Part 3 of 3

It happened. We woke up this morning and my son turned 4. It still doesn't seem real. The little boy that needed help to breath in the beginning informed us last week that he is a man! 4 years ago today (almost to the hour), my baby was being transferred to a different hospital. Jon was exhausted from going back and forth between us and I was planning my hospital escape. It still feels like it was just a few months ago, but then I think about all the worries over his talking, the Elmo phase, the terrible twos starting at 18months, the chicken pox, becoming a big brother the silly things he says, the hugs, the cuddles, starting soccer, looking at preschools... Looking back, maybe it does feel like 4 years. I don't know if I like this.

August 2006

August 2007

August 2008

August 2009

August 2010

Our little man had his 4 year check up last week. He came in at 35lbs and 41". Both are at 50%. They took his blood pressure, checked his eyes and his hearing. He's perfect in every way!

Part 2 of 3

Benjamin had his friend birthday party tonight. We had the Purdum side of the family over for a cook out then some of Bens friends came over for cake and play time. It was pure chaos in our back yard (12 kids and 11 adults), but it was a blast! The car theme continued from last night. Ben got more cars from us and Gram and Pap as well as a car track. His friends were very generous with a variety of new toys to keep him busy. We all had a great night and are lucky to have such amazing friends!

Waiting for cake.

Time for presents!

The kids played so hard tonight, Ben actually volunteered to go to bed--that just doesn't happen! Thanks everyone for sharing the night with us.

The big day, part 1 of 3

My baby is turning 4 on Sunday, but the celebration started Friday. My parents are not able to make Bens party so we started celebrating last night. We had dinner, ice cream cake and lots of presents (lots and lots of presents)! Cars and planes seemed to be the theme of the night, but he also got a puzzle (which we have put together twice already), a soccer ball, a back pack full of goodies and a very, very loud rescue helicopter (which Ben is currently eating breakfast with). Sam was even lucky enough to get a couple cars and an airplane for himself. As always, it was a lot of fun and mo mo and pa pa were way too generous!

Thanks for the gifts. Ben loves them.

Wordless Wednesday

Just a few more inches!!!

Routine

We're back to our normal routine--Jon gets up way too early to go to work. The boys and I fill our days with playing and friends then Ben asks at least 500 times if dad is on his way home. Routines are good, but having dad on vacation last week was better. We went to the market, parks, a PTA event, played with a new baby, went to the beach, rode bikes, went to the Science Center and had some movie time. We stayed busy with out over doing it. It drives me crazy when we come back from vacation and need another vacation.

Ben got up yesterday morning and immediately asked where dad was. When I told him dad was at work, we almost had a melt down. I love that Ben is so in love with dad. Sometimes it drives me crazy, but I'd rather have it this way then any other way. Sam is still a mommys boy, but he definitely has a special place for dad. He loves when dad is home to get him up in the morning or from naps. He gets a huge smile on his face and screams da da!

I'm so excited to get our girl with us, but knowing Jon will have 2 weeks off work makes it that much better. Now she needs to hurry up and get here.

Here are a couple Science Center highlights:

Actually....

When Ty was 5 or 6 one of his favorite words was actually. We would say anything and he would respond with, Actually....... One of our Cedar Point favorites is "Actually uncle Jon, I had it in my pocket the whole time" (You had to be there). Any time someone starts a sentence with actually, we think of Ty.

We were just talking about that and out of no where, Ben started saying actually. "Actually daddy, I just did that." "Actually I want to ride my bike." "Actually......." Its everywhere. The boy can definitely make us laugh!

Water time

We have been enjoying every second of Jons vacation (except the deck stuff, but I'll get back to you on that). Tonight, we headed to the beach. Ben had a blast. He was throwing sand, laughing at the water, battling waves and digging for rocks to throw. Sam was slow to warm up to the whole thing. He didn't want to walk in the sand, didn't want to get his feet wet...didn't want anything to do with the beach. After some time and some splashing, he warmed up to it and became very brave. He loved sitting on dads lap in the water and watching the water go flying through the air. He even followed Ben into the water without holding mom and dads hand. We all had a great time. One more day to enjoy having dad around.

Silas Alan

Congratulations Brewer family.

Good to be home

Jon and I just finished our longest trip away from the boys---3 nights. Our current adoption agency has a required training class that was scheduled for last Friday so we decided to make a weekend out of the trip.

