#309 - Benjamin Turns 3!

On June 1, 2014, we celebrated Benjamin's third birthday.  It was a great day, filled with friends, family and lots of fun.  We had (of course) a Mickey Mouse themed party.  Yes, same theme as last year.  Benjamin is obsessed with Mickey.  Still.  He still freaks out when he sees or hears Mickey.  So, it was only appropriate that we stick with Mickey for another year.  We had a small party at our house, with about 10 kids, and some neighborhood friends and Dad, Catherine and Rory. We rented a bounce house, ordered some balloons and cake, and grilled out hamburgers and hotdogs.  It doesn't get any easier than that!

Mickey Mouse cupcakes.  My only mistake?  Red icing. I should have known better.

Having fun on the bounce house before the guests arrive

I think Owen is attempted a hug, not a choke hold

The birthday boy

Seriously.... he makes my heart melt.

Grandfather and Grandmother helping us celebrate

Happy Birthday to you!

Love this!

Add caption

Aunt Rory!

Family picture on Benjamin's birthday

How old are you?  THREE!

#297 - Crescent Beach, HAPPY BIRTHDAY OWEN!

Wednesday was an extra special day at the beach because it was Owen's BIRTHDAY!

Owen Luis Saez turned 5 years old.  Our big boy is 43 inches tall, and weighs 39.5 pounds.  He's a happy, outgoing child, who loves life.  He is a Daddy's boy;  he absolutely adores his father, looks up to him, and wants to do and be everything that Lou is.  He loves fishing, crabbing, soccer, and anything that involves water.  His favorite TV shows are Gator Boys, Call of the Wildman, Off the Hook and Top Hooker (a fishing competition, just to be clear).

Owen is the best big brother.  Although he can be a little rough with Benjamin, he just loves being with his little brother, or "buddy" as Owen likes to call him.  It's heartwarming to watch them play together and to see how Owen teaches his little buddy how to do things and also get into mischief.

Owen will be entering Kindergarten in a few weeks.  At school, he is more quiet and reserved, and very respectful of his teachers and classmates.  He's smart and patient, and has a real love of learning.  We can't wait to see how he grows and develops this year at Blessed Sacrament.

On Wednesday morning, Owen got an extra special treat - Grandfather, Grandmother, Nana and Pop Pop were all at the beach to wish him a happy birthday.  And, Kaylin had spent the night so she was there too.  (It was so cute to see their first sleepover together - they slept great on the pullout couch!)

Owen got to open his presents from Grandfather and Grandmother before they left to catch a plane back to Atlanta.  He was thrilled with his new boogy board and fish net!

In honor of Owen's birthday, we all went to the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine.  The Alligator Farm is a wonderful zoo, full of you guessed it - alligators, but also crocodiles, snakes, birds and monkeys.  This was a perfect activity for our little Gator Boy!

Owen, Kaylin and Benjamin

Our two Gator Boys

The gators were everywhere

The Saez Family circa 2013

Owen got to meet a real gator wrestler

Checking out the gators

Feeding the alligators

Daddy and his boys

After the Alligator Farm, we went back to the condo for lunch and birthday cake!  The cake was appropriately "fishing" themed, complete with a lake, boat, fisherman, and large mouthed bass.  Little guy was pretty excited when he saw it!

Nana and the birthday boy

Blowing out five candles!

Mommy and the boys

And, the entire family!

Time to open presents!  Here's a BSS jacket for school

Bocce Ball and Croquet set

He got a lot of other fun things like an alligator tooth necklace (which he hasn't stopped wearing), a book on reptiles, a box of dinosaurs, beach toys, a gym bag for school, candy and movie tickets (thanks Tita!).  But, the BIG gift was his very own cast net!  Owen has been asking for a cast net all summer long.  He's been watching videos on how to cast a net and catch bait or shrimp. The kid was pretty obsessed with it!  So, Lou got him a small cast net, and it absolutely amazed me how quickly he learned to throw it and catch things.  More pictures and a video on that coming soon!

Happy Birthday to our sweet Owen.  You bring so much joy to our lives, and we love you so very much.  

#290 - Benjamin is Two!!

The days are long but the years are short.

Isn't that the truth?  Our dear sweet baby is no longer a baby, but a loving, independent, determined two-year old boy.  How fast these two years have gone.  This child brings joy to our lives every single day.  He owns our hearts.  Benjamin Lawrence Saez, we love you!

We celebrated Benjamin's birthday yesterday, but before I share those pictures, let me tell you a little bit about this two-year old son of ours.

