Making progress

Last night, all four of us were sitting in Cailey's bed watching a few minutes of T.V. before bed. Ben said, "Ben... is... watching... Cailey's... movie" ~ movie means T.V.!!!!!  5 words in a row!!! He said it clear as could be and we all looked at each other in amazement!  He said it slow and made sure he got it all out! We are starting to see some real progress with the speech therapy. Also, he talks more since he's been at school and he was with his cousins, Jackson and Ethan, for a whole week which I think helped him, too! In the past week or so, he has been talking ALL THE TIME and we can understand about 95% of it!  WHOO-HOO! Last night he talked in the car all the way to dinner and all the way home. Pretty soon we will be telling him to be quiet ~ and mean it :o)

Dear Santa

We discovered on our plane trip to L.A. that Ben really enjoys looking at toy magazines. For a little boy that seems to go non-stop, this is one of the few things that can get him to stop moving for any length of time! I am so happy when a new magazine comes in the mail. Ben crawls into my lap and we look at all the toys. The bonus is that it is helping with his speech, too! We talk about colors, shapes, animals, etc. We have invested a lot of time and money in children's books that claim to do the same thing, but those don't hold Ben's attention for long ~ but a good toy magazine seems to keep him intrigued for a long time! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RICHIE!

Happy Birthday, Rich!  

Fantastic food, fantastic company, fantastic time!  Thanks for including us!

Hope you had a good day!

Coming home

An uneventful flight (thank goodness) and we are home. We really had a great trip to California but it's always nice to be in the comforts of home. Today we went to see Enchanted again ~ this time with Cailey's girl scout troop. The girls seem to have really enjoyed the movie and I like seeing it again to see all the references to other Disney movies ~ I missed a bunch the first time around. Now we are back to the grind; back to school and work.  Now, we are going to get ready for Christmas!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Anna cooked a beautiful turkey and we had all the traditional trimmings.  Eddie and Richie made it up to Anna's for the Thanksgiving holiday ~ as well as Geoff's sister, Ali, and Ali's friend Natalie and Natalie's mom. There was lots of good food, lots of good wine, lots of laughter, and lots of singing. Richie played the guitar and we all got to sing along ~ with the aid of the computer to look up all the lyrics :o). The kids got to play and play and play all night long!!!

A day at the beach

We finally made it to the beach. We almost went our whole vacation in California without going to the beach! Ben loves the beach ~ of course... mud, buckets, water... what more could a little boy ask for? Cailey insisted on wearing her bathing suit. The water was ice cold but that didn't stop her from enjoying every second of it.  Jackson is a little afraid so it took him a little while to join in the fun. Ethan is a lot like Ben and was perfectly content getting muddy and wet! As a bonus, we watched the train arrive. Ben loves trains and he got a good close up view of one.

Cailey controlling the waves (so she says)... :

... finding out she doesn't:

Daddy and Ben enjoying the sound of the ocean:

Jackson and Geoff:

Ethan ~ soaking wet and loving it:

Ben looking at the train come in:

Happy Birthday, Anna!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANNA!!!!

It was a bonus to be in California this week to help Anna celebrate her birthday.  We decorated the house with streamers and balloons. Geoff made a beautiful heart shaped cake for Anna for her birthday. It's a double layer cake with raspberry preserves in the center and dark chocolate frosting ~ very ambitious of Geoff :o)  Anna requested steak with blue cheese crumbles and onion straws, roasted potatoes, and roasted green beans. It was all delicious! Yum!  Then, Scott and I bought movie tickets for Anna and Geoff AND we watched the boys while they went to a late movie ~ aren't we the best :o) :o) :o)

Ben wouldn't eat his dinner so he didn't get any cake ~ he looks so pathetic, but he still didn't get any cake.

Visiting the Winery

Today we went to the winery where Anna works ~ Melville Winery.  It's a beautiful location and we took the opportunity to take some great pictures, taste some amazing wine (it's really good wine), and buy some bottles to take home with us. Ben loves playing in the dirt but wasn't happy to sit and watch us drink wine so that part was, unfortunately, rushed a little bit.  It's been a relaxing day and a nice change of pace from the hectic weekend.

The kids have been playing so nicely together and they seem to love each other so much. Cailey seems to enjoy being the oldest but still having someone to play with ~ Jackson has been a good sport and has happily joined Cailey in her pretend play.  Ethan loves Cailey and has been following her around and holding her hand and wants to sit next to her.  Ben is kinda doing his own thing, but likes all the activity around him. It's a good time.T

Reading to the boys ~ very cute:

We're goin' streakin'!!!!! Ethan loves to be naked :o)

Cute smiles!

The World Premier of Disney's Enchanted Movie

What a day! It was a fabulous experience and we were thrilled to experience this with Amy ~ and Anna, Geoff, Eddie, Darren, and Kathryn. Ben stayed at the hotel with a hired nanny ~ I don't think he would have enjoyed it nearly as much :o) Cailey loved everything ~ from watching Amy choose her final premier dress, to getting her makeup and hair done, to her first limo ride, to walking down the red carpet, to going to a fabulous party with all the Disney Princesses ~ Scott and I didn't think it was half bad, either :o)  My favorite part of the day ~ beside meeting Patrick Dempsey ~ was watching Cailey dance in the "ball room".  Jon McLaughlin sang his song from the soundtrack and then came down in the middle of the song to dance with Cailey!!!!  It was the sweetest thing and she (we) will remember that FOREVER! Cailey loved meeting all the Disney Princesses and just being a part of the whole thing. We are very grateful to Amy for inviting us to such a special event! Just a few of our favorite pictures ~ we have so many good ones, too many to post: