You think Zoe is getting Bigger? Compare...

THEN (November)

NOW (February)

Birds...

Just wanted to post something random... I took some pictures of these birds the other day, and wanted to share them.... the birds are beautiful! They keep me company sometimes when I am in my scrapbook room. :)

Cute aren't they?

Here are my Cupcakes!

So, I posted a couple of weeks ago about making cupcakes. I made these a couple of weeks ago, and took pictures of them like I told everyone that I would... I am just now remembering to post about them! :)

These are Chai Tea Cupcakes, and man were they good!!! :) Since I am watching what I am eating or as many of you call it... dieting, I only had half of one. I gave some to my friends, and yes, one of those people was my friend Amy, who told me that they tasted "awesome"! Yay!

The rest I took to the hospital and gave then to the Intensive Care Nursery Nurses as a thank you... well, I also donated all of Zoe's preemie clothes to them as they are in need of clothes for the babies as they progress and get out of the very intensive care part of the nursery. :)

So, these are my first batch, and they tasted great!! :)

2006 Time Line

Since I just started blogging, let me do a time line of our life in 2006 for everyone!

January 2006: Celebrated the new year! Nothing really significant happened.
February 2006: Mike and I have been together for 6 years!

March 2006: 7th was Mike's 30th birthday! Azlyn (my great dane... don't have her anymore) turned 1 year old.
April 2006: Angelina started school at Lord of Life Preschool and Kindergarten, We celebrated Easter by coloring eggs, and the easter bunny left eggs and presents for Angelina. I found out I was pregnant at the end of the month!
May 2006: Went to the doctor on 5/4 to get ultrasound. Found out I was 6 weeks pregnant. I turned 25 on the 14th, Angelina turned 4 on the 20th. Angelina had her first ballet/tap dane recital on the 21st. School got out at the end of the month.
June 2006: 3 1/2 months pregnant, Angelina's Summer Vacation was in full swing, we went to Disney World in Florida at the end of the month.
July 2006: Found out we were having another baby girl on the 28th! 5 months pregnant. Angelina couldn't have been any cuter when she found out she was going to have a little sister! Excitement over took us all!!
August 2006: Angelina started school! It was too hot!! :)
September 2006: Me, Mike, Angelina and my parents went to the Outer Banks, NC and rented a beach house... it was right on the beach. Woke up every morning to waves crashing! It was AWESOME!!! We all had a great time!
October 2006: My friend, Chrystal threw me my baby shower on the 14th, finished painting the baby's room on the 12th, celebrated my dad's 45th birthday on the 16th, went into VERY EARLY labor while celebrating my dad's 45th birthday on the 16th, shocked and scared, Zoe Rae Benner was born at 2:41 am on the 17th weighing only 3 lbs. 4oz., went to the hospital everyday 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st and celebrated Halloween at my friend Chrystal's house on the 31st.















November 2006: Went to hospital until 11/22. Zoe came HOME on 11/22!!!! Angelina meet Zoe for the 1st time! Celebrated Thanksgiving with our new addition, celecrated my mom's 45th birthday on the 24th.




December 2006: Got used to having Zoe home. Celebrated 1st Christmas w/ Zoe. My parents came over and celebrated Christmas w/ us. Angelina was thrilled to have her baby sister home! Celebrated New Years Eve at home.

Random post Tuesday...

$250,000... is it worth it?

So, this house is for sale in my neighborhood... here is the rundown...

2000 sq. ft.
3 bed 2 1/4 bath
.80 acres
open kitchen... although not very big
2 car garage
in nice neighborhood

Do you all think this is worth it? Not too sure myself. Maybe being fresh from California I thought it was a good deal, but living in North Carolina for almost 2 years has kind of ruined me. I appreciated what you got for the price when Mike and I first came out here looking for houses... not so sure anymore, though. I guess you could say I have been North Carolina Home Price Desensitized. Now, I know in California, New York or New Jersey, this house would for a million bucks... but not here. ha ha!
However, on another note... take a look what you can get for a million dollars here!


