Happy Birthday Lauren!

Baby Lauren isn't a baby anymore!!! Wade may still call her that, but she is such a big girl and just celebrated her 2nd birthday. She loves all things girlie and finally has her "own" toys so Wyatt can have his trains back.

Caleb & Wyatt tried to help her blowout her candles, but she proved she didn't need any help :)Nonna was in full effect juggling all her grandbabies! It was such a fun afternoon filled with COTTON CANDY...

(Colt showing off his prize!)

BUBBBLES....

And lots of running, riding, and playing...

(Whoops Lauren, that's a cheek in your way!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAUREN!

Hello Fall :)

And with Fall comes. . . . GEORGIA FOOTBALL!!! Bree wore one of her many Georgia dresses on opening day of college football. She will quickly learn what it means to cheer on the Dawgs!

It was even just a little bit cooler all weekend, a welcome change. We can't wait for Fall!!!

Goodbye Summer :(

Over the beautiful Labor Day Weekend, we tried to enjoy the last few days of summer with a full pool circuit. The Calvert clan was nice enough to invite us over for a BBQ and swim. Wade loved having all the girls to himself (unless you count Hunter, but he's not that much of a threat! yet). He and Maggie wanted to be thrown over and over, higher and higher!

Cheeks did take a quick dip, but preferred her own personal lounge chair staring at the fan...
Rooooaaaarrrr...the ketchup dipping dragon

Mamas and the babies...Boyfriend/Girlfriend in training...Then on Labor Day, we said goodbye to the ACC pool. It was the last day to enjoy the diving board, slide, baby pool, and the best sweet tea in the state. This was also our last day to spend with Dede before her big European trip. WE LOVE YOU DEDE!Wade truly loves this pool and we love it because he does. He begs to go off the diving board, get popsicles, go down the slide with daddy, and even swim laps (to practice his strokes like Rowan). Sooooo, you can imagine how SHOCKED we were that he wanted NOTHING to do with the pool even though it was the last day. He insisted on staying in his pajamas the entire day, and we stayed a record 5.5 hours. The weather was so nice, we just lounged all day never even getting in the water. How weird is that? Wyatt and Lauren came to close down the pool with us. They actually DID swim...

Our pretty purple princess...

Goodbye summer! We can't wait to have you back again in about 9 months :)

Mr. Manners

We've been working on Wade's manners....just the basic please and thank you. He's really started to work the system by coming up to you with the sweetest face imaginable and saying, "mommy, can i have a treat? pleaseeeeeeeee?"

(pause music below right if you want sound)

Pope vs. Wheeler Pregame Dinner

Even though we didn't make it to the high school football game, we did meet up with this crew for Mexican earlier. Crysie was the only Pope alum in attendance, so we "WIN" and had her completely outnumbered with all the Wildcats at the table (even if our current high school team is about 0-23? We used to be good "back in the day"!). The Grays even matched in their Gold and Blue attire. We had a blast with our ever expanding group and can't wait to do it again! GO WILDCATS! :)Ryan & Parker, Jennifer (hiding her belly in the back), Crysie & Chase (up front), Brian, Kim & Millie Kate, Kriya & Bree, Beau & Wade

Visits & Playdates

We've been blessed to have had so many great visits and playdates with friends. They say they want to meet Bree, but I know they just really want to come gawk at my hilariously messy house (to feel better about their own...) "Try not to trip on these train tracks on your way in...or those over there..."

Robin gets the MILES award coming all the way Washington, D.C. to spend some time with Cheeks. She was Finn-less this trip, so she was able to soak up all the newborn baby girl-ness before heading back to her chatterbox prodigy of a son. And you better believe I abused her open arms...

(Bree's striking her diva pose)

One day we met the Bells up at Chic-Fil-A for a lunch playdate. I'm still holding strong to the belief that Chic-Fil-A isn't REALLY fast food, so it's okay to have it a little more often.
( Wade & Jackson) (Wade & Jordan)

Wyatt & Lauren came for a day of fun at the Benichs, complete with play doh, trains, riding "bikes" and going bonkers in the basement...

Jennifer and baby boy bump came to see Miss Bree from Birmingham. She also gave Bree her first Little Black Dress. Every girl needs one in her wardrobe! And it even has some red stripes on the bottom making it the perfect Georgia Bulldog "gameday" outfit :) Stay tuned for a picture of that later...

The Kennemore clan came for a visit from Spartanburg. Good thing Beau finished the basement bedroom so they could have their own "suite" with the twins. Aven and Hudson are already 8 months and crawling everywhere!

(Caleb Everett, Aven & Hudson Kennemore)

It's been a busy few months, but we love it! You know we wouldn't have it any other way. Hotel Benich is always open (with vacancies)! We may ask you to earn your keep by holding a baby, but it's only fair :)

Happy Birthday Celie

Beau's goddaughter (and one of Bree's future BFF's), Celie Crawford, turned ONE!

She's walking all over the place (trying to keep up with her big brothers) and LOVES babies. Everytime we have Bree near her, she wants to rock and hold her. The rocking is allowed, but we're going to wait on the holding for just a little bit longer :) Bree is fortunate enough to have all of Celie's hand me down clothes, so we do need to be extra nice to her. We love you Celie!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY CELIE!!!

Fun Pictures of Bree

I've been holding out on you.

Ever since Bree came home from the hospital, I've been taking fun pictures of her. I'm always hoping to get that perfect shot for her birth announcement or those pictures to look at for years to come (the ones you look back at and say...was she really that small?). My confession...I can easily get "picture envy" when I see other family's pictures. No matter what awesome pictures I have, I always want more. I'm greedy like that. So I've tried to be good at keeping the camera close and taking as many pictures as possible.

Soooo I'm ALMOST done with announcements and thank you notes, so I figured I should post all the fun shots from the last 2 1/2 months.

These first 5 are from my friend Jennifer Kemp (Jennifer Kemp Photography). She came by for a quick visit and I begged her to take some...

The rest were taken anywhere from 1 - 6 weeks old...

(Ok, so maybe she's a little big for this basket?)

I have to blame my mom for this shot (and the booties). When she was staying with me in those first weeks, she came up with a lot of these positions and set-ups. She was helping, spotting, and "pacifier assistant" throughout...

Disclaimer: No child was injured or put in danger in the making of this picture. (Beau's hands were conveniently cropped out below her head, so yes he's an accomplice too)

Now I just need to actually do something with these, instead of just storing them on my computer. For as many pictures as I take...you'd think my walls would be covered in photos, but they are surprisingly bare!! I better get on it...