Ben and Ashley

Unhappy New Year

2012-01-18T20:18:00.000-06:00

The year seemed to start off okay and Ben welcomed it painting some pretty pictures on his new easel.

Shortly after enjoying the new start, Ashley came down with a virus of sorts which normally isn't a big deal, but she was more irritable than normal. After a slight fever we took her to the doctor and they said she was fine as long as she kept eating (no ear infection which we originally thought). I stayed home with her that next day and realized she wasn't as mobile as normal and favoring her right side instead of left. We took her back to the dr who sent us for blood work and xrays. All those came back fine and the fever subsided so we thought we were in the clear until a few days later when she woke up with the fever and was inconsolable. Again we went back to the doctor for more blood work and since it was a Saturday we didn't get the results until that night at which time we were directed to go to the emergency room. A few hours later she was in surgery for a septic hip which is a bacterial infection in the hip joint. They cleaned it all out and stitched her up. While in the hospital she was a trooper though and kept waving at the nurses - I think in effort to get them to leave her alone, but I didn't said that of course.

After a short stay in the hospital she has returned to herself with cruising around furniture and getting into everything. It's really amazing how quickly she has recovered and back to her normal, happy self. She celebrated her 10 month in the hospital so I haven't quite captured the true photos from that yet, but will post soon. Since I didn't post her 9 month yet here are those pics.

I'm how old?

My new chair!

Since we've been home it's been nice although getting Ash to sleep through the night again has been a struggle. I guess after 5 nights in a row of being woken up every 1-3 hours she thinks that should continue now at home. Other than that things have mainly returned to normal until Brian has back surgery in a couple weeks and we start the hospital/medications again. All I can hope for is that after January the rest of 2012 gets better. It has to, right?!

Here's some random pics post hospital.

Lounging around the house in big boy underwear (still working on this piece)

Standing again on her ballerina toes!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-29T21:30:00.000-06:00

Another year and another Christmas has passed by way to quickly. Ben had a blast with his cousins and now is really adamant about wanting to play hockey or anything else his cousin Danny does. Santa was really good to him and of course Ashley as well. We started the festivities by making cookies with Deebo. Let's just say the cookies were made with a lot of love despite the outcome.

Then we went to Momo's house for Christmas eve and he got to play with all his cousins and my cousins kids as well. He loved playing with Hadleigh (my cousin's little girl) and they chased each other in their own little game for way too long. Ashley enjoyed seeing everyone as well and wasn't scared to go to others when they wanted to hold her although she does crawl around until she finds me. She is definitely a mommy's girl.

Christmas day was fun and although there weren't a ton of presents it was hard to get Ben to open more than just a couple. He did like all he got, but most of all enjoyed his new truck that holds his hot wheels, a jumpy house for inside and a play garage for all his cars. Ashley got some good gifts as well although she always tries to play with anything Ben is playing with. She has a new purse with fake lipstick! A little young, but she likes it nonetheless.

Then today we went over to Brian's parents house to celebrate and both kids loved hanging out there. Ashley crawls everywhere to find Grandma just about as much as she crawls to find me. It's nice to have a replacement around so I'm not the focus sometimes. Ben had fun playing with their cars and watching their speedy choo-choo go around their tree.

Mr. and Mrs. Claus

2011-12-12T12:06:00.001-06:00

It's that time of year for another great photo op of our kids with santa. It's Ashley's first year to meet Santa and the Mrs. and in good sibling fashion, she was not a fan. Not quite the scream fest Ben had from last year (see pic), but she was working up to it.

I was not able to make it with the kids to see santa this year since I was sick, but Brian was feeling better from whatever bug we both caught and took them. The story is that Ben wanted nothing to do with Santa and was running off until Ashley sat down on Santa's lap at which time Ben ran over to sit down as well since Ash was doing it. Once Ash realized she was not with one of us she started to cry though so no good pic of the kiddos this year. Hopefully one day we will get two smiling kids with the Mr. and Mrs.

We definitely play this tactic to our advantage at home with Ben and it seems to have worked for Santa this time, although I'm pretty sure he will catch on soon and not give into the 'peer pressure' we use to persuade him. For example, after he is done playing with a toy here is our dialogue:

Me: Please pick up your toys so we can play with something else.
Ben: NO!
Me: Ok, I'll just pick them all up by myself then.
Ben: No, I want to do it.

And then he does it all himself with allowing me to help. Don't ask me how this works, but so far it does. It also works with meals. Ashley is going to get applesauce cause she ate all her food. He typically then proceeds to eat his food to get applesauce as well. I'm sure the peer pressure I'm enforcing now to get him to eat and clean up toys will later on come back to haunt me in the teenage years, but for now I'm ok with that.

Ash is fully mobile and pulling herself up onto things now. She loves to stand and in fact that's all she ever wants to do. We've tried to get her to use the walker and not much luck yet, however she has much better balance than Ben ever did and can manage to stand with the walker without falling over or making it move. Quite impressive actually. She's even able to safely fall on her bottom when she wants to get down and crawl somewhere else. Although she does tumble at times and her cries lead you to believe someone is poking her with a needle and not that she barely bumped her arm on the way down. Brian calls her his little tomato cause he says she bruises like one when she falls. I don't think it's quite that bad, but I'm sure he'd disagree.

Pics from Ash's 9 month and stats from her checkup coming soon.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-12-04T10:39:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Brian's side of the family. Ben had a blast running around and playing with his cousins, but Ash wasn't too sure about the large group. Here's a lot of pics to show the festivities.

Add caption

Ash turned 8 months old a few weeks back and is fully crawling now. It took her a few weeks of tumbling to get it down and still falls over when she gets too excited or distracted, but can get to her destination pretty good at this point. She is definitely a mommy's girl and lights up when I walk in the room which is a good change from Ben since he was all about daddy.

Ben is hitting the terrible two's which I'm hoping is a little late and won't last long. He's starting to test all limits, but within these tantrums are the cute moments that he throws in to keep us from locking him in his room. He's doing really well with all his colors and can count to 10 although sometimes he starts with 2 and misses a number or two in the mix. He's a great big brother to "Ashey," but he's starting tp get possessive about all the toys in the house claiming they are his. I'm sure this is just the beginning of some struggles and tantrums, but at the end of the day he always hugs and kisses her goodnight.

Ash is 8 months old

2011-11-28T21:49:00.000-06:00

We had quite an adventure last weekend taking the train back to St. Louis for my cousin's wedding. Overall the trip too longer than driving, but Ben enjoyed it much more since he was able to get up and walk around and play with his vehicles in the dining car. Ash was about the same - napping and enjoying the scenery.

Ash turned 8 months old last week and she is basically crawling. Over the last few weeks she has gone from lunging or rolling her way across the room to taking a few crawls before tumbling. She definitely can get to the place she wants without any help even if it takes her a little bit to get there. Overall she is still the happy, easy little girl that I love to have around and lights up when I'm in the room. She is a mommy's girls which is a nice change from Ben since he was a daddy's boy. Although I could do without her crying when I leave the room for a second without her. Since it's turning colder she has a constant runny nose and cold of sorts, but it doesn't seem to bug her too much and for the most part is sleeping really well most nights regardless. Again, another nice change from her brother.

Ben is really starting to turn into a little boy before my eyes. It surprises me how much he knows or is learning and when I look at pics I see a kid and not my baby that I've known the last two years. I like to think he's smart, but he's pretty much in line with other kids his age on his knowledge. He can count to ten, knows his name, knows the street we live on, knows the colors of the rainbow and then some, knows almost all transportation vehicles as that's his favorite toy and loves to make his sister laugh. It's so cute to see his reaction when she giggles at him and it makes him want to try harder to make her laugh. He brings her toys when she cries and looks out for her when she tries to grab things she shouldn't. I love to see his protectiveness of her and only hope that continues through their teenage years and beyond.

Trick or Treat

2011-10-31T21:08:00.000-05:00

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-30T21:07:00.002-05:00

The past six weeks have been pretty crazy so this may be a little long and have a few pics, but who can't get enough pics of the kiddos?! I know Deebo and Papa can't so hopefully this cures their itch until we see them again. We went to the pumpkin patch a few weeks ago and was able to get quite a few good pumpkins this year. Ben enjoyed all the fun things at Johnson Farms like the kid maze, animals, tractor/train ride, and full on pumpkin patch with picking pumpkins off the vine. Ashley was along for the ride and enjoyed what she could.

Yes, Brian took the ride also....

tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch!

There's a pumpkin!

This year Ben picked out his own costume and wanted to be a cow and Ashley is going to be a monkey. We will have two cute little animals in tote tomorrow night for trick or treating around the neighborhood.

MOOOO!

As for kid updates let's start with Ash. She is doing well and seems to be getting bigger/longer. She can sit pretty well, but still will tumble. Although she has been getting on all fours and rocking for the last 3-4 weeks and she's lunged forward quite a few times. She's getting close to being fully mobile and rolls all over to get around. There's tons of giggles and smiles when she's in a good mood and can't get enough of her big brother. She's onto solids and chewing on wagon wheels and puffs. I love that I can see her personality coming out more each day and can't wait to see how much she'll grow in the next 7 months.

"Why is he always around?!"

Ben is cute. I have no other way to describe it than that. If I could freeze him at this age, I probably would. I love that he can speak in full sentences, is polite, loves his little sister, counts to 10, can say his ABC's and on most days listens to us. If I could steal even 1/10th of his energy I feel like I would be the energizer bunny. Ben is such a blast and I love when he breaks out into dance out of no where, he brings toys to Ashley when she's crying, and can't get enough of playing with his trucks/cars/buses.

I couldn't resist honoring my 2011 World Series Champ - The Cards!

Farm & Big Boy Bed

2011-09-09T20:20:00.001-05:00

We went to our friends farm this past weekend and Ben had a blast. He got to play with Jack, Eli, Sam and Annabel. A big thank you to Jim and Kaia for hosting us and letting us ride the 4-wheeler which Ben decided to name 'little tractor'. He even got to go on a true tractor ride in the back of a wagon with hay. Overall he enjoyed seeing and doing farm things that we read about constantly in his book. The barn was even fascinating to him which is awesome.

'small tractor' ride

Jack and Ben playing with Eli & Sam's Trucks

Jack, Eli and Ben playing

However, I think it was at the farm that he saw Jack was sleeping on the floor or in a big boy bed and ever since he's wanted to sleep on the mattress we had on the floor in his room. I've been reluctant to move him to a big boy bed since it's extremely convenient to know he's going to remain in one place all night in his crib and he's not been climbing out to this point. Although I was able to find the lightning mcqueen car bed on sale so I decided to give that a shot instead. Finally tonight he is getting his wish and not sleeping in his crib. Even though he's not truly sleeping yet and it remains to be seen if he will, I'm hopeful it will be a smooth transition. He was overly excited to see the car bed in his room and proceeded to jump on it for a good hour straight so we'll see if that's what happens all night or if sleeping will actually occur.

Sooo excited

A blur of jumping

Jack & Co along with First Soccer Practice

2011-08-28T20:02:00.000-05:00

This weekend we had our friends over and Ben can't seem to get enough of Jack. We had the small pool blown up so the kiddos could swim and they played with their cars which was followed by a turkey dinner. Mallory couldn't get enough of the pool and Kate had too much fun walking around trying to keep up with the boys. Of course Ashley just watched it all and was exhausted by the time she went to bed.

Ben and Jack

Ben, Jack and Mallory

Ben and Jack being silly

Ash

Mallory

Kate

Then on Sunday we had Ben's first soccer practice. We joined Happy Feet which is just down the road at the park and let's just say it didn't go well. All we do at home is kick the soccer ball around so I decided to sign him up for this practice thinking he would at least enjoy kicking the ball around a little bit. On Thursday we went and picked out a ball at the store which he thought was awesome and today we got shin guards which he was also excited about. He kept talking about playing soccer with the kids and by the time we got there he just stood and watched. I'm hopeful this will turn out like our swim lessons did. He didn't really enjoy the swim classes too much earlier this year, but all summer he's been a champ with the water and is comfortable enough to try kicking and such. So I can only hope that even if all these classes don't go great, he'll end up loving it next year.

The most participation/attention he spent for the entire hour were these 2 minutes

Coming back over instead of playing with the kids/coach

Some of my favorite things about the kiddos right now are Ben's curiosity and Ashley's giggle. Ben is constantly asking questions and talking which is great and I'm pretty sure Bri and I are the only ones who understand the majority of what he says. A few standard sayings of his are: "Whatcha doin mommy?" "What's that noise?" "Ashey girl" "See Jack" "Outside" "Ashey not happy" (when she cries)

Ashley has expanded on her solids and is doing great eating them. Her new favorite is butternut squash. Ben loved this when he was young also. She's getting better about sitting up on her own, but still is too wobbly to do it all alone. She's mastered rolling over, grabbing her feet and giggling. As long as she's around her brother she is generally happy and loves when you talk or sing to her and move her arms/legs around.

Being silly and refused to wear clothes, but wanted to wear the cape and cowboy hat

Ash is 5 Months

2011-08-21T21:18:00.000-05:00

It's been a little too long since my last post so I'll try to do a short recap of the happenings at our household.

finding her feet

Ash is now over 5 months old and has started solid foods. So far she's had rice cereal, oatmeal, bananas applesauce and sweet potatoes. So far she likes all of them and has mastered the art of swallowing instead of spitting out the food. She's also sleeping pretty well through the night. She's still not a big drinker so if she doesn't have a full belly before she passes out she generally will stir around 4 or 5, but a binky solves that until 6am. She loves to smile and watch her big brother, without him for entertainment I'm not sure what she would enjoy. Her legs are always kicking and she can turn herself in a circle when she's on her belly to try and see what's going on around the house. I can tell she's already frustrated that she can't crawl and keep up with her brother, but for the time being I like that she's not fully mobile yet. The rolling over and spinning around is enough for the moment.

To put it briefly - Ben is fun. Daycare always says he's "tiny, but mighty" which is such a true statement. He loves to help around the house and is talking so much now it's crazy. Since it's been so hot out, he's loved going to the pool or swimming in his blow up pool at our house. He's still crazy about basketball and soccer and plays with his cars everyday. We're starting him in Happy Feet which is a soccer program for kids. It's only 8 weeks long for an hour a week, but with his obsession I think he'll enjoy it. He's pretty good at kicking the ball and even throwing balls. He'll step forward and try to imitate the pitchers he sees on tv's. He's not very good at it, but it's hilarious to watch. Ben loves to help give Ashley her baths and actually does a decent job at helping although most of the time is spent playing with the water and spilling it all over the bathroom floor.

trying to prove he's not too big for ashley's exercauser

action shot - loves jumping into the pool

notice he's still trying to watch us as he lands in the pool

helping me clean off the highchair

4 Months, Rolling Over and A Fort

2011-07-10T21:12:00.000-05:00

Ashley is officially 4 months old and rolling over off her back. The last couple days she's been getting close and yesterday I was in the other room while Ben and Ash were laying on their backs and when I came back she was on her tummy. I asked Ben if he rolled her over and he proceeded to try and roll her over and it was very clear that that had not been the case. So we tested her later on and she was able to do it several times in a row. Now that she can roll over both ways I'm sure it's only a matter of time before she starts crawling. When she's on her tummy she kicks like crazy, but I hope she takes her time getting mobile as chasing two kids around instead of just one will make life a little more challenging. And right now, Ben is enough to keep up with.

We got new patio furniture for our deck and our neighbor used the chair boxes as a fort. She even made a fort especially for Ben complete with a skylight, window, doors (with handle cutouts), a welcome mat and a frog hanging from the ceiling for decoration. It's too cute and he is the perfect height for it.

And since it's been so hot we decided to take Ben (and Ash for that matter) to the city pool and it turns out it's great for kids. They actually have a large kids pool with walk in entry and a large baby pool also, short water slides and floating animals you can climb on, and a water spray area. He had a blast and was so worn out that he took over a 2 hour nap which he hasn't done in forever. Ashley slept through most of it, but enjoyed the nice breeze and sounds of water while she took her catnap in her swimsuit.

Kicking in the pool

And a couple random pics that are cute.

4th of July

2011-07-08T23:08:00.002-05:00

This past weekend Ben had a blast. It was a crammed packed fun weekend of things, but not a ton of pictures to show for it. Regardless the ones I do have are pretty good. On Saturday we went to our friends house so Ben could play with Annabel and her new jungle gym. He had fun chasing Annabel and Jack around and going down the slide. Meanwhile Kate tried to keep up with the rest and Mallory enjoyed the view.

Ben and Annabel playing with the water table

Annabel

"Out of my way Jack!"

Kate trying to play with Ben

Mallory looking cute

Kate

Playing in the grass

Annabel having a blast

Trying to high-five each other

Then on Monday we went to Villagefest in PV and of course he had a good time. He got to see all the animals, take his first pony ride (which he loved surprisingly), operate a fire hose, sit on a police motorcycle, play in a police car, get his first bike helmet and eat some cookies. Meanwhile Ashley slept through most of it and woke up in time to hear the fire truck honk it's horn and scare her. A bottle and diaper change did the trick to calm her down though and all was well.

New Helmet!

Ash enjoying the weather

Hope I don't ever see this again

Refusing to look at me for the picture

First Pony Ride!

Enjoying the pony ride

Putting out fires

Hi!

Happy 4th!

For the record, Ben chose the cardinal's hat instead of the Royals hat. Since one is red and the other is blue, those were his choices. I'm proud to say after both times of me asking and Brian insisting on the blue, he chose red! At least he already knows who to count on if he wants to watch a good team!

Hope everyone had a safe and happy fourth!

Pool Fun

2011-06-26T20:07:00.000-05:00

Today we dusted off his pool from last year and filled it up to combat the heat. He LOVED the pool and slide. In fact, he kept saying more water everytime Brian would walk away from it. Here's some pics.

Fun with daddy

I love the water!

Sliding - head first of course!

Laughing at Daddy soaking him

Trying to get Daddy back

Checking on "Ashey"

Are you watching?!

Enjoying watching big brother play in the water

Ashley is 3 Months Old!

2011-06-11T12:05:00.000-05:00

Time has flown by for her first three months, but she is really starting to get some personality. She's not quite as hyper as her brother and loves car rides/being in her carseat which is complete opposite of Ben. She's also a very easy going little girl and loves to give out plenty of smiles. She's cooing and even has a start of a laugh.

Here's some pics of this morning. Of course Ben had to get involved in the photo shoot since she was getting all the attention. He was half way through getting dressed for the day, hence the mismatch outfit.

Ashley & Ben (he has her binky and a fire truck tattoo)

Ashley's Baptism

2011-06-02T20:18:00.000-05:00

On Sunday we had Ashley's baptism. So not only did we cram in a birthday party we decided to add this to the list also since everyone was in town. We had the ceremony at Nativity in the early afternoon and we were very blessed to have the Archbishop perform the service just like with Ben and also with me way back when.

All the cousins waiting

Eric did well as godfather for his first day on the job and was able to get Ashley calm whenever she cried. She was not a fan on the cold water and unlike her brother decided to scream as it was poured over her head. The Archbishop commented that the good ones always cry which rings true in our household for sure! Her godmother, Julie, twisted her ankle so she was kind of out of commission on holding Ashley out of fear of dropping her.

We came back to the house for the reception and I do not have a picture of the cake. The reason I did not take a picture of the cake was because I had to write in the wording on it instead of having it down at the bakery. And why might you ask would I take on such a task.... Well, it was last Wednesday when I picked up the cake at Sam's Club and at that time there was a line at the bakery so I thought I would go back later. After I finished all my other shopping there happened to be a tornado touch down right near that store so we were all sequestered to the center of the store under clothing racks. After spending an hour crouched down with Ashley below the table I did not feel like going back to wait on the cake being done along with replacing all my frozen food therefore just the frozen food got replaced before I left in time to get home for her to eat. So after I explain this all to my family and try and justify the horrible writing on the cake, my dad decides to show it off to the Archbishop and other family members when he almost drops it on the floor. Let's just say the cake is not worth this long of a story, but it sure wanted to shine.

I picked an awful time to get sick (or for Ben to bring home this sickness), but somehow we managed. I apologize for the pictures of me, I tried to limit them so you didn't have to see the pink eye. A big thank you is much deserved to my parents and family for helping out so much with the food and around the house as I was not in the best of shape to do much and I don't think people really wanted me to touch their food either.

