4th of July-Playdate picture story!

 

We are so thankful for our freedom, happy fourth everyone!

Budding brothers

Just for fun, here are some side by side pictures of our two boys. Same age, same outfit, very different look! Evan is on the left in all of the following pics with Benny to the right.

This is around 1-2 months-both boys are chunk-a-roos! Bennett had a lot more hair back then, and much darker at that. Apparently, goofy camera faces run in the family.

 

This picture on the right below is from Evan's birthday party, hence the Pablo mask. What a cute penguin Bennett makes! One notable difference here is that Bennett is a paci baby, see his cute clip?

 

Both of the boys started baby cereal at the same age. Evan sits pretty in his brand new highchair, while-true to his second child nature-Bennett keeps its real in the Bumbo on top of our breakfast table.

 

At 4 months the biggest difference I see in these boys is their eyes. Evan has daddy's deliciously deep chocolate brown eyes, while Bennett takes after me with a hazel mix of blue and green. Their eye shape is quite different as well.

Another not so subtle difference I spot is their skin. In the picture above you can see that Evan's eczema and dry skin issues started very early in the crooks of his elbows. Thankfully Bennett seems to have different skin altogether, though is sporting a nice drool rash at the moment. ;-)

Looking at these pictures, I'm blown away at how very distinct these budding brothers are in their own looks. And, I can't help but notice that Bennett has already changed SO much. On a related note, I'm happy to report that Evan is noticing the changes as well and has taken to hugging and kissing his baby brother, helping retrieve fallen pacis and passing wipes for diaper changes. He's always been a great big brother, but we were missing the "interaction" for a while, which I think is typical for boys. In any case, I just LOVE seeing them enjoy one another-melt my mommy's heart! This is my first "brothers" label I've posted under in my blog....can't wait for more!

Bennett's Room: Before & After

Bennett's room is one of the first in the new house to get a complete makeover. I'm happy to report that we're making great progress with the main living areas of the house as well, but I have several little touches to add here and there before they're "picture perfect." In any case, I am over the moon excited about how Bennett's room turned out! The room may look familiar since we are re-using Evan's nursery furniture, bedding, and curtains...but, who knew the difference paint could make! Add to that the perfect treasure of a tree decal we scored at BabiesRus and voile, it's a whole new room!

Before, the room was SO dark.  Swamp thing green trim and old Victorian wallpaper just wasn't the look we were going for...

 Little by little we made progress on the wallpaper. That is, until I hit the proverbial "wall" and handed the job over to someone more skilled lol. We had a good friend and professional painter finish the wallpaper job and paint the trim and doors white..

 

Then, my mom and I tackled the walls ourselves with this fresh coat of minty green paint. As paint goes, this color was not at all my original design. What I thought was a more neutral "sage" took a lighter, brighter turn into this cool as a cucumber color. But as fate would have it, I love mint chocolate chip even more!

Presenting the "after"

 

 

I plan to add more pom poms hang from the ceiling...my idea of a creative mobile if you will. Who doesn't love a good party puff?

 

This giraffe lamp took a hit in the move, but it was nothing a little glue gun couldn't help! And, the best room accessory of all, the little guy himself!

We LOVE Bennett's new room, and I think he does too!

Friday(night) phone dump

I saw this fun idea for Friday's on the blogging circuit, so why not join in? I remember a time when a cell phone was used strictly for emergencies-say for instance running out of gas, or getting lost in the mall. Nowadays, my phone is so much more than a phone. It's a photographer too! And, it captures even the ordinary(and often the most precious) outtakes of the day. For those of you without facebook or instagram, here's what you missing!

(And because who knows if these pictures will ever make it to print, at least they'll have their stamp somewhere!)