• Benjamin weighs 28 pounds and is about 34 inches tall (about 50th percentile on both charts).  He fits mostly in a size 2T.  He's got quite the buddha belly, so he needs shirts that are a bit longer than normal.  He wears a size 7 shoe, and only wears one particular pair of sneakers - he refuses to wear sandals, crocs, or anything else.  
• Benjamin mostly sleeps through the night in his big boy bed.  He sleeps with his Mickey Mouse stuffed animal, and must have his sound machine on to the bird chirping setting.  He still requires us to rock him to sleep at night, but those 15-30 minutes are truly the highlight of my day, so I don't mind at all.  More often than not, he stays in his bed until morning time, but lately, he'll climb into our bed sometime after midnight.  He sleeps pretty well there (which means we sleep pretty well), so for right now, we're okay with it.  He's an early riser though - 6:00am is sleeping in for him.
• He's a Mommy's boy.  That hasn't changed at all over the past two years.  He prefers his Mommy for all the comfort and nurturing.  He wants me to put him to bed, to change his diaper, and to hold him on my hip as we walk around.  He snuggles up to me at night, and many days, will still cry when I leave the room.
• He loves his Daddy.  His dad is fun, and there's no one that can make him laugh and giggle like his Daddy.  Benjamin will crawl all over him, run to him and fly into his arms, and still screams with excitement when his Daddy's car pulls into the garage.  
• Benjamin adores Owen.  He imitates most everything that Owen does - whether it's jumping on the bed (a no-no), how Owen colors, or how Owen plays outside.  Benjamin is his shadow, and wants to do everything his big brother does.  In the morning, when Owen wakes up, Benjamin immediately lights up and runs to him to give him his good morning hug and kiss.  And, at night, he refuses to go to bed until Owen has hugged him.  Seeing their brotherly relationship develop is joyful and priceless.
• Benjamin loves Mickey Mouse and pretty much anything Disney - Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto, Jake the Pirate, Doc McStuffins, etc.  Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is his very favorite thing to watch on TV.  He still squeals when he sees Mickey.
• Healthwise, he's doing okay.  Benjamin definitely gets more sick, and more often than Owen ever did.  Benjamin is on his second set of ear tubes.  He's allergic to three different medicines, and can be sensitive to some environmental irritants.  But, overall, he is a healthy and happy two-year old.  He does have a speech delay, and has been attending Speech Therapy once a week since January of this year.  He's made a lot of progress, and we are so proud of him!

We had a very small party yesterday with our Savannah family to celebrate this special little boy, and everyone had a great time!  We had a Mickey Mouse cake, of course!  Here are the pictures:

Happy Birthday, Benjamin!

Getting ready to blow out the candles

Mommy's Birthday Boy

Yum!

Opening presents

Jake the Pirate!

Owen and Faye being silly

I cannot even believe how big Owen is getting

Benjamin and Gabby

The Birthday Boy!

Attacking me with his new alligator flashlight

Checking out his new Mickey table

The bubble machine entertained him for hours

Benjamin was saying, "Bubbles"

So fun!

More bubbles

Our happy boy

Mollie with the boys

#187 - Happy Birthday and Anniversary!

This weekend, we celebrated Lou's 40th birthday and our 5th wedding anniversary.  We decided to take some time off work and spend the weekend in Atlanta, and we had a wonderful time!  

On Friday, we drove by Lou's old loft in Cabbagetown.  The area has changed so much.  There are shops and stores and restaurants everywhere.  It has very little resemblance to the borderline ghetto in which we used to hang out.  Then, we drove by the house we bought right before we got married in Briarcliff.  Surprisingly, the neighborhood has changed very little.  We ate at the same Fellini's at which we used to always eat.  The houses looked the same, and some of our neighbors were still there.  It was fun reminiscing!

Then, we headed to my dad and Catherine's house.  Papa was in town too, and it was awesome to have all four generations together and spending quality time with each other.  We got to enjoy the pool in the backyard and Catherine put together a fabulous dinner to celebrate Lou's birthday and our anniversary.  

One of our favorite parts of our wedding was our fabulous wedding cake.  It was actually a tower of cheesecakes in three different flavors.  We froze the top layer and ate it on our one-year anniversary and it was still delicious!  So, I decided to surprise Lou and get a cheesecake from that bakery this weekend.  Well, as the weekend got closer, I realized he had planned the same surprise for me!  We clearly know each other well.  And..... it was as yummy as we had remembered it.

 The Saez Family

 Four generations

 Owen having fun with Johnny

Benjamin and Grandmother

 

Johnny, Robbie and O

 Papa and Owen - Seeing them play together is a memory I will never, ever forget.

Grandfather and Owen

One of the highlights of the weekend was Catherine and Dad volunteering to keep the boys Sunday night so that Lou and I could have a night out on the town.  It was such a treat!!!  We got a room at the InterContinental hotel in Buckhead, which is the hotel we stayed in on our wedding night five years ago, although this time we were not in the Presidential Suite.  However, having two little ones at home, any night alone in a hotel without kids is better than any suite!  We met some good friends of ours for dinner at Ecco, a wonderful restaurant in Midtown.  We ate delicious food and emptied many, many wine glasses and then cabbed it back to the hotel for a night of uninterrupted sleep. Happy Anniversary to us!

On Monday, after picking up the boys at Grandfather's house, we met the Flemings at the Georgia Aquarium.  It was Owen's first time and as you can imagine, he loved all the sea life.  It was a great way to end a really nice weekend!

Owen and Daddy "under water"

The girls and the kids

 Owen and Lou in the penguin exhibit.  Owen got up close and personal.