Bennett Dedication

On Sunday, November 3rd we dedicated Bennett at East Cooper Baptist Church. Will and I are so blessed with the gift of raising this sweet, cuddly, bright eyed boy.  We made a public commitment among family and friends to raise him to know and serve Jesus Christ.  It was such a special day for our family. I loved standing before our congregation with Will and my three children making our public commitment!

We hosted lunch afterwards at our home. We had 19 children age ranging from 6 weeks to 13 years old. So much fun to see all the kids together! So thankful for great families that traveled and friends to share our day with us.
Especially thankful for my dad who drove all day to celebrate with his namesake.

Our pastor, Buster Brown, presenting Bennett to the congregation

Guest of honor

Will with sweet Kate

Grannie with darling Wright

Family Photo!

Dinkins and Palmer cousins 

Dinkins and Tillman cousins

Bennett is 6 months old!

Bennett has brought our family so much joy! He is such a sweet, happy, loving baby boy! We had a good dr's appointment and he enjoyed showing Dr. Graham all his tricks. Bennett, like his brother, loves to jump in his activity jumper. LOVES to jump! He has done great with solids and seems to like most everything except spinach and avocado. He doesn't sit still for long and is very interested in grabbing anything he can get his hands on. He is sleeping well and has done amazing with all of our transitions as we completed building our home. He rolls around to get where he wants to be and when on his tummy starts to scoot. I don't think I have much longer until he is all over the place!

 6 month appointment:

17 lbs 6 oz and  27 inches long

This picture makes me laugh! Wright was "loving" on Bennett

Our Big Adventure

This is at least what we are calling the past 6 weeks.  Our kiddos have been extraordinary through so many transitions. We moved out of our house mid August after 7 years. Lots of beautiful memories at that home. Most importantly that is where Will and I brought all of our babies home.  The kids and I then spent the next three weeks with my parents in Watkinsville, Ga. It was hard to be away from Will, but so nice to be with my parents. We had lots of fun during our time there. We had a special visit with Sunny and Harry, went to the Zoo with our friends Kristi and Anna, Stone Mountain Park for the day with We-we, pool time with Papa and lots of fun visits with friends!

Here are a few pictures from our time in Georgia

I love this picture of us! Wright carried the map most of the time at Stone Mountain. He was very interested in where we were, where we were going and why! 

Fun Zipline at the obstacle course at Stone Mountain

 My sweet babies snuggling!

 Harry and Wright

Daddy wasn't too excited about Wright in a GT hat!

 Kate and Bennett getting sweet loves from Sunny (great grandmother)

This is the couch at Sunny and Harry's that everyone falls asleep on

Kate playing at Sunny's

Carousel at the Zoo

They love riding the jeep at We We and Pa Pa's; wright was fixing the engine
I just let Bennett sit for a minute; he is not allowed to ride with them quite yet!

We also enjoyed a trip to the mountains to visit Grannie! We had a great time with a day in Brevard including a trip to OP Taylors and lunch at the old fashioned soda shop! We also had fun playing at the waterfall, the awesome playhouse and swinging bridge, and loved making s'mores with Grannie!

We are now back in Charleston living on James Island until our new house is finished. Kate and Wright have started 3k at O'Quinn monday, wednesday and friday mornings, they started soccer (previous post) and Kate is back in her ballet class. We are excited about the new house, but I am also thankful for this time of transition. I was able to spend some quality time with family and we have learned to live outside of a comfort zone. 

We like to call her "our little mermaid"

Kate became very comfortable in the water this summer! She still likes her puddle jumper when she goes off the deep end, but she is swimming more and more without it.

Wright will take his off as well, but isn't quite as comfortable. He tends to be more cautious than Kate....

First Soccer Game

Kate and Wright had their first soccer game and it was so much fun!
They were really excited and did so well!

And then there were five

Writing the blog has definitely gone by the wayside as I navigate through the busyness of three young children! First, it is so much fun!! Second, so tiring!!

I resigned from my office job to be at home with the children and never looked back. Will and I thought and prayed about this decision for months and when the time came to decide it was an easy decision.  It helps that I resigned at the start of summer so we have enjoyed many fun afternoons at the pool, playdates with friends and some fun long weekend trips with family.  So much happens each day that I wish I was documenting between precious pictures, sweet and funny things the kids say and precious moments that I want to bottle up.

Kate and Wright have done great adjusting to a new baby brother. It helps that Bennett is a wonderful, sweet, snuggly little baby! He had some digestive issues early on, but now that we have worked through them he is so happy.  He loves to be outside, water and the attention he receives from his family! We had his 4 month, yes already, appointment yesterday and he is doing great.

He weighs 14 lbs 4 oz and is 25 inches long

He sleeps great at night usually waking around sometime between 5:30 and 6:30 to eat. We aren't on a true day schedule yet which has been hard for me, but with the kids schedules it is hard to be at home for naps each day. Bennett just rolls with it and sleeps as well in his car seat as he does the crib!

Kate and Wright become more and more independent daily. This is both good and bad. Good in that they can do more for themselves and to help me, bad because it brings a bit of an attitude with it and a need to "do it themselves". They play so well together and we are so thankful for that. They have cute nicknames for each other and daily refer to the other as their best friend. They stick up for each other and in new settings really take care of each other.  Twins share such a cool bond and we love watching them together!

A few pictures of our growing family!

Bennett 4 months

 Wright fishing at the community dock

A sweet Sip and See hosted by dear friends for Bennett

This is Mimi holding Bennett with me and Sunny

Love that my children know their great grandparents!

Sunny with Kate at their 60th wedding anniversary celebration!

Bennett's first time in the pool!

Kate's first dance recital

Kate started a ballet and tap class last fall at Dance Arts Academy. She has gone back and forth about liking ballet, but overall had a fun year! She was apprehensive about the recital and had decided she wasn't going to do it, but once she saw the pink recital outfit she changed her mind!

Thank you to We We, Grannie and Grandad for coming to her recital!

Kate is in the front row farthest to the lef

We were so proud of her for dancing on the big stage! 

She loved getting all the flowers
The rose was from Wright 

Our tiny dancer

Proud Daddy

Kate wanted Moe's after her recital

Kate and her teacher Ms. Brittany

Kate with cousins Grace and Madison