3 Year Old Interview

Eli turned 3 in June of this year. I had full intentions of doing an interview with him but the fact that I had a newborn at that time, I just couldn't work it out. I finally got the chance today!  

What is your name? Ewisha Bentwey (Elijah Bentley)

How old are you? Fifty four five

What is your favorite color? Blue

What is your favorite toy? Spider Man

What is your favorite thing to eat? Chick-chick

What is your favorite tv show? Paw Patrol

What is your favorite piece of clothing to wear? Bear shirt

Where do we live? Okamomma (Oklahoma- Eli was born in Tulsa, OK but we currently live in Alabama)

What are your favorite animals? Elephant and giraffe

What does mommy do at work? You have to do stuff 

What does daddy do at work? He works (thank you, captain obvious!)

What is your favorite book? Choo choo (The Little Engine That Could)

What is your favorite thing to outside? Ride my motorcycle

Who is your best friend? Ummm...ummmm...Ms. Tiffany (preschool teacher)

What do you want to be when you grow up? Spider man and Ezzie can be Batman

What is your favorite game to play? Football

What is your favorite thing to take to bed with you? My baby (a silky blankie he has had since birth)

What is your favorite thing to do with mommy? Paint

What is your favorite thing to do with daddy? Play pludough (play dough)

What is your favorite treat? I don't know??  Mac and cheese

What is your favorite movie? Mommy, I already said Paw Patrol 

If you could go anywhere, where would you go? The movie "ater" (the movie theater)

What makes you happy? Mommy and daddy

What makes you sad? Ummm...when my friends hit me in the head (??  Lol!  That would make me sad as well!)

What makes you scared? Monsters

What is your favorite sport? Soccer

What is your favorite ice cream? Banilla chick fil a (plain cup of vanilla)

This was so much fun!  Can't wait to see his answers next year!  

Happy 3rd Birthday, Elijah Bentley!

My sweet "Buddy Boy" AKA Elijah Bentley,

Where do I even begin?  These three years have absolutely flown by.  I cannot believe what a big boy you are.  You brighten all of our days and will always be our first baby.  You made me a Mother and I am so glad that God chose me to be your Mommy.

Eli, you have such a kind heart.  You tell me that I am beautiful all the time.  You run up to my leg and hug me so tight and say, "I love you SOOO much, Mommy!"  You care so much about others.  You are constantly thinking of your cousins.  You are especially protective of your "Ezzie" and you insist on buying him a prize every time you get something at the store.  

You tell some of the funniest stories and you laugh hysterically while you are telling it.  Sometimes you hit your knees and bend over doing this kind of silent laugh...it almost brings me to tears it is so funny!  

You love being outside.  Our weekends are spent with you either swimming, playing in the sprinkler, helping Daddy mow the grass, driving your Jeep, or riding your bicycle to the neighborhood clubhouse.  You are such a big boy on that bike.  You go really fast and Mommy has a hard time keeping up with you!

You are finally potty trained!  We have been working really hard on this.  You are absolutely precious in your little Spiderman tighty whities!  

You love your little brother so much.  You are such a "big boy helper!"  You go and get diapers, wipes, and baby butt paste for Mommy to change Ethan's diaper.  I have also caught you on several occasions talking to Ethan and calming him if he is crying and I haven't gotten to him yet.  You say in the sweetest voice, "Hey, Brother!  It's OK Brother!" while trying to give him his pacifier.  I can see the love you have for him in your eyes.  I hope you always feel that love for one another.  I can't wait to see you two grow up together!

You are a total Daddy's boy right now.  You want to be wherever your Daddy is.  You love riding with Daddy in his truck.  You love Bass Pro Shop and Tractor Supply.  

You are so into Superheroes and the "bad men" right now.  You have tons of action figures and you fly them around and make them fight and line them up in rows on the rug in the living room.  You have this hilarious face that you make when your action figures are fighting.  I love watching you play and just listening to some of the things you say.  

Your favorite movies right now are Big Hero 6, Captain America, and Polar Express.  I can't tell you the number of times we have watched those movies.  I have grown to dislike Polar Express we have watched it so many times!  

You are such a smart boy.  You know your ABC's and you can count to 15.  You know most all of your shapes and you know pretty much every color.  You love going to chapel at "school" and your favorite song in chapel is "B-I-B-L-E!"  Your best friend at daycare is Jackson and we hear all about you guys playing "bad man" at school.  

You still cry when Mommy takes you to school.  I hope that ends soon.  It still breaks my heart as much as the first day I left you at daycare.  

I pray that you will always have a kind, caring heart.  I am so thankful that you are mine!  

