Bath Time

After a long day of fun and sun, Kate so needed a good bath. We were all in the bathroom and she begins to tell us her letters. She has foam letters for the bath and her dad helps her identify them every night. She puts them all into a mesh bag and pulls them out one by one, saying each one aloud. I had not seen how good she had gotten until last night! SO proud of such a big girl!

Weekend at the Hyatt

Kate and Lauren's Nana, Beiboo, Aunt Christine, Aunt Gary, and Cousin Ryan came in from Dallas to visit. They brought a bunch of birthday presents for Kate. She got a lot of cute clothes and a great pink tent! One of the first things she put on was a new crown and wand...perfect for a princess.

The "crew" was staying at the new Hyatt Resort in Bastrop. Such a great property and we spent Saturday with them enjoying the sun and water. Aunt Christine got some good smiles from Lauren.
Kate loved being with her Nana in the water, using her shovel to dump water. Later, she intertubed down the lazy river with her Aunt Christine. Here are a few shots of her in the water with her dad and Cousin Ryan.

Brookwood/Houston

The girls (Me, Lauren, Kate & Queenie) made our way to Brookwood yesterday. It is a little over halfway to Houston and we met up with Granny, Aunt Nancy, and Aunt Betsy for lunch. If you don't know about Brookwood, it is a great place for gifts! I love their "Texas collection" and it is a great place to stop around the holidays. Most important is what it provides for the people who live there. Click on Brookwoodto find out more.

Granny bought the girls the cutest dresses and I wanted her to see how they looked. Here they are pre-trip(yes they do match).



Here is a shot from lunch:
Post-Lunch, Pre-pizza at Queenie & Grandad's House:



It was a long day for all of us, luckily Dad was there to help out at the end...

Update on Lauren

I have meant to post an update on Lauren since her surgery. It went great and she was like her old self the next day!! She had been on codeine and tylenol until Tuesday and now is drug free. Her pathology report came back negative too! SO, but for the small set of stitches on the back of her head, you would never know she had surgery. YEA!!!!

Happy Birthday Beiboo

Kate and Lauren wanted to wish Dan's dad, their "Beiboo", a Happy Happy Birthday!!

Cousin Brian

My cousin Brian, a brave enlisted soldier in the United States Army, is going to be deployed in coming weeks. So far, they have not been told where they are headed. (I will post when I know more.)
Here is a picture of him, his wife Wendy and their beautiful daughter Lily.

Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Birthday Celebration

Kate had a nice, quiet birthday party at Queenie and Grandad's yesterday. Our mistake was opening the presents before cake(no one ate any cake). We got off to a good start...

New books

Opening her new "all cladish" pots and pans from Granny.


And then Queenie and Grandad's present was revealed.

THE KITCHEN

The kitchen was entertaining for everyone because Kate was cooking up a storm.

She even decided to check out the plumbing beneath her sink.

She ended the day where she had ended it the day before, reading a good book with her Uncle B.

Birthday Lunch at Eastside

With Queenie and Grandad in town, the weekly Friday lunch at Eastside resumed. Today we had Uncle B to join us. A little bird mentioned to Donna that we had a birthday girl among us and Kate was given a giant piece of carrot cake with a candle after lunch. Here are some pics from Kate's favorite part of lunch-the garden...



That night we headed to Queenie and Grandad's for dinner. She spent MUCH time with her Aunt Funny but it was out of the range of a camera(we are still not sure what they were doing but we do know that Kate never wanted to leave her side...) Kate also found a new "book reader" in Uncle B...

Overnight with Queenie & Grandad

During Lauren's surgery, Kate stayed with her Queenie and Grandad. She had a ball and was not happy when she was returned home to mom and Lauren. Here are some pics from her first overnight at Queenie and Grandad's house. Eating...

Eating on Queenie's furniture

Playing in warming drawer...only at Queenie's house

Grandad and a clean girl in her pajamas

Kate is 2!!

Happy Birthday Katherine Grace

Hard to believe that two years ago we were at the hospital and the twins were about to make their entrance! Amazing how much can happen in two years!

Dan and I were very humbled yesterday in our visit to Children's Hospital. Seeing so many kids with issues and to know that we never had to go there with Kate. Lauren's nurse saw that her sister was born premature and asked us about it. She was shocked that Kate was so perfect because she was so early. Telling people how far Kate has come and what a miracle she is will never get old.
July 2004


June 2006

This day also reminds us of Luke. I can not help but think that he continues to watch over us and his spirit lives strong in his sister.

Lauren's Surgery

We are home from Children's Hospital. Lauren did great and the surgeon was able to get all of the nevus removed. Right after she got to recovery, she woke up very hungry(a good sign)and was able to eat to her hearts content(another good sign). She is still pretty groggy and has slept for most of the afternoon. Sadly, I already miss her constant smiles!

Speaking of, a doctor approached me as we were leaving and said that she had been in the operating room. Apparently when Lauren was brought in she was all giggles and smiles. Nurses were wanting to take her home and no one wanted to put her "sleep mask" on. Another Benzon baby that likes to charm doctors...great....

Sisters

Post-Lauren, Kate is a huge help around the house. She will bring me diapers or blankets and she kisses Lauren at every opportunity. We know she loves her sister but there was one thing she refused to do until this weekend. Saturday she asked to hold her sister.

Milestones

What I failed to mention about our holiday weekend was a little thing we are calling a "language explosion". Kate has suddenly decided that she has some things to say and is not held back by baby talk. She is speaking words clear as day and has a few two word phrases (i.e "oh cool", "see ya"). Some have said that this whole talking thing is a blessing and a curse...knowing how far little miss Kate has come, it is another true blessing. Hard to believe that a week from tomorrow she will be 2!!
Here is Kate telling her sister how she feels about Bush's immigration proposal.

Not to be outdone by her sister, Lauren decided today was the day to roll over from stomach to back. And rather than leave the demonstration for mom, she did it just as her dad walked in the door! Already another Daddy's girl...

One more picture of my matching pink girls....

Fourth of July

Rain soaked most of Austin for the Fourth. We needed the rain and the Benzon's still managed to have some Fourth of July fun. Before anything, we had to have sisterly kisses...
And a picture with Dad....
The day began with the neighborhood parade. Kate loved her position on top of Dad's shoulders but Lauren found the parade a little tedious this year.

We spent lunch time at the Druins where Kate modeled her swimsuit.

Everyone came home to crash for the afternoon and while we were sleeping the thundercloud rolled in.
Because our street's party was pretty much rained out, Dan let Kate be the sparkler queen...
What was so nice about the Fourth was having Dan home on a weekday! He may be a Judge Judy convert yet!