Valentine's 2015

We had some fun Valentine Celebrations this year! I had to make 49 Valentine's for the kid's classes this year. $10 and 3 hours. Thank you Pinterest!

For the last couple of years, another Mom from Presley's class and I volunteer to host the Valentine's Party. We always request this party because we feel like it is a less busy time of year compared to Christmas and the end of the school year. I realized this year that we are never, not busy and the party crept up on me anyway. The other Mom does the food and I do the activities. We make a great team. There are 5 of the same kids in Presley's class from last year so I had to come up with some new activities. We decided to do a coloring activity since that was such a hit at Bentley's party and then we had the kids make Love Bugs. This was our trial one to show the kids.

Presley helped me make all of the bodies ahead of time so that the kids could just glue on the eyes, antennas and feet.

Presley enjoying her yummy treats while coloring!

Presley's love bug turned out cute. All of the kids got to pick their own colors for everything.

Presley and Mommy enjoying her party!

I also got to attend Kiley's Life Skills Valentine Party. The teachers decided to do it during lunch, so they ordered pizza. Kiley ate 3 pieces!!

I had to take this picture. She is such a lady with her legs crossed.

After pizza, the teachers turned on music and the kids danced. They had so much fun. Kiley's loves dancing with her friend Will. After dancing, we made fruit salad. Kiley wasn't too into it, but Mommy loved it!!

On Valentine's morning after breakfast, we decided to get out of the house. Bentley is sooo into Choo Choo trains, so Mikey had a great idea to go see some! He was in heaven and still talks about the trains. We pass them on our way to school and he knows right where they are.

This one is Priceless!!

Getting all 3 of them to look at the camera is always fun.

We walked around a little more and found this old jail. It's funny how Daddie was the only one that didn't go in the jail.

When we got home from the trains, these presents were waiting for the kids. Daddie got the girls a rose.

And they all got a new bathing suit and a rain coat.

During Bentley's nap, Mikey took the girls on a golf date.

These pictures were too cute. I had to post them all.

For the kid's dinner, Mikey decided to forgo the heart shaped hamburger and try to make the heart with ketchup. Didn't turn out too pretty, but it was yummy.

After we put the kids to bed, we enjoyed a delicious steak dinner.

I took this picture of Presley's rose a couple of days later and it was still beautiful.

We had a very fun and special Valentine's this year. We are so thankful to love each other as much as we do!

Bentley is 2!!

On Bentley's actual birthday, Mikey had his Southern Regional Conference so we celebrated with Daddie during breakfast. Bentley had school that day, so he got a cupcake for his birthday breakfast!

We got him ready for school and he worked on his cupcake a little more.

And then we had a photo shoot which is always productive and exciting.

I was feeling a little down since Mikey wasn't going to be home to celebrate Bentley's birthday, so Marmee met us for dinner. We met at a new place half way between her work and our home and it ended up being the perfect place. The food was so good and it was kid friendly. I just wanted a place with good mac n cheese since it is Bentley's favorite, but we all ended up having good dinners and a fun time!

Bentley enjoyed is "cheese" as he calls it! No matter what meal it is, if I ask him what he wants to eat, he says "cheese".

And he had fruit for dessert!

We also had lots of lovin' for dessert!

Thanks so much Marmee for meeting us for dinner. It was the perfect end to Bentley's 2 year old celebration!!

With a 2 year birthday, comes a 2 year checkup. Presley and I took Bentley and he did great.

Developmentally, Bentley is right on track or maybe even a little ahead. He is running, jumping, throwing (backwards) and kicking. We are still working on catching. He is putting up to 4 words together and communicating really well. He is sleeping from 730pm until about 8am during the night and he naps once a day from 1-4pm. He is full of energy and destruction and he is alllllll boy! Sometimes I refer to him as a walking disaster. You can always tell where he has been.

He is the King of Tantrums. He has a higher pitched scream than both girls combined and he is so good at throwing himself down in the middle of the floor and throwing a tantrum. He has made some public appearances. Those are fun. Sometimes he forgets what he is doing and just lays on the ground talking to himself and watching the people around him. The girls never did this. Luckily I am experiencing it with my 3rd kid. I would have been mortified if it was my first child, but I just let the tantrums run their course no matter where we are. The tantrums are most likely when he hears that HORRIBLE word "No".

Bentley is surrounded with girl toys and doesn't play with any of them. He loves his balls, trucks, legos and most of all, his "choo choo trains". We were all in our bathroom getting ready the other day and the girls were putting on my high heels. I fully expected Bentley to do the same, but he put his spin on it. He went into Daddie's side of the closet and got one of his shoes out and starting banging it on the floor as hard as he could.

Bentley is growing! He went down a little bit on the charts, but is still a healthy boy! He is 29lbs 2oz (65%), 34 inches tall (49%) and his head is 19 1/2 inches (83%). He only had one shot and a sucker made it all better! Our only concern is his asthma and we are continuing to manage it with an inhaler and breathing treatments when needed.

Bentley loves school and is doing very well. His teachers always say that he is chatty and very helpful. Out of all 3 of the kids, Bentley is the most helpful in cleaning up. I never would have pegged that one. He is very into singing. He loves to sing "Let It Go", "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider". The "spider" song is his favorite and he loves doing the hand motions with it. When we do something he likes, he says, "Do it again"...over and over and over. Bentley's teachers adore him and he adores them. Some days when he doesn't want to nap his teachers just hold and cuddle him. It makes my heart happy that he is in such good hands.

Oh, Bentley Michael, how special you are to us. You are sitting in my lap as I write this, holding Lala with your two fingers in your mouth. You have your foot jammies on with your rain boots waiting to go play in the snow. You are so sweet and couldn't be cuter. You are our baby and it melts our hearts when you say "Hi Mommy" and "Hi Dada". You have the sweetest little voice and so much to say. Right now, you are into watching movies and having popcorn. You ask to either watch "Olaf", "Ralph" or the "Monster Movie", and immediately after, you ask for "Popcorn". You have the cutest smile and the most contagious laugh. You are most ticklish on your neck under your chin. You still adore "Lala". You have started to share things with her. Especially your food. Lately, you like to feed her. You have very good manners and know exactly how to ask for what you want. You spend all day with your big sister, Presley. She helps take care of you and you adore her. You are such a good eater. When you are hungry, you get right up in your chair and wait for your food. As soon as we put the plate in front of you, you pick up the fork or spoon and dig in. You are our sweet baby boy and we can't believe you are already Two! You have completed our family and you keep us on our toes each and every day. We love you with all of our hearts!! In 18 years, I hope you still love me as much as you do today and you appreciate my sweet notes to you.