Happy 3rd Birthday, sweet boy!  Mommy loves you with all my heart to infinity!

First Birthday Party!

Second Birthday Party!

Third Birthday Party!

Clues

I hate to sound so cliché, but I seriously have the most awesome, amazing, handsome, loving, and romantic husband EVER.  Go ahead, challenge me...I promise I'll win!

I woke up Friday February 13th and started getting ready for the day. Eli had a Valentine's Day party at school and I wanted to take him since he doesn't attend school full time. While getting ready, I asked Josh if he wanted me to cook for him on Valentine's Day or if he just wanted to go to dinner. He told me that he would think about it and let me know. Little did I know my day was already planned out...

I walked to the garage and found this...

From that moment on, I had a perma-smile. I couldn't stop giggling on the ride to Eli's school. I giggled SO much that Eli told me that it "wasn't funny, momma!" I was so excited and nervous at the same time. A nervous excitement!  I had no idea what I was in for!  I kept texting josh freaking out because I didn't have anything to wear!  I'm 25 weeks pregnant, so most of my clothes are not really fitting my belly right now!!

My mom showed up at my house with a wrapped gift and a second card...

A brand new outfit for our date. It was PERFECT!  Josh arrived shortly after with this...

And this...

I still had NO idea what the night would consist of.  We hit the road and I figured out we were having dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. If you haven't been there, it's amazing. So good. We ate there on our second Valentine's Day. It was just as good tonight as it was then!  

We ended up at Ross Bridge to spend the night. Just us. Amazing. I have no words. He managed to make me feel like the most special, beautiful girl in the whole world.  We had great conversation. I couldn't take my eyes off my handsome husband.  I don't deserve such an awesome man. He makes me so happy. I pray our boys will treat their wives like Josh treats me. The night ended with this...

And how about a little chocolate mousse cheesecake in bed...

Perfect day. Perfect man. It's a beautiful life!  

Right Now...

Right now, Eli has this really mean face he puts on when he is upset.  His eyebrows droop and mouth turns down.  It's actually one of the cutest things I have ever seen.  One of his teachers at school told me, "If looks could kill..." well, you know how that ends...

Right now, Eli is obsessed with the lawn mower, his Dada's truck, Mickey Mouse, and Elmo.  We frequently have very long talks (I actually just listen) where he rambles on about Dada, riding the lawn mower and riding in Dada's truck.  He has the sweetest little voice...I could listen to it forever.  He often will say a sentence and chuckle really loud like it's the most hilarious thing ever!

Right now, Eli can count to 8 with me.  He knows several colors, although he must really like the color Yellow because he talks about that one A LOT!

Right now, he can say his ABC's with me.  I don't think he could say them on his own, but he says them right along with me.  My favorite part is when he bobs his head to the "L,M,N,O,P" part!

Right now, his favorite foods are pasta, mac and cheese, hot dogs, and pecan spin wheels.

Right now, we are down to him only getting his paci at bedtime.  I sneak it away from him in the morning after he wakes up.  If he thinks about it, he tries to pitch a fit for it.  I just tell him that he is a big boy and try to divert his attention to something else.  Out of sight, out of mind.  It works like a charm.

Right now, he loves going to the park.  He loves swinging, sliding and climbing.

Right now, he drives his big wheel motorcycle through the house at very fast speeds!  He makes really sharp turns, really fast!  He likes to slide around on the hardwood floors.  I let him.  It makes him happy and frankly, I love watching him.

Right now, almost every Saturday morning, Dada takes Eli in his truck and they go and grab breakfast.  Eli will dress in his wind suit pants and baseball cap just like Dada.  You can tell that he looks forward to riding in Dada's truck.  It's their little tradition.

Right now, my heart is exploding with love for this sweet blessing in our lives.  He is such a joy.  He has a smile that could melt the coldest heart.

He is an answer to our prayers.

Did I Tell Y'all We Went to Panama City??

So, yeah...I'm just a little behind on blogging.  My life has been a whirlwind since this past May.  We moved back to Alabama, I started a new job, we bought a house...the list goes on and on and on...

My family usually always vacations together.  Our favorite thing to do is to vacation in Panama City Beach, Florida.  We are familiar with the area, the beaches are absolutely beautiful, and we have a wonderful resort that we love to stay at.  We almost always go the week of mine and Josh's anniversary and Josh's birthday.

We loaded up and took all three of our munchkins.   My extended family got to go with us this year.  My Aunt, Uncle, 3 of my cousins and their kids all came along for the trip.  It was so much fun.  I wish we could travel together every year!  The more the merrier!

