delight in simple things...

Can't you just see the sheer bliss on this boys face? This is one of Benson's favorite activities... if you click on the picture, it will enlarge and you can see what he's got in his hands... it's Benjamin's Clemson ring. He's only allowed to hold it when sitting in daddy's lap. He thinks it is the greatest thing ever and that he is getting to do something totally, incredibly special.


"He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
Matthew 18:2-6

A visit to the Allergist...

We went to visit the allergist for the first time and they did a test to see if Benson is allergic to anything... I know that seems like a weird test since we've been avoiding a few things like the plague his entire life... but there is a difference in allergies and intolerance's.

Benson was diagnosed with milk/soy protein intolerance and has also shown signs of a rice intolerance. This means that his digestive systems isn't mature enough to break down the proteins found in these foods. Most of the time, intolerances are outgrown.

The test above is one which shows us if his body is allergic to anything... the section marked "A" is for allergens (such as dust, mold, pet dander, etc...) "D" is for diet (including milk, soy, fish etc...) "R" is rice and "O" is oat. The big red blotch was the control spot which shows what it would look like if he WERE allergic to any of the items tested. As you can see, he WASN'T! Yes, that's right, he wasn't allergic to one single thing! Including milk, soy or rice! Which means he will definitely grow out of this phase he's in!

The allergist recommended us giving him some milk- straight milk- and seeing if we saw any blood in his stool. We've given him one ounce the past two days, and SO FAR, SO GOOD! We've seen no signs of an adverse reaction! We'll try soy next week and he recomended waiting until two years to try rice again (which does mean no regular cheerios :( til then) So, we may very well be at the end of our crazy-freak-out-if-he-gets-a-speck-of-anything-I-haven't-cooked diet. And for that, we would be extrememly grateful! I'll keep you posted on the progress!

Here's a few pics of him trying milk for the first time in his life!

He didn't really know what to think about it... he started kinda spitting it out....

hmm... not bad!

The Moores came to visit!

Carrie and Daniel flew back to Texas out of Columbia on Monday, so they stopped by for a visit! It was SO great to see them! It's been WAY too long. We miss them so much and are SO excited about little BABY Moore who is 18 weeks old (in her belly) in these pics! We find out in a week whether it's a boy or a girl... I think it's a girl! I'll let you know!

Benson loved playing with Carrie!

Aw.. I miss this friend so much! Hurry Home, guys!

A day at Grandaddy and Grandmama's

Ok- so while it's on my mind.... I have a question for the blog-o-sphere... please leave a comment with your answer if you don't mind...

"how do YOU spell GRAND Daddy?"
is it Grandaddy or Granddaddy
Google says you can do it either way- But I'm just curious how most normal people spell it? Can you help me out?

We enjoyed an afternoon at Grandmama and Grandaddy's house playing in the yard. Benson gets about as excited as he does at the fair when we pull up into their yard... There's just so much to do there and he runs from one thing to the next... He's just non-stop!

Hoopin it up with the big boys...

Playing ping-pong with the uncles...Jeremy (Uncle J) is the one closest in this pic and "Uncle JO" is in the back. Benson's got "JO" down pat.. he constantly talks about "JO" ... and we're working on "Uncle".. and he can say it (it's more of a "UNC" than and "unc-le") but he can't quite but the two words together yet... he's still really cute trying though!


??? not sure what was going on here...

Blocking Grandaddy's shot

The way the light is in this picture, I think that Benjamin and Benson look as if they are watching Jesus' return and descention from the clouds (even though they were just watching the basketball go through the hoop)

Benson went walking across the yard and walked into the flower bed that has leaves for mulch. He just stopped dead in his tracks and refused to take another step. And he wouldn't go backward. I have no idea why it completely took him off guard, but I had to go pick him up out of the leaves! It's funny the things that bother him?!

Now THIS is the highlight... Riding the "Trac-Trac" (tractor) with Grandaddy... he could do this all day long...



Time to get off...

"I don't think so daddy..."

"Bye Daddy.. I'm gonna stay with Grandaddy on the trac-trac"

Apple Butter!

Some of our dear friends, Mr. Reeves and Ms. Hilda, brought us a whole bushel of apples! They brought 1/2 bushel of Granny Smith and 1/2 bushel of Gala! We've been exploring all sorts of new apple recipes with our plethora of apples! This week, Benson and I took a very rainy friday and made it into a cooking day! We baked a zillion muffins and cooked some yummy Apple Butter! It had to cook for 7 hours! The whole time, Benson would hold up his hand toward the stove, blow like he was blowing out a candle and say "hot."

He loves sitting on the counter when I'm cooking...

He liked mashing the apples through the colander! A really big spoon, some mush, a bowl with holes in it.. I mean really, how much more fun can life get?

He found Benjamin's hat and was walking around the kitchen with it on... silly little thing...

Another Aunt Wednesday

We are SO enjoying getting to spend time with Benson's aunts on Wednesdays! I can't remember if I explained it before- but Ashley is spending every Wednesday with us since she is doing her teaching practicum here in Lexington. In order to save on gas (and spend time with her favorite nephew) she just stays here with us! SO, since Ash is here, a lot of time we can convince Becca to come too! It's like old times! The three girls all under one roof! With a couple of extra boys thrown in there!

Becca and Ash always request home made pizza when they come! We do one pepperoni and one ham and pineapple!

Silly girls...

What's a slumber party without some cookie dough!?

Oh the Good times are at... the Fun Begins at... the Best times are at... The South Carolina State Fair!

We took Benson to the fair on Wednesday night. He went last year, but he was only a few months old, so he couldn't really appreciate it! This year, however, was a different story! We had a ball!

The first thing we did, was ride the carousel...

Benson did NOT want to get off.. you can't really tell in this picture, but he was crying to get back on the carousel!


Josh Turner was performing! We got to hear some of our favorite songs, and we could see him great! (even though we were looking over a fence! :) )


Aunt Ash came with us!

Jessica's Funnel Cakes!



This is the life...

Hold your follow through...

Benson's favorite part of the fair was the farm. He was running around saying "cow!" "Duck!" "bird!" and just squealing and giggling. It was so much fun to watch him see all of the sights!





Benjamin named this guinea pig "Jessica." He said it's hair reminded him of me. I did not take it as a compliment!

And before we left, benson had to ride the carousel again!


The cute-ness was just too much to capture with pictures, so here are a few videos that show Benson's overflowing excitement to be at the fair!