Poor Ashley even ended up going into the urgent care that night to get treated for pink eye. Luckily it didn't show too much in the pics since it came on later that day.

Oink, Moo, Neigh - It was Ben's 2nd B-day!

2011-06-02T19:50:00.001-05:00

For Ben's party we rented a corral at Deanna Rose and my whole family came in town. It was quite the celebration although a quick one so that the kiddos could run around and have fun at all that the farmstead has to offer. Plus Ben decided to pass along pink eye, strep and now I have tonsillitis so needless to say I was not feeling the best. The weather ended up cooperating for the most part as well and didn't rain on us during the cake and presents, but sprinkled a little on everyone shortly after. Sounds like everyone ended up having a good time even after I left with Ashley and Momo to beat the rain. I heard Mallory was quite the fisherwoman also, but no pics to show of it unfortunately.

When it came time to sing happy birthday to Ben he just kept screaming "NO!" as we did, but once it was over and the candle was blown out with a little help from Dad he was happy to have his cupcake. Apparently he was really hungry and could've cared less about anything except the cupcake.

Ben had quite a haul of presents and so far has loved all of them. He couldn't get past the motorcycle present which was the first one he opened when we were there, but the more he saw, the more he liked. He's loved all the bubbles, chalk, hot wheel track, fishing game, balls, etc. We cannot thank everyone enough for all of his great toys.

The rest of the weekend Ben chased his cousins around and it was great that he started following them without needing one of us to go with him. He's really starting to pay attention to and follow the lead of the others on what they do whether it's good or bad.

His latest thing to say is "Two more minutes" when he wants to keep playing. We use the 5 minute countdown during bedtime and when we are leaving places sometimes to avoid meltdowns and so far it's worked like a champ, but now we are encountering Ben using this method to try and get more time when we don't use it. This is his "Two more minute" face. Eventually he'll learn to hold up two fingers instead of just the one.

Who says bath time isn't fun?!

Happy 2nd Birthday Ben!!

2011-05-23T15:48:00.001-05:00

It seems like not that long ago this is what we brought home from the hospital.

And now this is what we see everyday.

Ben's first two years have been filled with many ups and downs (mainly lows the first year), but things are certainly interesting. Everyday he makes us laugh and brings joy to our family even if he isn't feeling well. For instance, this last weekend over his bday he had over a 102F fever, but with a little motrin he was out and about playing in the garage with all his toys. I had a garage sale the last few days along with our neighbor so some of these toys have migrated from their garage to ours (the baby doll). I tried sneaking some of them back across the street and of course he kept asking and insisting to play with the baby doll so it's back at our house now. Yippee. I didn't want to get in the way of a boy and his doll although I tried.

He's obsessed with transportation and loves to spot buses, police cars, fire trucks, motorcycles, airplanes, etc when we are out in the yard or driving around. At any given time he has a bus or truck in his hand or in the car with him. Our neighbor was generous enough to give us their large fire truck for his birthday and he loves it! Especially the noises it makes and anything it does is loud. He also really like his lawnmower (also from the neighbors) which spits out bubbles. Those are another one of his favorite past times when it's nice out. He still has fun with his water table that he got last year as well so I'm sure we're in for another full summer of being soaked.

Other than the bug and fever this past weekend his checkup went well and he's doing everything a 2 year old should. Here are his stats:

Height: 34-1/2" (55%)
Weight: 25.6 lb (20%)
Head Circumference: 19" (40%)

His speaking is really progressing also. We understand most of what he's saying, but still not everything which frustrates him at times. He's still really great with Ashley and loves to kiss her and hold her. And Ashley is definitely fond of him as well as she smiles every time he's around and she sees/hears him. She is even starting to try and giggle mainly when he's around.

Ashley smiling at Ben's kiss

Here are some more pics of 'fun in the garage' this last weekend.

Our neighbors scooter that he's still learning to use

Waiting for bubbles to come out of his lawnmower

Lining up all his toys - loves to do this with anything

Zoo

2011-05-13T11:56:00.000-05:00

We went to the zoo last weekend and Ben had a good time. I've only been to the KC zoo one other time and this time was just as disappointing. Maybe I was just spoiled by the St. Louis zoo growing up, but the KC zoo makes no sense in how to view the animals. I saw more birds and pictures of animals on buildings and such that I did actual zoo animals. Whoever thought that making one narrow path of travel to walk through each region to view animals was crazy. You are forced to walk a mile to see one kangaroo and then go through another mile path to see a picture of a cat - I wish I was kidding. We didn't even attempt the two mile hike to australia this time with Ben and Ashley in tow. The only neat part is being able to see the polar bear right when you walk in. Ben even thought so!

And for good measure here's another pic of Ashley.

Ashley is 2 Months Old and Rolling Over!

2011-05-10T19:30:00.000-05:00

Since I forgot to start off her one month pics with a stuffed animal as a comparison for growth like Ben, here is her 2 month pic to get the ball rolling. I'll try to keep up with it each month just like Ben so we can watch her grow. Here are some recent pics.

"I'm smiling so hard my eyes are closing!"

What are you looking at?!

Ben trying to help although Ashley didn't want the binky.

We went to the doc today and here are her stats:
Weight - 9 lbs 10 oz (25%)
Height - 22-1/2" (55%)
Head Circumfrance - 14" (3%)

So a little bit of a tiny head, but to me it's not noticeable at least. Ashley is full of smiles and is starting to giggle/coo and make different sounds. I love talking to her and seeing a huge grin come across her face as she stares in recognition of me.

She's also a little advanced just like her brother. Last Tuesday she rolled over off her tummy to her back. Just like with Ben I thought this was a fluke, but it most definitely was not. I have a hard time getting her adequate tummy time each day since she rolls over when I put her down that way. Instead I have to hold her up on my chest to try and get her to use her stomach/neck muscles.

Nights are still going really well. We feed her around our bedtime (10ish) and then she'll sleep til 2-3 and go right back asleep after eating again until about 6:30-7. I'm defintely not giong to complain about only getting up once in the night. I think it's a welcome change from our experience with Ben.

Becoming a big boy

2011-05-06T07:52:00.001-05:00

Ben definitely has character, that's for sure. Lately he has been talking nonstop. Most of it still just a couple words at a time and repetition of some of his favorites: Mama, Dada, bus, truck, wheels, more, outside, car and yeah. Even at daycare they comment on how he talked all.day.long. Not sure whether they enjoy that or it gets old after a while of hearing the same things I'm sure we hear on a daily basis, but it's good that he's vocalizing (or at least trying to) what he wants. He is also very good about repeating things and trying to get his words right so that just means Bri and I have to start watching what we say around him. Luckily he can't spell so we have that to our advantage.....for now.

Even at the park I can tell he's getting so much older as he manuevers around obstacles and equipment that he couldn't do before. He's climbing a lot more and even hanging from things. Of course he still loves the slide and to run around like any hyper boy would.

He is starting to become a little boy in front of my eyes so quickly that it makes me both happy and a little sad that I know his baby/toddler years are coming to an end too fast. I'd like to say that even though raising Ben so far has definitely had it's rough patches, I could not ask for a cuter, sweeter boy to be in my life. With him and Ashley, I feel pretty lucky this mothers day. Hope you other mom's out there feel the same.

Buses and Smiling

2011-05-02T20:13:00.000-05:00

Have I mentioned Ben is fascinated with buses? He loves buses more than I ever imagined a little kid could and also really like cars, trucks and fire trucks of course. He spends time laying on the ground or at the table moving his cars, trucks and buses around over and over again. I have to admit, that I love when he lays on the ground and acts like a little boy pushing his car around and bumping them into each other. This is now an everyday occurrence and he has to travel with at least one if not more of his buses when we leave the house. Here is a pic of what our coffee table looks like everyday since he lines up and rearranges his vehicles on it.

Then onto bedtime. He still is a really good sleeper at night, but his pre-bedtime rituals are quite amusing. Thanks to our video monitor we get to watch it all unfold and I can't help but laugh almost every time. He still has a pillow, two blankets, two woobies (security blankets/animals), diapers, a jayhawk and plush football that he sleeps with. I'm sure I've mentioned this all before, but instead of him just piling everything together and pouncing on it he now gets some exercise and last minute energy out by hanging onto the side rail and jumping for a bit then falling onto his bottom. He sometimes lets out a giggle at this as well. I'm sure it's only a matter of time until he climbs out of his crib, but I'm really hoping that day is far, far away as I'm not sure he'll ever sleep if he has his whole room to play with and no confinement within it. I've seen him play with books and diapers for hours so I'm afraid when he does get out of his crib, his good sleeping nights are over. Only time will tell.

Next up is Ashley - our princess. And yes, I'm not ashamed to call her our princess as she is way too sweet and quiet to fit in around Ben. They truly are polar opposites and in a way I'm glad we have the two extremes. She's still doing really well at night (majority of the nights) with sleeping after each bottle and going about 4-5 hours in between nighttime feedings. She's also been smiling on purpose as of this last week and I have to say it's adorable. I love talking to her and being able to see her light up with a big gummy grin - she's too cute. I don't have great pictures of it yet, but I'm working on it so this one will have to do until I get the full out grin.

All Clean!

Peaceful

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T10:21:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone has a happy Easter today. Our festivities started on Friday night with dyeing the eggs. Ben had fun throwing them into the cups instead of gently dropping them. Bri was not a big fan of this as he ended up getting splashed with it. Still fun to see how excited Ben was with his accomplishment and disobeying all at once. He really enjoyed the stickers that came with the kit though and had them all over his stomach and arms.

Going over colors with Dada

Enjoying the stickers while the eggs are in the dye

Throwing the egg into the cup of dye

Then Saturday we had an Easter egg hunt with my work at a park. Ben loved collecting the eggs and got more than his fair share that we were supposed to keep since he kept saying 'more' as we saw them all over the ground. I attempted to take some out of his basket, but he quickly learned this trick and kept turning around to make sure he didn't leave any behind. He was terrified of the Easter bunny though and kept saying 'nice' and pointing to him - I think trying to convince himself that the Easter bunny really is nice and not scary.

A little scared of the Easter bunny

Already has his eyes on the next egg

Cheese!

There's more over there!

I got a sucker from this egg!

