Missing: our BABY Ben

Can someone please explain to us where our BABY boy went? All of the sudden Ben looks like a like a little boy and not a baby. I don't remember giving my permission for this! Just another example of Ben growing up way too fast. Our neighbor even commented on it last night so I know it's not just me anymore.

It's been so nice having our sweet guy feeling better this week-and what a busy week it was!

Thanks to George and Abe we didn't have school on Monday. Ben went for a couple hours to get 'used' to it before being there a full day Tuesday, but then we headed to lunch with Daddy and our friends the Masons. How sweet is this picture?

Wyatt and Ben enjoyed checking out all the girls strolling around at lunch. They're so cute together.

First-check out Daddy's superman pj pants. Don't be jealous! Dr. G isn't kidding when he says Ben's head measures off the charts. We had some trouble getting our pj's on this week. Hmmm. I guess he has a big head for that super smart brain of his.

Like I said-no longer a baby and now a little boy

Grammy sent Ben a TON of clothes including two bathing suits for our trip to Florida in LESS THAN A MONTH! Excuse the bad picture, but I think he's wanting to be a swimsuit model-big tummy and all.

The night we tried on his bathing suit he went NUTS. He was rolling and laughing and being the silliest we've ever seen. It was 30 minutes of pure joy for the 3 of us before bed time.

Big boy example #2

Last night my school held their annual Sock Hop. I missed it last year to be in Kathryn's wedding. I had to work the ticket counter for the first hour, but then B walked Ben to it. He looked so cute walking in. I don't have a picture of him in his complete outfit, but he had this white shirt on, jeans with the cuffs rolled, black jacket and a winter hat. So funny, but cute! It was a little chilly on their walk over hence the hat. Ben zipped all over school in his buggy until Aunt Lucy found him and scooped him up. There were many times throughout the night that I couldn't find Ben because Lucy was walking him around stealing him.

Ben and Addie who was dressed in an adorable poodle skirt. It's hard to get a picture with both of them looking forward.

Today we went to Claire's 1st birthday (pictured). Claire's mommy works with me. He was so good and loved playing with her toys and Kate (another baby from school). Happy Birthday Claire!

My sweet boy when we got home from the party. Poor kid is so tired from all the adventures of this week.

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Wednesday was also Ash Wednesday. We took Ben to church and of course he laughed and squealed the whole time. It's not like a normal service where we can get up and walk him around. But he looked cute with his ashes on his head, except the silly boy wiped them off with his car blankie before he even got home.

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I experienced a first this week too-having to go to the bathroom in a store and not having Daddy around to hold Monkey. After our lunch on Monday we stopped at Hobby Lobby and my little bladder just wouldn't hold. The big bathroom, well let's just say it was not acceptable for ANYONE to use. EVER! Carts just don't fit in normal stalls. So I was at a lost of what to do with Ben before I had an accident. Oh so much fun.

♥

Ben's been practicing pulling himself up this week. He even tried using Bailey to pull up on. She's so good to let him play with her (Bruiser keeps his distance when he starts reaching for him) so Ben caught a hold of her fur and started his way up. Um - NO sweet boy, moving dogs aren't for pulling up.

♥

Daddy's been working a TON this week and we don't like it. We are hoping tomorrow he doesn't go in and can hang out with us.

Thank you Grandma Cathy!

Dear Grandma,
How lucky am I to have such an awesome grandma like you! Thank you for coming this week to stay with me while I got better. I'm doing so well now and it's all thanks to your love and care. I had SO much fun with you. I loved how you took me all around the house in my buggy and stopped at every light and fan and let me look at them. I loved reading stories with you and playing with the toys in my room. Mommy and Daddy are so thankful you could come. Can you come every week? Thank you for getting mad at Mommy every time she called my belly fat. I'm so happy you were here when we had all the snow, too. I am even more happy we got to drive you home on Friday (just in time for Grandpa's birthday) so I got a few more days with you. I'm already missing you so much. I love you! Hopefully I'll see you soon.

