Game Night

We had a blast... Thanks for coming everyone and can't wait to do it again soon! Next time we'll get some shots of the Wii leage!!

The Bittingers See Pirates!

We took the kids to see the new Veggie Tales, Pirates Who Don't Do Anything last night. It was... not my favorite Veggie movie. I thought the last one about Jonah was much funnier... ah well, Ali still thought going to the theater was super cool. Ben did pretty good at his first theatre movie. He even watched most of it! We tried a new pizza place afterwards and then went to one of our favorite places.... Books A Million. Ali loves the Thomas table and Dan and I could spend hours on end in there. It was a fun family night out. Later, after we came home, Ben had his first bite of rice cereal... yummm!! He liked it A LOT... he wouldn't let go of the bowl.

Notice the grip on the bowl!! :)

A Few Then & Now's of Nolan & Ali

I'm borrowing Leisha's 'Then & Now' idea for Ali and her best friend Nolan.

This is Ali and Nolan a few months after we moved to Florida... 7 months old
This is Ali and Nolan in their first Christmas parade.... 9 months old
This is Ali and Nolan in his red wagon at age 1 yr.

And today, I can't believe they are two months away from their 3rd birthdays!
So fun!!

Playing at the Park

Today we had a playdate at the park with Ali's best friends, Nolan, Liam, & Dylan.

Ben Has a Tooth!

Just wanted to share our exciting news for the day. Dan's mom was holding Benjamin yesterday afternoon as he began to chew on his burp rag, which had her finger in it. And that is when the discovery happened. Bottom front left. So exciting... a milestone. This explains some of his recent grumpiness!

A Seat For Everyone

We finally broke down and bought a tandem stroller. We had been just stuffing and stacking the kids in our bigger (but single) stroller until now. Now there is room for each to have a seat. I researched for a long time on which one to get.... simply because there are about a million out there -not to mention some high price tags. So, we finally decided on this one, an Eddie Bauer Transit Tandem Stroller. The reason we choose this one is because it resembles an umbrella stroller in its ability to compactly fold and being lightweight. We liked the kids being one in front of the other so that we could easily maneuver through doors, isles, etc. & this one didn't feel like it was a mile long when I was standing behind it. An added blessing was that Target had it on clearance!! It was half off. So, here it is on our maiden voyage this morning in our new stroller!

Fun Weekend Pics!

It was really cold here on Sunday... well, it was a high of 60... I know, I know, I've seen all the SNOW pics from those of you in NC and AL and we are jealous, but it still felt really nice to be below 75 in Florida for a day! :-)
This is Ali playing at Walmart.
Ben playing with his Handy Manny tools in his Bumbo seat.

Ali is such a shoe girl already. Usually she is wearing my high heals (she wears them more than I ever do!) but today she had Dan's on... so funny on those little legs!
Ben is trying out Ali's old Johnny Jump up, but he's not doing a lot of jumping yet.

Date Night with Daughter

Tonight Ali and I spent some much needed 'girl time' together. We went to a dinner and a movie - just the two of us. Followed by throwing some pennies in a big fountain and strolling the isles of Books-A-Million for a while. It was a lot of fun. I haven't done anything just with her (except for a few walks to the mail room) since Benjamin was born. (nursing makes this a bit more difficult) I realized tonight how much I miss hanging out with such a cool girl... she is really a neat person. It makes me excited about our relationship as she & I age. I never quite understood what people meant when they say a young person is an 'old soul'.... but I think Ali is. She is so interesting to sit and talk too and I'm amazed at what is 'on her mind' at any given time. She makes me think, I mean really think about all kinds of stuff.

Tent making... the latest craze

Ali is turning all the furniture into 'tents' lately. She wanted Ben to hideout with her today, so I grabbed the camera!! I remember doing the same thing with my brother a few times too!

Aunt Melissa

Aunt Mel and Uncle Charlie came over the other night. Ben & Ali are so excited because they are going to have a COUSIN this summer. Ali wants it to be a girl... and I'm sure if Ben could choose, he'd be pulling for a boy. Either way Aunt JiJi (that's me) couldn't be happier!! We love you Aunt Mel!

Ben's New Toy!

Today Ben started playing (sitting) in his new ultrasaucer. I think Ali enjoyed playing with him in there as much as he did. He is getting so big!!

Ali's Disney Trip

Ali went to Disney world with her Grammy, Pap, Great Uncle Dave, & Great Aunt Liz for three days this week. We missed her SOO much, but she had a great time with them.

Pap's 60th birthday!

The Blessing?

Recently Dan and I have been discussing whether we'll say a 'blessing' before our meals with our children. Though I want to instill gratitude in them, I don't want it to be a mindless habitual act that they don't really understandably participate in. I find that doing these things without thought can be dangerous to the intentionality that we stress in our lifestyle. Then I was reading this book titled "Bless This Food, Ancient & Contemporary Graces from Around the World". It truly gave me 'food for thought' about this subject and redirected my thoughts concerning the habit of 'the blessing' before a meal. A great read if you ever question why you should or shouldn't practice the ritual. A couple thoughts:

• "Food Blessings provide a window to the profound spirituality that we all share and that connects us to all humankind, nature, and the infinite."
• "The occasional gathering for prayer, no matter how brief, keeps the heart and mind in touch with the most fundamental of joys: belonging."

Uncle Jason suprises us for Christmas!

Shanna & Tyler came down from B'ham to stay with us after Christmas and when they drove up, Jason was with them to surprise us. I kept getting upset at him for not coming down and the whole time he had been planning on coming. It was a wonderful surprise. We had a great time and it was good to see how big my sweet nephew was getting. Ali thinks Tyler is the coolest kid. We love you guys.

The Hair Cut

This is Ali's first real haircut. I've trimmed it now and then since she was about 18 months, but this time the wild woman hair needed to be tamed. She really enjoyed it, but the squirming was nerve racking for me! I think it turned out pretty good - though I know I don't want a future in hairstyling! I think it makes her look so much older....kinda sad.