Wrapping up the year....

The last two weeks of the year always seem to slip by too quickly.   Despite my best attempts to plan ahead, Christmas coupled with Ben's birthday three days later tends to catch me off guard.  This year just to keep it interesting we decided to throw in a trip to Maryland on Christmas Eve.

That meant packing up Santa's sleigh and Ben's birthday plus clothing for four people for 10 days.  And don't forget our 50 pound dog.

Let me just say - I love my minivan. 

We drove a total of 920 miles and saw five generations of family.  Both Brannon and I are exhausted, Austin was sick the entire trip and Ben's schedule is completely off....but, it was worth every ounce of energy and sleepless night.

I've got the pictures to prove it.

Teal Lane Christmas Eve Bash

These people are my family and I've missed them.
Christmas Eve alone was worth the drive.

We spent excessive amounts of time in our pajamas.

And snuggled lots of Grandaddys, Papas and Nanas.

Christmas was nice but December 28th was fabulous.

Ben turned 4.

Four.  I have struggled the past few weeks with this birthday.  At three he was still just a little guy but four?
Four is a kid.

Changes that crept by me all year seemed to slap me in the face the night before his birthday.   I went out to get him a new jacket.   I couldn't find his size and asked a sales associate for help.  And the lady took me to the BOYS section.  Not the infant/toddler/little kid section that I know and love but across the aisle.

I grabbed the smallest coat on the rack which looked huge and I fussed to myself about how there was no way this would fit him.

And you know what?

It fit him perfectly.  Because he's a kid now.  Shopping on the other side of the aisle and everything.

Happy Birthday sweet boy.  We love you to the moon.