Lilli's 3rd Birthday, Re-enlistment, 4th of July, Auntie Paula visits

Lilli, Matthew, and Josiah (Josiah's dad, Greg, pushing all three  of them)

Ben's sister, Paula, came out to visit us over the 4th of July weekend

I know I know I know!  I have got to stop waiting so long to post.  There's so much to post about along with some pics.  

I'll start with Lilli's birthday.  I can't believe she's 3!  My baby is no longer a baby!  It seems that as soon as she turned three she just got more and more sassy.  I thought she was sassy before...............she's even more so now!  It gets under my skin sometimes, but other times I laugh (inside) at some of the things she says.  She sounds so much like Ben and I it's scary!  Anyway, we had a little swimming party here and invited a few family friends.  Then we had Bratz and hot dogs, fruit, and chips.  We did cake and had presents.  I have pictures from the party but they're on the other camera and I haven't take the time to download them yet.  Ben's parents got Lilli a swing set that's just right for our small backyard.  Lilli loves it!  She's goes outside all the time to play on it (when it isn't too hot).  Thanks Grammy and Grandpa!  I asked Lilli what she wanted her cake to be and all she wanted was "a pink cake with pink frosting and pink sprinkles."  So that's what she got.  I was so relieved.  I asked her if she wanted a Dora cake, or a princess cake but she said no and insisted on an all pink cake.  It was a lot of fun and we were so exhausted.  I think later that day we went to our good friends' the Gernat's and went swimming in their pool.  I guess we just needed more fun for the day!

On June 29th, Ben re-enlisted for another 5 years in the Air Force.  We're very excited and are looking forward to a fun filled journey.  We feel blessed to be in Air Force.  They've taken really good care of us so far, and it's nice knowing we have a job for the next 6 years (we still have one year left in THIS enlistment).  We're not sure what's in store for the next 6 years, but we're very excited and have so many opportunities coming our way!

Over the 4th of July weekend, Ben's sister Paula came out to visit us.  It was so fun having her here.  She and Lilli became fast friends and every time Lilli talked to Paula, she had to say her name.  Every time!  "Hey Paula!"  "Yes Paula"  "No Paula."  It was funny!  It was fun having "table talk" and staying up late with her.  She came in late Thursday night, around midnight.  Then we got up Friday and chilled for a bit and then went shopping for some clothes for our trip in August.  We're getting family pics taken by my sister.  Saturday was the big celebration.  We went to the Gernats' again and had a blast!  Get it....blast!  4th of July!  Fireworks!  ANYWAY, there was a ton of food and we went swimming again.  There was volleyball and catching up to do as well!  Then later that night we watched (from a distance) the fireworks from Patriots Park.  Lilli wasn't really interested.  She and Matthew just ran around with glow sticks.  The boys were asleep so they didn't get to enjoy the beautiful fireworks.  It was so fun and we had such a great Fourth!  I love this holiday and all it represents.  It really puts things into perspective being in the military and knowing what sacrifices were and are continuing to be made (not that those of you who AREN'T in the military don't appreciate the sacrifices, I know you do).

Well, I think I'm all caught up now.  

The boys are getting so big!  They just had their 6 month appnts on the 1st.  Alex weighed 15 pounds and was 25 inches.  Aidan weighed 13 pounds and was 25.5 inches.  So Alex is still the hefty one or is juicy, as one of Ben's co-workers likes to say.  They're now eating table food and baby food.  Aidan isn't really a fan of baby food but he will eat regular table food.  Alex will pretty much eat anything you put in his mouth.  Aidan likes to spit the baby food out.  Though I have to say, he's getting better at eating it now.  It just took him a little longer.  Alex has 2 teeth coming in now and more are coming.  Aidan still doesn't have teeth but I know they're coming too.  Both of them were so grumpy today and had fevers and swollen gums.  Sad!  Alex is rolling everywhere.  I think he'll be crawling here soon.  It's kind of frustrating because at nights he rolls on his stomach and then won't roll back to his back, so he just sits and cries and cries and cries.  I've been trying to roll up blankets to stop him from rolling over but that makes him even more frustrated.  I don't know.  It's frustrating!  And little Aidan is just scooting everywhere.  They both are moving around and are little chatter boxes.  I love it!

Ben is still running!  He's running 6 miles tomorrow!  Crazy!  But he's losing so much weight!  Not that he didn't look hot before, but now he looks super oober hot!  I'm glad he's enjoying it though.  We found out today that he will NOT be deploying anytime before January.  That's a relief I have to say!  It will give us some more time to spend together and going on vacations and stuff.  

My brother Brady just got back from his mission in Latvia TODAY!!  My sister Kandyce called me when they first saw him.  I cried like a baby!  It's times like these where I wish we lived closer to family!  He sounds great though!  I can't wait to see him in August.  We'll be heading out to SLC for my sister's wedding.  We're very excited about it!

That's all the happenings here in Georgia!  We have a lot of things coming up: Kandyce and Clay's wedding, Disney World, Half Marathon.  Okay, maybe not a lot but just really BIG events.  Looking forward to it all!