Thanksgiving 2010

We had a great time at the Garcitas Ranch in south Texas, and a great time in the hill country as well. It was really fun to see Davis play with his cousins at the ranch, and it was sweet to picture Bennett playing there when he was little bitty. We ate too too much food, and laughed and played the whole weekend. We also got all excited about Black Friday this year. In fact, when Davis woke up on Black Friday, Bennett and I ran in cheering "ITS BLACK FRIDAY!!!" with our hands in the air. Davis didn't know what we were talking about- but he was excited! Our best black friday buy was a poinsettia for .99- limit three per person- at Home Depot. Here are some pictures- some from the holiday and some from our recent ride on the Zilker Zephyr.

Favorite Things

I have titled this post in tribute to Oprah's Favorite Things show this week. First I will focus on some of my favorite things from this past weekend, then I will talk about some favorite things I'm looking forward to. (Leaving no question about the agenda of this post today...facts, facts, facts).

This weekend was great- Bennett and I went to a thanksgiving party Friday night and got to see The Social Network Saturday. It was fun to go out both nights on a weekend- we haven't done that in a while. We drank and were merry on Friday- so it was nice that Davis slept quite a bit that day- because all three of us got to take naps. We slept from 10-12:30 and then again from 3:30-5:00. Haven't done that on a Saturday in a couple years now. It was great.

Sunday we took Davis to the Zilker Zephyr and he began to wave for the first time. It was so cute- very delayed and more like his arm sticking straight out in front of him- and him turning his wrist slowly. He has recently realized that he has wrist mobility- so everything that is picked up (hangers, remotes, etc) becomes something he turns back and forth with his wrist. Anyway- he loved the train. He would just sort of look around and then every once in a while get so excited that he would rub his belly (this is a new thing he has been doing when excited) or throw his arms up and down in the air.

He is more and more a little boy every day and it seriously just gets better and better every day. It sounds really dorky- but I count my blessings every night.

Okay, so favorite things coming up...
- Thanksgiving food
- Delilah and the all christmas station starting December 1st
- Trip to Santa Barbara for my birthday (YAHOO!)
- Christmas parties
- Wood burning in the fireplace
- Seeing Davis wake up on Christmas morning to all of his presents

I love this holiday season.

Sunday School

We took Davis to Sunday School for the first time on Sunday. We have been watching church in the family room for the last 6 months and were excited to actually be in the church service for the good music and everything. Plus, with all the cute kids running around like crazy, paying attention was really hard in the family room. Anyway- we dropped him off at his ants class with two little red headed twins and headed on to church.

At our church, if your kid is having a meltdown, they put a little note on the big screen (in front of everyone) that says "Will the parents of XXX XXXX please come to the children's building". I kept worrying that the X's would be replaced with "Davis Bennett" but he did great.

So I LOVE this picture. How cute is that cheesy smile? I kept giggling about it and then I looked at Bennett and I was like "Wait a minute- I get why he is making that face- but why are you making that face?" HA!

Davis' Mustache Bash

A Good Day

I woke up this morning and met Stacey at the gym- we had to reschedule our Tuesday workout to today this week. Davis and Davis brought me up there so Ahmad and Stacey could see little D. It was nice and chilly this morning- so he looked so cute in his little railroad striped pants and green fleece vest.

Today was measurement day...
Usually I have a feeling of how it's going to go- today I really felt it could go either way. I wasn't feeling especially heavy, but at the same time, with guests in town from Maine, we've been eating a lot of mexican food. Anyway- I was pleased to see I lost three pounds! Ahmad was like "You're there- your body is ready to shed the weight..." so I was excited about that.

Then I went home and all three of us took a nap. It was AMAZING!

After the nap, I played with Davis a bit, and then went up to the mall for a while. I have a couple business trips coming up- and as I don't usually have to wear true business clothes- I had to go get some. It was already packed at the mall- and while that drives some people crazy- I sort of love it. Gets me in the christmas spirit.

After that, the three of us went for a long walk, me holding Pico's leash and Bennett pulling Davis in the wagon. It was so nice and cool today- a perfect day to be outside.

Oh, and I've taught Davis to hug. Stuffed animals at least. One day I picked up this little UT teddy bear, and just for fun, I snuggled it up to my neck and start saying things like "mmm, so nice. it's so nice to hug. oooh..." Davis watched me closely. I did it a couple times and then I held it out to him. He grinned so big, tucked the bear up to his neck and mimicked my sounds. It's adorable to watch. I'll catch it on video.