This house isn't even going for a million...

SMALL DESCRIPTION>>>
$949,900
6 Bed, 9 Bath
8,064 Sq. Ft.
1.23 Acres
PRETTY AMAZING!!


Anyway, just wanted to start posting random things on Tuesdays... so this is a start. Tell me what you think... click the comment button. ;o)

Oh, how I love the snow!

What more could I ask for? I woke up this morning, and was able to actually watch snow beginning to fall! That is a first for me! I have seen snow falling, and been in it while it is falling, but, I have never looked outside, seen no snow, watched it fall, and then seen everything covered in it. It was like a before and after. Pretty neat. :) Sometimes I wonder why I didn't suggest that we move somewhere that gets snow on a regular basis, but I guess as little as we get it here, it's more of a treat! I loved watching Angelina play in the snow! She had a blast!



Angelina throwing snowballs at the back door.





Snow baby and Snow bunny! :)
This is as close to the snow as Zoe is getting this year.


I love when the snow sticks to the pine needles! Beautiful!

The snow is falling!

Bed Time Stories Together!

Angelina loves bedtime stories! Mike just started reading chapter books to her. They just finished Charlotte's Web, and start The Black Stallion tonight! These pictures were taken last night. As Mike finished Charlotte's Web, Angelina and Zoe listened excitedly. :)

Zoe Rae :)

Thought that I would add more pictures of Baby Zoe!

Angelina and her "best friend", Hayden!

Seeing my little girl having so much fun with her friend Hayden is so fantastic! 2 little innocent little girls frolicking around the house with no cares in the world! I must brag that Angelina is such a great friend! She is so caring, and loving! She would never do anything to hurt her friends, and is always very sweet to them! Fortunately, she has never hit, yelled or been mean to any of them! :) Sometimes kids are like that ya know... mean! Seeing these 2 girls playing with no cares in the world makes me so happy! Until it's time for Hayden to leave... then Angelina gets very sad, and sometimes cries, and says in her cutest voice, "I will miss Hayden, my best friend!" :)

Missing my BIG Dog, Azlyn...

January 8th was a very sad day for me... I had to find my Big Dog, Azlyn a new home.
If any of you know me well enough... Azlyn was like a 3rd child. I had a love for that dog that I never had for any other animal. She was my pal, my listener, my friend, my protector. Now she is gone. To this day (almost a month later), I still cry about giving her up! I miss her so terribly! As I type this, my eyes fill up with tears! I can't stand that I can't see her everyday anymore. I miss waking up to her big face in my face. I miss the sound of "thunder" as she came down the stairs. I miss her great big kisses... some may not understand this or think I am crazy, but others may understand that the real bond between a person and their dog is priceless. I could never put in to words how sad I really am about loosing Azlyn, but this kinda sums it up. I mean, I am still filled with so much sadness over this. I wish everyday that the people that adopted her would call me and say they needed to bring her back. Is that bad? I miss her so much! However, I do know that the people that adopted her are great people, and they are taking great care of her. I really don't think that I could have found Azlyn a better home, so I am happy about that.
My golden retriever is now gone as well... no dogs? What will I do?!?! Having no dogs is so depressing! At times, this house is so terribly quiet it scares me. (yes, even with having a baby here.)
Sometimes I don't even know what to think! I miss her so terribly!! I didn't think that I was going to have this much trouble not having her. I thought it would only take a week or so. I guess it just goes to show that Azlyn held true to her loyalty... she was my best friend. As cheesy as it sounds, I could tell her anything, I could look ugly or be overweight, be mad, sad, happy. None of that mattered to her. I nurtured her back to health. I cared for her when nobody else in her past did. I loved her unconditionally as she did me. That dog was definitely wo"man's" best friend. She was mine.