Christmas Trip: Christmas!

Yes, finally getting to the good stuff from our trip recap.  Christmas was wonderful.  We made the big kids wait until 7am to get up, since that is Ben's wake up time.  I know, we could have gotten him up earlier, since he often wakes up before that.  But I think everyone liked that we had an 'earliest time' that wasn't tooo early.  Just pretty early.  Gramma, Grampa, GiGi, and Papa John all got up early and came over to see what Santa had brought for the kids, along with Uncle Chris's sister and parents.  We had a full house!

The kids were pretty great and let us get a bunch of pictures before diving into all the presents.  Gramma got them all matching penguin jammies, so they looked so cute!  Ben is still a bit too young to really get what was going on, but he loved being in on the excitement with his big cousins.

Everyone was so generous with Ben.  We are truly blessed to have so many wonderful people in his life who want to share with him.  In other words, Ben got so many gifts!  Oh my goodness, is he a lucky boy.  Thank you to everyone who helped give Ben such a merry Christmas.

The morning was spent opening gifts.  We did a big Christmas dinner around midday.  While we had a bunch of food that Ben enjoys, he decided he only wanted an apple.  What can I say, kids are strange.  Lindsay and Chris put together a delicious spread, with the help of Gramma and Grampa.  Everything was super tasty.

After eating, the kids napped a bit and we adults got to just relax.  Basically we spent the day enjoying family and playing with new toys.  Ben was awesome and took his naps pretty well.  I think running around so much really wore him out!  His cousins were so kind and shared all their toys with him whenever he wanted.  They were really good about understanding that some toys had to be put away because they had too many small parts for 'Baby Ben' to be around.  They really are some great kids.

I took a ton of pictures, but just as Charlotte, Joe, and Ella are getting old enough to know to sit still, look at the camera, and smile, Ben is learning he can just get up and move away.  Sigh, the pictures are still pretty cute.

Getting some milk before presents

Looking so cute in his jammies!

Trying to get a picture of the cousins

Ben wasn't in to sitting

Four cute little Christmas Elves!

The big kids

Stockings first!

Presents!

Ben loved his new toys

Everyone who came over early

Taking a break on LadyBird's bed

Watching Charlotte open gifts is fun!

Everyone takes a little break to play with their feet, right? ;)

Fire Station!

Thank you to everyone who helped make this such a merry Christmas for us and especially Ben.  We missed seeing some family, but we were so happy to spend the holiday with family we don't get to see very often.  We are so blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives.  We are looking forward to all the fun Christmases to come!

-Kim

Happy Birthday, Dagger!

Happy Birthday to my sweetest little kitty ever, Dagger!

Yesterday was Dagger's birthday.  We celebrated by singing to her, and giving her plenty of extra treats.  She got to spend her day napping and enjoying time with the family.  Okay true, that is how she spends pretty much every day, but nonetheless she had a good birthday.  She is the sweetest little girl, loving and gentle.  She is so patient and kind with Ben.  She cuddles and purrs and is full of warmth.  I think she is made of love and fluff.  We are so lucky to have such a wonderful cat to share our lives with.

Thank you for being such a wonderful friend, Dagger.  We love you so much!

-Kim

Christmas Trip: Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a nice, peaceful afternoon/evening for us.  The cousins, Aunt Lindsay, and Uncle Chris went to see some of Uncle Chris's family, and we spent the afternoon with Gramma, Grampa, Gigi, and Papa John.  

It was nice to be able to just relax and let Ben spend some quality time with his grandparents and great grandparents that he rarely sees.  We played with Ben, ate some yummy food, and enjoyed relaxing before the excitement to come on Christmas Day.

Ben had a blast running around Gramma and Grampa's house.  He had us all laughing with his antics.  The hit of the day was an old windup toy the Grampa pulled out.  It was a little kangaroo that hopped, and Ben couldn't get enough of it.

So much to explore!

Hanging out with Daddy

Fox was a loyal travel buddy on this trip.

Early Christmas gift!

The wrapping paper is fun too.

A new book!

Clowning around with Papa John

Best toy!

My favorite little guy.

It was a wonderful day.  We had fun, and were super geared up for Christmas!  Ben was sure to get to bed on time so Santa could come. ;)  Ben's second Christmas was shaping up to be pretty great!

-Kim

(In certain lighting my phone turns pictures yellow, hence the yellow tone to the last two.  I have no idea how to fix it at this point.  So be ready for some yellow pictures sometimes.  Sorry!)

Christmas Trip: Fun with Family

We got to Arkansas a few days before Christmas, so we were able to spend the start of our stay just hanging out with everyone!  With Ben still taking 2 naps a day, it is hard to get out and do a whole lot.  Luckily the kids were pretty pumped to just all play together.  Ben's cousins are the sweetest.  They are all so generous with sharing their toys with Ben and love to play with him.  Charlotte was Ben's personal jukebox this trip, singing Patty-Cake and Itsy Bitsy Spider practically on demand for him.  He of course adored her.  Joe had some really great cars and trucks to play with, and was so wonderful about sharing with his little cousin.  Ben was so happy that he could run around with his big cousins, he had fun just being with them.

