New Blog Address

I have run out of photo space on our blog. 

Due to the MASSIVE amount of pictures I am about to post of our newest arrival, I have started a new blog. 

Visit us at www.thebenders2.blogspot.com

Mommy and Daddy before your Arrival

 

Elizabeth's Nursery

It is finally finished! I am so pleased at how Elizabeth's nursery turned out. All it is missing is her!!

I knew exactly what I wanted over the window but couldn't find it so Wesley built this perfect window treatment. Kate used her creative talent to make the Elizabeth canvas which is the perfect touch! 

Wesley put so much time into building Elizabeth's crib into the closet. It is the perfect nook. We needed a little more storage space so he also built the pink drawer underneath (with the help of KD). 

Nothing says "feminine, girly" nursery like a tub full of boy toys - See Buzz Lightyear!!! Philip has enjoyed filling her tub with all of his toys!

My mom made the dress for Elizabeth on the left. The other four were dresses I wore as a baby. I can't wait to put Elizabeth in them.

2012 YMCA Volunteer Appreciation Dinner

Last night Wesley and I traveled to the Cobb Galleria for the annual YMCA Volunteer Appreciation Dinner. We were both looking forward to it but also wondered if Elizabeth would allow us to go - She did :-) It was a really nice evening, and I am glad we were able to make it.

A HUGE thank you goes out to Ben and Kate who watched the boys for us. It turned into a late night, and we didn't pick them up until close to 10:00. Thankfully, Jackson crashed early, and Philip enjoyed watching George.

This is the first time I have witnessed this - Philip was asleep with his eyes open.

He didn't stay asleep for long once he heard Wesley's voice.
Now, Jackson didn't budge EVEN when Philip attempted to pick him up and move him off the couch!

Gerald's Baptism

This morning we headed to Northpoint Community church to witness the baptism of our dear friend, Gerald. Gerald was one of the first teenagers Wesley met while he was the Teen Director at the Alpharetta YMCA and now, Gerald is the Teen Director at the same Y!

It has been so wonderful to see the amazing mentor relationship/ friendship that has developed between Wesley and Gerald. We all four love Mr. Gerald and I am so glad we were on hand to witness this day!

The baptism took place at the 12:45 service at Northpoint. This is one of the 5 services they have on Sundays and one of only 2 that doesn't offer childcare. We knew the boys would be okay during the singing and we were right. They have a full band and Jackson and Philip were in awe of the performance. At one point, Jackson turned to me and said, "I can't understand a word he is saying but that guy sure can play the drums!" He loved watching all the instruments.

They didn't last long during the sermon though. They had videotaped a prior service and were replaying it in the auditorium. Jackson couldn't understand why a person wasn't up there and he wasn't wiling to sit down so we "quietly" packed up our things and headed out.

I hated to leave early, but was so thankful we were able to witness Gerald's baptism early in the service!

Light the Fire

Our shepherding group at church hosted a cookout tonight. It was a lot of fun. It wasn't too cold and the kids had fun running around the lower field while the adults caught up around the campfire.

Wesley was master of the fire with our hot dogs and then S'mores. He impressed us all with his "invention" - a huge toasted marshmallow with the chocolate stuffed inside. It was as delicious as it looked!

Chuck E. Cheese

Edith and Larry asked if they could take Jackson and Philip to Chuck E. Cheese tonight. They wanted to have a fun night out with the boys and wanted us to have a date night.

The boys had a blast! They ate pizza, played games, and scored some great prizes in exchange for their token loot!  Wesley and I had fun strolling the Toys R Us aisles looking for fun gift ideas for the boys for Christmas.

Thanks, Edith and Larry, for our two hours of quiet and for the boys their two hours of fun!

Edith and Philip
Larry and Jackson

Superhero Play Date

We try to plan fun play dates on Fridays since both boys are out of school. Today, we were going to go ride bikes at the church but instead headed to Ashley's house to play. This was a much better option as it allowed inside and outside play.

The boys had a blast. The two of them and Shepherd pulled out the dress-up clothes and we ended up having a Superhero Play Date! So cute!

Spiderman!
The outfit was a little large on Philip and the red "pants" part looked hysterical on him. He looked like he had REALLY big underwear on - especially when  you saw him from behind!

Jack, Red PowerRanger Jackson, Yellow PowerRanger Shepherd, Alayna, and Superman Philip

Crazy Hair!

Today was crazy hair day at school. Jackson requested blue hair which, of course, I forgot about until 8:00 this morning. Thankfully, Wesley was out playing basketball this morning so on his way home from the Y, he stopped by CVS to pick up some blue hair gel. Jackson was one happy boy!

Before we headed to church, I asked Jackson if he wanted to wash it out and he shrugged his shoulders and said, "No, I will just go with it." Once we walked in, everyone was all over him asking about his hair. He seemed bashful, but really, LOVED the attention!

Wesley said one of our friends came up to him and asked if we really put blue Jell-O in his hair. Though that might have worked, we didn't and Wesley had to explain that Jell-O is Jackson's word for Hair Gel!

Mani/Pedi!

Today I got pampered!