Eli absolutely loved the huge pool there.  I was afraid he would be less than thrilled since we have a pool, but he loved the steps at the entrance of the pool.  He would step off and kind of roll around in the water.  His little giggle just cracks me up.  We attempted to try the ocean and Eli was not having it.  He hated the ocean, he hated the sand, he hated everything about it.  Maybe next time...

One of the highlights of the trip was going to Pier Park and visiting the shops and restaurants there.  It is such a pretty place.  So much to do and see.  We love the Miracle Strip Amusement Park.  They have a huge Ferris Wheel, a Scrambler, Sea Dragon ride and much more!  I always feel like a kid when I go there!  I run to get in line and get sad when it's time to leave!  I'm really a kid at heart...not a 30 year old!

We spent most days just lounging by the pool.  The kids were really good.  We took shifts staying in the room with them at nap time or either they would nap in the strollers under an umbrella with that awesome ocean breeze blowing.  I can just smell that salty air now.  Nothing like it.  At night, we either went out to eat or hung around the condo.  Actually, I love hanging at the condo the best.  One of the nights, all the girls gathered at our place and we had wine and played board games.  It was quite hilarious!  My husband was just shaking his head at all of us!  He just doesn't understand what fun really is!  Ha!

My Mom watched Eli on the night of our 7 year wedding anniversary.  That was really our first night out alone since Eli was born.  We ate at Montego Bay Seafood Restaurant and then went to the arcade (again, we are kids at heart!)  It was just nice to have a night out alone.  2 days later, we celebrated Josh's 33rd birthday!  I picked up a Publix Cheesecake (yum) and we celebrated before hitting up the pool for some sun bathing.

Can't wait to get back to the beach this summer!  Always lots of fun memories made!

Peyton (niece) Ella (Cousin) Eli (my baby) Elise (Cousin) Ezra (Nephew)

Ezra was teething just a little!  LOL!

Ezra and GaGa

Elise

Unc Daddy's 33rd Birthday!

Check Josh and Lorrie on the third row from the top!

My sweet baby sister, Lorrie

Peyton's apron from Aunt Sherry!

Ella

Love my boys!

Love my family!

My first baby!

How About Another Christmas Recap?

This Christmas was just wonderful!  For the past several years, we have lived out of state and getting home for the holidays was always an adventure.  Christmas of 2012, we got bumped about 4 times from our flight.  My Mom had to come and get us from Birmingham airport because we were on stand-by and didn't make the cut.  The next morning, we were on stand-by again.   We finally made it to Atlanta and we got bumped 2 more times.  After spending all day in airports with a 6 month old, we finally got a flight to Fayetteville, Arkansas and rented a car to drive the rest of the way home to Tulsa.  It was stressful and crazy and NOT a whole lot of fun!

This year, we hosted Christmas with my family the weekend before Christmas.  We didn't have to drive 12 hours to attend.  We didn't have to fight lines in an airport.  It was fantastic!  I did not stress about the party.  My decorating was done back in November, so I really had nothing to do besides clean a little and do a few last minute things.  Not all of our family was able to attend, but we still had a great time.  Lots of laughter, eating and fellowship.  Sounds like the perfect party to me!

Christmas Morning was so much fun.  Eli didn't really know what was going on, but he did say, "Ho Ho Ho" a lot!  When he woke up, we told him that Santa had brought him prizes...his little eyes lit up and he had the biggest grin on his face!  Daddy led him to the living room and the first thing he did was go for the tool bench!  Like father, like son!  He definitely loves tools like his daddy!  He picked up the drill and went to his tricycle and started drilling the screws in the seat.  The boy is a genius, I tell you!

Santa brought him the tool bench, a basketball goal, a T-Ball set, a Radio Flyer tricycle, a lego table, wooden blocks, lots of books and movies.  We enjoyed getting to stay at home and play with all his new toys. No traveling on Christmas Day.  Just us in our PJ's enjoying the day napping and watching movies!  My family came by for a while to check out what Santa brought Eli and we cooked pigs in a blanket and cinnamon rolls.  It was so yummy.  I could eat my weight in pigs in a blanket!

Santa brought Daddy a new Xbox One console and he brought Mommy a new Mac Computer.  I was very shocked and so excited for my new computer!  It was very much needed!  I can actually blog now!

Christmas 2014 is one to be remembered.  It was our first year back home.  Our first year in our new house.  Our 2nd Christmas with our precious Eli.  Many precious memories were made.  Such a fantastic Christmas!

Sweet Ella 

Sweet Cousins!  Peyton is their "Mommy"