Back to the zoo!

Well, last weekend I had made a post that I would cover everything we did last weekend since it was super busy and super filled with memories! Well, now it's the end of this weekend and I still haven't caught up! So here goes nothing...

To remind ourselves this is what we did last week:

Thursday- Fair

Friday- Boo at the Zoo

Sat- Ben's parents house, Megan's 31 party, Back to the zoo

Sun- Church's fall festival

So, now we will tackle Saturday...

Ben's brother, sister in law and niece came down for the day from Greenville. Ava and Legree are only 5 months apart in age, so it's always fun to have them play together. Keri and I left after lunch and went to Megan's 31 party at her house. After that, we met the boys and the kiddies at the zoo. Ava had never been to the zoo and since we are members we all got in free. So, we met there but we only had about an hour and a half before the zoo closed. But the timing worked out perfect and we got most of the outdoor exhibits covered. Toddlers don't have much of an attention span so we moved on quick from exhbit to exhibit. We decided we'd go back next time to see the bird exhbit and aquarium because it can be cold outside and we can still go in there and be warm.

Anyways, Legree had a blast having Ava there with him. He loves his "big" cousin and she loves "Gree"! Ava has finally started calling Legree by his name (she used to always call him "Baby")...as soon we saw her she said "GREEEEE!"... it's so precious!!

Here are some pictures:

Riding the Gator at Grandpa and Grandma's....

I never noticied how much Legree and his Uncle Jeremy look alike until this picture...

Uncle Jeremy, Aunt Keri and Ava

Two little monkeys sitting on a gorilla!

The Lewis lion cubs sitting on the lioness

16 little words, 16 BIG months!

Legree is 16 months old today! I say this every month I feel like, but I can't believe he's 16 months already! Time flies and it feels like yesterday he was just a little baby. Now he's a "Big boy". Or that's what everyone tells me... but he's still MY baby!!



Now that the holidays are upon us, it has been so much fun lately to do things with him that we did last year. It feels like we are starting some family traditions! Like going to our church's fall festival, the pumpkin patch etc. We even took some pictures in the same spot at the pumpkin patch as we did last year. I even had a cute little pumpkin hat for him this year like he had last year. But toddlers are not very receptive to hats I have found. So, here are the two comparison pics from last year to this year.



And in honor of his 16 months "birthday" I have 16 words that Legree can say. This isn't all of them, but I thought I'd stick to the 16 theme.


4months:


16 months:




16 words Legree can say:

1) Mama
2) Daddy
3) Hey
4) There
5) Bird
6) Dog
7) Donk (donkey to the lay person)
8) Outside
9) Go
10) Grandpa
11) No
12) Yes
13) Ba-Ba (pacifier, not sure why he calls it that but he does)
14) Up
15) Down
16) Cat

Happy 16 months little man! We love you!

Quite possibly the cutest picture ever...

After we got back from Boo at the Zoo with our little Boo we gave him a bath and got him ready for bed. As I was drying his hair I had to laugh at how wild it was. It was really long and WILD! We promptly got a hair cut the next day, but I wanted a picture. So, Ben got the camera. Being the ham he is, Legree made sure to pose for us... Ben got what I think is the CUTEST picture EVER!!

What do you think?

A Boo at Boo at the Zoo

Ben, Legree and I have had quite a busy past weekend! Here is a look at the activities:





Thursday- Fair


Friday- Boo at the Zoo


Sat- Ben's parents, 31 party at Megans, back to the zoo


Sunday- church, nap, Fall Festival





I've already done a post documenting the fair, so next up is Boo at the Zoo. Look for more posts to come on the rest of the weekend. I don't want to forget any fun details!





Ben has always called Legree "boo" as his nickname. Why? I have NO clue but it's kind of stuck with him and all of us call him that a good bit now. Hence, the title to this blog a Boo at Boo at the zoo!





We went with the Bests, the Shealy's, one cute little Lee boy and us. So, all in all that means 4 boys rangining in age from 2 1/2 years old to 13 months old. There was (from oldest to youngest) Lex (2.5 years old), Logan (18 months old), Legree (15 months old) and Ian (13 months old). They were so cute!





Boo at the Zoo is a special event at Riverbanks Zoo that they hold every Halloween. Basically it's a bunch of Halloween like activities, Trick or Treating, etc inside the zoo. All the kiddos dress up in their costume and run wild. We had a three eyed monster (Lex), a puppy (Logan), a Bam Bam (Legree) and an Winnie the Pooh (Ian)! Quite the combo! They were so cute and had a blast!!





