The Gypsy Life

The title of this blog is a little dramatic... regardless, Will and I have been living a gypsy-styled life lately.  Between the two of us we have logged many hours in the car for job/house/kid related things. We close on our house in less than two weeks (yeah!) and starting next week we are splitting our time between our apt and my parents house.  

We are happy to announce Will started his job this week! Benjamin and I threw him a little party last week to celebrate our new adventure.

The Gypsy life has brought on a love of sunglasses for Benjamin.  He loves sporting his shades anytime he gets a chance and will keep them one for a solid hour until I take them off. 

This past weekend Will went on his annual hunting trip and I headed to McKinney to escape our apartment. My parents were out of town so Benjamin and I had the house to ourselves.  Before heading to an empty Tula and Pop house we played with the cousins.

In this picture Luke was so excited to be twins with Ben, Ben was mad for some unknown reason, and Audrey was just over it (ha!).

Best Buds.

Luke loves to take pictures and then look at them.

"Luke be silly. Ok, now do anything you want!"

I guess he took that as lick Aunt Ali. 

(Note: Hideous pic of me but a genuine reaction.  I had to document it.)

After some fun at Aunt Amanda's we headed over to Tula and Pop's for some relaxing by the pool.

That night my lifelong friend Mary came over for some playtime with our babies. 

My 'baby' doesn't look much like a baby anymore next to Luke.

Ben loves stairs.

I feel my sweet Pepaw everyday and it often hits me at very random moments catching me off guard. There are a few places I consistently feel him - my Memaw and Pepaw's house and at my parents. Being alone in my parents house this weekend really took me back to all the wonderful memories I had with this incredible man.  My mom has pictures of him all over the house - the one below is one of may favs.  I am so happy for my Pepaw and that he is finally free.  I also am selfish and wish he could be here with me.  He would of loved to watch Ben grow. He would of loved to watch me become and grow as a mother.  He would of loved my new house.  It's big moments in life that I wish he was here to share the joy with.  I think he would of been proud of me.  

You know though, I think he is enjoying watching Ben grow. I think he is loving watching me as a mother.  And I am sure he approves of my new house and it's family gathering/football throwing possibilities.  I need to keep reminding myself that he is here... he just has a better view than all of us. :)

Ok, back to Ben's cuteness. 

Cheese!

Waiting for Dada to be home.

Exploring around the apartment.

So big.

  

Living in an apartment means lots of supervised play outside. 

 Let me show you the difference of walks with Mom v. Dad.

Mom.

(Yes, he is in the middle of the street BUT it was 8:00 in the morning and no one was up.)

Dad.

(I see Ben... oh wait, no I don't.)

 Two weekends ago I had the blessing of enjoying some time as Ali and not a Mom.

I met Kristen and Stephanie for a yummy brunch in Dallas before heading to a A&M tailgate.  

I love these amazing friends. 

The Gang.

I missed the memo that the tailgate was pretty hardcore and looked more like a Baylor bear than Aggie. :(

I'll end with the most precious, darling, adorable lady in all the lands.

Ben's First Football Game!

Two weekends ago Benjamin experienced his first football game!

Will and I both come from big football families so this event was very special for us.  I have many memories as a child playing on the sidelines of many of my Pepaw and Uncle Todd's games. A football stadium will forever remind me of family, love, and fun!  

Three generations of Frog football loving men.

The Whole Gang.

While the rest of the family enjoyed some tailgating fun, I chased Benjamin around the parking lot.  

Too cute.

Go Frogs!

Benjamin's hour "watching" the game first football game was a success! Ben and I left before halftime and let Daddy enjoy the game without distractions.  

Thank you Miss E and Boots for the tickets - we look forward to many more games in Ben's football loving future!

Labor Day Weekend!

Labor Day weekend is always an excuse we use to get some lake time in.  We had so much fun swimming, playing games, and enjoying the slightly cooler weather. 

Here are Benjamin and Will on a morning walk.  Love how their feet are in sync. 

