Nursery, here we come!

Ben turned 18 months last Tuesday and is now in nursery at church!!  It was pretty much the most exciting day ever for us.  Ben, however, doesn't yet love it like we do.  I'm sure he'll come around.  For now, he stays near us when they play with toys.  None of the toys seem to appeal to him much.  For singing time, he occasionally folds his arms like he's asked, but mostly he wants to wander aimlessly about the room and pull little girls' curls.  He doesn't do well during the lesson, but he's very calm during snack time.  Snacks usually last him through the end of the block.  This at least saves the crayons from being eaten by him.  It's something I'm sure everyone appreciates. 
Here are some things Ben is doing now...

sliding down the slide all by himself

holding his little sister

LOVES to harvest things out of the garden whether or not they're ready

He is 24 pounds and 32 inches tall, which puts him at roughly 50% for each.

YAY!  He's finally at a "normal" weight.  It must be all those strawberries he's sneaking...

What We've Been Up To

Here is the cliff notes version of what we've been doing the past few weeks.  They're things that I want to post and would like to give them each their own, but just can't find the time when so many other "better" things are calling my attention.  So here goes...
Ashlyn's blessing May 1:

Well, I can't seem to find the folder that the pictures are in...I'll have to ask around the family, but for now, here is the rest of the post! 
Alex blessed Ashlyn in church the first of May.  He did another wonderful job and my grandma and aunt were able to come, too!  My mom made the dress and I made the flower in her hair.

First Trip to the Zoo

Like the totally awesome parents we are, we left our camera (full of brand new batteries) on the couch when we took the kids to the zoo for the very first time.  So, I just have these crappy pictures from my camera phone.  :(  We had a blast and sped our way through all of the big animals because Ben's attention span is totally not there.  He was sometimes more interested in leaves on the ground or the resident pigeon.  Strange kid.  But, there are LOTS more things for us to do the next time we go!  (And it was all free because of the culture pass!)

Hitting
Ben has a problem hitting.  He hits us, Ashlyn, and the poor kids in nursery.  It was a little boy relatively new to the ward and he looked so shocked when Ben hit him on the head with a golf club.  I was mortified.  He has a couple of sisters and a brother that is at least 4 years older than him, so he probably doesn't get hit much at home...I still haven't found a way to get through to Ben with discipline.  Feel free to offer suggestions!

Splash Pad

We went to a nearby splash pad with some other moms from the ward.  It was a little disappointing and we happened to go at a time when about 20 handicap kids were there on a field trip with an equal number of chaperones.  Great for them, but it makes for a lot of big kids in a small area, which frightened Ben.  Plus, Ashlyn decided that she was NOT sleepy, but indeed hungry the minute we got there.  We didn't stay for very long and I only managed one picture from far away. 

Diamondbacks

We took Ben to see his second ever baseball game which went much better than the first (see here).  He loved to clap, climb stairs, and play in the toddler area upstairs.  A wasted ticket for me as far as baseball watching goes, but it was fun to chase him around.  Meanwhile, Ashlyn had her first official babysitter (my friend Pam) and got spoiled! 

I keep meaning to post updates on the kids, but time goes by so fast and Ben is now 19 months and Ashlyn is almost 3 months!  One day I'll be on top of things...