love it: boden's new fall line

Recently I spent a good portion of my evening drooling over Boden's new fall collection catalogue. The new line up has so many pretty pieces I'd love to add to my wardrobe. Boden has become one of my favorite places to find a new dress or wardrobe ideas. I love all the color and the high quality fabric. My favorite piece right now is probably the green Audrey dress (upper right) -- no surprise, I'm sure, to those who know I rarely can resist anything in green. But actually, I'd love to see it in a bright violet, just for kicks. It just looks so cozy but still sophisticated -- so Audrey, I guess you could say. That ruffly gray coat with the peter pan collar is definitely on my wish list as well.

{One hint when shopping Boden: never buy anything full price -- there's always a deal floating around or soon to appear -- often packaged with free shipping too.}

16 months

Today Christian is 16 months old. All I could think about at church this week was that in just two months, he'll be going to nursery during the second and third hours of church and Shane and I won't know what to do with ourselves. We'll actually have to sit quietly and participate in our classes.

While I worked on dinner tonight, Christian emptied the laundry basket and decide to scoot around in it on our tiny kitchen floor. This kid is so busy that you never know what to expect from him. He's always discovering something new or conquering another challenge. He definitely keeps us on our toes and ensures there is never a dull moment around here.

I had to include this picture -- this is Christian finishing off every last drop of his pasta sauce tonight. I couldn't resist grabbing the camera when I saw what he was up to. Hilarious! (And definitely his mama's boy -- my favorite meals growing up all include marinara sauce -- lasagna, spaghetti, and pizza.)

Couple of notes:

• Lately Christian goes out of his way to cuddle. He's such an active little boy but every now and again he reaches out for a big hug and is often willing to give you a kiss on the lips as well. When he lays his head on my shoulder he'll give a sweet little sigh too, saying "ahhh." It's really cute. Maybe you just have to be there.

• Also, out of the blue, he decided to start blowing kisses. Sure, I've worked on these with him before but he never showed much interest. Now all of the sudden he volunteers them. Love it.

• This little monkey still loves jumping in his crib. We'll put him to bed and it will be quiet long enough that we assume he's asleep. Then, all of the sudden, we'll hear the springs creaking and his little excited babbles and we know he's in there jumping away. At some point he tuckers out and snuggles back up in bed. Even though this has become a pretty regular occurrence it still makes us smile every time we hear it. It also makes us wish we had a video monitor -- just to get a glimpse.

meeting mr. max

last weekend we finally got to meet mr. max, five-month-old son of my sister, megan, and her husband, davey. as we suspected, this kid is a total doll. he's all smiles all the time and his blue eyes are so striking with his light skin and hair. christian was really sweet to him, which was nice to see. it was fun to watch them notice each other and interact.

it was quite the event the first night they were in town because we had our bennett cousins stop over as well on their way up to new hampshire. basically, we had a big cousin slumber party -- complete with late-night laughter, snacking and not enough sleep. the little bennett girls all doted on max and christian, wanting to pick them up and carry them around. christian, for one, loved all the attention. in fact, he was so wound up from all that was going on that he took three hours to go to sleep that night. yes, three. he fidgeted in the dark for hours, jumping in his crib, talking to himself, etc. ah well. it was worth it to have family in town. it always is.