Halloween : There's No Place Like Home

I love family themed costumes for Halloween! Last year was the sports theme and this year the Wizard of Oz. Benson can say "dog" so it was fun to have him be Toto. He didn't mind the dressing up except the hood. Every time I wanted him to wear it for a picture I had to bribe him with candy. It was also really fun making his costume and my apron. And we can use them again next year.

Funny story of getting Anthony's shirt. We went to Good Will to get a shirt for him to wear and ruby slippers for me (I painted some nice $2 shoes red with house paint). I picked out a couple for him to choose from and he picked one out. He choose his because it looked more worn. When he got home he went to hand wash it and found shoulder pads! It was a women's shirt! Hilarious! I am still laughing about it. Then after it was washed and dried he put it on and it was skin tight, like the hulk just before his clothes tear off. Hilarious, again! Anyway, he had to wear it because we didn't have anything else. So that made for some funny moments all night.







We also had a fabulous meal. I want to do more fun halloween-eeish meals next year, but this was a good start. Plus I can never let a holiday pass without making some sort of treat. This year it was these adorable candy corn cookies (I actually hate the real candy corns but not these). In the last picture the cookies are frosted. That was the only plate I spent so much time on frosting like the candy, all the others had orange, white or yellow frosting.

Fall Fun

Besides Benson's fun birthday we've been having a lot of fun this past month! Fall is my favorite season so it's too bad we live in the land of summer. But we have enjoyed the couple cold fronts that have come through and the fall-like and non-fall-like activities.

This fabulous church up the street does this huge fall festival every year. They have food, games, a puppet show, hay rides, and a pumpkin patch. The best thing about it is that it's all free! (except you have to buy any pumpkins you want from the pumpkin patch.) We met up with a few friends and enjoyed the festivities! Benson was too small do go in the big bouncy things but he loved going around picking up litter on the pavement (we have such a Eco friendly child).


A friend of mine has a season pass to the aquarium and took Bens and me one day. Benson loved looking at all the fish. At one point a huge sting ray was swimming right towards him and he started crying. But other than that it was a success. Thanks Heidi!


Here are a few other random pictures from this past month. Benson loves "helping" us vacuum. He actually loves to unplug the vacuum and carry the cord for us.


One sunday he had just woken up from his nap, it was hot and he loved not having any pants on (sorta tom cruise style). He loves his xylophone and the hand mixer.


There is also a chance we have the next Van Gogh on our hands. He loved coloring for the first time and loved eating the crayons even more.

Birthday Morning and Party

Benson's birthday was a wonderful day! After he woke up we brought him downstairs to his presents. (I think he liked the banner more than the gifts.) We sang happy birthday and let/helped him open his gifts. Then we played until it was time to get ready for his party.







My fabulous sister helped me make his cute party invite (they cost an arm and a leg otherwise)! I love it! Thanks Michelle!


His party was at a park nearby and it was a perfect day. A few friends came to help celebrate. He loved playing on the toys (slide and swings) and eating all the rocks, plants and dirt. When it was time to eat the cake he wasn't sure what to do but Anth helped him. I'm sure he won't remember this party but he was a happy boy so I like to think he knew it was a special day.
(Also notice the cute sign and cupcake toppers, my amazing sister sent me these! Thanks Rachel!)

1 Year Old or 12 Months

Today is Benson's 1st Birthday!

We can't believe that a year ago yesterday we were anxiously awaiting word from our birth-mom that Benson was on his way. With the original due date being the 18th we thought we wouldn't hear anything until the weekend was over. We had just purchased a house but the A/C was getting replaced so were spending a couple days at a friends house. The house was a mess but we had painted the nursery and set up the crib.

On Friday, the 14th, at around 9pm I got a text from our birth-mom telling us that she was having contractions but would wait to go into the hospital until the next morning. We didn't sleep that night and at 8am I texted her to see how she was doing and was told she was being admitted to the hospital; that he was definitely on his way! At 4pm we received a text, with some pictures, telling us that he was here, beautiful and healthy! We drove 4 hours the next morning to see him. It was definitely love at first site. It was amazing! It was a very emotional and spiritual experience for Anthony and me. Just 7 months previous we had lost our little William and here we were being blessed with this perfect little Benson. We all knew he was supposed to be apart of our family! We've felt that confirmation everyday since.

We can't express our appreciation enough, to our incredibly wonderful birth-mom!! She made an amazing, difficult and selfless decision. She will always be apart of our lives and we love her dearly.

It's been wonderful to watch Benson grow and change over these last 12 months, we've loved them!!

-He is now walking and has the bruises to prove it
-Trying to talk (words we can understand - duck, dog, bottle, no, yes, mom, dad, hi and bye-bye. And lots of other words we don't.)
-Going up and down stairs
-Favorite foods - beets, black beans, cheese and fruit
-Climbing up on anything he can
-Loves hide'n seek/where's Benson
-Loves being outside, preferably eating the leaves and dirt from our yard
-Loves to go get the mail
-Loves to play with other children, which is expressed by poking their eyes or pulling their hair (we are working on this)
-Has started throwing tantrums (didn't know 1 year olds did this)
-Learning to throw a ball
-Loves to read and has started bringing us books to read to him over and over

Here are some of our favorite pictures of Benson throughout this past year...
(Blogger was being difficult so they are all over the place, enjoy!)

Happy Birthday Benson!!!