Happy 2nd Birthday Will!

Last weekend, my baby turned the big 2! We decided to celebrate by having an Elmo birthday party. Will was so excited all day for his party, he kept asking all morning when his party was going to start! We had lots of great friends and family show up to help him celebrate and I think it was a big success.


Will was really into opening his gifts. I think he opened every single one by himself this time and seemed to enjoy it even more than he did at Christmas.


I decided to make his cake this year and bought a special Elmo cake pan. I had a great time making it and the cookie monster cupcakes. I had to use food coloring so the kids faces were very colorful when they were done eating!

***There were tons of pictures from the day, so please visit our photo albums on the right to see them all.***

Children's Museum

A few weeks ago Sarah and her girls and Ann came to Kokomo for a visit. My sister and I both drove in with the kids to meet her at my parents. There were 8 kids total there so there was never a dull moment. I was so excited to finally meet Sarah's newest little boy, Will. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of him but he is a cutie pie! The older kids were calling our Will, Willie and Sarah's son, Willie-Bob!

One of the days they were in town we packed up all the kids and headed to the children's museum in Indianapolis. That place is so neat! There is water, blocks, slides, merry go round...you name it, this place has it! The kids had an absolute blast playing.

These are two pictures from the weekend that I thought were cute. Thanks again to Sarah and Ann for making the drive in....it was so great to see you guys!

**all the pictures from the weekend are in the album on the right**

Misc...

Christmas in Kokomo - We got together with my family a little late this year since everyone was so busy. There are 11 cousins total so it is always a fun and crazy time. For some reason I didn't remember to take very many pictures but if you want to see more you can look at The Benziger Blog (link on the right). The kids all had a great time and it was good to hang out with the family!

New Toys - my mom got the kids a big blow-up ball pit for christmas and they LOVE it. we have it set up in the extra bedroom upstairs right now since it was empty and the kids go in every night and play before bed! Will thinks it's hilarious when mommy and daddy throw the balls at each other...of course daddy tends to convince him to throw them at mommy as well.

Random - These were just too cute to not post. Giovanni was so tired that night that he was falling asleep while he was eating. The picture didn't capture the moment his eyes were closed but it's still priceless.

Morgan loves to hang out with her big cousin Kailyn!!

Happy New Year...a little late

**I got our computer back and finally reinstalled the camera software so I will try to update you from everything that has gone on the past month! Check the family album for all the pictures**

New Year's Eve... We invited the Lupinetti's to come over with the kids and spend the night. We figured we could put the kids to bed and then have some time to hang out, play cards etc. The kids played so cute together and had a blast! We got the younger three to bed at their normal times but Sarah decided to stay up to welcome in the new year! She played by herself and watched movies while the adults played cards.

I think this picture was taken around 1:30 am...and she was still smiling and happy. She was such a trooper!

One step at a time...

She did it! Morgan took her first steps on Monday and we are so excited. The kids had been playing when Morgan just let go and walked to her Daddy. We were both in shock. When we started clapping and screaming, she just looked at us and giggled and clapped with us. Since then we've been able to get her to walk back and forth between us quite a few times. Of course, Will is just slightly jealous so he is now pretending to learn to walk so we can clap for him as well.

I don't have my home computer at the moment (Steve is fixing some problems for me) so I can't give you any video's or pictures...but I did find a poem that talks about watching your baby grow up. Enjoy!


First Steps

These are the tiny feet, that carried you that day.
First steps free from my hands, I watched my baby step away.
During the coming years, I'll guide these little feet,
As they toddle 'cross the lawn, and safely cross the street.
They'll soon grow strong and steady, find puddles to kick and splash,
Pedal a two-wheel bike, and win a schoolyard dash.
Kick a ball, learn to dance, race a friend home from school.
Skip a rope, jump in bed, dive feet-first at the pool.
Your small feet may often stumble, scrap a knee, or take a fall.
Misstep or need direction, or a model to stand tall.
Know I'll always be behind you, my love will give you wings.
To proudly fill the shoes, a grownup life will bring.
The years will quickly pass, and these feet will learn to drive.
Walk the stage to a diploma, as graduation day arrives.
I'll watch through misty eyes, as you walk down wedding's aisle,
A family of your own, you'll start your journey with a smile.
These tiny prints will hold my heart, for each tomorrow you will grow.
Today I'll hold you closer, for too soon these feet will go.

Merry Christmas

The kids started off the morning by opening their stockings. Will got a little sidetracked by the candy that was in his but eventually took everything else out and played for a bit with the toys.



After a quick break for breakfast we let the kids open their gifts. Will was hilarious. Every time he ripped a piece of paper off his present, he took it over to my mom to throw away. He didn't want any paper to be on the floor. Hmmm, wonder where he got that from :) Morgan was a little young still to unwrap but she did have fun climbing on everything and playing with the toys when they were done!


Will got a tool bench so he could be like his daddy. Now whenever Mitch goes to work on something Will runs over to get his screwdriver and hammer to "help" daddy.



This is probably going to be Morgan's favorite toy if you couldn't tell by her smile. She can pretty much climb on and off by herself and loves to rock it all over the place!

Nana - I think she looks sooo much like you in this picture!!!

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Please go to the Carson Albums on the right to look at all the pictures from the month of December!

Cookie Time

Last week I decided to make cookies so we had some for Santa and I thought I'd let Will help me. He loved getting to dump the flour into the bowl and mix the ingredients. He did a great job and really had fun! I tired to get him to eat the cookie dough but surprisingly he didn't want anything to do with it.


On Christmas Eve, we went took the kids to the children's service at Church. They looked so cute in their outfits I couldn't resist taking a few pictures of my sweet babies!

Santa and the Festival of lights

I've been a bit busy this month so I'll try to catch you up with the next few posts. At the beginning of December Laurie was doing a "Breakfast with Santa" at YCA, so we took the kids over to get some pictures with Santa. Will of course was terrified when we tried to get him to sit on his lap so this was the best we could get. Morgan was just kind of quiet and stared at him the whole time like she was trying to figure out who that strange looking guy was!





By the time we left her shop, Will had finally warmed up to Santa enough that he gave him a high five!


The next weekend we decided to take the kids to the festival of lights with my sister's family and my parents. For those of you that don't know what that is, our zoo decorates the entire park with tons and tons of lights and has a special train ride and programs. Morgan was fighting a cold that weekend so I ended up taking Will and Mitch stayed home with Morgan. It was so cold out that I forgot to take very many pictures but it was beautiful!

Alex and Will looked like they were freezing so we went into one of the shops to let them warm up and play with some toys!