Love,
Ben


While Grandma was here we got a record snowfall in Dallas-a foot of snow! Ben is one lucky kid to have seen so much snow already. This was what it looked liked as I pulled into school on Thursday. Breathtaking!

And this was our house on Friday morning. How come everything looks so much prettier covered in snow?

Yes he was recovering from being sick, but at this point he was so much better so Ben had to venture outside for some snow pictures.

This is Daddy's first ever snowman. In typical Daddy fashion he had to build the best snowman he could. Ben watched from inside with Grandma. Oh Ben, we can't wait to build snowmen with you!

Mommy's two loves!

Even Grandma came out to see the snowman!

Our snow baby (he didn't last long-doesn't care too much for the snow)

School was cancelled on Friday so we drove Grandma back instead of her flying (which was a good thing as her flight was cancelled).

On Saturday Grandma kicked Mommy and Daddy out of the house so she could have some more time with Ben. She took him in a walk in his buggy to see his Great Grandparents! Sweet Ben was such a good boy and loved hanging out with these two fabulous people! He's wearing the UT hat they gave him when he was born. It fits now! She also took him to see Aunt Jan and Uncle Jim and show him off.

Grandma even arranged for a train to come by while they had a picnic outside after their walk (wink, wink). The kids on the train loved watching Ben wave and clap at them. He was fascinated with the choo choo sound and music. And for the record-Ben likes to eat leaves more than veggies.

He was also fascinated with Grandpa's boots! After he played with his boots Grandpa helped him walk.

Aunt Tina gave her Valentine a dancing monkey. So cute!

We were watching the NBA slam dunk contest so Tommy and Kristin made Ben into a mini Michael Jordan.

Ben loves to clap and then do "touch down"

A Tommy and Ben tradition. Do you think Ben will think it's weird when we have him do this pose when he's 12?

Aunt Kristin and Uncle Tommy love

Ben's Valentine-Aunt Tina!

Unfortunately she had to work most of our trip and only got a little bit of Ben time, but my goodness he loves her.

Ben appears to be back to normal. His appetite is in full force (we're actually thinking he might be going through a growth spurt he's eating so much) and he's just such a happy baby. He's pulling up on everything now. Today Bill said Ben said "mom" clear as can be. Of course it was when I was at the store. I love how his baby babble makes words!!!

♥

We had such a great weekend and are so happy we had a last minute trip to Austin. On our way home today we stopped at Bush's for breakfast (doesn't everyone eat fried chicken for breakfast) so I could get my absolute favorite sweet tea ever! While we were there Ben managed to knock his fruit ALL over my pants and while I was changing into jeans he kept spitting it at Daddy as he fed him. I think they were very happy when we left :) But Mommy left with a gallon of the stuff that she has to finish before Lent starts on Wednesday.

♥

Tomorrow I'm off. Yay for a 4 day weekend. Ben is going to hang out at school for a few hours since it's been 2 weeks since he was there. I don't want Tuesday to be a huge shock for him. But then we get to have lunch with Daddy!

Monkeys shouldn't say "oink oink"

This was not our best weekend. Poor Ben went from pink eye and an ear infection to SWINE FLU! He was home with Daddy on Thursday resting and started running a fever. I stayed home with him on Friday and the fever wouldn't fall so I called the doctor and they had us come in. He's been on antibiotics for the ear infection so they were worried. At first they tried to tell me it was a virus and send me on our way, but I KNEW something was wrong and wouldn't accept virus as an answer. They ran blood work which came back fine, but also a flu test. He was vaccinated for the regular flu, but not swine flu. So our poor monkey hasn't been feeling so great. His fever was the highest on Saturday and I had to be at a workshop all day. Today was much better and our yucky fever finally dropped without Motrin (Tylenol did nothing for him). The best news-Grandma's coming tomorrow night to stay with him for the week!!! She flies in tomorrow night (daddy's staying home tomorrow) and is here until Thursday night. We are SO grateful she can do this.

