too fast.

 my parents always said "you kids grow up way too fast"

i loved it. i loved growing up fast.

now im the parent. who looks at her not so little boy everyday.

and thinks

"you're growing up way too fast"

i hate it.

it all happened so fast...

I was getting some work done on the computer. editing like a mad woman.

Benson was playing nice and wasnt bothering me.

I could hear him walk out of the room and then come back in. talking jibberish to himself.

"this is nice" i thought "maybe we dont need a second child"

It was eventually time for a break. and thats when I turned the computer chair around.

thats when i saw it. saw all of it.

half eaten pretzel sticks

close to fifty wet wipes

a single hot wheels car

q-tips

diapers

a can of refried beans

a kitchen towel

papers from the trash

I can't help but think...maybe its time for Benson to have a sibling?

a family vacation.

It was almost three years ago when I got off of work on a Friday. My fridays were half days so I got off at noon. I pull into the driveway to find that Bryce was already home, which was odd considering he didnt get off work until 5pm. I walk in the door and Bryce had one of his hats with pieces of paper in it. 

"what is this?" i asked "just pick one" Bryce said.

ooooo I love suprises! I figured he had written down a handful of places to go out to lunch. I pull out a piece of paper and written on it was..."San Diego"

He then said "go get packed..it looks like we are going to San Diego"

So I run around the house, excited as can be, and get everything packed. Bryce hopped onto Priceline, named his own price, and we got a sweet 5 star hotel room in downtown San Diego. And off we went...

Not only do I love going on vacation. I love spontaneous vacations.

This last weekend I had a family shoot cancel for Saturday. It was a three day weekend for Bryce. We had nothing going on.  So i thought, how bout a little family vacation. We have never been on a family vacation just the three of us before. I talked to Bryce and we decided to take Bens to Sea World. We booked some cheap hotels on Priceline on Thursday, and we were on our way to Sea World early Friday morning. 

We got to Sea World around 11, and there was hardly anybody there. It started out sunny and beautiful and then we got a little drizzle towards the end of the day. Benson LOVED sea world. he loved all of the animals. His favorite? I think it was a tie between the dolphins and the native san diego pigeons which he loved to chase around. 

Yes. definitely the best first family vacation ever.

Saturday and Sunday of our little vacation was spent at Newport Beach. Where we ate at all of our favorite places, road our bikes along the beach and took Bensons 18 months portraits (post below).

18 months in Newport

 I really cant believe that our little boy is 18 months. Little stinker just keeps getting bigger and bigger. We decided to take some 18 months pictures of him in Newport. Here are a few of my favorites.

Benson thinks jumping is the coolest thing to do. he swears he gets both feet off the ground.

I was talking with a family on the beach while we were taking pictures, and the first thing the mother says to me is "he is the spitting image of his dad"

how could I not agree when there are pictures like the one above where they look like stinkin twins.

and then there are pictures, like the one below, with me and my adopted blonde haired boy.

We try many tactics during a photoshoot with Benson to try and get him to smile. Things like dancing, peek a boo, jumping, laughing, running, back flips you name it... for this next series of shots Bryce held up a gummy worm next to my lens. worked like a charm. I think the middle pic is my favorite from the whole shoot.

my little valentine.

Benson has been sick the past few days. Poor kid just isn't himself. Dont get me wrong, I love the snuggle fests we are having. But there are times where he just cries and cries and there is nothing I can do but hold him and sing him a song. I finally decided to take some of my favorite childrens songs that I have been loving lately and make Benson a mix, to help him feel better. Because a good tune can always help me feel better. I burnt them onto cd and we have been listening to it all day. it seems to be lifting his spirits.

 I have come to love these few children's artists the past couple of months. Some songs are upbeat..some songs are slower. Its music that I actually enjoy and its music that is good clean fun for Benson. Its not your normal old mcdonald children's songs...and there sure isnt any kidz bop music on there either. So sit down with your kids and take a listen. Benson loves it...i love it...hope you will too.

Give me a holler if you want a copy for your little valentine.

1. You & Me - Frances England  (favorite song. makes me cry)


2. Its a Big World - Renee & Jeremy


3. Life is Sweet - Rabbit  (fun album. we like to dance to this song)


4. Miracle - Renee & Jeremy  (possibly my favorite children's artists. this song will melt your heart)


5. Best Friends - Frances England


6. Magic - Rabbit


7. Tricycle - Frances England  (because my boy loves his bikes)


8. Jellybean - Rabbit


9. Cookies & Milk - Frances England


10. Night Mantra - Renee & Jeremy  (love.)


11. Sun & Moon - Rabbit


12. Sleepyhead Mommy - Frances England


13. You are my Sunshine - Elizabeth Mitchell  (a classic. one of my favorites to sing to Bens)

You can listen to the songs below.

that time we went to mcdonalds.

Apparently I haven't been a mother long enough to know that not ALL Mcdonald's have playplaces. Really? I didnt realize there was another use for Mcdonalds if not to play. Apparently people use it as a restaurant to eat. And thats exactly what me and Bens did yesterday.

We were out running a lot of errands yesterday and benson was fed up. So I figured I would stop by McD's and let the kid play for a while. I got him out of the car and we walked in. I started walking toward the back of the restaurant when i noticed that there was no playplace. oh no. now what. I awkwardly turned around and sure enough the workers had noticed me. now I was stuck. I couldnt just leave. So we decided to stay. And I decided to make that Mcdonalds, with no playplace, as fun as it could be.

I ordered Benson a happy meal.

He got the boy toy, a cool red tonka truck.

(although im pretty sure he would have loved the my little pony as well)

He got french fries instead of apples.

He got chocolate milk instead of plain milk.

He got his own sweet and sour dipping sauce.

And I got a hot fudge sundae, just for fun.

I let him sit like a big boy in the booth across from me.

He was loving it. I was loving it.

He caught me dipping one of his fries into my icecream.

Benson now had to dip every fry into my icecream.

Maybe it wasnt as fun as it could have been. But we had fun.

We had fun that time we went to mcdonalds.

these are a few of my favorite things.

.saturday mornings.

.benson.

.lemonade.

Im sorry. I feel like me and bensons days at home have been a little boring lately. So forgive me for blogging about something as simple as making lemonade. but its amazing and one of my most favorite beverages. So im thinkin it deserves a little love.  I am loving the fact that we have our very own lemon tree in our backyard. This is our second year with fruit. free fruit. i still cant get over that concept. Its like having our very own money tree out back. a money tree which pays us with sweet sweet lemonade.

I woke up Saturday and was craving some of that lemony goodness. So me and bens got our beach bucket and picked us some lemons. It took us a few trips because we decided to clean out the whole tree. We brought our lemons inside and Benson sat on the counter while I cut them all. Of course he had to have his very own half. which he licked and carried around the rest of the morning. The most amazing lemon fragrance soon filled our home. Lemon is one of those scents that just makes me happy. kind of like when I was younger and the scent of Burger King would make me happy. Like that but better. Then we got out the juicer. I turned on some tunes and we danced our hearts out while we juiced. I made sure to show little bens all his momma's best moves, and he did his best to imitate. 

I love moments like this in our day. They seem to happen alot lately. These moments where we are doing something so ordinary, like making lemonade, and we turn it into something else. beyond happy. something so happy it makes my heart hurt.