Just an adorable picture of Ben waiting for his friends to arrive at his birthday party on Saturday.

This weekend we celebrated Ben's 2nd birthday by throwing him a "Little Einsteins" themed party for him and all of his friends. We had been talking about it with him all week trying to get him excited and I think we did the job because Ben was up by 4 a.m. on Saturday morning saying over and over, "I'm ready!","Party", "Cake!!!", and "I speem" (ice cream). By 11 a.m. Ben was busting at the seams for the party to start that he even decided to wait at the door for his friends. I was a little worried about how we were going to entertain 12 two year olds, but you know they pretty much entertain themselves :). They colored, played with instruments, ate cake and ice cream, and enjoyed listening to the professional children's entertainer that I hired (Darrel) to sing and play the guitar for them. By the end of the party Ben was delirious with joy from the day's events and slept through the night for the first time in weeks. Yeah! I think the following video sums up how Ben felt about his party pretty well. Mission completion. (That's Little Einstein talk for you non-preschooler parents.) :)

Just a picture of Ben and Harrison hanging out in the kitchen with me. Ben had just gotten finished telling Harrison to "Talk!" and "Walk!" I tried to tell him that there will be a day when he may regret that request, but he still insisted to Harrison that he needs to hurry up and grow so that he could have a playmate. :)

I have to say I wondered what I had gotten myself into the first week or so after having Harrison simply because of the "Wow, now I have two kids!" factor. But, I have to say either I am just that great of a parent (keep your laughter down to a minimum please) or Harrison is making my job that much easier. He is so layed back! He has three basic needs and if you can get those to him in a timely manner you are golden. They are, "Please feed me, please help me go to sleep, and please tell Benjamin to stop poking me." Now he does tend to get fussy if those needs are not being met to his liking, but man I couldn't ask for a better baby right now. On top of all of that Ben is pretty easy too, plus he's my personal entertainer. He's such a joy! Life is good! Praise the Lord!!! Note: I am sure this vote of confidence will come back to bite me some how, some day soon. :)

So I thought I would share a first for our one year old (okay, he'll be two in two weeks) Benjamin that kinda threw me for a loop. Yesterday, driving home from church Darrel and I are talking away in the front of the van while Ben is watching "Little Einsteins" (of course) and Harrison is screaming because, well he's two months old and that's what babies do sometimes. Darrel and I must have been very engrossed in our conversation because Ben was trying his hardest to get my undivided attention by calling out loudly to me, "Momma, Momma, Momma, etc." Well, he must have gotten frustrated with me because he changes strategies and starts saying, "Beff! Beff! Beff!" Wait a minute! He can't be calling me by my first name!? When did he even learn my first name? He must be saying bath, or beef, or bird, but not Beth. Kinda of stunned, I turn around and say "Ben, are you calling Momma, Beff?", and with a big smile he says "Yes! Beff!" Oh my- this parenting thing is getting more interesting by the moment. We all laugh, kindly remind Ben that he needs to call me Momma, and go on or merry way home. Needless to say this morning over breakfast he called me Beff again, and then promptly called Daddy, Darwell. Wow- I have a feeling we are in for many more surprises this year. :)