Benjamin Update

Heath Stats: I have no clue how much Mr. Benjamin weighs probably around 28-29 lbs. All I know is he is short and the other day I put him in Samuel's 12 month pants (by accident) and they fit! most of his pants are still 18 or 24 months even though he is over two. He is really  helping me with my no shopping commitment and not going through a growth spurt, thanks buddy!

Vocabulary: Benjamin is the most well spoke barley two year old I have ever met. He says and comprehends things well beyond his years. He knows all of his nightly prayers and says them by himself. He says grace before every meal and can carry on full conversations with anyone he chooses. He is rather shy, so don't be surprised if he doesn't talk to you the first couple times you see him. Benjamin also knows most of the words to frozen's let it go and can frequently be seen singing it around the house. Thanks to hide and seek you can even count to 20( you still make mistakes occasionally.) You know all of your colors and shapes and several letters. You are a smart little dude.

Interests: Benjamin doesn't really have any interests that are specific to him. He really really just wants to be one of the "big kids" If Annie is doing dress up, he wants to be. If Elias is doing Lego's, Benjamin is right there with him building Lego's. He loves pretty much everything the big kids do.

Likes: All food especially yogurt and chocolate. He loves his daddy and mommy( but not Samuel, sorry buddy). He has a special blanket that he sleeps with and that is pretty much his only must-have possession. He does enjoy dancing, singing and doing his gymnastics tricks. I have to say, for a 2 year old, he can do a mean forward roll and a donkey kick! Oh yes, how could I forget. Benjamin is OBSESSED with being outside! If he could be outside from sun up to sun down, he would be happy. I woke him  up early from a nap last week and he was super mad at me, until I told him we were going to the park. Then he lept into my arms told me I was awesome and said "I get shoes, I get coat, You get Sam, lets go to park". At least he knows we have to take Samuel!

Personality: You are pretty awesome, especially when you are constantly telling everyone how awesome they are. Pretty much anything you do, from eating breakfast to throwing a fit, you are adorable and funny. You are stubborn and independent! You INSIST on getting in and out of the car by your self, just like the big kids. You push chairs all over the house to get what you need. Not your size nor age will deter you from whatever it is you want. You love climbing on and IN anything you can get your little body into. I have had to pull you off counters and out of laundry baskets and bins more than I can remember. You know when you need a diaper change and pretty much do it your self, you absolutely refuse to actually go to the bathroom to go pee though, when you are ready I suppose you will let us know. For now, we don't have to worry about checking your diaper because you will let us know if it need changing. You love to play and laugh. You are awesome!

Message to Benjamin: You are a funny little guy! You communicate so well, it is very difficult to remember that you are indeed, only 2. You prefer to be called Ben rather than you name, which in case you forgot is BENJAMIN. You love to play with friends and give hugs and kisses to mom and dad. You are not the biggest fan of Samuel yet, but I know someday soon, you two will be the best of friends.  I love watching you play, you have the best little personality and love playing whatever game Annie and Elias throw you way. Be it dress up, having a tea set or playing hide and seek you are always up for a fun time, often giggling, for no other reason than your siblings let you play with them. Mom and dad love you so much and we can't wait to see what kind of Olympic athlete, engineer, young man you will turn out to be! 

Happy Easter, Part 1

The Eberhardt's had a very eventful and wonderful Easter Sunday! Brandon was off all day so we were up with the sun and headed on over to his mom's house for breakfast. As soon as we got there, we sat down to a yummy spread of all things carbohydrates: bagels pancakes, muffins...so good! Since the kids were all dressed up, I decided to take them out side one at a time and tried to get some pictures of each of the kids.

 Once Benjamin got wind of this, he was all about being outside. We did manage to lure all three kids inside long enough to open up Easter baskets. There was definitely no shortage of candy or treats for the kids. Benjamin just went back and forth between the garbage can and his basket. peeling wrappers, eating candy, finding more, peeling wrappers, eating candy, finding more and so on.  By the time we noticed,( seriously, this kid is sneaky), he had consumed more candy than I would like to admit.