I came home for lunch on Saturday and my sweet boy was sound asleep on Daddy. We broke every rule and let him sleep on us this past week. Rules are made to be broken and who doesn't want to snuggle with their Mommy or Daddy when they're sick?
starting to feel better

Let me explain this picture from this morning:

Mommy (feeling achy and sick)-"Can you watch Ben so I can get another hour of sleep?"

Daddy (being a dork and playing a computer game)- "sure, I'll put him in the jumper."

Mommy-"don't, there isn't enough clearance and he'll probably hit his giant head."

Daddy-"he'll be fine, go to bed."

For the first minute he was so happy so I ran to get my camera.

Then- Mommy-"told you so" as I walked into our room and Daddy scooped up Ben.

note-he barely bumped his head, he's just practicing for his Oscar for best dramatic performance (he does this occasionally).

This was HYSTERICAL! Ben was playing with a stuffed animal that Bruiser thought should be his. He was trying to get it from Ben and Ben kept shaking at him and laughing as Brusier sat there wanting it. These two are going to have lots of fun together!

It was right after this picture that we went to the doctor

My little man crashed on our bed this morning.

Tonight Ben watched his first Super Bowl. Well, a little of it. He's a tired baby. It was during the Super Bowl last year we decided on his name, Ben, after the winning QB. We said if the Steelers win, his name is Ben.

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Thank you so much to our WONDERFUL family who called and texted to check on sweet Ben so much this weekend. We are so lucky to have you. I am also SO lucky to have a friend like Ashley who called while they were doing Ben's tests and let me cry because I was so worried. Even though she was exhausted and ready to pick up Miss Mayson, she offered to come to the doctor's office and be there with me. I told her no, but the thought meant so much to me!

Ben-please be nice to Mayson as you two grow up. Don't pull her hair or steal her toys because her mommy is one of the kindest people I know and I love her!

Eight Months

Happy 8 month birthday sweet boy!

It's Ben's 8 month birthday today. How did we celebrate? By staying home with pink eye and an ear infection. I picked him up from school yesterday and he had just woken up from a nap and his eyes were gross. Green shouldn't come from any part of your body. I took him to the doctor just to confirm what we already knew and they found a second surprise-an ear infection. You would have NO idea this kid is sick. He's the happiest baby. The only indication was he actually took long naps the past two days which is not like him. So now we're on meds and are still as happy as a clam (as long as you're not giving him the eye drops).

My favorite 8 month old!

We now have two teeth, yay! One step closer to carrots and apples (and steak). Not sure who was happier the tooth popped-Ben or Mommy and Daddy. This one was a little more painful for our little guy. The fingers are back in our mouth so maybe another will so make it's appearance.

Monkey is my friend!


Two guesses what's he doing here :)

Looks like a fat apple in this shirt. They weighed him yesterday. We're up to 22lbs!

A couple weeks ago we came home from work and found his window open like this. The house cleaner (my life saver) had done it. She likes to rearrange things in our house, but it always looks good. We still need to get a 'thingy' to tie the rope on so we can keep his window open without the risk of clotheslining ourselves.

We love this picture because he has food stuck on his cheek from tyring to feed himself and can you guess what else he's doing right now? We might need to work on things you don't do at the table.

First, excuse the messy bed-we never make it. Sorry. Ben can now feed himself his bottle. He rarely gets bottles at home so it was a treat when we discovered this. He also knows what the bottle is now and goes crazy when he sees one. This picture was taken yesterday right before the doctor. Can you see his puffy eyes? Poor baby.

Baby Tad was signing him lullabies before a nap today. Ben didn't want to nap and was trying to strangle the frog.

Here's some naked baby pictures. He loves to be naked. Should we start worrying about this?

I can see this one being played at his wedding slide show. Love ya kid!

