13 or 6???

Since marrying Beau 6 years ago, he says we only get one anniversary...and I have to pick one :) I think it's just because he can't remember more dates than absolutely necessary. But regardless, I'd like to plead my case and explain why I will always cherish our dating anniversary, May 9, 1997 AND our wedding anniversary May 22, 2004.

I love my husband, I love our life, I love our 1.92 children, I love our families. But none of this would have come together if I hadn't first fell in love with a cute boy that asked me to senior prom and treated me like a queen. We didn't then magically make it through 4 years of college at different schools with plenty of other "distractions" just by accident. Then there was a super long engagement, 3 crucial years of dental school, all with plenty of bumps along the way....before we finally vowed to love each other forever (7 years and 1 month after that prom date). Call me crazy, but I don't feel that it's fair to just dismiss those important years of loving and learning and say that our life began together in 2004. So therefore, I will always celebrate May 9 (even if it's silently in my own heart) as a very special day. Love you Beau!!! Thank you for a wonderful 13 years together and 6 years of marriage :)

Luckily, we were able to sneak away for a night to Lake Oconee to celebrate our anniversaRIES (the weekend in between the 2 dates). Being as pregnant as I am, we knew we couldn't go too far so the Ritz Lodge was perfect. We were both really excited about a night away, just the 2 of us, with no baby monitors, and no one to wake us up in the morning!!! It was heaven! THANK YOU to both our parents that did a tag team effort to care for Wade while we were away.

Dinner by the lake...


Enjoying the evening on the balcony...34 weeks and counting....

My prince charming...

From Toddlers to Twos!

Wade has made it through his first year of school!
And even though we're not filling out college applications yet, he's really excelling in his finger painting and the way he sits for snacks. He's just brilliant :)

It wasn't an easy start last August because Wade wasn't too excited about being left in a room with a bunch of strangers. But those strangers became his friends, playmates and sweet teachers. And along the way, he learned so many new skills and found some independence.

Spirit day, September 2009Last day picnic, May 2010

Wade's teachers, Miss Angela and Miss Beth, were so patient and loving with Wade and we can't thank them enough. They went out of their way to make him happy and comfortable throughout the year.

Wade will be leaving Miss Angela and Miss Beth next year for a very special teacher in the 2 year old class...Miss Kay Marshall (as in my friend Kim's mom!). I know she will be able to handle whatever tantrum he throws her way. After all, she did manage to look after me growing up through weekly slumber parties, cheerleading adventures, TP rolling excursions (whoops! did I type that?), and horrible hair dying episodes. She has my complete confidence :)

My Mexican Family

I don't know what it is about Mexican food, but my entire family loves it. I know Beau would eat it at least 6 nights a week if he could. And it truly is the best type of restaurant to take kids to...it's loud, cheap, and they have chips and dip waiting for you at the table! It just doesn't get much better.

Family dinner with Grandpa Enzo and Diane....
The boys

The girl (notice that's singular....not for long sweet Lauren!!!)Our dinners at El Azteca are hilarious. We always make a mess, always have fun, and always end the evening in the lobby with the train going around above our heads and the men trying to win stuffed animals out of the pick 'n grab machine. They do manage to win something, it's just a matter of how many dollar bills they have to burn in the process.

Diane loving on all the kiddos.

In addition to be a loving grandma to all of our kids, my dad's girlfriend Diane became a grandmother herself in January when her son Phil had a baby boy. And her grandma name is "Nonna" like "no-nuh" (pronounced differently thatn my mom's Nonna , like Donna). But I don't know how to type that and make it clear who I'm talking about, so I think I'll go with Nonna Diane....not to be confused with Diane Beau's mom??? I don't know...bear with me...

Adios!

Neighbor Michelle's SURPRISE 50th birthday!

Our wonderful neighbor Michelle turned 50 and her entire family from around the country gathered to surprise and honor her!!!

Some background....I've had to start calling her Neighbor Michelle because of confusion with Michelle my sister-in-law. And since my cousin Alison has a Neighbor Doug, I wanted a Neighbor Somebody.

Michelle and her family are so good to us, we don't know how we'd survive on our small cul-de-sac without them (and luckily they like us too!). Even though Jim and Michelle are closer to our parent's ages and need to move into assisted living :)....we have so much fun together. I seriously don't know how I'd make it through the day without them! Lyall (15) mows our lawn, Kyra (12) helps with Wade, Jim and Beau swap tools and beers daily, and you already know Michelle lends me her organizing skills. Did I mention they beg to watch our dogs every single time we go out of town? Oh yeah, and as soon as our baby girl is born Michelle will be begging to take her on long walks. Ummm....YES PLEASE!!!

Anyway, we're so lucky to have friends like these so close by and we were so excited to share in the surprise for Michelle!!

Wade gravitated towards the boys at the party and even learned how to scooter while we were there! He hasn't stopped since he started :)

The party people!!!

Michelle (with helpers) blowing out her inferno of candles. That's what happens when you're old like she is.... :)

Everyone brought old person gag gifts, and of course Beau had to get her some Depends (the same gift he brought to my mom's 50th birthday)! We love you Michelle!!!