Ben's great-grandma and great-grandpa were in town for this holiday too!  Ben loved getting spoiled by his GiGi and Papa John.  It isn't super exciting to blog about, but seriously just getting to spend time with everyone was a gift.  We played with the kids, read stories, and shared time together.  The excitement for Christmas was palpable in the kids, and Ben caught on to it as well.  I loved getting to do some baking and crafts with the older kids while Ben was spoiled by Gramma and Grampa.

I am so happy I got some fun pictures of the kids.  They are all so busy, it is hard to get 'good' pictures of them, but the action shots give a more realistic display of our time there.  These kids rarely hold still!  

They all love to be read to

Getting tickled by Papa John!

Action shot!

Sweet Charlotte, growing too fast!

Ella, striking a pose

Joe, showing us his awesome costume

Play Time!

Being silly

Ben explored the whole house

I taught the kids to make bread!

And here is what happens when you try to take a selfie with a six year old, 2 four year olds, a one year old, and an Aunt Kim who for some reason thought this would work.

Note only 3 out of the 4 kids can be seen in any picture.  By the end Ben was pretty over it.  The other three kids thought it was pretty fun though.  I love these ages where they like to hang out with us and think their Aunt Kim is fun!  I was eating it up the whole trip.  I am so thankful for these kiddos!

-Kim

Christmas Trip: LadyBird!

Seeing how much Ben loves Dagger, I was looking forward to seeing Ben with LadyBird.  Last time we were in Arkansas, he loved her.  But a lot can change in 6 months, and he doesn't have a lot of interactions with dogs.  This time he was a little more hesitant around LadyBird.  I think it is pretty understandable.  I got down on Ben's level, and LadyBird is pretty much his height.  Imagine a dog that is bigger than you coming right for you, and you can see how he might be a little nervous.  He quickly came around to her though!  After a few minutes with LadyBird sitting nicely on her leash, Ben was all about her.

I loved watching Ben with LadyBird.  He loved to go up to her and hug and kiss her, but only as long as she was looking the other way.  Understandably he didn't like the get a big wet nose to the face!  If she came up to him he tended to curl into a ball or grab onto whomever was closest to him.  Charlotte was particularly helpful at making sure LadyBird didn't 'get' him.  Pat and I were not super helpful, as we got a little kick out of LadyBird drooling on him.  Revenge for all the drool bombs he drops on us!  LadyBird was wonderful with Ben, as she is with all the kids.  She didn't mind at all when Ben used her to pull up to standing, or when he was a little less than gentle with the petting.  She also didn't mind when he crawled up on her bed to give her a kiss and a pet.  

Stealing LadyBird's bed

Carefully approaching...

Kisses!

Hugs...

Gentle pets

Sweet friends

I love how much Ben loves animals.  He really enjoyed his time with LadyBird.  He was very happy to be back with Dagger, and I think he appreciates how little she is a bit more now.  He seems to be a bit more gentle with her.  It was fun to spend so much time with a sweet dog.  Thanks, LadyBird!!

-Kim

Christmas Trip: The Ride There

Happy New Year!!  We had a great time on our trip to Arkansas.  The drive wasn't too bad.  Here's how I would fill out my Mad Libs for the way there:

"The trip was  pretty good !  Ben was an absolute above average toddler .  I would/wouldn't change a thing.  Ben was a  car napping  champ.  I thought for sure other cars could sense our  excitement .  We only had to stop every  well, what we expected    hours, which was    fine  .   Next time I would change   trying to feed Ben a pouch in the car  .   We were so happy to get to Gramma and Grampa's house and   spend time   them.  We will visit again in   the summer   !"


So you can see, not too bad!  We got off to a good start nice and early.  Ben did go back to sleep for a bit at the beginning, which was nice.  We made a couple of stops, including one long one for lunch.  We stopped at a McDonald's with a playplace, so Ben was able to walk around a little bit.  He still isn't super into the playgrounds.  I think since he has only been walking a short time he isn't sure what to do with himself yet.  It is nice that way, as he doesn't get mad he can't reach the bigger equipment.  He was pretty pleased to be able to walk around and wiggle a bit.

I spent part of the trip in the back seat playing with Ben.  Well, I handed him toys and too many cheerios.  It rained the whole way down, but we made it safe and sound!  Overall I don't think I would really change much.  Yes, Ben had some moments of fussiness.  But who doesn't when on a long car trip?  It's hard for an active kid to sit still that long.  He still got some nap time, not really on schedule, but the sleep was there.  He ate decently well.  On the whole it was a good trip.  Of course we were happy to finally be there, but I really can't complain at all.  Ben was great.

We did get some fun pictures in the car and at our lunch break.  Can't let a Cartwright Family Adventure go undocumented. 

Quick early morning snack before hitting the road.

Getting some work done on the trip

Snack time!

His joy at discovering his cup holder

Exploring the Playplace

This slide made sounds as you went down it!

Back to home base for a moment

Fun with Daddy

Made it to play with Gramma and Grampa!!

Ben may have been more cheerio than boy by the time we got there, but we made it safe and sound.  Ben was ready to dive in and play with his cousins!

-Kim