Anyway- it was a good, no a great day. Sometimes the simple things, like a nap in flannel sheets after a hard workout, a couple hours to yourself at the mall, and a long walk are the best things!

A Few Quick Things...

I swear the mustache bash pics are coming- but in the meantime- a few quick things that Davis is doing lately. It's been a while since I've done this.

1) He is walking everywhere. And now carrying things, leaning over to pick things up, wedging himself in between things and more. Yesterday he had his first face plant- and I was waiting for the tears- but he just sort of let out a little yelp and then got back up. He has taken a few falls against his toy trunk though and has a bruise on his chin to show for it.

2) He's completely converted to whole milk. I forgot how white and opaque whole milk is. It kind of grosses me out.

3) This week we're trying to get him to use a sippy cup 100% instead of a bottle which actually makes me feel a little sad. Babies use bottles. Little boys use sippy cups. :(

4) He still LOVES books. He has gotten a lot of new ones lately- which is great- and he loves them. His favorite though is still "Super Fly Guy". I think there are several reasons for this: a) it has a super shiny gold cover, b) it has a crazy looking fly in it and c) we all say "BUZZZZZZ" when we look at it with him.

5) His favorite real foods are: waffles, chicken nuggets and yogurt. He still eats some baby foods, but he is not adopting many other real foods, which is rough.

6) He giggles and grins all the time- which I still can't believe.

7) He loves to take baths- I still can't get him to stay seated. Ugh. And his latest fixation is trying to turn the knobs. He is going to get a hot or cold surprise one of these days. YIKES!

8)He shouts and smiles each time I pick him up at the end of the day!

9)He LOVES Honey. Smiles and giggles whenever she comes around.

10) Unfortunately, he's doing a lot of shrieking again. Ugh.

11) He gets a little overwhelmed in big parties and crowds. At his party he had to go inside and relax a little bit, a couple different times.

12) Also at his party, he zombie followed Porter, trying to get as close to him as possible. It freaked P out a little but it was so cute.

More later!

Blessed Beyond Belief

Thought about naming this "Sappy Post" as a warning- because here it comes. Yesterday was Davis' 1st birthday- which is still hard to believe. I woke up feeling sad and a bit nostalgic, which I totally didn't expect, so I decided to drink a beer while making sugar cookies (yes, around 11:00 am) to take the edge off. HA!

Anyway- after that the day was great- we made cookies, rolled out meat for sliders, and Bennett made an amazing layered cake that was to die for. Davis is so lucky to have a dad that cares about these details and wants to make everything special for him. My mom came over early and helped with everything and Niles and Polly were in town, so they took Davis on a long walk in his wagon, which was a special birthday treat. He loves that thing.

Nikki and Tony came over around 1:00- with amazing mustaches and awesome photos of famous mustached men photos for the mobile.

The party started around 3:00 and all of our close friends came and it was just amazing to see people's excitement in celebrating Davis. It was so special. I realize that when you have a baby- your love for them is just so over the top- and when you see that your friends and family love him too- it just makes you feel like your cup is completely running over.

It was a great day- and I feel so incredibly thankful and blessed beyond what I deserve, to have an amazing husband, an adorable son, and sweet sweet family and friends that want to share in celebrating our most important things. God is good.

Pictures to come in a later post.

I was thinking...

about Davis last night at the Mumford & Sons show at Stubb's...which was great. I don't know what made me think about this- but I wanted to write it down because I hope I always remember it. I was thinking about how I hope Davis loves me best...and I started to think of the reasons why he should love me best...I mean, I carried him in my body for 9 months, I stayed up every night with him for four months, I think of him with everything that I do...and well, I AM his mom after all, and little boys are supposed to love their moms best.

And then abruptly- I had another thought. And I realized that it doesn't really matter if he loves me best or if he acknowledges how much his mom loves him and the things that I do for him along the way. Maybe he'll think that someday- as early as next year or maybe in 10 or maybe in 30 years. But it doesn't matter because I will love him this way regardless...and I know that someday he will know and appreciate it. And that's really all that matters.

Halloween at the Bennetts

We have a tradition of having our good friends come over to trick or treat on halloween. We had quite a few crazy characters last night- including adult gypsies, cowboys, wizards and even Richard Simmons. Here are a few pictures- mainly of the little ones simply because they are the cutest.

P.S. Davis had his costume on long enough to take the pictures- and then he was out of that thing.