Mother's Day

I had an awesome Mother's Day with Wade and all of our families. I'm so happy as Wade (and baby girl's) mommy, but also so thankful for the moms, grandmas, and aunts in our life that all take care of each other! Dads are good too in their own way, but moms just love in a special way :)

We started the day with church and brunch. Beau honored me, Dede, and Nonna with special "mom" corsages so we know (and so does everyone) that we are loved! Wade was not at all interested in taking pictures after brunch, his train book was much more interesting. Here's the best (and only) shot I have of us from the day...


Beau and his mommy, Diane (Dede). Diane has to be the most tolerant, patient, drop whatever she's doing to help, let the stress roll off her back, kind of woman you've ever met. She has to be to put up with these Benich men :) When I hear stories of Beau growing up, I cringe at what I'm in store for with Wade. Lord help me! I guess if she lived to tell about it, I will too?

Later in the day, we had BBQ and fun at my brother Nathan's house. The men did such a great job of taking care of everything so the mommies could relax.
Nonna with her 4 hoodlums...

Nonna and Sheesha having a little too much fun on the slide....

Pink Party!

(me, Alicia, Angie, Michelle, Dede, Ashley, Emery, Alison, Karen, Nonna, & Nanny)

My wonderful mother hosted a lunch for the ladies of our family (yes, we're large enough we make our own party!) in honor of BGB2B. That's Baby Girl Benich to Be. I guess it would be easier if we could just call her my her name, huh? NO SUCH LUCK! But we're close. More on that later. This red cart was a big gift from Nonna and G.G. and is the COOLEST gift ever. It's a portable, fold-up wagon that can carry kids or cargo. It will be awesome for the park when you're hauling scooters, blankets, chairs, toddlers, babies, whatever. And it just easily folds up smaller than a stroller and goes with you wherever!!! Or Wade just likes to ride in or push it around the cul-de-sac. So many uses!!!

My wonderful mother and sister...

I found this little painting to thank my mom for the luncheon, but had no idea she was having these delicious cupcakes with mounds of frosting :) I have to salute my mom because her energy and willilngness to help and love her family is ENDLESS! On this particular day she hosted a beautiful and delicious lunch, babysat 3 grandkids later that day until late that night, and then took a long bike ride (training for her 3rd triathalon) the next morning. And did I mention she works part time, does wedding flowers, can sew whatever you need, goes canoeing and camping, and still has energy to chase after grandkids? Phew, makes he tired just typing it all out. Love you MOM!

Out with the blue...in with the pink

With 8 weeks left until baby girl is due, I figured it was past time to start transforming her nursery from Wade's boy nursery. I knew I'd be sad taking out his baby stuff, but I was not prepared for the hormonal tears that came with it! Luckily Wade and Beau were out and about doing some male bonding, so I had the house to myself to cry away.

I didn't cry because I'm sad, or because I'm not thrilled to be having a girl and adding pink to our world, or because Wade isn't my baby anymore....it's just that I love all the memories of him as a baby and I cherish the time we had together just the 2 of us. Of course there are plenty of memories that I'd rather forget (namely late night cryfests, projectile vomiting, etc). But those are just vague memories anyway :) I remember each baby stage in this room and how he grew based on how he fit in my lap in the rocking chair, how carefully I had to place him in the crib to not wake him, how I'd fall back to sleep on the floor early in the mornings when he was just big enough to crawl all over me, and how most recently we had to cushion the outside of his crib with pillows in case he decided to monkey climb his way out. And I think back to all the effort that went into creating this room for him....Daddy on the tallest ladder we own trying to sponge on the perfect amount of white glaze to create clouds over the blue paint, Poppa and Dede helping to paint the bookshelves because the fumes were too much for me, Nonna sewing and hanging curtains, and Angie painting the tree mural I still love to stare at.

So I let myself have a good sentimental cry, and then packed up (or moved to his new room) all the blue.

It didn't take me long to bring out the pink things I had and start getting everything switched over. We still have a long way to go, but I'm confident she'll know she's not a boy when she sees her room. Keep in mind I LOVE the nursery and I'm changing as little as possible, so you may not think it looks that different when I finally get around to posting some pictures of her nursery. But it will be different enough.

Before I took anything down, I put a few things back in their original spots and took some pictures to remember exactly what Wade's nursery looked like. So here you go...

I promise to post picture of baby girl's nursery when it's "done". But don't hold your breath, it might be awhile. Maybe when we're moving her to a big girl room in preparation for baby #3, I'll get around to it?? :) he he he. Don't tell Beau I said that....

Beach Weekend!

Chris and Mandy Crawford invited us to a kid free beach weekend at Mandy's family home on Amelia Island. It was such a treat to have a few nights away, with friends, a few steps from the water, with beautiful sunshine! We had never been to Amelia Island and I really enjoyed it! Great restaurants, a cute little downtown area, and of course beautiful beaches!!!

The group: Crawfords, Gales, Starrs, Benichs, Calverts, and Marshalls. The ironic thing about this group is that 10 out of 12 of us went to high school together, just all different years.

The boys relazing with a little Wii
All the pregnant bellies of the group. We missed out on the wonderful frozen margaritas, but you better believe we forced them to make us some virgin batches!!!

Saturday was a GORGEOUS sunny day on the beach. It was one of those days where you wish you can never go inside. We played the made-up game of beach golf, walked down the beach, looked for shark's teeth (I found 2!), and sat around soaking in the sun!

Mandy saying "no thank you" to Clint's armpit.