38 Weeks

Friday I officially hit 38 weeks pregnant. I've been bad about taking pregnancy photos with Little Lady, so since Mike and I were headed out to a Ben-free dinner tonight and I had on makeup and all, I figured it would be a good time to snap a few.

I don't know why I'm posting this picture, because it is unflattering, to say the least, but I guess Mike's camera skills just crack me up. This is me bending down to get Dee's ball to throw it for her. Classy, Tammaro.

 And here are a few belly shots:

 Ben wanted to be part of the action.

My lone stretch mark (which I got with Ben when I bumped into the corner of a dresser) is looking worse these days.

Ben came up to pat my belly, give it a kiss, and say hello to baby sister.

Hard to believe we'll have a second child in 12 days!

Ben's 3rd Birthday Party

Ben's 3rd birthday party started out a little shaky. There was an incident in which a large glass jar fell and shattered into a million pieces. (I won't name names...;-)) With 15 kids (and 20+ adults) due at our house in a few hours, needless to say Mike swept, then swiffered, then vacuumed, then swept again, then mopped. What a mess!

Next I noticed lots of cars pulling up to the house around 1 p.m. (3 hrs before our party started). Turns out our new neighbors directly across the street were having a housewarming party. Parking was going to be an issue. But we got lucky and there party ended at 3. A housewarming party from 1-3, interesting... but it worked out for us!

While getting things set up for the party, Ben decided to play with his trucks on the table (Ben is obsessed with sitting on the counter/table rather than in chairs lately) while Mike caught up on his articles online.

I guess Mike was hungry.

My chalkboard/Valentine's tulips/party favors.

I went with something kid's actually use instead of all that random junk that usually gets sent home -- each child received a small book (Thomas the train for most of the kids) with a lollipop and a personalized sticker that thanked them for coming to the party. I wrapped them in craft paper and tied them with baker's twine. Done and done.

Then Ben helped me make a cheese dip. His idea of helping was to point out the "white spots" (cream cheese) that still needed blending, then to eat the leftovers from the bowl.

Once the party got underway, Dee was all about the food. At one point she snuck up from under the tables to beg for food.

Once everyone was done eating, it was time for cake and ice cream! Ben really liked his Thomas cake.

He was also a fan of blowing out the candle. Later, once everyone had left, Brenda and Carl stayed to visit and they kept lighting the candle for Ben and singing and let him blow it out. Like 10 times. Bless them. Ben LOVED that!

I was going to skip opening gifts during the party, but Ben and the kids kept asking, so we obliged.

Here Ben is showing how many years old he is.

The next morning (on his actual birthday), we gave him our gift -- Simba from The Lion King. Ben is really into this movie lately and had spotted this Simba at Target a few weeks ago. Ben gave him hugs and later carried him up to bed for nap. Big hit!

Visiting Santa...

Ben was very interested in Santa this year, so since we needed something from Bass Pro Shops anyway (and because it is free) we took him to see Santa there (along with every other person in IL that Saturday). There was a huge line, but while we waited we rode on a free carousel, checked out the huge aquarium, and explored the store. There is a lot to keep a 2 year old entertained at Bass Pro Shops, thank goodness.

Ben chose the bear to ride on. (Side note: Ben spotted this Santa hat at Target while running errands that morning, so we got it for him and he wouldn't take it off. He wore that hat until he wore it out. Well worth the $4.)

It's hard to make out, but here he is watching the waterfall from the second floor.

Checking out the camping gear.

Anything with wheels is sure to keep Ben busy for a while.

This huge bear amazed Ben.

Then it was time for us to line up for our turn to see Santa. 45 minutes more of waiting, and Ben wouldn't even sit in his lap. I had to hold him and he started to cry when Santa tried to shake his hand. Oh Ben. But then he'll turn around and tell you that Santa is really nice. Better luck next year!

Candy Canes Make You Popular Around Here

I haven't blogged in a while, so this post is a little late...like Christmas. But oh well.

Mike is a big fan of candy canes. Whenever he eats one, Dee tries to lick it and bite it out of his mouth. Ben thought this was funny and joined her in her attemtps (even though he doesn't even like candy canes). Here they are attacking Mike and his candy cane. This was pretty much a nightly occurrence throughout the month of December.