My mom picked up the boys Thursday afternoon so they could spend the weekend with Mo mo and Pa pa. I told the boys that morning that they were going on an adventure. They were very excited to help pack their suitcases and they were ready to go:

We headed down to Columbus, found our hotel and did some exploring. We headed to German Village and went to The Book Loft. Its 32 rooms filled to the ceiling with books. It was absolutely amazing and ridiculous all at the same time. It was getting late and stores were starting to close, but before heading back to the hotel, we checked out Ohio State University. The campus is amazing! Its big, full of brick buildings and beautiful. I was definitely in awe. We found the horseshoe and took some pictures.

Friday morning we were up early and ready to go to our 8am class. We got there, were showed to the room and no one was there. No one from the agency (the class was held at a church), no other families---no one. Just the guy that had to open the door. I got someone from the agency on the phone who told me the class didn't actually start until 10am!!!! We decided to head out to explore Columbus and kill some time. We headed back to OSU and got a better look in the day light. We drove downtown and back to German Village. A lot of Columbus is actually really nice. I don't know why I expected it wouldn't be, but I was pleasantly surprised.

The class went all day. We covered the steps of domestic adoption, met a birth mom and heard her story. We got some tips on how to interact with the birth mom and hospital do's and don'ts. It was definitely worth the trip. For more info go here.

We left the class and headed to Schmidts. For the entire 9 years that I have known my husband, anytime Columbus is mentioned, he starts daydreaming about Schmidts and tells me how awesome the restaurant is. Its in German Village and they tried to keep it as authentic as possible from the building itself to the waitress uniforms. Of course, the menu is all sausage--every type cooked in every possible way. It was not my favorite type of food, but Jon seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself and he was happy. We visited the chocolate shop across the street and got a carmel square covered in chocolate and sea salt. Then I was happy!

After dinner we were off to Dayton. We spent the night there and visited the Air Force Museum Saturday morning. We went last year with the boys. I know they would love to go back again, and I'm sure we'll take them soon, but it was nice to have the time to read and see what we wanted with out having to chase or entertain the kids. We took 1,001 pictures of airplanes and it was just to hard to narrow down which ones to post, so I'm only posting 1 plane picture. We'll be happy to have anyone over for a vacation slide show if they like. Or you can check out museum photos here. Or you can check out the post from last years visit here. I had to post a B17 because that is the plane that I got for my Sam tattoo.

After the museum, we headed home. We had been talking to the boys constantly and hearing about all of their adventures, but we were really starting to miss them. 24 hours until we would see them again.

PNC hosted an Indians game night last night. Employees got 2 free tickets and dinner before the game. We filled up on hot dogs, watched a few innings and then had enough. We came home and watched the Browns game. After hearing the score. I think we made the right choice!

After church this morning, we headed over to my parents house to get the boys. We walked in and said hi to them. They looked at us and went right back to what they were doing. It sucked, but we eventually got hugs, kisses and a little excitement so it was ok. Ben spent the ride home telling us about playing with pa pas DC-6 airplane, going to the mall, playing in the water and the rest of their adventures. To learn more about their weekend, go here.

Jon is on vacation this week so we are ready to spend some quality time together and have some adventures together.

I don't get it

The annual Art Walk was this past Saturday. A bunch of local artists took over Detroit Rd to show off their creations. We saw everything from paintings to pottery, jewelry to .....the just plain weird!

I get buying local and supporting local artists. What I don't get are the prices. For example, we stopped by one jewelry stand selling earrings for $92. They didn't have precious gems on them. They weren't even that pretty. If I went to Etsy, I could find something very similar for a fraction of the cost. We saw half picture/half paintings for over $1200 each. Seriously??? I need to take up a hobby!

Every stand we went to was crazy expensive. We go every year, but we refer to it as the art window shop because we can't afford any of the items! The boys each got a balloon and pop corn so they were happy. In the end, it was a nice morning out with the family. Thats really all that matters.

Wordless Wednesdays: Daddys shoes

Help wanted

We had a dance party in the living room yesterday. While watching my boys dance is wonderful and makes me smile every time the music starts, it made me realize that we are going to need some professional help before I can comfortably send them to any school dances. We are seriously going to have to make some arrangements with aunt Prasti!

This is one of the few Jon would let me post with him in it:

Silly Sam

Sam has been using utensils for a while now, but he usually needs you to put the food on his fork or spoon and then he will take over. Tonight he decided he could do it on his own. He picked up his spoon and went to town with his pasta.

Sam loves to dance and every now and then he busts a move at the dinner table. He still isn't sure about the whole picture vs video thing, but he let me catch a few seconds of the magic on film!

Farewell friend

For the second year, Cross Point welcomed a summer intern from Arkansas. Jeremy has helped out the church, friends, strangers, Lakewood and surrounding communities in many different ways. We took a few minutes at our church picnic last night to say thank you and good bye. He has become a great friend and will be missed.