Easter Bunny 2013

So I guess I can't really say I am surprised at Ben's response to the Easter Bunny this year. I took Grandma & Paige along thinking maybe that would help but it didn't. The really cruel part to the whole experience was that the first set of pictures they took were over exposed so we had to do it all over again. I felt so bad for Ben but knew we had to do it! Hopefully one day he will forgive me for putting him through this year after year with Santa & The Easter Bunny and appreciate all the pictures!

B-E-N

-He can spell his first and last name B.E.N  R.U.P.P
-He can count to 20 but sometimes instead of 5 he says 11 and then goes on from 11
-He knows most of his colors
-He knows about 10+ shapes
-He can almost sing his ABC's correctly
-He sings Twinkle Twinkle like he wrote it
-After 18 months in this house he masted opening the kitchen pantry
-He is still a super picky eater but yogurt, granola & hot dogs are now on the yes list
-He no longer calls Vince "Da" now its Daddy
-Ben is a talking machine... Like to the point strangers comment on his speaking skills daily
-He knows how to work the dvd player
-Digging in the dirt or beans and bath time are his favorite past times
-He can name all his grandparents, aunts, uncles & cousins and talks about them all daily
-He can name more animals that I can even remember right now
-He is fascinated with dolphins
-He is more stubborn than ever
-The car wash is his favorite place to go
-Monsters are a big topic at our house and not in a good way
-He likes juice now
-He thrives on routine
-FaceTiming with Uncle Potty & Aunt Leah is a favorite Saturday morning activity
-He now knows what a bad word is and has decided that "NO" is a bad word
-He loves to swim
-He is not the best sharer
-He gives lots of hugs and kisses
-He love love loves his new fish named Fishy
-Bulldozers and Firetrucks are his favorite vehicles
-He pooped in his potty for the first time last weekend
-He puts himself in timeout when he is bad
-He loves to smell flowers
-He melts my heart every single time he says that he missed me
-He likes to stall nap and bed time with "2 more minutes"
-He loves to eat snow like bowls and bowls of it
-Word World aka "Robot Show" is still his favorite show

St Paddy's Day 2013

What a difference a year can make...Last year we were in shorts this year it was layer upon layer of winter clothes. Again I would like to point out for the record I am so over this damn winter. We were so excited for the parade again this year but it didn't go as I had envisioned. The morning started off good with Ben all excited to wave to the crowd at the parade from his decked out wagon! We got all dressed in our green gear and I even added a little green bling to the winter gear we had to wear. When we got to the parade it was sleeting. Then is stopped but the wind was so cold. Ben was freezing and not happy. He would not wear his gloves and just cried and cried. His cousins couldn't even get him to be happy and they never fail. He was such a hot mess that Jimmy put us in the truck to warm up until the parade started. I really thought once the parade actually started it would all be fine but I was wrong-poor kid just wanted to be held but only by me. About 5 minutes into walking we ended back in the truck and once Ben warmed up he was all smiles and ready to go! So he helped Papa Jimmy drive the float  and he had a blast doing it! And I can't say I minded being all nice and warm and waving out the truck window this year. After the parade we decided to take Ben home for a nap and then went to Vince's Moms and Jimmys house for a true Irish Feast!

Not A Single Doubt

Not that I have had a doubt that Ben was my kid (I did grow him inside me and then birthed him out into this world) but sometimes he does something that makes me just stop and smile and say "yep this kid is definitely mine". A few weekends back I had that moment all within a 15 minute span and managed to catch it all on my camera.

The start of this story is me leaving Ben alone for a few minutes. I know better than this but it is nearly impossible to have him in my eyesight nonstop! So he got a hold of a bottle of baby powder-yep you all guessed what happened next (and I'm not sure what happened to his shirt or why he is wearing my running shoes)...

This is was what I walked in on. Could have been a lot worse but there was a nice trail of powder all the way from his room to his chair or as Ben calls it "his couch". I just looked at him and tried not to laugh then told him he needed to clean it up. Sure enough he went and grabbed a towel and got to work! He is so my child-he cleaned and cleaned his little heart out!

A few minutes later we moved on from the baby powder mess and he was back to playing with his cars. And the following conversation took place...

V: Did you do that?
Me: Do what?
V: Line up all Ben's cars like that?
Me: No!!! But further proof that he's mine!

This and That

Grandma Werner & Aunt Sally made a quick trip up to KC for a funeral. Not happy about the circumstances of the visit but happy non the less we got to see them. We had dinner at Mom & Dads and got to catch up for a few hours. It was too short of a visit but looking forward to see them again in a month at Patrick & Leah's wedding!

We had a family brunch at Vince's Dads house a few weeks back and got to catch up with everyone and I got this cute pic of Ben & "PaPa White Truck"!

Blizzard of Oz Part 2

I am so tired of winter. I am so tired of the cold temps. I am so so so tired of snow. Poor Ben looks at "his park" every morning and asks if its a nice day outside so he can go play. This winter seems unusually cruel maybe it was because we got so spoiled last year with our first winter back in the mid-west being so mild. But now it is the end of March and it snowed yesterday and we are getting another major snow storm tomorrow. The only thing getting me through these days is knowing that in 13 days our toes will be in the sand!

So here are the highlights of our second major snow storm (just days after the first one)...

-It was the heavy wet kind of snow
-We probably got 8 inches on top of the 12 we already had
-We woke up to a very cold house
-We lost power sometime during the night
-Ben had funny playing cars by lantern light
-We packed up and went to my parents who had power
-The snow was really really pretty
-Our power came back on late morning so we went back home
-Ben had a blast sledding, shoveling, eating snow and building his Irish Snow-Monster