Here's a picture! I'm not sure how we got all of them to sit still long enough to get a picture... but we did!

Legree's favorite part about Boo at the Zoo? All the people to see! Next year, I'm quite sure he'll be more interested in the candy!!

Bam Bam in the making

This year I really wanted to pick something for Legree to be for Halloween that "fit" him. My first conclusion was Prince Charming. The blonde hair, his handsomeness, etc it would have been great. And I thought all the little girls out there dressed as princesses needed their counterpart. But I couldn't find a costume anywhere small enough for him. So, we'll wait a few more years for that.

In the mean time I could think of only one other small, cute and blonde haired iconic figure out there that Legree could go as: BAM BAM from the Flinstones! And since it's been a long time since I've seen the Flinstones I went online and looked at pictures of the original cartoon and man I was right..... Legree could have played Bam Bam!!

So, then the hunt for a costume insued and all I could find was some online for 30-40 dollars plus shipping. Well, that was just silly to me. So I decided to make it! I am NOT a sewer but I thought I could do it with very little to no sewing. Well, I won't get into the details but that no sew thing DID NOT work. So, I'd been wanting to learn to sew so Ben bought me a sewing machine and I practiced some and then whipped together his costume! Much easier then I thought it would be and it turned out perfect for him!! And not to mention the costume costs about $10 compared to the 40 plus dollars I was looking at for buying one. And I have such a sense of pride and accomplishment from it!! Especially when I get compliments on how cute he is in it :) But hey, he could be in a potato sack and be the cutest thing around!

Anyways, here's a pic of the original Bam Bam and then Legree:

Cheeseball the original and Cheeseball Two

I wonder where Legree gets his cheeseball grin he likes to do for pictures??

Legree meet your mom at the rocket!

Ben and I took Legree to the fair this year for the first time! He had so much fun. He loved seeing all the lights on the rides, eating all the yummy food and seeing all the people. Here are some highlights via pictures:





We went inside the Cantey building and they had a Milk station handing out cartons of Strawberry milk. Legree was in Milk Heaven here...




What everyone goes to the fair for... THE FOOD:




And of course some Fiske Fries:

The strawberry milk kicked in and he was wild... he is literally shaking with excitement in this picture:

The food Ben and I tried... Fried Saurkraut. Conclusion: It's not good!

We washed everything down with a little lemonade:

Legree found a John Deere sewing machine and his motor started going!

He also found lots of food on display and pronounced that each one was "HMMMM"

Oh snappy day!

Legree... ohh, wait, I mean Bam Bam ready for some trick or treating!

15 things you didn't know about me...the mommy version

So, in some of the magazines I read they have these articles about 15 things you didn't know about me and they have celebrities give 15 facts about them that people wouldn't know. So, I thought I'd do a mommy version of it. I'm going to try to stick to stuff MOST people wouldn't know.... here goes...

1. I'm absolutely obsessed with how much Legree sleeps.
2. I love that Legree looks just like Ben.
3. I love that he has a Ballentine personality through and through!
4. I hope Legree is left handed like Ben and I (it's not looking that way)
5. I like to see Legree with a pacifier in his mouth, I think it's cute!
6. I read three pregnancy books and two breastfeeding books while I was pregnant with Legree.
7. I only let Legree watch one (occasionally two) TV shows a day. He often yells at me about this!
8. I am obsessed with milestones and his development. He's way past most kids his age, but I'm still constantly analyzing it.
9. I taught Legree how to spit. Probably not a good idea this young, but it's funny.
10. I buy a lot of Legree's clothes 2nd hand, and I was them 2 or 3 times before I let him wear them.
11. I'm obsessed with his clothes and what he wears (much to Ben's dismay).
12. I make sure his PJs and socks match before he goes to bed.
13. I love when Legree goes down for a nap so I can get stuff done, but am usually dying for him to wake up and play with me by the time nap time is over.
14. I avoid taking Legree out to a restaurant at ALL costs... he's a holy terror! He thinks everyone is there to see him and he much talk to each person.
15. I feel more and more blessed everyday for my little family!! I'm not quite sure why God blessed me with Legree or Ben... I certainly don't deserve them... but I am so thankful and happy to have both of them!

Muppets and Milk

All we need in life is muppets (from Sesame Street) and some milk!!