I'm Nine!

Happy Birthday to Allie!

Today is our beautiful daughter Allison's birthday. She is two. But don't try to tell her that! Ask her, and she'll say, "NINE!" in the cutest little voice. I have no idea where she picked that up, but it is adorable! The funny thing is, our friend Bethany used to say the exact same thing at this age. And of course Allie wouldn't remember that- she was not even one yet!

We had a fun party with her back in our hometown yesterday, and tonight we're having her pictures taken. Then, we're hitting The Chocolate Bar for dessert first! Yummy. Our nieces are also visiting with us, so it's shaping up to be a fun day, after spending the morning at our great church.

No matter how old you turn this year, celebrate life!

Some Pictures of Allie at her birth- oh, what a great day!








Allie's first birthday. Pictures of yesterday coming soon!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Wow, I cannot believe it has been an entire month since I last blogged! What a whirlwind it has been, too.

Dec. 19th-21st, my sister Lindsey and her hubby Alan came to visit us. We took Alan to a wonderful restaurant for his Christmas present, and also Santa came to visit us while they were here:





Dec. 21st-28th, we visited both of our families in East Texas. It was a very relaxing time of fellowship- well, minus the stomach bug that wiped out about 25 members of my family. It was an interesting Christmas, with everyone comparing bodily functions. :)

At Pop's and Mimi's house:


At Uncle Joe and Debo's house:


Dec. 24th, our new nephew was born. He deserves his own post, so look for that later!

Dec. 29th was our 7th (!) anniversary and we went to a Rockets game- Ben's first NBA game ever. It was very fun, and we discovered a great new restaurant as well!







Dec. 30th- my cousin Tasha and her four kids came to visit us for a few days.

Dec. 31st- my friend Mandy came to visit for a few days as well; we had a New Year's Party at our house

Jan. 1st- Tasha and the kiddos had to leave early b/c her kiddos got sick. Very sad.
Mandy, Fabia, and I went to eat lunch, then Mandy and I spent the rest of the day shopping.

Jan. 3rd- Mandy left to go back home.

So much fun! Now back to real life.
I hope that your holiday season was spent enjoying your family and friends, and celebrating Christ's birth.

Happy 7th Anniversary!

Today is our 7th anniversary, and I could not be happier with the man God blessed me with.
He is, among many things:
...patient with me. And believe me, I need a patient man!
...loving to me and our kids. I love watching him take care of them!
...an awesome friend. I've had bouts of loneliness since we've moved to Houston, and he always listens to me when I need him!
...a great pastor! If I had to pick anyone to listen to preach every Sunday for the rest of my life, it would be him.

He wrote a song for our wedding called "Hand in Hand." The chorus says:
"Hand in hand, together, in triumph or in pain;
Hand in hand together, 'cause this is our God's plan;
No matter what the journey holds, today we both begin.
Hand in Hand together, faithful to the end."

As a young, naieve 21 year old, I couldn't imagine the triumphs, and especially not the pain we would encounter in just 7 years. But I am thankful to say, that we have come out stronger, and still Hand in Hand.

Just for fun, here is a picture of our wedding day. I love you, babe!

One of my items was featured on Etsy!

My Item that was featured on Etsy.

ETSY!

Have you seen this website? It is amazing! Tons of handmade items that are so CUTE!

And now... my stuff is on there, too! I have been in a crafting frenzy for a while now, and decided maybe I could make a little cash while having fun. It is stressful sometimes being a stay at home mom with a college degree- I know it is what I am supposed to be doing for this season, but I am excited about the potential of a little income.

Check it out! Buy something! lol
www.benandkelli01.etsy.com

Not Me Monday!

It's been a few weeks since I posted this, and believe me, I've been missing it!
Check out MckMama's blog for more info if you haven't already tried this free therapy!
I did not eat WAY too much at Thanksgiving, as I am sure none of you did, either! :)

I did NOT sleep in at my parent's house while visiting and let my mom take care of my kids until I woke up. Nope, never.

My husband did NOT take my daughter out in public wearing her Cinderella princess dress-up high heels. He knows better than that! And he surely did not take her out 4 days later wearing only a sweater and tights.

I did NOT keep the sheets on my son's bed after his diaper leaked because I was just too tired to change them. No, I washed them the minute he woke up!

And I certainly and most assuredly did NOT sleep on the balcony of my parent's house with my sister, cousin, my son and my cousin's 3 sons. No, that would be too dangerous and just plain weird. And we wouldn't have stayed out there if it perhaps started raining. But definitely it would have been fun had we done it! This picture proves NOTHING!



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Etsy:
Have you seen this website? It is amazing! Tons of handmade items that are so CUTE!

And now... my stuff is on there, too! I have been in a crafting frenzy for a while now, and decided maybe I could make a little cash while having fun. It is stressful sometimes being a stay at home mom with a college degree- I know it is what I am supposed to be doing for this season, but I am excited about the potential of a little income.

Check it out! Buy something! lol
www.benandkelli01.etsy.com

Allie's words

These are the words Allie is saying as of now. Many of them are brand-new, including her phrase today: Look at Me! (always a girl, right?)

This is more of a list for myself, but thought some of you would enjoy hearing her words as well! She is also saying: (with her pronunication first, then the actual word!)

Mama (at least 1 million times a day!)
Daddy (a close second at 900 thousand times)
Landon (she loves her brother and looks for him when he is missing from the room!)
dog
ditty (kitty)
beh (a dual word: bear, which is her favorite DVD; also "bread")
I want out! (of her high chair, bed, carseat, etc.)
NOOOOOO!!!
bebe (baby, maybe this should actually be in first place!)
babble (another dual word: means Bible and apple)
want MILK!
Mimi
Pop
Anni (our friend Anna)
Ian
donkey (random, right?)
book
Pooh (another favorite DVD)
I stuck!
MINE!
Night Night
poon (spoon)
cookie
Nanny (candy, another favorite phrase)
oose (juice)
nana (banana)

I know there are more, so I will update as I think of (read: hear her say them!)
Have a great day.