Waiting for Santa...

After a pancake breakfast, Ben decided to check outside to see if Santa was there...

No Santa outside, so Ben settled for this one!

I always said that if Ben was a girl and had this much hair, I'd have bows in it 24/7 - I guess I got to try it out! Ben took this box off his present and stuck it on his head by himself! We've been working on the word "hat" and putting things on our heads to look like hats, so I'm guessing that's where he got the idea...?

No Christmas Eve would be complete without milk and cookies for Santa!

I must say that Santa requested diet Coke instead of milk but Mrs. Claus said no way (and Santa dumped that whole milk down the drain!)!

SANTA!!!!

Success! I was so worried that Ben would cry when he met Santa, but he LOVED him! We had spent a lot of time reading Santa books and playing with Santa toys, so I thought we had prepared Ben well. While we were waiting in line, the little girl in front of us was screaming but Ben was unfazed! He was so excited. When it was our turn, we walked over and Ben reached his arms out and smiled and sat right down on Santa's lap! Eddie and I were so happy that he did so well! AND we got a great picture to prove it!

Here is Ben waiting in line to see the big guy!

Just doing a little reading to kill some time... :)

Hooray for Eddie!

HOORAY! After 2.5 years of hard work, Eddie received his MBA on December 19! I am so proud of him! He and I, along with my parents and Eddie's mom and stepdad, traveled to Auburn, AL for the occassion. Although Eddie completed his masters' online, he really wanted to go to the actual graduation. We had a great weekend!

Now I can't say I'm the most educated one in our relationship! ;) Haha!

A rain-soaked graduate!

Waaaaay back in November, we celebrated Eddie's 29th birthday! We had a fun day hanging out as a family, complete with a Bengal tiger cake. And no... I didn't make it!

Ben and I got Eddie some Bengals and Auburn stuff for the man cave!

BOO!

Happy Halloween! As you can see, Ben was the cutest little Bengal tiger ever!

Ben liked going trick-or-treating! We went to a few houses and got some candy. I think he'll be much more into it next year!

Getting a hug from Princess Belle (aka cousin Isabella)!

Annual Halloween lunch at Grandma's! The cousins love playing together. Carson is Spiderman, Isabella is Belle, Sophia is a fairy, and Cameron is Batman. Baby Brody was napping and didn't make it for this picture, but he sure was a cute little spider!

Fall Fun!

It's been a busy fall for the Meiners so far! We visited a local farm today to get some pumpkins. As you can see, Ben was pretty excited! :)

Family shot - we had one taken last year in this same spot - Ben was MUCH teenier then!

Ben and Daddy

Ben and Mommy

Ben and I cheered the Bengals to victory against the Steelers a few weeks ago. Eddie was at the game, but all three of us had matching Palmer jerseys on!

Pregaming...

Who Dey!

Ben went to Kings Island for the first time in September with Grandma, Pappy, GG, and me. Eddie, unfortunately, had to work and couldn't join us. :( Ben liked riding the carousel.
Stay tuned for more fall fun!

Party Time!!!

It's Ben's very 1st Birthday Party!!!!

Once he got going, he really liked the cake!

Ben started off very delicately with the cake, though!

Our family!

Baby's 1st Beamer!

Ben LOVES his Mickey airplane!

Ben's smash cake!

The big birthday cake!

Decorations...

more decorations...

It was a great party!

Happy Birthday, Ben!!!

We can't believe our baby Ben is 1 year old!! Where did this last year go? Enjoy these pictures from his actual birthday!

Ben loves his airplane!!!

Unwrapping presents with Daddy!

Birthday dinner at Chick-fil-a!

Mommy and the Birthday Boy!

Such a big boy!!!!

Magic Kingdom

If this doesn't make you smile, I don't know what else will!

Ben loved riding Dumbo! He was so close to being able to reach the joystick controller on his own!

Going to see Mickey in 3D in "Mickey's Philharmagic" - such a cute show!

Teamwork, boys! Pull out that sword!

The carousel was a HUGE hit. Ben was a little fussy as we were standing in line, but as soon as that horse started moving, Ben started smiling and laughing. I'm thankful that this ride is available at Kings Island and the zoo!

Waiting to get on Peter Pan's Flight (my favorite ride)!

Early morning picture in the park!

Just got off the Jungle Cruise...

Mickey's mailbox!!

Mommy and Ben in the Happiest Place on Earth!

Getting ready to ride Aladdin's Magic Carpets

Keeping an eye out for Mickey during the parade

Ben was such a trooper all week! He powered through the mornings with just a cat nap in the stroller and was good to go until we got back to the hotel around 2. We were so excited by how well he did with being out of his routine! :)

Getting our Mousekateer ears!

As Mickey would say, "we've got ears, say CHEERS!"