We kicked all the kids outside and there we stayed for the next two hours. It has been another long winter and on Easter Sunday the temperature was up to a warm and sunny 71!! It felt amazing. We took more pictures, played with toys, played hide and seek, did gymnastics...

and did...well what ever this is:

It was a wonderful morning spent with my wonderful family in beautiful weather! In true Eberhardt fashion, holidays are usually pretty hectic, so we headed home to rest up, and head to the next Easter festivity. Thanks again to Grandma Mim for the breakfast and goodies! Oh, and for letting us destroy you house/yard and not picking up:)

Kid Safe Day

Last Saturday, the city of Grand Forks hosted their annual Kid Safe Day. It was a free event open to the public, dedicated to promoting safety in many areas of kids life's. I was expecting a couple of booths and some stickers but it was SO MUCH COOLER than that! They had safety booths dedicated to  bike,gun, car, farmer, winter, vehicle, stranger, fire and so much more! There were lots of freebies and hand outs which the kids enjoyed. They also had several full body costumed people. The crash test dummies were there, a fire safety dog and of course the giant cowboy armadillo....still not sure what safety he was promoting. We only stayed at the event for an hour, but it was a fun, free, family filled hour.

Happy Birthday Kellie!

Happy Birthday Kellie!!!

You may or may not have figured this out, but I very rarely get out of the house. I am not a huge fan of socializing. With 4 kids and a husband who works and goes to school, it just really isn't feasible. I do however, let my hair down and get out once in a great while. It seems that that great while happens to usually be on Kellie's birthday.
Jordan was kind enough to come over and "watch" the four sleeping kids for us while we went with Andrew and Kellie to a late dinner. I am a crazy person and was obviously expecting the worse so I made Kellie Kellie choose a close restaurant to go to, so that if need be, I could drive home and the rest could walk home. As soon as Jordan got here, we ran like the wind! I was fully expecting the kids to wake up and me have to go home at any given moment. We were able to stay out for a couple of hours and have adult conversation and came back home to still sleeping children! Thanks Uncle Jordan. 

Anyways, before we headed out to eat, we decided to give Kellie and Andrew a glimpse into their future. Join me on this journey to the future.

 You start off a happy newly wed couple, then you decide to expand your family

 You have a wonderful kid who grows up so perfect you decide to have some more

SO you have more...and more and life is crazy! There are jazz hands and sassy girls and babies babies everywhere, but you are happy.

Then a baby cries, because lets be honest, babies always be crying!

Lucky that wasn't real life for them, they were pretty relieved, see how stress free they look here :)

Just kidding! When you guys get married and have kids you will do great. Remember I don't get out much, I have to get my kicks where I can.

Ok, so back to your wild and crazy birthday celebration. The four of us headed out for our night on the town, we walked out to our sweet ride, the minivan. We just rearranged the seats since Samuel is in a bigger car seat now. The new seat configuration meant that Kellie and I would be riding to the big birthday outing...in booster seats! 

 This is totally safe, right?

 Andrew was sooooo hungry that he really wanted to punch me in the face not be taking a picture, thanks for humoring me!

Hope you had a very wonderful 25th birthday! Between graduating law school and getting married, I would imagine this is going to be a pretty fantastic year!

Pre Easter Pictures

Many people look forward to spring for the warm weather or longer days. I look forward to spring because it means on thing...outside picture time!! I am still figuring out my camera and I love to get outside and take pictures of my wonderful kids. 

We were planning a pretty busy Easter Sunday and I wanted to make sure I captured some pictures in their Easter outfits which I slaved away over making. OK not slaved, but I did make them. Anyways, in true ND fashion, the wind was whipping about 20 mph, but that didn't stop us from venturing across the street for those oh so important pictures! 

Before we got started, Annie helped me find the perfect Area to take pictures in, then it was time for a quick outfit change. Hey, wait, I also made that skirt she is wearing! Another very easy tutorial found here. Ok, anyways, back to the pictures!

 This is hands down my favorite picture of the group! It was Kellie's birthday and she was kind enough to come over and help wrangle the kids. Samuel isn't the best at standing and the kids aren't the best at helping when he needs it. Our plan was to stand him up and get the heck out of the picture, she did a great job! Look at that effort

 The wind really started to bother Samuel, so naturally, I kept him out a few minuets more to try to get that illusive group shot....

 it didn't happen!

 The kids were great, so they got to run off some energy before we went in to take our Easter clothes off. I may have gotten some pre holiday pictures, but I wasn't going to give up on trying again on Sunday!

 Confession: I MAY or may not have cropped out three kids who were looking all wonky. I don't take good pictures very often, I am probably the most un-photogenic person EVER. I happen to like this picture, so out of pure vanity, I cropped out my kids and called it good....hey, at least I can admit it right? Oh, and thank you for Kellie for taking this picture, and the ones above of the kids running around!

My loves!!!!!!!