Sippy cup practice

Some tidbits about my big 8 month old:

• gives hugs to mommy and kisses to daddy-SWEETEST THING EVER!
• says 'uh oh'
• still loves to look up at lights and fans. I have a feeling when he figures out how a light switch works we're in for some trouble.
• likes grapes, yogurt melts and puffs
• bananas are a no no right now. We've tried 2 separate times and it's not been good. He's got his Mommy's sensitive tummy
• tried guacamole (just a bit)-success!
• loves, loves, loves our bed
• flirts
• CLAPS-my favorite
• waves (or tries to)
• his hair is really long. you can't tell because it lies flat (I'm thinking it will thick like daddy's), but we might need a haircut before June.
• I get a daily sheet from school that lists the basics like when and what he ate, diaper changes, nap times, etc., but also lists fun activities. The other day it said: "foreign language" I read it and couldn't stop laughing. Turns out my kid is learning French. I'd be happy if he'd learn the word Mama.
• loves to touch everything. When he finds something soft he'll rub it over and over like his Mommy
• likes to be sung to. Sadly he has the most musically inept mom ever. I know maybe 3 songs. When he's being a pill about eating if you sing to him he'll start eating.
• he loves it when my mom (Grams) talks to him on the phone. Just lights up.
• crawling is still not happening. I asked the doc yesterday about this-she said not to worry, he's fine. Does she not realize I'm a teacher and expect perfection???
• he's a morning person (like us). I think our favorite time of the day is when I wake him up, bring him down to our room and feed him. Then he plays in our bed and wakes up Daddy. Then it's tickle time for Ben. This is such a special time for us. We're all together and just focusing on Ben. We've found ourselves running late some mornings because we don't want this time to stop.
• Ben is the funniest, happiest little thing. He makes us laugh all the time. We are truly amazed at the miracle he is and the little boy he is becoming.

Daddy is staying home tomorrow with the Monkey so he can get more rest. They're excited for jammy day.

bye bye icky germs

Mommy better - check!
Daddy better - check!
Ben better-CHECK CHECK!!!

Yes, we are all feeling much better. Not sure who was worse-Daddy or Ben. At least Ben handles feeling icky like a champ, Daddy on the other hand... :)

Daddy started to feel sick on Monday, luckily we all the day off. I took Ben in to see Dr. G just in case. He said he just has a bug. We all stayed home again on Tuesday (I think I took more care of Daddy instead of the reason I was home to begin with). Daddy and Ben stayed home again on Wednesday for a final day of rest. It must have done the trick because I have two happy boys now!

The best part of the week-Friday afternoon when I got an email from Daddy saying that they were in the park waiting for me. Our neighborhood park is next to my school. 3:30 couldn't come fast enough. I ran out, put my things in my car and ran to my boys. We took Ben for a buggy ride (he LOVES his buggy) and he got to play on the swings. There are definitely some disadvantages of teaching in your neighborhood, but that is one advantage I am so thankful for.

This weekend we ran around town and Ben was such a trooper. He's started to flirt with some people. Cute, cute, cute! His other new thing-clapping! He loves to clap. Another new (and not so fun) trick-sticking out his tongue and refusing to eat. Dr. G told me to add another veggie and another fruit daily and it's just so much for him. He finds it hysterical and laughs as I get frustrated. What a stinker, but we'll keep him!

Daddy started this at bath time. Ben loves to slide around chasing his duck. I need to get this kid in swimming lessons asap!

Our big boy!

On Thursday we were making dinner and put him in his jumperoo. He was sound asleep within 2 minutes and stayed like this for over an hour.


What happens when Mommy plays with a comb during bath time.

Another new trick-pulling our self up in the crib. We are so close to getting into a standing position. Daddy lowered the crib today just in case. His crib is like a new toy to him.

Peekaboo feet

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Now keep your fingers crossed that Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Tina can come up next weekend to play. Maybe we'll have a crawler by then.

I have another post from this weekend so read on...