My Boys

I have finally started to adapt to the nocturnal lifestyle, which seems to be required for my new job. We are there til midnight or 1 AM most nights. Its also been hard trying to get things done during the day before going to work at night. Slowly but surely I am getting used to it. I'm just so thankful to finally be working! :-D

Anyway! Benjamin, Kimber and I finally got out of this house this morning. We took a trip to the park, just me and my boys!

Enjoying the swing! Poor Kimber really wanted to get in the swing too.

Silly boy :-)


Waiting patiently for Ben to throw something

Benjamin and Kimber couldn't be more perfect for each other. They have the same personality, which gets them both into trouble sometimes.... It is so fun to watch them grow and discover things together. I love my boys!!

November was a crazy month for us. First was my 21st birthday which was wonderful! The same day I also accepted a job at Bed Bath and Beyond. Ive been working there now for 2 weeks and it is going very well!

After my birthday it seemed like I was taking dogs to the vet everyday for one reason or another. Kimber had his first ear infection :-( and Gabe some how managed to tear a muscle in his knee and will be having surgery later this month to repair it. Thankfully I am also still working at the Vet Hospital so Gabe can have his surgery which could have been $3,000+ for considerably less. Yay for employee discounts!!! He has been limping around pretty pathetically and is soaking up all the sympathy he can get.


Tony was home for about 4 days for Thanksgiving. As usual we were busy the whole time, but still manage to squeeze in a fun date! (everyone should see "Blindside" its an awesome movie!) Benjamin may have actually spent more time with Tony than I did since I worked til midnight some of the days he was home. They had alot of fun together, Ben has been pretty upset since he left. At least we only have to wait a couple of weeks til we get to see him again.

Meet the Newest Member of Our Family

Christmas came early for the Howland, soon to be Burley, family. Benjamin, Tony and I were given an adorable 1o week old puppy by my good friend Ashley. She saved him from a nasty pound in Kentucky and thought Ben needed a puppy to grow up with. I was a little unsure at first but I figured we could give him a chance and see how it goes. He has been such a good puppy! Hasnt even had an accident in the house! I know now that i've said that im sure he will... I couldn't have asked for a better puppy for Ben. They love each other so much!! Ben likes to read him books, take him on walks around the living room, and watch him eat.

Another awesome thing about Kimber, he looks almost exactly like Gabe. He wont grow to be as big but he's definitely his mini me. Their white markings are in almost the exact same places and they even act alike! Which could be scary... lets hope he has a few more brain cells than Gabe.

Riding home from a check up at the vet.

He's been christened... Ben dropped half of his yogurt on his head

Since they were both covered in yogurt this seemed like the easiest solution

Gabe and his mini me

Thank you Ashley for giving us such an amazing gift. He couldn't be more perfect! :-D

Halloween

We started off this Halloween season by going to the Hallelujah Harvest at church. Ben picked up the concept of holding out his bag to get candy very quickly!

No Parking?!?!

Sharing his horse with Blake

Grandma and Grandpa took a quick break from volunteering to see this adorable little cowboy

"What? Im not sneaking candy..."

Riding the horse! (sorry the camera wasn't working properly)

Halloween night I took Benjamin to the Burley's to trick or treat, we ended up staying there and had a lot of fun!

"Whoa! Grandpa did you know there's candy in here! Why are you giving it away?!"

Hangin out candy with Grandma and Grandpa!

Passing out some candy

Have some candy Grandpa!

Here are some more pictures of my little cowboy taken last week.

Modern cowboys ride tricycles...right?

"The B!!!!"

I experienced a moment of sheer panic earlier this afternoon while leaving the Target parking lot. As I was about to drive away when I realized I had forgotten something.... No it wasn't Ben. I put the stroller in the trunk along with the bags, Ben was in his car seat, the diaper bag was next to me.... but wait! Where was Benjamin's blanket?!?! ( or "the B" as he calls it) I quickly pulled back into a parking spot, got Ben out of the car and start the search for the B! I frantically ran through all the places we had been in the store but didn't see it anywhere. After asking employees in every section if they had seen it I finally went to the service counter. I asked the lady at the counter if anyone had turned in a blanket with sailboats on it, she said she didn't think so but she would check. She walked over to the bin and held up Benjamin's blanket. I think I may have heard angels singing the Hallelujah Chorus!

The beginning stages of Ben's blanket over a year ago

The B made for a good playmat at the airport during last years trip to CT

Ready for bed with the B close by

Exhausted from the sprint through Target

Wearing the legendary blankie boy himself on his shirt, Linus form the Peanuts!!

Some kids a have a pacifier, Benjamin has his B. If the B goes missing, its a bad day for everyone. Unlike a pacifier, you can't just buy another one, there is only one B that matters to this little boy. The only other blanket he might consider in an emergency situation is my baby blanket that my Grandma made for me. That must be what makes Benjamin's B so special, his Grandma made it for him! Benjamin is happy to be reunited with his special B! I am too ;-)

The Zoo!

Wednesday morning Benjamin and I met Abigail, Colin and Joel at the zoo! There was hardly anyone there so it was nice to just let the boys run. Benjamin walked/ran around almost the entire zoo! All of the boys were very well behaved which made for a fun day for everyone! :-D

Checkin' out the monkeys

SO CUTE!!!!!

Joel waiting patiently for the train.

Up close and personal look at the giraffe eating breakfast!!

What was the best part about the zoo? Watching the elephant poop of course!!!

Memory Walk 2009

This past Sunday Rachel, Ben and I along with my good friend Lisa took part in the Memory Walk at the Oceanfront. The Memory Walk is a fundraiser for alzheimers research. This is something that is very near and dear to all our hearts. My Grandmother has had the disease for several years, and Lisa's Great Uncle recently past away from it.

Benjamin did walk part of the way but he had a bug bite on his heel which made it pretty uncomfortable to walk a lot.

Our shirts say "I love you Grandma!" and "I love you Great-Grandma!"

Lisa's mom, Lisa and myself. They wore a picture of Lisa's Great Uncle on their shirts.

We love you Grandma!!!

Driving 101

What is the first step when driving? Getting inside the car! Benjamin, being the stubborn boy that he his, found probably the most difficult way to complete this simple task...

After all of that how does he get out?... opens the door of course!