Voila! A Santa Picture Sans Tears

It took a lot of talking up Santa, showing online pictures and videos pre-visit and being 3rd in a very long line, but by golly, Bennett sat on Santa's lap and we were able to get the tiniest of smirks out of him. We were just happy he didn't cry. On the flip side, we might have done a little over-hyping because he keeps asking about Santa and when he gets "pesents" (and he means presents, not peasants...even though he's an only child and a little spoiled, I promise we're not getting him an indentured servant for Christmas this year. He's still too young.) I've tried explaining how the whole countdown calendar and our morning ritual of putting an ornament on the calendar means its not showtime yet, but alas, he continues to request pesents daily. I'm hoping he can hold out until at least Christmas Eve, when he'll get to open a couple.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We sure did. It was beautiful weather down in Houston. We returned on Sunday to a 20 degree temp drop and its been dropping ever since. We might even see some snow this week. I know posts are becoming few and far between, but we're busy here. Not only are we gearing up for the holidays, but we decided now would be the perfect time to put the house up for sale and buy a new one(sarcasm intended). We're going to keep our fingers crossed that we can make a tiny bit of something on the house and get into a new house in a better school district. Regardless, we're super-excited about Christmas this year because this will be the first year that Bennett sort of understands what is going on. We're taking him to see Santa on Saturday and we've been hyping up the big guy, showing Bennett pictures and videos on the computer. Hopefully when it comes time to sit on Santa's lap, we can get a good picture this year. Here are some pictures of Bennett I took today. One in the backseat of the car (isn't that hat adorable?) and the other while he was scaring Daddy with his new monster towel (thank you, Kohl's, for having a kick-a$$ Black Friday sale).

Woof Woof and the Giant Slide

Bennett talked his mother into getting a "Build A Bear" this past week. His name is Woof Woof and he is now Bennett's best bud. They even dress alike. You can barely see Woof Woof in this pic, but Bennett is driving him around on his fire truck.





Bennett got invited to a bounce house birthday party and although he won't get in a bounce house with us, peer pressure got the best of him and he was off. Here is a video of him on the giant inflatable slide.

Win a Melissa & Doug Play Kitchen!

I don't usually put offers like these on our blogs, but man, this is too good of a deal to pass up. We've been eyeing one of these for Bennett for Christmas. Here's the link: http://blog.melissaanddoug.com/2009/10/28/melissa-doug-play-kitchen-giveaway/

Halloween-A Tale of Two Costumes

Bennett's October has been a constant battle to get into costume and learning how his cuteness exponentially increases his amount of clinginess to Mommy. He doesn't like adults telling him how cute he is (egads, don't talk to directly to him!) and he has been incredibly cute as both a cowboy and Elmo. We went to a Halloween costume wedding for Arty's cousin, Amanda, and we had a Sesame Street theme built around Bennett's Elmo character. Mommy was Elmo's goldfish, Dorothy, and Daddy was the Count.

Mommy's Favorite Time of the Year--Fall Festivals

Weekend Without Daddy

Daddy was out of town this weekend, so we went wild! We went to the local park and the zoo on Saturday. On Sunday, we went to the grocery store, the Forest Park train, and Trinity Park. Bennett is a complete daredevil on the slides. I helped him up the big kids' stairs the first few times and then told him to do it on his own. With my heart in my mouth, I watched him struggle and make it again and again, and the smile on his face when he came down that big slide is priceless.
At the zoo

Showing off his new train whistle

Climbing up the ladder to the big slide