And of course today the Easter bunny came and brought Ben some candy. He also hid eggs out in the yard and Ben even found some tough ones out there! He can be pretty clever even if he doesn't always act it. Ben also wanted to hold sissy and loved getting his picture taken with her. When I tried to pick her up he said no and insisted on more pictures. He was too cute with her.

Holding Ashley's hand

Cheese!

Love this pic...

Diapers, Diapers, Diapers!

2011-04-20T20:27:00.001-05:00

Ben has an obsession lately with diapers and likes to stack them and move them from pile to pile. He seems to steal all of Ashley's diapers from the pack n play so it's not easy for me to find any when I need to change her, but when I find one I find a ton! Here's a video of him with his 'normal' diaper routine. He likes to pick them up one at a time and hand them to Bri or I. He even calls out who's on the diapers (sesame street characters) and indicates 'yuck' for inside the diaper where you go potty. He's even had to go to sleep with some in his crib because he wouldn't let go of them one night. Who knew diapers were hours of entertainment both on and off?!

He also likes to help around the house - I only wish he could maneuver the vacuum a little better and maybe I'd be off the hook for it!

And of course he likes to 'pet' and hold Ashley. Oh and the binky in his mouth is back due to the fact that Ashley gets one. He tends to steal them and shove them in his mouth to get attention like her. He doesn't sleep with it or leave the house with it, it's mainly a short stint and then he leaves it somewhere that I have to eventually find. If that's the worst of it - I'll definitely take it!

Ashley is One Month Old!!

2011-04-20T20:02:00.000-05:00

Ashley went in yesterday for her one month checkup and is growing really well. She has gained about 2 pounds since she was born and grown about 3"!! That's a lot of work for a month!

Stats:
Weight - 7 lbs 15.4 oz (25%)
Length - 21-3/4" (75%)
Head Circm. - 13-3/4" (10%)

This weekend we went to Deanna Rose on Saturday since it was so nice out (along with everyone else in JOCO). He was a little scared of the goats this time around, but still liked to see all the animals. He especially liked to takes rocks from one end of the park by the goats all the way over to the cows at the other end. Well worth the money for him to relocate pebbles in their park which I'm sure they appreciated.

At the Koi pond

What are you looking at goat?!

I need more Cowbell!

Then on Sunday we went over to the grandparents to celebrate Brian's dad's 80th birthday and Brian's birthday. All of the fam was there so Ashley was finally able to meet everyone. Ben even had a great time playing with all his cousins.

Ashley with Julie and Kylie

Leah, Holly, Ashley, Ben and Sarah

Krissy and Ashley

Ben is still really gentle with Ashley and a great big brother. He likes to help throw diapers away and 'pet' her. Yes, pet. We say be gentle and I guess he's learned with the dog that the words gentle and pet are synonmous to him.
Here are some pics of us lounging around this weekend.

Loves his chair and drinking water from a bottle

"Petting sissy"

Is Ellie out here?

Ben's everyday activities - pushing around the cozy coupe and singing the wheels on the bus and petting "Ashey". Ben is obsessed with buses. He says bus about a million times a day and always points them out when we're driving around. I have a video of it, but can't seem to get it to upload after several tries.

Park!

2011-04-02T19:28:00.000-05:00

The weather today was so nice that we took the kids to the park. Ben had fun running around while Ashley slept through it.

I was also able to get Ben to pose with Ashley and he thought it was fun. Ashley didn't mind until Ben was pushing and scooting a little too close for comfort. I'm sure you can see it with her huge eyes that she's probably thinking, "Who does this guy think he is?!"

Ben has still been great with Ashley and is constantly bringing her binky to her even though she barely uses it. He insists that she have it in her mouth and when she finally does start sucking on it he pulls it out. Looks like we're in for some fun years ahead! Here are some more pics of Ash.

Pants?

2011-03-28T13:05:00.000-05:00

Well Ben saw a little girl at his school take off her pants the other day and thought it was so funny that he has decided to de-pants himself every day this week. It started with him pulling them to his ankles and waddling around the house giggling and now is at the point that pants just don't stay on him...even at night. Thanks to the video monitor we are able to observe this bizarre behavior. His new nighttime routine once we put him in his crib is to organize and pile all the stuff in his crib (blankets, pillow, woobies and his jayhawk stuffed animals/football). He carefully places them one at a time to one side of his bed and then pounces on his pile of stuff with his butt in the air. The de-pantsing comes either before or after this ritual and then they get tossed from his crib so there is no chance of him putting them back on. Here's a pic from his naptime yesterday - and he is so proud of this as you can see.

He is also attempting to use the big boy potty. He actually went in it once yesterday!! Although he won't sit on the potty yet I'm hopeful he will soon since he was so proud of his feat yesterday.

As for Ashley - she is still doing great! She only cries if you take too long to change her or if she's really hungry although normally I feed her before it gets to that point. She's still eating every 3-4 hours but goes straight to sleep after the nighttime feedings which is awesome! Here's a few pics.

With cousins Caroline and Riley last weekend

Happy St. Patty's Day!!

2011-03-17T09:01:00.000-05:00

Ashley is all festive to celebrate her first St. Patty's Day which was her original due date. Big thanks to the Benson's for this super cute outfit!!

Looks like she's already practicing her phone talking like her big brother! Happy first week to my sweet baby girl also!

Ashley Marie

2011-03-15T13:59:00.001-05:00

Our newest addition arrived on Thursday March 10, 2011, at 10:10 am. She weighed in at 6 lbs 0.7 oz and was 18.75" long. Her and I are both doing well and so far she has been a joy to have around. Her demeanor is much different from that of Ben's and so far they seem like polar opposites. We'll see once she grows a little more and her personality starts to show, but hopefully they will be good playmates for each other. Ben could really use one! And now for some pics...

Ashley Marie

Mom and Ashley

Dad and Ashley

Heading home from the hospital!!

Ben and Ashley

Ben and Dad admiring Ashley

Ashley

And it's been a while since I've posted so to get you up to speed Ben is talking much more. He's finally started grouping two words together. He's been great with Ashley and keeps calling her sissy and 'ashy'. He can't seem to get the 'L' in her name but he understands there's a baby around now and is occupying more of daddy's time with his normal routine of going up and down stairs and shooting basketball which is his favorite hobby right now. I think Brian was just getting him geared up for this weekend and tourney time. The only things he will watch on TV is 'his show' (gabba) and 'shoot' (basketball). I even found myself a couple weeks back turning on a rerun of a basketball game when Brian was gone just so he could watch 'shoot' since there weren't any games on at the time!

Helping Dad with his puzzle (with some pieces in his hair)

More pics and post to come soon - I promise.

Terrible Two's So Soon?

2011-01-31T21:50:00.000-06:00

I know at times we spoil Ben, but it's either starting to become apparent in everyday life or he's hitting his terrible two's (TT's) a little early. For instance, he demands to have his show (Yo Gabba Gabba) on in every room we walk into regardless of if we stay in that room to play or even watch it. It's a horrible habit that I already see forming, but at times it's still easier to turn it on and keep him occupied while I take care of house chores. Otherwise we have the crying, screaming fits and I'm not always up for handling those with only 6 weeks left to go before the little girl arrives. Another example is when we have to go downstairs to play with his cozy coupe, which normally resides in the basement, to immediately want the car upstairs and not in the basement. This past weekend we spent a couple times thinking he wanted to actually play in the basement with his playroom only to find out he just wanted his car upstairs. And if he doesn't get his way, yep - crying/screaming fit. So we're trying to pick and choose our battles and time out isn't really much of a threat to him.

Anyway - the days are flying by and all I can say is that I'm so happy he has been healthier and not sick near as much as last winter. I have to give credit to the most wonderful surgery of his little life, the tubes in his ears. So even though he may cry and scream when he doesn't get his way, he is healthy, happy and starting to pretend play on his own so much more. It's so much fun to watch him and interact with him as he gets more talkative and knowledgeable about the world around him. He even has started snuggling with us when we're sitting on the couch (only if his tv show is on though mind you). I'm sure these small fits will continue, but in the overall scheme of things - I'll take it. Especially when he climbs into my lap and puts his little head on my chest and is calm for an entire minute.

Trying to be like Dada in the slippers

Yes, that's a funny face and him saying more to 'cheese' for the camera at Little Monkey Bizness

So to reward this wonderful behavior of the early TT's arriving, we decided to spoil him even more and officially make the playroom a useable and fun space for him. I love how it turned out and he's already been playing in there a little more each day. We just got the chalkboard finished up tonight so he'll have some new fun and creative things to do while we're stuck inside with this blizzard of the century as the weather people are predicting for tomorrow. Playdate anyone?!

Swim Class

2011-01-09T10:59:00.000-06:00

We enrolled Ben in swim class and yesterday was his first one. He loves the bath, but doesn't seem to be a fan of the pool/lake when we were there last year so we thought we could try swim classes to get more familiar with larger bodies of water and also as a good winter activity to wear him out.

The class of course has a parent get in the water with the child and hold them the entire time, but even with that our thoughts were confirmed that he has a little fear of water. Shallow he can do, but larger bodies without being held close to your neck are currently not his favorite. So Brian took Ben in and the first lap around the lazy river was fine and he laughed, but after that was not so pleasant. The instructor had Brian turn Ben around and have him lay on his back to kick, but Ben was terrified of not having the front contact with Brian. It was hard to watch, but hopefully after the 8 weeks are up he's at least a little more comfortable with it. I guess we need to join a place with a pool or continue this effort until he's not scared of the water after swim classes are up.

Here are some pics both happy and sad.

Before the class waiting

First lap

Half way through class

Eyes, Ears, Nose, Mouth

2011-01-05T21:41:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since I've posted a video of Ben and since he is getting bigger and more talkative by the day I figured it was about time. Now I know all parents think their kid is the smartest and most talented, but I'm not delirious. Ben is advanced on certain things, but definitely not all. Of course I am the kind of parent who will show off his talents rather than his not so bright side! So without further ado, here is a video of Ben pointing out his body parts.

