SEVEN!!

I know I am a month late, but I have to give Ben his birthday tribute.  He is my baby and I hate that he is getting SO BIG!  Luckily for me he isn't too big to still cuddle with his mommy or say cute things like his eye was swallowed when he meant swollen. 

He has the typical youngest child syndrome......he might possibly be a little spoiled.  And he is definitely picky which I know is not uncommon in kids his age, but hey, this kid does not like pizza or ice cream and he won't wear jeans.  Crazy!  Matt made him try on a pair of jeans not too long ago and Ben just stood there and cried pathetically.  It was so ridiculous that I had to laugh and go get the camera.  And then I rounded up all of his jeans and gave them away.  So enjoy this possibly last picture of Ben in jeans for a long time. 

He definitely has clothing issues. If it were up to him he would live in shorts.........and nothing else except to throw on his sandals if he was going somewhere. I just got him in the last week or so to switch to wearing pants to bed instead of shorts.........he still won't wear a shirt though. And we still fight all the time about him wearing his sandals. We have this argument all the time:

 

Me: You need to wear tennis shoes, NOT sandals

Ben: WHY??

Me:  Because it is winter now!

Ben:  But it's not winter! (He knows that it is not officially winter yet)

Me:  Well it is really cold out.

Ben:  It's not that cold.

 

And then because it is supposedly not that cold out we go on to have a similar argument about him wearing a coat vs. wearing a hoodie.  Mornings are so fun.

 

Ben is definitely one of a kind.  He keeps us laughing with his silly voices, his sweet dance moves, and his overall craziness.  We have also discovered this year what a smart kid he is.  He is doing great in school and has developed a love of reading that really makes me happy.  It is not uncommon to see him carrying a book when we go places.  This was at Porter's band concert where Ben just sat next to me and read the whole time.  And do you see the size of the book he was reading???  It is a HALO book that we had that he really wanted to read.  He was so proud of himself for reading a "big book".  I still don't think he has made it through but I was just impressed that he was trying and that he understood what he was reading. 

I am so grateful for My Ben!  I am so glad that even though I swore I was done after two kids, the Lord knew that our lives wouldn't be complete without this sweet little guy!