playing with hangers.

we've been busy these days! over the weekend the three of us went to southpoint to walk/play in the play area. sunday we went walking again (at crabtree...it's still WAY too hot to walk outside!). monday benjamin and i went to play with sam and his mom jen. the boys had a great time with matchbox cars and throwing balls around. tuesday we got a little shopping done at target (my favorite store!). yesterday, sally, her son seth, and our friend debbie came over to play and visit. today benjamin and i stuck around the house. tonight we have an open house for benjamin's preschool (yikes!). his first day is next thursday! he'll be playing with kids once a week, and i might actually get some shopping done on my own. but i'm a little nervouse at the same time. tomorrow we're planning on meeting meghan and jamie at northgate to play in the fountain/walk the mall. that's about it!

portraits

so, i had (yet another) free coupon for the picture people, so benjamin and i went to get his little adorable self photographed. i need help choosing which i should get for my free 8x10! here are my favorites:

18 months old!

Benjamin had his 18 month appointment today. He's now 21 pounds, 9 ounces, and 31 1/4 inches tall! Some other new things: he LOVES to color, "help" us clean (see the photo below), talk (though mostly in his own language, but he does say mama, dada, gaga (grandma & grandpa), guck (duck), nana (banana), egg (he's said this once, so we'll see if it ever happens again!), and some other assorted things. He is getting over a cold and had an ear infection as well, and was NOT happy about taking his medicine this morning (and we have 9 1/2 more days of that...yikes!). He's a pretty happy kid, enjoys stacking his rings and blocks, giving hugs and kisses, and is a lot of fun! We're just waiting for it to cool down out here so we can play outside some more...100+ degrees does not equal fun! And it's getting hard to get a photo of him looking at the camera and smiling at the same time...he'd rather run, play, grab the flash, etc, so I'm doing the best I can! :)

happy birthday gavin!

benjamin and i went to gavin's 4th birthday party today! the bigger kids dug for dino bones in the sandbox, "fed the dinosaur" (bean bag toss into a dino's mouth), and we all had lunch. benjamin enjoyed picking the grass and playing with rocks! it doesn't take much...
gavin is the little guy in the red shorts. benjamin is trying to leave the photo. :)

our nc-iverssary

on august 14, 2000, tim and i arrived in durham to start a new adventure! it was only 2 months and four days after we got married, and about three months after we graduated from occidental. these seven years have been full of all sorts of adventures, from weddings to concerts, movies, trips to DC, charleston, the outer banks, charlotte, virginia, and new york. our son was born here. we have met some of our dearest friends here. we have been so blessed during these seven years! i'm looking forward to seeing what the future holds - i'm sure it will be amazing. :)

from amanda & john's wedding, july 2002

ducks!

chasing the ducks at duke gardens:
and a family photo:

park/museum/old salem

grandma and grandpa lucas are back! on sunday 08.12 we went to the park:
then today we went to the richard petty museum. benjamin sat in a bumper car:

after that we went to old salem where benjamin slept in his stroller while we walked around, ate goodies from the bakery, and enjoyed the nice weather (not too hot!).
a photo without benjamin...
benjamin woke up and ran around the town square, picking up leaves and grass and chatting:

some new things

benjamin seems to be learning so much these days! i took these photos this morning and had to share:

this is the sign for "daddy" - benjamin learned that one a few days ago. i'm still working on "mommy"...

stacking blocks, his new favorite thing:
see that molar back there?! he has three of them, and the fourth is partially coming through. another one of his bottom teeth looks poised to break through any day now as well!

happy birthday seth!

seth's first birthday party was this afternoon. benjamin was definitely in the party spirit!

fun!

my friend chrissy got married to a wonderful guy yesterday. their wedding was lovely! (there are more photos on my blog here.
then my friend sarah came to town from wisconsin with her little boy william! the boys chased each other around, picked up leaves, and we got to visit.