New Year, New Room

2011-01-02T19:47:00.000-06:00

In preparation for the baby we decided to switch Ben to a 'big boy' room. We had new furniture delivered on Friday and moved all of his things today. He even was a big helper and moved a lot of things himself. We tested out the new room with a nap today and although he woke up crying, he slept over 2 hours which is unheard of on the weekends with us (we're lucky if we get over an hour)! It's probably just a fluke, but I'll take my chances. We'll see how his first full night goes, but with most of the decorations from his old room being in his new room I hope it will go smoothly. So here are pics of his new room and I am really liking the car decals that I got at Target. Ben can't seem to get enough cars and mainly choo choo's so he was excited when he first saw those on the wall even though he was a little upset when he realized he couldn't play with them. I also have a big boy bed in there for when he outgrows the crib - he loves to play on it so hopefully we don't have to use it for sleeping for a while as I will miss the days of confinement...

Due to the fact that once we removed our christmas tree last night, we hung the cheap suction cup basketball hoop on the door and Ben played with it for almost an hour this morning! Normally his attention span isn't quite that long so I decided this afternoon once we had his room situated and he had such a great nap after helping that he should get a real (his size of course) basketball hoop so I don't have to keep fixing the one that won't stay on the door. After three stores we finally found one that was perfect. It is adjustable height and should last at least a few years as he grows, plus the hoop actually gets larger for when he's smaller so he can make more baskets. Not sure who thought that up, but I'm a fan. Here he is enjoying the new hoop.

So Excited after making a basket from 3' out!

Slam Dunk!

Hope everyone has a happy new year!!

Merry Christmas!!

2010-12-27T18:54:00.000-06:00

A little delayed, but nonetheless I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. We went back to visit my family and had a great time. We even had a white Christmas since it started snowing early Friday and didn't stop until midday Saturday. Ben had a great time sledding and my parents have the perfect hill in the front of their house that we used along with a classic wooden sled.

Christmas Eve was filled with family at my grandma's house and it was great getting to see everyone and all the kids. Ben had more fun playing with other people's toys, but was still happy to open books as his present which I'm sure will not happen every year.

Christmas morning he only wanted to open two presents and was done. Luckily we were able to slowly open a few more throughout the morning (there weren't that many in first place)!

Here are some of my favorite pics - sorry there's a lot.

Wearing Papa's hat

Perfect greeting card, don't you think?

Snow!!

Sledding with Dad

Deebo's Snowman

Who doesn't enjoy a Slinky?!

Sitting on his shopping cart before it's put together

Deebo showing him the Choo Choo on the Tree

Ben playing with his cousins Molly and Ella

Riding on a doll's scooter

Indoor Play

2010-12-19T15:27:00.002-06:00

As I'm sure most other kids at this time are getting cabin fever, Ben is definitely hit that point already and cannot run off enough energy inside some days. So yesterday we decided to take him to Little Monkey Bizness in Shawnee and if you haven't been there and your kid is under probably 3-4 I would highly recommend it! All toys and play area is designed specifically for this younger skill set and they even have a baby area, art area, food, and private parties. Parents are free and the cost for him for the amount of time we were there may be a tad pricey, but it was well worth it in my opinion and we will be going back to get through the rest of winter. Here are some pics that I took with my phone so the quality isn't all that great.

Also, I had another sonogram and although she is measuring as 'petite' for some things she is doing well. Just about in the third trimester so 2/3 of the way there! In this pic she was playing with her feet. You can see her profile with a hand up towards her feet.

Santa!

2010-12-12T10:00:00.001-06:00

My work is lucky enough to have Santa and Mrs. Claus come visit every year and this year Ben was very interested in Santa.....from afar. He watched many other kids sit on Santa's lap, but when it came his turn he wasn't up for it on his own. To start things off, we had Brian sit with Santa and Mrs. Claus to get a decent pic of Ben with them and then it was time for his solo with them. I'll let the pics talk for themself and I'm sure you can see the progression coming.

I'm also behind on stats - his 18 month check up was a few weeks back and the results are holding steady it seems although with a little bit of height increase surprisingly.

Weight - 23lb 15 oz (25%)
Height - 32" (50%)
Head Circumfrance - 18-1/2" (25%)

Leaves

2010-12-01T15:39:00.000-06:00

Ben helped rake and play in the leaves on Sunday. He had a blast and is really becoming a good helper with cleaning and picking up his toys. It really looks like fall, hopefully winter won't be too bad since all Ben wants to do is be outside!

Gobble Gobble and Trees?

2010-11-28T10:18:00.001-06:00

This year we were able to see all of Brian's family in one house and let's just say that is a bit of a feat since he's one of nine. All siblings and kids were in tow which made for 45 people at dinner. Quite a crowd, but you could tell everyone had a great time. Big thanks to his sis for hosting yet again! Here's a glimpse of the gang.

Ben enjoyed the day and was perfectly content playing with all of his cousin's girls things including her kitchen set, stroller, pink laptop, etc. Although I have to mention that when I put a doll in the stroller he tossed it out and put in some cars to push around instead. I'm sure he'll eventually do the same once our little girl arrives since he gravitates towards pink. Then when we got home we were able to skype all my family and see his cousins on the other side. He showed off his dance moves and cozy coupe of course, then cried when we put him to bed almost 2 hours past normal bedtime. He was definitely a trooper! (Although we paid for it the next afternoon since he didn't catch up on sleep that night.)

Ben wondering what Kylie is doing

Ben playing the drums with Jane

Then this year we got an early start to our Christmas decorating. Normally we decorate the weekend after Thanksgiving, but decided to start the tradition like everyone else of decorating during the long weekend of Thanksgiving. I must say, I like it. We even got a beautiful tree yesterday! It smells fantastic. Then onto a photo shoot which of course is impossible for a 1-1/2 year old who won't sit still. Luckily the dog is the only way to get him to focus, but you'll have to wait for our Christmas cards to see the outcome! Here's him shopping for trees.

Dance Party

2010-11-25T09:48:00.000-06:00

Here's a video from Sunday of Ben dancing while Milo is trying to sort fridge magnets and give them to him. Unfortunately Ben was working too hard on his awesome dance moves to pay attention to Milo. Once Milo gave up he decided to talk to his buddy on his 'phone'. Quite an entertaining duo we had!

Early Turkey Day

2010-11-22T23:05:00.003-06:00

My parents came in town this weekend to celebrate an early thanksgiving since we stay here for it with Brian's family. Great food, great friends and of course a wonderful time. Ben loved seeing his Deebo and Papa along with Momo (my grandma). He even went looking for them when he got up from his nap on sunday afternoon and was a little disappointed they weren't still around.

Ben swinging with Deebo and Momo

Mallory being persistant not to let mommy show her face!

Nicola being adorable and perfectly content playing dishes while the boys ran around.

Kate about to smile with Dad

Ben really enjoyed having Jack to play with and they really did feed off each other. They took turns being the leader while the other followed along and copied them. They swept, danced on chairs and ran around being silly all through dinner which was entertaining, but not sure they really enjoyed much of the turkey, stuffing and potatoes - maybe next time!

Then on Sunday we watched Milo who is only a few weeks older than Ben. At first they weren't too sure and just played side by side, but by the end of the day they were chasing each other and having a blast. We definitely need more playdates for those two! Ben even worked on sharing!!

Milo

Ben giving Milo the baseball back

The boys all in Chiefs gear

NYC

2010-11-16T20:23:00.000-06:00

This past weekend my entire family (minus kids) went to NYC for my dad's installation into the Order of the Malta. We all had a blast and it was nice to get away - I know even Ben and Grandma had fun spending time together. We did a ton while we were there and just to name a few things - MET, Statue of Liberty, food walking tour in Central Village, Ellis Island, Wall Street, Ground Zero, Times Square, Today Show Plaza (our hotel was a block away from it!), Phantom of the Opera and great restaurants!

Metropolitan Art Museum in Central Park

Neat street we walked down during our food tour of Central Village

Washington Square near NYU

Celebrity sighting - Mitchell from Modern Family

The Rockefeller Tree was delivered while we were there

View of NYC from ferry to Statue of Liberty

Statue of Liberty

Times Square on a Friday night

Since Ben wasn't on the trip and this blog is really for him here are some pics. There is a bit of a jealousy struggle in the household between the dog and Ben fighting to be near us. So Brian had both on his lap at once to try and combat this debate, but let's just say it's still ongoing. Hopefully Ben gets over it in the next few months before the baby arrives otherwise he's in for an even worse shock then us petting the dog!

Boo!!

2010-10-31T20:06:00.001-05:00

Happy Halloween! We went to my parents this weekend for their halloween party so he could see all his cousins. He had a great time trying to follow them around, but is still just a little too small to play with them. All the costumes were great and in case you can't figure it out, Ben is a garden gnome.

All the cousins

Our little gnome

On saturday we went to the St. Louis zoo and for some reason it didn't click to me that it was Boo at the Zoo so Ben was one of the only kids not in costume that day...oops. We did however run into my cousin and her darling little girl Audrey! What a great surprise! Apparently Ben isn't the only one who doesn't like to share as Audrey did not like Ben in her wagon for a picture so the only pic with them together is one neither of them were to sure of.

Jenny, Audrey, Ben and Brian

Ben and a monkey

Ben and Deebo

Ben and Papa

Then I was able to meet up with my friend Pam and her newest addition - Daniel. For some reason I was much to interested in holding and playing with Danny that I forgot to get a pic of him. He's precious and I'm so excited for her and Chris.

We also were able to meet up with my other cousin Katy and her little girl Hadleigh. She could not be any cuter and full of smiles. Ben of course had trouble sharing with her and used his favorite word (NO!) way too often. But it was great to see so much family this weekend and can't wait til next time.

Ben and Hadleigh

Tonight we went to a few houses around our block to get the full effect of Halloween and Ben did a terrific job. He loved walking from house to house and peeking in through their doors, but was not to fond of when people were actually in the house and answered. Nonetheless, I am hopeful that he already has the Halloween spirit and will love trick or treating in the future. Even the scary houses didn't bother him! Too bad I couldn't get him to keep his beard on, but at least he hat stayed on!

Representin'

2010-10-25T20:35:00.000-05:00

So this past weekend when my sis was in town we went to Holiday Mart and there was so much to see. We definitely had a good time and could've easily spent a full day there, but in the short amount we spent there we found a few unique items.

I have a new favorite shirt and so does Ben (or at least it's my favorite shirt for him). Maybe it's the irony of the shirt that I like best or the fact that it's him wearing it - my son, who cries at the drop of a hat.

JoCo Tough! - So true!