Pop took Luke on a special canoe ride.

Love this picture of Audrey getting some Daddy love.

Too cute.

Rett and Ashley taking a break from the pool.

This trip Audrey and Benjamin shared a room for the first time and did great.  I had to document Will reading to them before bed.  How cute are they?

Sunday Will and I headed to Mckinney to look for a house while Benjamin stayed back with the Tula and Pop.  Amanda snapped these pictures while we were gone.

Precious.

This NEVER happens... 

Of course Pop would be the one he passes out on.

 Enjoying a afternoon movie with Luke.

Wrestle Time.

Luke is so patient with Benjamin and his rough play.

After house hunting, Will and I enjoyed a date on the square.  We stumbled into an empty pub at 5:30 and by 7 it was packed with bands and their groupies. I think Will was the only male in the room actually enjoying the football being played on the TV's. I spotted around 15 of my old theater/choir friends.  We had so much fun hanging out in our soon-to-be city!

 Coming October 17th....

First Day of Mother's Day Out!

Benjamin had his first day of Mother's Day Out yesterday and let me tell you... he was pumped.

I feel like he woke up knowing something was up.

The drop off is always hard - Do I:

1. Say Bye Bye, hug, then pry him off of me and run.

2. Sneak off and run away when not looking.

Both horrible options but I chose 2 this go around. Major fail.

I could hear the screams from the entrance of the church.

This age is so hard because they are aware but still don't understand that mommy will be back.  Most of the kids in his class had a rough first day.

Here he is right before I gracefully ran away. 

After enjoying 5 hours of kid-free errands, lunch, and relax time I was ready to pick up my little man. 

I snapped a picture of his name on the door.

I was told upon arrival that Benjamin cried and needed to be hugged a lot but loved music and spanish time. Hopefully next week will go better!! 

I had to include this precious picture my husband took at Meet The Teacher.  He went solo while I watched our babe.  I found this picture on his phone yesterday from a few weeks ago.

How many men would document a cubby? Can you say precious?

Exciting News!!

Benjamin is super excited because there is some exciting news in our family...

Why did Will have to get a new car? 

Will got a new job!!! This month he will be starting at Denbury Resources in Plano.  We are so thrilled, elated, overjoyed (I'll stop) for the adventures and opportunities that are ahead of us.  Since we are being relocated to Plano that means I will be back in my old stomping grounds.  Mckinney here we come! 

New car (he drives a company car right now), new job, new house (updates on that to come)... we are so blessed! 

Other random things going on...

Here is Hank and Ben waiting for Will to come home.

Hank got a haircut the next day so this is the pre-haircut shot.

Benjamin enjoyed playing in Petsmart for an hour while Hank was getting a buzz trim.

Petsmart = free zoo with A/C!

After.

Poor Hank.

Benjamin is obsessed with Hank's new rat tail.

"Hi, my name is Ali and I have a child with eczema."

Poor Benjamin has had (pretty bad) eczema since he was 3 months old.  It comes and goes with the weather but recently has gotten pretty bad.  His doctor suggested doing bleach baths... after the initial shock of putting my precious baby is bleach (1/3 cup for a full tub) and doing some research, we decided to give it a try.  Even though he still has some patches, it has done wonders for him.  The following picture is my baby playing with his (empty, steamed, cleaned, washed out) bleach tub. For some reason he is obsessed with the lid.  From now on I quickly throw out our empty bleach containers... don't want to start a habit of playing with bleach. :) I just wanted to document his bleach bath stage.

 Daddy cuddles. 

Sweet face.

Ben loves hair! He would play with my hair all day if I would let him.  He loves for me to put shirts on his head.  I think it is because it looks like hair.  I have promised Will this is just a stage... :)

 Oh the days of the grocery store being relaxing.

Yes, I was THAT mom.

Action shot.

 I will end with a picture of my cousin Riley.

He is the new grad student coach for the A&M football team! College Gameday is in College Station tomorrow.  We are so proud of you Riley!!! Gig Em'!