Fun at the Zoo

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Today we took the boys to the zoo after school. The weather was great, the animals were rowdy, the ducks were hungry and we had a great time together as a family.

Painting Fun

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We love days that Ben goes to school because we look forward to seeing his latest creation at the end of the day.

We would love to share some of Sam’s work, but each time we ask him if he created something he says, “yes…but I recycled it”.

Biking Fun

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Now that Sam, Scott & I all have bikes…we had to get a trailer for Ben. Of course, the rainstorms arrived the day it was delivered. Finally, we had a break in the weather and our family went for our 1st family bike ride. Scott still laughs at my lack of bicycling skills, but I’m trying to keep up and my single goal is to fall less than Sam!

Mr. Curiosity

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I love one-year-olds! They have almost no bad habits, are so curious (sometimes too curious), will eat anything you put in front of them & can give you a smile that will just melt your heart. My mom brain has taken over many memories that I have from when Sam was this age (though I have many of these exact same pictures when he turned one), but I love that I get to watch them all again with Ben.

Ben's Artwork

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Do we have the next Picasso living amongst us? Possibly! Here’s some creative artwork by Ben. I can’t imagine the clean-up chaos that happens after eight 1-year-olds do an art project. Bless those teachers!

Little Gym Excitement

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Ben LOVES the Little Gym. When he’s not chasing Maggie around…he’s going through tunnels, hanging on the bar, walking the balance beam, throwing balls & trying to pop bubbles.

Bicycle Tricks

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The weather has been so pleasant in the afternoons that we’ve gotten into a habit of going up to the neighborhood park after rest time. I push Ben in the stroller and Sam rides his bike. Lately, we’ve been walking a little too slowly for Sam…so to kill time while we catch up he’s started doing “tricks” on his bicycle. My favorite is when he puts both of his feet on the handlebar…but I haven’t been able to capture that one on camera yet.

Sheehan's Invade Austin

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We made a quick trip to Austin this weekend. It rained a majority of our visit but the boys still found a way to squeeze in some quality tractor & bike time. We also got to spend time with Aunt Carol & Kathy so that was a special treat! We’ll see you all again in a few weeks.

Ben's One Year Check-Up

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Ben had his one year check-up yesterday. It’s always an adventure when you have to take both of them to the doctor. Under the prolonged circumstances, they did great. Sam loved the flu mist (yea for no shot!) and Ben hated his 4 shots but only cried for about 30 seconds. Here are the current stats for Ben.

Length – 30” long (60%)
Weight – 21 lbs, 12 oz (40%)
Head – 19” (95%)

Oh, and no that’s not chocolate on his nose (that’s what people keep asking me)…that’s a product of learning to walk. Poor guy hit his nose twice in the same day.

It's A Big Boy Bike World Out There

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Scott couldn’t wait one more day (notice I say Scott and not Sam) & went out during the afternoon naps to get Sam a big boy bike. We hid it on the side lawn and when the boys got up from their naps, we called Sam over to his surprise. He was pumped & immediately asked Scott to ride to the park with him. There were a few falls along the way but ultimately it was a successful first trip. Now we just need to get a bike for Mom and a trailer for Ben so we can have lots of family bike rides.

Run Off That Energy

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Luckily the weather has been a lot nicer since the boys’ energy levels have risen significantly. So we’ve been spending a lot of time at the neighborhood parks.

Scott & Sam ran the bases for a while this morning while Ben played in the outfield and tried to steal the bat whenever Sam wasn’t looking. Then we headed over to the park. Ben discovered his great love of tunnels & Scott/Sam braved the hot slides to race down. Sam won, of course.

We love this time of year!

Sippy Cup In, Shiner Bock Out

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Ben tried to “switch” his milk for a beer during the party. Thank goodness an adult noticed before he figured out how to use the bottle opener!

Petting Zoo Insanity

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Before I go any farther, I want to say a special THANK YOU to my wonderful Aunt Deta who I believe took every single picture at Ben’s 1st Birthday (oh my gosh…thank you a million times over!), to my mom, MIL Aimee & FIL Pat who took orders (with a smile) from a crazy 5’ wild woman to prepare for the party and to my wonderful husband who allowed me to have a petting zoo at Ben’s 1st birthday (hey…he’s got the short end of the stick on everything up until now) and who endured the insanity of Martha, I mean Anna, for the past month as I tried to furnish & decorate our new house prior to the party…

The petting zoo was honestly a hit from the moment it pulled up. We got Sam out of his room to watch as they unloaded all the animals onto our front lawn. The animals were amazingly tame and civil to the kids…though there was a hilarious donkey who called (very loudly) several times for his friend throughout the party. And you know it’s going to be a great party when one of the hostesses (Anna) gets peed on by a goat during the first 15 minutes.

I think some of the children thought the animals were their personal friends (notice Renato with his arm around the goat & Kate talking to the deer), but everyone’s favorite animal had to be the pony. The poor pony didn’t get a break for 2 hours, and remained gentle throughout the entire party. And though the petting zoo was technically for Ben and his similarly aged buddies (Brinklee, Miles, Oliver #1, Oliver #2, Maggie) they had more fun playing in the water table, eating goldfish & pushing plastic cars all over the lawn than touching or riding on the animals.

We hope everyone (especially Ben) had a wonderful time at the party. Let’s do it again next year!

Shopping Cart Fun

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I can’t say thank you enough to the genius that invented the car shopping cart. Without it, parents would choose to eat out every night because the shopping experience would be too much of a nightmare.

But I Don't Want to Wear Shoes

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I swear that’s what Ben would say if he could. Now that Ben is walking, he’s required to wear shoes at school. So…we’re practicing and once he stops thinking he has clown feet, he’ll be fine. Go Ben Go!

Sam & Ben's 1st Day of School

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Today was Ben & Sam’s first day at St. Luke’s Day School.

Sam did great especially since he has a pet guinea pig named Patches to monitor all day & has graduated to the “big boy” playground outside. Scott got a blow by blow of what Patches did today at school when he got home tonight...including how much he ate, when he rested, etc. Sam also learned a new hand washing song that he’s very found of. I thought it was great at first until about the 3rd time today when I was corrected that I wasn’t mixing up the soap enough on my fingers. Give me some time & I’ll learn how to correctly wash my hands.

Ben seemed fine when I dropped him off this morning. He actually waved goodbye as Sam and I left. I was so relieved until Betsy went in after me and said Ben and the entire class was crying. I don’t know why I expected anything less. GOD BLESS those 2 teachers for agreeing to hang out with 8 newly one-year-olds all day!

Cowboy Sam

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We never know what’s going to happen while the bath is filling up each night. I was getting Ben undressed in the bathroom when I heard a LOT of commotion coming from Sam’s room. I go out in the hall to yell at him to come to the bath and he comes galloping out in his cowboy gear (minus a shirt & shorts). There’s nothing like a cowboy in Diego underwear. YEE HAW!