He's still a handful, but a ton of fun especially since he's talking a lot more now which is awesome. He can say (in his own terms - and these are our loose interpretations for his gibberish) outside, dog, dada, mama, papa, turtle, shoe, sock, sit, what's this, please, thank you, ball and his favorite...NO! We've been working on our use of said word, but he still has that as his favorite and chooses to use it constantly. If it's not outside (ow-sigh) or dog it's the word no. What I love most is when we read to him and he tries to repeat the words you say. He's really been working hard to put the sounds together to make them match. The animal book is still one of his favorites and turtle and penguin are the two favorite animals in those books. He can't quite say penguin although he tries (shenhoo is what comes out).

A few new things he's been doing lately that Bri and I can't resist are when he reaches out to hold our hand. He uses this a little too much to his advantage though as generally we're being led to the door for outside play. Apparently he's more of a take charge and director type of personality since his other trick is to sit down on the ground and then point to the spot next to him and say 'sit'. He will repeat this word until you finally sit next to him and then a few seconds later he's up and moves about 5 feet away and does it all over again. This is easier for Bri than I as my bump is starting to get bigger and getting up/down from the concrete driveway is not all that easy nor enticing. He's also getting much better about stairs and he tries to take them on like a big boy if holding your hand - he prefers this actually. He's even mastered the stairs on our lower deck outside which kind of made me sad. He seems so big and grown up already!

Here's a video since it's been a while on that front. The end is the best part!

Also - for those of you that don't know or don't read my facebook page, we are having a girl in March! We had a sono two weeks ago and I'm just really delayed to get this updated here, but nonetheless, here's pics from the sono.

Foot

Profile

Cousin's Puppy

2010-10-24T10:12:00.002-05:00

This weekend my sister and her family came in town for a visit. They ended up getting a puppy yesterday also. Tell me this dog is not adorable?! It's a Coton and only 8-1/2 weeks old.

Charlie

Ellie of course was a little unsure of the smaller dog even though Charlie left her alone for the most part.

Ellie hiding from Charlie

Ben watching 'Dog-dog'

Riley, Mallory and Charlie

Ben had fun playing with his cousins and all three of them had fun with the puppy last night/today. We also carved some pumpkins to get in the Halloween spirit since we're only a week away!

Brian's Wraif, Mallory's Dog, and Riley's Peace Sign Eyes

Go Chiefs!

Pumpkin Patch!

2010-10-02T19:21:00.000-05:00

Today we went to the pumpkin patch and had a great time. It was a neat farm that had animals, playgrounds, mazes, and a hay ride to the pumpkin patch. Well worth it for the price and pumpkins we found. We even got to see a pig race!

Plaza Art Fair

2010-09-26T16:10:00.000-05:00

On Friday we took Ben to the plaza art fair for dinner. He enjoyed being strolled around people watching and playing near the fountain, but he particularly liked a red balloon he recieved and playing with the puppies at the pet adoption.

Playing with his balloon

Hangin out by the fountain

Throwing pennies (or quarters) in the fountain

Playing by the bridge and near doggies

As for updates on him, he's starting to babble more and sometime making words out of it. He can now say 'more' and understands it. It's nice to have the communication and I can't wait until he can say more as he still screams when we don't know what he wants. We have to tell him to show us and the majority of the time that affectively works for us to understand him. (Although sometimes that means it's for things he's not supposed to have or play with.)

He's a ball of energy and loves to have fun and be chased around. That seems to be his favorite game right now. He's also pretty good at throwing the ball around (still working on the catch part) and hates to hear the word 'no'. We try to use it sparingly, but when necessary and generally that ends with his lower lip stuck out and tears. Hopefully this phase is short.

Farm

2010-09-15T12:16:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we went to our friend's farm and dropped Ben off for one night with the grandparents. From the pics they sent us it looks like he had a great time.

Then we brought him to the farm to run around with the other kids and he got to see a tractor up close and personal. He didn't mind it until they started moving. Guess we should've had him there earlier when they actually had the trailer and hay set up for the kid rides instead of trying the front seat with Ron. Maybe next time.

Overall it was a great weekend with our friends who we don't get to see much and those that we do. The kiddos all enjoyed themselves despite the rain and mud everywhere (just lots of wardrobe changes). Hopefully we'll get to do this again more regularly!

Here are some pics. Sorry about quality, since I'm such a good mom, I forgot my camera so my iPhone had to do.

Ben and Ron on the Tractor

Brian and Ben on the 4-wheeler

Yes, that's a toilet seat on his head - thanks Eli!

The gang....with kiddos now

Molars...ugh

2010-09-05T09:42:00.000-05:00

So far the tubes seem to be doing their job and we have not had an ear infection yet. I know it's only been 2 weeks, but by now he would've already had one. I'm hopefully that this really is a good fix and maybe no more ear infections altogether even though the chances of that for him are probably unlikely - I'm still holding out hope though.

Other than that he seems to be much more consistently happy besides the molars that are now coming in. If it isn't one thing, it's another is the only consistency I'm familiar with. So even though he's not been sick, he's been extra needy and fussy out of nowhere which equals... Molars! He had his 15 month check up last week and doc confirmed that one was in and the other was swollen so hopefully he will be back to his normal full time happy self in a few days. Although we've never actually seen that normal happy kid for more than a couple days at a time, again I'm hopefully that those times will be longer now between the unhappy/unhealthy. I never thought I would be such an optimistic person, but you can't help but wish for the best for your kid at all times. As for the molars they seem to be a worse version of teething (at least for Ben). Normally some teething tablets or Motrin would do the trick and put him back into his happy self, but not these teeth. It also led to sever diarrhea for almost a week straight (which was my first clue since he always gets like that when he's teething, but definitely not that long of a time period). Luckily he seems to be getting over this second molar a little better than he faired with the first.

Lately his favorite things have been to play sports with Dada. He can't get enough basketball, baseball or even golf. Yes, golf. We were at Target one day and bought a tee ball set and an extra long (soft) golf club that each came with oversized balls and he loves to try and hit the balls with the bat or golf club. He has also found it amusing to try and hit the dog with them and despite our attempts to stop this nasty habit of hitting the dog or throwing the balls directly at her he gets such a thrill out of it that he laughs incessantly which makes it hard for us to keep a straight face and discipline him. I know he'll grow out of this phase like all the others, but I'm finding it harder to not laugh at him when he is so happy he learned something new or got a reaction from something even if it is just the dog. Guess it's time for us to start working on that from our end before we can enforce much for him.

I can't find the sheet with all the stats from his checkup since Brian took him, but he was 25% for weight, 40% for height (yeah he's finally growing!), and 50% for head circumference.

Here's some pics of Ben playing basketball just like his dad. Ben will take the basketball (or any ball) and walk to the free throw line and throw the ball 2 feet because that's what his dad does (except Brian actually gets much closer to making a basket). He hasn't figured out that he's too small and not strong enough to the throw the ball that far. After a couple attempts though he goes towards the hoop and signals for Brian to help him dunk the ball. He can't get enough of this game and is so excited when he puts the ball through the hoop.

Tubes & #2

2010-08-31T12:11:00.000-05:00

Ben got tubes in his ears just over a week ago and since then it seems like he is doing great. So far no ear infections so that's a plus since regurlarly we would be in the midst of one now based on his previous schedule for them. Let's just hope it stays that way! Here's a pic before his surgery.

And for the second part of the title of this post.....#2 is on the way and due on St. Patty's Day! I'm about 12 weeks along so far and feeling good. Not really sick which is awesome and so far similar to how it was with Ben. We should find out the sex in mid October.

Here's a couple more pics of Ben to tide you over until the next post.

Deanna Rose - Safety Day (Jr Firefighter)

Vacation

2010-08-17T19:04:00.002-05:00

Well we suffered through our first vacation as a family with my entire family. I say suffered because as if on queue Ben had an ear infection. (He's getting tubes Friday so hopefully that will help!) Overall it was a lot of fun, but there were definitely tough times with Ben since he was miserable, doesn't like to float in the water (would rather walk around dangerously close to the edge of the pool poking it with a bat) and wasn't a fan of the beach either (I'm blaming the wind bothering his ears and infection - of course that's just an excuse). He was pretty good on flights actually which worked out, but was a little overwhelmed with the amount of people and kids staying in one house. As I mentioned it was our whole family (19 total - 9 of which were kids), but the house was large and had it's own pool. He eventually warmed up and loved to watch the other kids play and swim. Maybe next trip (if Bri ever let's us take one) he'll like the beach. Although for a first vacation I can't imagine Hilton Head being any better - maybe one day Ben will realize that.

A few things of interest as accomplishments for Ben over the last week:

Ben tasted crab bisque (thanks Papa) and actually liked it
He learned to wave bye bye finally and does it constantly now
And has learned to put his hands out and up as if "where did they go" when anything disappears
Lots of babbling so hopefully more words are coming soon

Below are some of my favorite pics from vacation or you can view them all here.

Enjoying crab bisque

Ella and Molly

Little toes in the sand

Deebo, Papa and the Grandkids

All the grandkids in their soccer jerseys

Looks peaceful even though he was screaming :)

Party & Goats

2010-08-01T12:55:00.000-05:00

Ben can't seem to get enough of Deanna Rose and feeding goats or ducks or anything else little that will eat from his hand or near him. He even insists on feeding our dog constantly which works out well for Ellie when we let it happen. Maybe next year we need to break down and become members of Deanna Rose, mainly because it's convenient and he loves it. Although only paying $4 right now is probably the better deal, it will be up to a whopping $6 each time once Ben hits 2 years old.

Feeding the goat of course

Admiring the ducks

Yesterday was Ben's friend, Annabel's, first birthday party. All the kiddos and adults had a lot of fun. Especially with the water table which shoots water! (The kids enjoyed that of course) It was great to see some friends for some good times and a celebration - Happy Birthday Annabel!

Ben and Milo before destructing the water table

Annabel joining in on the fun of water

Milo....Roar!

Cupcake time!

