Pictures of the Children

Yes, I know. You have just picked yourself up off of the floor after passing out. I apologize for being the cause of this momentary lack of consciousness. I am, indeed, blogging today! Perhaps you should buy a lottery ticket...not that the Bulgrien family condones gambling. ;-)

These pictures were taken by my friend Evelyn's daughter, Amy. They were taken out at Ken and Evelyn's house out by Lake Cherokee. Amy did a great job! You can see her other fantastic stuff here.

Yes, I do know that there are more pictures here of Olivia than of Benjamin. Benjamin recently had his pictures done at school and also has quite a large collection of pictures that we have taken of him over the past 6 years. Olivia, not being the first child, seems to have significantly less pictures. It is an odd phenomenon. Ask my youngest sister Jenny. There are no pictures to prove that she even was a baby. She could have just popped out of our father's forehead fully grown and fully armed...a la Athena! But I digress....

So, without further ado, I present to you the world's most beautiful children!!!!




























I told you so!!

Potty Time?!

This morning Olivia grabbed the back of her diaper, said "Poopy," and ran to the bathroom. I put her on the potty and got out her favorite book. She sat there for about 3 minutes and the she actually went!! She was surprised and kept pointing to her bottom and saying "Poopy? Poopy?"

I think she gets it! Yay!!!

Footwear Fiasco!

7.03.09

Our daughter loves shoes! We didn't teach her this. Apparently she came programmed this way...along with Super powerful amplifiers and a strange love of Mardi Gras beads!

Well, on this particular day, she was wearing one shoe from her many pairs of shoes. She loves her shoes so much that she must carry them all around the house lest they feel lonely. As a result, we couldn't find the other one! Let's just say that that was not what she wanted to hear:

"How can I show my face with only these snazzy beads and one shoe!?"

"What's that? You think you may know where my beloved shoe is?!"

"Allllright. I'm listening." (Oh, and I love her hair in this picture)

"YAY! You found it! You're awesome Mommy!"

"This calls for a celebration! Water all around!"

Snakes and Sleep

5-18-09

What a creepy title, huh?!

As you may have already figured out, I love pictures of my babies sleeping. So, one night I thought I'd shake it up a bit and take pictures of them as they headed off to Dreamland. I figured I would have pictures of them drowsily curled up in their little beds, chubby hands holding on to their stuffed animals. Yeahhhh...about that:

Look at my snake, Mommy. His name is Mr. Blue Snake!

Mommy, Mr. Blue Snake is going to bite you!! Don't worry though, his poison isn't poisonous! (imagine that!)

What are you talking about?! I am going to sleep!

...but now I need to do a quick bedtime karate kick!!

Nah, really. I'm lying down right now.

....right after I do a few Bouncity Bounces!

Bouncity bounce, bouncity bounce....

And BAM!

BAM! BAM! (yes, he really is sleeping!)

(Side note: Turns out that Benjamin had a change of heart about Mr. Blue Snake and his poison producing abilities. We had to part with Mr. Blue Snake because while we were in PA Benjamin prayed every night about God keeping our house safe so that Mr. Blue Snake didn't come to life, spit poison on everything, and destroy our house! Wow. Yeah. Anxiety.)

I'm glad I live in America...

...because I have choices.

...because I can teach my children about Jesus or not.

...because I can vote for our leader or not. If I don't like the outcome, I get another shot every 4 years.

...because my children and I can have opinions even if they differ from those of others.

...because I can choose to teach my children to respect differences even if he disagrees. You can be loving to someone you disagree with.

...because I can choose to teach my children not to hate.

...because I can teach my children that words hurt others--even if they are well-intentioned.

...because I can freely believe that God is bigger than America. He's bigger than donkey vs. elephant. In the end, He's bigger than my choices and opinions. He's bigger than hate. He's bigger than fear. He's just bigger. He's love.

The Joy of PB&J!

Olivia really loves her PB&J....as evidenced by these pictures.

"Peanut butter, how I love thee!"

"Let me shove you in my mouth!"

"...and rub you on my chin."

You can see the "happiness" all over her face!

Benjamin's First Day of First Grade

Well, it is here! The day where Benjamin goes off to school for the entire day. No more of this 1/2 day business. The day where he clings to my leg and cries for me to not leave him alone all day long because he will miss me. The day where I kiss him on the head and send him along to be a big boy despite his anxiety!

Yeah, that was how I envisioned it anyway. Instead, he happily strolls into school, grabs his breakfast, goes to his class, hops in his seat, and forgets that I am tagging along!!! Mommy? Mommy who? And all of that crying and missing each other, well, that was all left to me. I did MY part. I kissed him on the back of the head, walked into the hallway, and promptly burst into tears! And we're not talking "a little sniffle here and a misty eye" tears. We're talking "I hope the principal didn't see me in the hallway and call the people with the tight white coats" crying...

Anyway, Benjamin overcame and did well! He loved his first day of school. He says his teacher is very nice and she helps him when he doesn't know what to do.

Of course, I took 674,000 pictures....because that's what Moms do!

My little guy's first day of school. Compare with this picture.

Benjamin and Grammy. She comes for the first days of school.

Daddy got a big hug right before we headed in. As Benjamin walked away, Kevin said, "Who's your best friend" referring to the devotion from the night before. Benjamin's hand shot straight up to the sky! (sniff)

Strolling to class.

Benjamin, Amara, and Josiah. Amara and Benjamin are in the same class this year. Josiah is next door.

Benjamin's friend charging into class for her first day. In the background you can see our other neighbor Sherene cheering them both on. Our friends rock!

As Evelyn (Grammy) and I were walking out, we spotted this sign. She pointed it out to me to try to distract me from my crying! Let's just say it didn't have the desired outcome.

This was taken as soon as he got in the car from school. So his head's cut off, but you can still see his excited expression! Yay!

After school, we all met up at Stephanie's house for a "First day of School" party. Stephanie, Sherene, and I (along with our babies) made this poster while the kids were at school. Move over Picasso!

Benjamin and Amara again. Isn't she a superstar?!

Our whole Hudson gang!!

Guess who was even more excited than the kids! Yup. Stephanie. She is the world's best cheerleader for our kids.

The whole gang had ice cream and/or popsicles at the party!

Even Olivia had her own celebratory popsicle...until she rubbed it on the porch. 8-)

Daddy got a lot of snuggle time when he got home. Benjamin missed us. We missed him too!