Edith called and offered a pre-baby gift of an afternoon out, and I enjoyed her gift today. We went to her usual place and I was treated to a manicure and pedicure by the same nice lady who did my nails before Philip was born. This time, instead of blue, I came home with hot pink toes with a little glitter mixed in for fun!

It was a great afternoon. The mani/pedi was wonderful but it was also so nice to catch up with Edith! It had been too long since we had caught up on life without the boys around. She and Larry are so dear to our family and it was nice to spend the afternoon with her!

Thanks, Edith, for the special treat!

After the manicure, we stopped by Harry's to pick up dinner for Edith and Larry and she 

The Power of George

Both Jackson and Philip love Curious George - LOVE him! The other day, I snapped a picture of Philip in a George trance as he watched an episode...

I thought it was cute but really got a good laugh when I witnessed this on the couch this morning as they both watched an episode....

My "new" desk!

I have been searching for a desk to go in our family room. I wanted a writing desk that could store my stuff but also be closed off when people came to visit. 

I found one at Ikea but it was expensive and looked too new. I wanted one that had a personality and added a little something to our home.

Emily had seen a few at the Nashville Flea Market so when Cumming's Flea Market came around, I went and found one I liked. The only hiccup was it was the wrong color. I decided that didn't matter and I could make it look perfect.

Original Desk

Wesley helped me sand it down and then I researched how to distress wood. Using paint we had on hand, I painted the desk the perfect shade of blue with some brown distressed highlights. I love the way it turned out and I am proud of myself for my first furniture make-over project!

Finished Project!

Here are some pictures of the desk as I worked on it. The entire project took maybe 2 hours (plus drying time). It was so much easier than I thought it would be!

After Wesley sanded the desk, I painted it with a diluted brown paint. (50% paint/50% water)

After the brown coat was dry, I lightly painted over the brown with diluted (again 50/50) blue. 

All that's missing is the hardware. Finding the perfect knobs/handle took a few trips to the store

Yay! I love the way it turned out! 

4th Annual Friendsgiving!

Tonight was the 4th annual Friendsgiving with our dear friends here in Cumming. This has become my favorite tradition!

Usually, Kate hosts this dinner the Sunday before Thanksgiving but due to Elizabeth's upcoming due date of the Saturday before Thanksgiving, we decided to have the event 2 weeks early. It was actually really nice to do it early because it kicked off the holiday season!

Here are some pictures from the night:

We had more food than ever! 

My favorite item this year - strawberry pretzel salad! 

BEAUTIFUL table!
This year, we were one couple down. Priscilla and Todd moved to North Carolina last December so they were not able to join us. Usually, we split up the men and women but since there were only 8 adults, Kate set one table for us all! It was so nice to sit together and celebrate this annual tradition.

With the adults all together in the dining room, the kids had run of the kitchen. Kate had butcher paper on the table and crayons. The kids loved it!
(Tucker, Jackson, Philip, Addie, Alayna, Sam, Isabelle, and Jack)

I really wanted a family shot of us but the boys were playing so well, we didn't bother them.
I am glad it worked out that way because I love this picture of Wesley, Elizabeth and me!

Todd thought we needed a "prom shot" to show best show off our bundle.

I love these girls!

Thanks to Tucker, we got our first group shot!
Ashley & Todd
Katey & Waylon
Leanne & Wesley
Kate & Ben & Jack

By the end of the night, I felt every bit of 38 weeks pregnant! I was so tired, achy and I felt HUGE!!! The above pictures prove the huge part - she is really growing these day!

Chuck E Cheese

I decided to take the boys on a little outing today to Chuck E. Cheese. Jackson has been wanting to go somewhere fun, and I thought this would be a special treat.

We arrived at 10:30 and there was hardly a crowd. It was so nice! The boys enjoyed playing the video games and really enjoyed playing the ones that gave out tickets.

Jackson kept talking about the time he went with Joshua and Caleb for his birthday and won "190" (really 117) tickets when he broke the machine. I couldn't believe he remembered this but he did. He even showed us the game that he won all those tickets on last time! It was cute!

Philip had a hard time remembering to roll the skee ball underhanded! 

Jackson was really good at this game. He made it in several high-value slots multiple times,

Jackson loved playing the Guitar Hero game.

Philip enjoyed dancing....until

He saw Chuck E. Cheese! He is not a fan and was ready to go after seeing him on stage. 

We were able to distract him with the Star Wars pod racing game. It was a hit.

As was the "Ticket Taker" machine!

After counting our tickets, we went to the counter for a special treat. I was sure they would want a plastic bug but both insisted on a box of Nerds. Really? With all the Halloween candy we have at home, they wanted Nerds! Oh well!

As we were leaving, Jackson started questioning me on how come the Tennessee Chuck E. Cheese looks just like the Georgia one. When I said it was because they were brothers, twin brothers, he then questioned why brothers live in different states instead of together. He is one smart cookie!

After Chuck E. Cheese, we went to the mall for lunch and to run a few errands. We had to stop at the Apple store where the boys played with the new IPad minis - I think it was the highlight of their day!