T-bones (Baseball, not the steak)

2010-07-23T20:40:00.007-05:00

Well, Ben broke my camera at his haircut so last night I finally broke down and got a new one. I upgraded to a much better quality one that I still need to learn how to work, but at least there is an automotic setting on there that will help me get some decent pictures off the bat. I can already tell a quality difference in my pictures and I'm convinced Canon is the way to go regardless what kind of camera you have. We've tried a few others and the portable Canon powershot we had a while back took better pictures than any of the others since and now our new G11 is incredible! I love the flexibilty it gives me to have my own settings, but also the automatic setting as well, plus no need to worry about changing out lenses for zoom or quality. I originally was leaning towards an SLR, but at the last minute changed my mind and am glad I did. This was recommended to me by a photographer friend of my brothers and also after reviewing quality pictures of this camera vs other more expensive ones or SLRs the quality is just as good if not better for certain situations. Plus it isn't that much bulkier than a standard digital camera and is plenty portable for what I need. But enough with my rant on cameras.

Tonight my company hosted a night at the T-bones (minor league baseball team). We packed up and headed out for a tailgate and tried to stay at least until the game started at 7 since that's usually right around his bedtime. The tailgate was in direct sun with a heat index of 110 and Ben got a little hot (cranky) so we played in the back of the car for a while to cool down. Once we finally got inside the park we swang for most of the time where he relaxed and watched all the action of other kids. There was lots of fun to be had and plenty of other kids to play with at the playground. We did make an effort to have him see the game and for a little bit he was intrigued, but again the hot set in and told us it was time to leave, plus it was well past his bedtime.

Ben watching Bella watching the big kid swing really high

Love this pic

Actually watching baseball!

Now for his latest 'trick'. I use that term loosely although it does involve hand eye coordination so at least he's working on some good skills. He accidently put a cracker inbetween his toes on a car ride recently and ever since keeps trying to recreate it. For the most part it ends up there with my help, but on occasion he will get it himself and it's hilarious to see how proud and happy he is at this achievement.

Putting the cracker in his toe...

And the proud accomplishment that follows!

Haircut!

2010-07-15T18:54:00.001-05:00

So today Ben had his first official haircut (instead of the hack job trim I've been diong for a while now). He was actually a very good boy and sat still longer than I think he ever has since he was immobile. Lots of crackers and books helped of course.

He's been babbling a lot more lately also and still as active as can be. His latest cuteness is when he will find both his shoes and bring them to us since he thinks that means we'll take him outside. When he finds both shoes and drops them in your lap then sits down it's too cute not to reward him with a little bit of outdoor play. He's also a sports lover or at least that's all he wants to hold and play with. He'll carry around basketballs, footballs, a wiffle ball bat (full size), tennis rackets, etc. I going to go out on a limb here, but I'm thinking this comes from his dad. Brian used to walk around outside with the wiffle ball bat consistantly in the summer and now he has passed the torch onto Ben. Wonder if he'll be a Royals fan also or if I can convince him to root for the better team (Go Cards!). Here's some other recent pics.

At the arcade in the mall last rainy weekend

Milo and Ben at the park

Ben in his new wagon

Ben with the tennis racket

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, Stop!

2010-07-11T19:00:00.000-05:00

Ben is starting to dance and follow along to the Yo Gabba Gabba dances (yes, he still watches this show and it's still the only one that he's interested in). Thought the video is fun despite how close he is when watching the TV at times.

Recap

2010-07-06T13:00:00.005-05:00

Here are some of my favorite pics from the last month or so. Right now he seems to be babbling more now that he's got the walking down. Hopefully that means he'll start getting some words into that VERY limited vocabulary of his. Right now he's still a good sleeper (about 10-11 hours at night), loves eating just about all foods, loves water and his water table, and of course basketball. We can't take walks without him pointing and trying to climb out of the stroller at every.single.basketball.hoop on our route. What's great now is that he is actually understanding a lot more of what we say and will follow simple directions. It's awesome to be able to tell him that we need to leave his toothbrush by the sink after his morning brushing so we can bruch at night and he actually listens! Normally we had been fighting this and crying ensued when I had to force it out of his hand. It's so nice to have him understand and we can reason with him...most of the time. Or when I ask him to bring me his shoes he does - it's awesome!

Happy 4th!!!

2010-07-04T13:27:00.000-05:00

So it's been a while yet again since I posted. I will do a catch up post this week for June with some pics and fun we had, but for today here are some pics from the Village Fest. We went there this morning and saw some animals, danced and tumbled around on some mats. We also met up with some friends from the festivities.

Jack

Ben with goats

Nicola petting a goat

Ella and Jack going to dance to the band

Ben tumbling

To all the Dad's out there...

2010-06-20T13:20:00.000-05:00

Happy Father's Day!! You deserve to enjoy the day however you wish.

Ben wants to say thank you Dad for all the fun and joy you bring me everyday. Here's a list of what I love best with you:

How you help me put the basketball in the big hoop,

being tackled and tossed around,

being tickled,

sitting on your head,
how you help me go down the slide,
when you think something I did was funny (this makes me giggle a lot),
playing hide and seek with you,
how you attempt to teach me the different baseball grips while I laugh at you,
when you read goodnight moon to me in your Christopher Walken voice,
and when you give me hugs and kisses.

Catching Up

2010-06-14T20:41:00.003-05:00

It's been far to long since my last post so this will be long. I apologize in advance, but things have been busy around the house with the little man.... who goes nonstop.

Two weekends ago we went to Deanna Rose which he really enjoyed feeding the animals. He couldn't get enough of the goats you feed solid food to (the bottle fed ones are a little more aggressive so he didn't want to walk around near them). And since we have a black dog, he just wanted to play with the black goats - could've cared less about the brown and white ones, but just walked over and followed the black ones around.

Enough said

Laughing at the Goats

Self explanatory I would think, but how fitting it's named after him....or the other way around :)

Pointing to the black goats (who cares about the white one right next to him!?)

Then last weekend we went to the lake with his grandparents and some of his cousins/uncles. He had fun there also and even though it rained off and on we were still able to get a muggy sun out to swim for a bit. At first the water was a little cool, but he enjoyed it once he got used to it. He thought it was funny that we were all in the water together and loved throwing his ball and blocks off his floaty to see how quickly they'd drift off.

Just before his lake debut - not too sure

Playing the 'fetch' game that he enjoys so much and we put up with

Trying to clap around his life jacket that was bulky for his skinny body

Other than that all else seems to be well - at least until he gets sick again. He loves playing hide and seek still and being tackled by Dada, although his favorite is basketball and putting the ball in the hoop. He still isn't really talking or saying much at all, but communicates by pointing and grunting (so gentleman-like). Generally it's easy to accomodate his wishes, but when we say 'no' he is starting to throw his tantrums that I am really not a fan of. Who knew a 1 year old could be so picky and demanding? I've only heard that the terrible twos and horrible threes are next so I can't wait to see what that brings. But really, he's a ball of fun and has a laugh that can make you melt. It's all worth it when he flashes his big toothy grin when he sees your face or gets into a giggle fit by acting silly. Such fun to watch his personality grow more each day.

Park!

2010-05-28T19:41:00.000-05:00

Late afternoon trip to the park on another beautiful day.

1 Year Old!!

2010-05-27T20:16:00.002-05:00

I know this post is a little delayed, but it's been a long weekend/few days. We headed to STL on Friday and stayed through Sunday. It was filled with family, fun and lots of activities. We started the journey by visiting Momo (my grandma) since she couldn't make it to his party and he had a great time walking around her house and playing peek a boo with her. Then we headed back to my parents to settle in and play with his cousin Ella who my parents were watching for the afternoon. The two of them had a blast following each other around and playing.

Saturday morning we headed to my nephew's baseball game which Ben was fascinated with. Despite my hoping that Ben wouldn't like sports just to spite Brian, it so far seems to be the opposite of what I hoped. Anytime sports are on he freezes and he watched just about all of Danny's game except when his other cousins were playing and it distracted him. Then we headed to my cousin's wedding which was beautiful and the day couldn't have been more perfect. Our first nice family photo. For the reception I had one of my good friends Pam watch Ben and put him to bed. Luckily he was so worn out from the day he went down like a champ for her which was nice.

Sunday brought on Grant's farm where Ben couldn't get enough of the goats drinking from bottles. If we learned anything it's that he should love Deanna Rose and that is on our list for this summer now. Sunday afternoon was his party where he got to see all 8 of his cousins. He loved watching all of them play and the turtle races were a great time in my parents front yard. Yes, they found two stray turtles and tried to have them race - I didn't see any side bets so that's a good sign. He had a cupcake, moose cake and ice cream. Apparently I have to explain the Moose Cake since most people are a little perplexed. We have a moose statue on our mantle and for the longest time he kept pointing to it and wanted to touch it. It became a ritual. If you ask him where the moose is, he will find it and point to it so I thought it only fitting that while he can't vocalize what he wants I can choose for him before we end up with all the sports cakes. And come on, the moose is cute!! He got lots of great toys from the fam including his own personalized 'Ben' size chair, water table (which we've already used every.single.day), inflatable pool with a slide, blocks and a gumball machine toy with balls that he loves to play with. Pretty awesome toys that he's loved playing with this week. Can't wait to blow up and fill up the pool!

I don't have a 1 year pic since it's impossible to get Ben to sit still so here's a slideshow for the pics of the past month and this weekend. Click on the pic below.

Playdate

2010-05-15T18:27:00.000-05:00

Most of the husbands are out of town this weekend so we all decided to have a playdate. It's been a while since we've had a true playdate with this same group - oh say, about 7 months. But nonetheless, it was a great time with a twin addition. Yep - Erin had the girls and Jack in tow with the help of Julie. They are so stinkin cute and perfect little girls.

Kate Julie & Mallory

As for the rest of the crew, they got along pretty well. They still aren't able to really play with each other, but they were stealing sippy cups from one another. They loved watching each other and seeing what everyone could do and enjoyed playing with. The biggest hit was the cozy coupe which was fought over between Milo, Ben and Jack. Of course Jack had an advantage being a year older and more self sufficient, but everyone got their turn and loved the ride.

Milo & Jack

Nicola & Ben (Future love connection?)

Annabel watching the other kiddos

Frankenstein & Basketball

2010-05-10T12:03:00.003-05:00

Odd combination for a title, yes. To start with Frankenstein - that is his new nickname at daycare. They told me this on Friday afternoon and it's all I could think of all weekend long when I saw him walk. For some reason he holds his arms out in front of him when he walks now and it's hilarious. I guess it could be for balance, but he's able to hold things while he walks which just makes me extremely nervous so his balance is actually pretty good. For instance, this weekend he insisted on carrying his mini tv/music thing across the room which is half his size. He fell down a lot and got really frustrated, but eventually made it. Then he wanted to head back.... ugh. Walking is now his primary choice to get around (unless he wants to get there in a hurry) and he is able to get up from the floor so all bets are off. Here's a video that sort of shows you Frankenstein with a basketball.

