to be the best way to handle this whole parenting thing.

At least, it seems to work best for me.

It's a...

On Thursday, Ben and I headed to the doctor's office for our sixteen-week ultrasound and gender check!  Both Harris and Hadley were begging for a baby brother (and Babe was convinced she already knew the baby was a boy), so they were super stoked for Thursday evening to roll around.

Unfortunately, Ben had to work a little later than anticipated.  You'd have thought those kids were waiting for Christmas morning with the excitement (and impatience) surrounding them!  In fact, when Harris ran into my office after getting off the bus on Thursday afternoon, the first thing he asked me was, "Is the baby a boy or a girl?!?!?!"  Once I told him he'd have to wait until Daddy was home, I'm pretty sure he asked me about Ben's arrival every five minutes.

Finally, after dinner, we brought out a nice pink bag with pink tissue paper, which the kids ripped open to find...

a new outfit for a BABY BOY!

To be honest, I don't really think they ever believed that the baby was anything other than a boy...and so I'm thankful to be evening up the gender count in our house.

We're now counting down the days until we meet our brand new baby boy, Benjamin "Thatcher."

I don't think January can get here quick enough. :)



Big Bath!

Emmy Doe LOVES water!  She'll kick, splash, lick, you name it...she's pretty much a water baby.

Unfortunately, we typically clean her by either a) making her share the tub with her siblings or b) sticking her in the shower with one of us.  It's a time management thing. :)  She lucked on Wednesday night, though, and managed to score some bath time all by herself.

I'm not sure she knew what to do at first, in that big tub all on her own, but she quickly figured out. 

That girl cracks me up.

It's Just About Time...

...to babyproof this house.

Homegirl has been rolling like crazy for quite some time and has come fairly close to perfecting the skill.  These days, she locks her eyes on something and takes off...there's no stopping her!

Furniture is not even an obstacle for my little mover!

It is so time to replace the necessary outlet covers, find some protection for the edges of the fireplace, put the stair gates back up, and (the part I'm dreading most!) move all big kid toys to a safer location.

My baby girl's growing up...

My Girls.