Speaking of basketballs, Ben is fascinated with basketballs and hoops. His dreams will be shattered eventually like Brian's were when he realizes he's too short to ever really play, but hopefully that's a long ways off. He loves putting the basketball through the hoops and can even walk around with a full size basketball in his arms. Crazy strength - almost superhuman. It just doesn't look right. And why we have 3 basketball hoops at our house is beyond me, but at least there's always one handy. Here's some pics from the weekend.

Walking

2010-05-01T17:33:00.000-05:00

I think we can officially say he's walking. He has been taking a handful of steps on his own for a while, but now he's walking across rooms. Ben will lose his balance still, but has gotten much better about steadying himself as he goes. I'm sure it won't be too terribly long before that's all he does. Yesterday he was even able to stand up on his own from the ground rather than pulling himself up on things to get standing.

Ben's 11 Months Old!

2010-04-24T16:21:00.000-05:00

Almost to the year milestone and so much has already happened. This past week Ben moved up to a new room in daycare again and his now in the 'walking' room although the most he's ventured on his own is about 7 steps. He still prefers to crawl to get around most days, but will regularly try to walk on his own and his balance is pretty good. I'm thinking it won't be too long before he is upright solely.

His favorite foods are fruits and pasta. He loves whole wheat pasta in tomato sauce which is super easy and quick to make, plus it freezes well. He's a good eater and snacks constantly. Good thing there are lots of healthy cereals that he likes to munch on.

Just today he has learned to tackle the stairs - at least how to get up them, not down. We've tried to keep him off of stairs to this point, but since he's everywhere it's hard to contain him. Now we just need to work on the going down part of the stairs so I feel better about the situation. Good thing we got a baby gate not too long ago.

He's also gotten much better about sorting shapes in one of his toys and loves to hide things places to watch them disappear. He still loves his walker and tries to push everything around just like the walker even if it's bolted down or weighs 100 lbs. He's much stronger than I would give him credit for with his size. Balls are probably his favorite thing to play with besides his walker. He is fascinated with a basketball hoop thing we have and loves to put the ball in the hoop. At least he won't understand it now when I tell him he doesn't have a shot at really playing that sport (let's face it, Bri and I are not tall enough), but if I keep telling when he's young maybe he won't grow up with false hopes.

Click here for a slideshow.

Chairs

2010-04-20T20:38:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if anyone else dealt with this prior to the walking phase, but chairs are fascinating apparently. Either that or Ben will end up being an interior designer or home stager. Here's some footage of what takes place everyday in our kitchen around dinner.

The Great Outdoors & Hot Dogs

2010-04-14T19:52:00.000-05:00

It's been so nice out lately that we've been trying to make the most of the great outdoors plus Ben LOVES being outside. Here's some pics of him walking in the grass. That didn't last long becuase he hates the grass so we can't put him down in it - once he fell he didn't want to keep walking anymore.

Ben's first experience with a hot dog (turkey dog) and he could not put it down. He thought it was the greatest food invention ever and would only eat it whole which made me nervous, but he gnawed on it until peices fell off and didn't choke once.

As for the walking status - he's getting a ton better with balance and will stand on his own for a while without wobbling too much. He's taken about 5 steps on his own so far and will walk with you if you hold his hands. Seems like we're getting closer to the milestone which is exciting and sad all at once.

One last note - the pancakes I made last weekend were amazing!!! I highly recommend them if you've got the ingredients and the time. It doesn't take long to make and they're pretty healthy for you as well. Here's the recipe - I hope you enjoy as much as we did!

Banana, Raisin, Oatmeal Pancakes
1cup old fashioned oats
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4cup (packed) brown sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup plain yogurt
3/4 cup whole milk (can substitute skim)
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 bananas - mashed (we only used one and it gave it just enough flavor)
1 cup raisins (optional)
1/4 cup unsalted butter

Whisk first 6 ingredients in medium bowl. Whisk yogurt, milk, eggs, and vanilla in another medium bowl to blend. Whisk dry ingredients into yogurt mixture just until blended. Fold in mashed bananas, raisins and butter.

Brush nonstick skillet with additional melted butter; heat over medium heat. Pour by 1/3 cupfuls onto skillet. Cook until bubbles form on top and bottoms are golden brown (about 2 minutes) - flip and cook another 2 minutes. (Medium heat is as high as you want it. they may take a little longer, but will brown up quicker so the lower heat is better.)

Happy Birthday Dada!!

2010-04-11T08:58:00.000-05:00

It's Brian's B-day so Ben and I decided to take some early pics to wish him a happy birthday. Ben wasn't so sure about more pieces of paper since we did this just yesterday for his grandpa, but he still seemed to humor me through the process. Brian smoked ribs yesterday which were very good - he's finally learned the tenderness aspect of smoking the ribs, now if he'd only try pork instead of ribs everytime! Well, off to make homemade pancakes!

Happy B-day Grandpa!

2010-04-10T13:24:00.000-05:00

Opening Day

2010-04-06T20:33:00.000-05:00

Too bad he didn't bring the Royals any good luck - although he is wearing a Greinke shirt so at least he did well. I'm also pretty sure Brian was more excited than Ben about the blue shirt....

Easter Egg Hunt

2010-04-06T20:29:00.000-05:00

On saturday my company had an Easter egg hunt and Ben was the lucky finder of the 'golden egg' (with a little help from Mommy). Oddly enough it was the only egg he wanted to hold onto. That entitled him to a $10 gift card to Toys R Us which we proceded to spend on our way back for diapers and food - good times.

He was a little terrified of the Easter bunny but we made sure he got a pic with him anyway even though it's stranger danger stage for him.

Grandparents visit

2010-03-29T20:06:00.005-05:00

This past weekend my parents visited us and since Ben has just recently started the stranger danger it took a while before he warmed up to them, but after a little while he seemed to have a blast. Here are some pics of him enjoying his time with them.

Deebo pushing Ben in his truck

Papa playing with Ben in his new Italian soccer jersey

Ben was fortunate enough to get to eat out and some nice places while they were in town also - how can a 10 month old beat Capital Grille? He loved it and the people watching of course! He also received some extremely cute outfits direct from Italy - thanks Papa! (pics of that to follow this weekend)

10 Months Old!

2010-03-21T21:22:00.000-05:00

Ben has finally hit double digits - 10 months! The past month has been pretty good.

For a quick recap on some things he's doing - he loves to use his walker (he does laps everyday in our house with it) and is becoming very good with balance. No steps yet, but he has taken steps while only holding on with one hand so getting much better and steady. He loves most all food especially turkey. He has started pointing and occasionally will wave bye bye, but he still needs more work on that piece.

Apparently he's also becoming a bit of a troublemaker at school. They have to baraccade him in a small space because one day he was back moving cribs (yes, he is much stronger than you would think for his size). He has also been known to bang toys on everything because he likes to hear the noises they make even if that object is another kid. Guess we need to keep an eye on that. Otherwise he's just a handful and ball of energy. He never, and I mean NEVER, stops moving....

Click here for a slideshow from the past month.

Happy (double) Birthday!!!

2010-03-18T08:30:00.000-05:00

St. Patty's Day

2010-03-17T19:08:00.004-05:00

Well to celebrate the true meaning of St. Patty's Day, Ben has joined what many other people do on this particular day.

No, there is not beer in there and it was emptied by Brian completely (not a single drop left - trust me I checked)! He has apparently been watching Brian way to often with this particular vice.

Doors

2010-03-11T19:54:00.003-06:00

One of Ben's latest favorite things to do is closing doors. He gravitates to them and loves playing with them. So far he hasn't locked him or us out of anywhere yet or slammed his fingers in the door (although he has in drawers). Here's a short video of him in his element.

Also, when we went to the doctor two weeks ago he said Ben's upper gums were swollen, but still no teeth. He's still doing all the motions of the teething (as compared to the last time) so we'll see if they ever pop out. So to capture his mood the last two weeks here's a pic.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

2010-03-04T12:00:00.000-06:00

Ben says "Happy Birthday to you!"

Bed Head

2010-03-01T20:55:00.003-06:00

Pics from yesterday.

Helmet

2010-02-25T20:33:00.008-06:00

We went to the doctor today and found out that Ben is slowly trending lower and lower on the stats scale. For his 9 month checkup he weighed in at 9lbs 3ozs(30%), is 27.5" long (25%), and his head circumfrance is 17.75" (45%). I think part of the less weight gain is due to his mobility. He rarely sits still and even when he sleeps he tosses and turns all night. He's definitely cruising around on his toys and one of his favorite things to do is stand at his play table and walk around it. He's even getting better using his walker and we don't have to help him with it anymore which is nice.

Here's a video from today after the doctor visit. Good thing he has a big head, hopefully it's well padded! Otherwise we may need to consider putting a helmet on him if he's going to keep this up. Let's just say Ben's pretty special or just stir crazy for this never ending winter!

I've updated a few more videos on you tube as well so enjoy!

Bye Bye Binky

2010-02-24T20:11:00.000-06:00

We started noticing Ben getting reliant on the binky in January, but since that was the sick month we felt awful trying to break it from him when it was the only thing that gave him peace. In fact, I wasn't planning on breaking him of the habit at all since he really only used it for naps and at night; however he started waking up in the middle of the night without it and would throw a crying fit until we put one back in his mouth. If I had a way to keep a stash of them in his crib I would've since he was able to find them and put them back in his mouth, but they always got pushed out onto the floor. All of us were tired of this trend when it was 3, 4 or even 5 times a night so we thought it would be good to break the habit early. I've always heard between 6-9 months, but for Ben we should've taken it away at 7-8 months.

We went cold turkey a week and half ago and in reality it only took about three nights for the habit to no longer exist until he reverted back using his resourcefulness tonight (see pic). We think he may be teething since he's been rubbing his teeth a lot and not eating as well and more irritable, but we could always be wrong. Once he started using this empty tylenol as a binky though we couldn't help but laugh. I have to say, he was clever to get a replacement.

Is it Spring yet?!