Ben The Baker

Ben and I decided that some oatmeal and oatmeal raisin cookies sounded good so we decided to do a little baking. This was Ben's 1st time helping me bake/cook anything. I wasn't sure how interested he would be in it but turns out he had a blast! He loved the mixer and pouring ingredients into the bowl, stirring and adding the raisins. He didn't quite understand that you have to wait for the cookies to bake and cool before you could eat them but once he had a cookie in hand he was a happy happy boy!

20 Months

20 Months! It is amazing how quick Ben can pick new things up. He is even more chatty if that's possible, is talking in "baby sentences", can open doors,  dances all the time and does so many other new things. I was cooking dinner the other night and started singing "The Wheels On The Bus" and he started spinning round and round-guess he learned that dance move in school! Every time he hears music he starts dancing and he loves singing in the car to "his" music. Whenever you try to turn off "his" music in the car he keeps saying NO louder and louder until you give in and turn it back on. But I really don't know how many more times I can listen to "If Your Happy & You Know It"! He now tells me what he wants to eat and thinks every time the toaster comes out he is getting a waffle! He is climbing even more than ever-I can't take my eyes off him. I have found him on the kitchen table, coffee table, trying to climb into his crib and on top of his playroom shelf. This kid really is taking years off my life! He still loves playing in  "bubbles" aka water. He loves all pools, hoses and sprinklers! He loves to color with his sidewalk chalk and mow the grass. Abby is his newest word as in Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street. He has always loved him some Abby! He says please and thank you (something that sounds close to thank you). But he still uses his signs as well. Eating habits haven't changed much. He is working on a few new teeth that are taking forever. He is finally down to one nap a day. He now goes down between 12:30 -1pm and sleeps anywhere from 1 1/2 to 3 hours! I do miss having 2 breaks in my day but like that we can get out and do more in the morning since we don't have to be home for morning nap.

4th of July

Happy Birthday America! Patrick & Leah hosted a great party of the 4th! It was super hot but so much fun! Great food, great drinks and great people make a great party!  Ben had a blast on the trampoline, playing in the sprinkler and playing in the water cooler. Guess he was kinda hot at one point and thought getting in the cooler was a good idea to cool off-he's so funny! Sadly I didn't take a lot of pictures. Thanks to P & L for a 4th of July!

California Trip

Last Thursday I headed out to sunny California to visit my girlfriend Jaclyn-I was super excited and also a little sad since this would be the longest I have ever been way from my Ben. I finally made it in a little after midnight thanks to a huge storm cutting the county in half that was causing all sorts of travel havoc. After making our way back to Jaclyn's apartment in Riverside and catching up a bit it was straight to bed to catch some sleep before our first real day of the trip started. Friday morning we were up and out the door to go to one of Jaclyn's jobs. We needed to stop off at Kindercare so she could tutor a little boy in math and also so I could see where she worked and meet her work friends! It was great meeting all the people she talks about and to see where she spends so much of her time! After her tutoring session we made our first stop on "my list"...In-n-Out Burger. OMG. Heaven on a bun! I so love that place! In fact I love it so much Jaclyn even took me twice on our trip! Then it was off to another stop on "my list"...Ikea. I love Ikea! It is one of those stores that I would only go to a few times a year but loved that I had the opportunity to go whenever I wanted/needed to. And it is also one of the stores I miss the most since we moved back to KC. I had a short list of must haves for Ben-their awesome full sleeved bibs, art smocks, his cereal bowls and his snack bowls. And of course I found a few dozen other must haves! Luckily we didn't have long to shop at Ikea because we had tickets to tour the Warner Brothers Studio. This is by far one of the coolest tours I have been on. Our guide was very informative and had a lot of fun facts for us. We got to tour a few houses in their "Middle-America nneighborhood". Jaclyn even took a pic of me in front of the Seavers house from Growing Pains. We got to go on the set of the Mentalist and walk around and learned a ton about TV! The coolest set we got to go on was the Friends set! We literally walked right into Central Perk! Sadly since it is summer the studio wasn't very busy filming so we didn't see any star.

 After our tour it was time to head into LA. We drove down Hollywood Blvd, through Beverly Hills and past Rodeo Drive. We ended up at the Santa Monica Pier and then it was off to Venice Beach. Venice Beach is everything I thought it would be...cool art vendors, homeless people, people doing tricks, musicians, ect. It was really cool! We grabbed a bite and did some people watching and then headed back to Riverside. Saturday morning we got up and grabbed a quick breakfast as we headed to the base of Mt Rubidoux. Jaclyn had yet to hike it so I was excited to do something that was new to her as well as me. It was a nice hike and the views from the top were awesome!

Once we made it back down we got cleaned up and headed out to do some shopping. And this is where Jaclyn took me to In-n-Out for the second time! We hit up two different outlet malls where I finally found some sunglasses I liked after searching for like a year! I found a heck of a deal on a work bag for Vince. He has had his eye on this certain bag for forever! After a day of hiking and shopping we were hungry for some good Mexican. So we headed to downtown Riverside to grab a bite. We came across a hole in the wall and it was great! It was a great end to a great trip! Sunday morning we got up early so I could make my flight back to KC and luckily that travel day went as smoothly as possible! My two favorite boys were waiting for me at the airport and I can't even tell you how happy I was to have Ben in my arms! A special big THANK YOU to Jaclyn who made my trip so special and unforgettable! Can't wait until my next trip out-maybe I'll even let Vince & Ben tag along!

19 Months

19 Months seems so old. So much more little boy that little baby. I've said it before and I'll say it again-it is really unfair how fast the baby stage flies by. Ben is still a little sponge who mimics everything Vince, Miles and I do! He likes wearing Da's hats, eating with no hands like Miles and vacuuming like Mommy. He is a handful at times but so darn cute you can't help by smile at him. His eating/drinking habits haven't changed much in the past month. His vocab is still growing...cereal, waffles, lovey, slide, BaPa (aka PaPa) and outside are his latest words. He has quite the stubborn attitude and has begun testing us to see what he can get away with. So needless to say the timeout chair is now in full effect. His little blue chair is now in the corner of the dining room and he has to sit there for a full 60 seconds. I am not sure if he fully understands it yet or not but we have to do something so he understands his actions have consequences. He still loves being outside and being/playing in the water! Trucks and cars are being played with more and more everyday. He is funny and almost always insists on bring a car or truck (no matter how big) with us when we go somewhere! His new favorite show is WordWorld! The kid is addicted to it! When he is cranky I'll turn it on and he climbs up on the couch gets in his spot with his blankie, lovey and b (aka binky) and totally chills out. He is a ball of energy that really never sits down! We are still on 2 naps a day most days-he just can't seem to let the morning nap go. I am going to make it my goal that by the end of summer he is at one nap a day whether he likes it or not!

Surprise!

This birthday was definitely one for the record books! Last Saturday night I thought Vince and I were having a bowling double date with friends but turns out I walked into my own surprise birthday party!

I still can not believe Vince pulled this off without me having a clue! I can only imagine how hard it was to keep it a secret! If you know Vince at all you know he is not great with secrets/surprises-he gets so excited he just can't stand it!  Almost everyone I could have wanted was there! It made me realize again just how blessed I am to have such wonderful friends and family! A BIG thanks to everyone who came and who helped make it such a special party for me! And thank you to my amazing hubby for pulling one over on me and giving me such a great birthday!

Memorial Day 2012

Keeping with our new tradition of visiting the Bairringtons for the official kick off of summer we packed up the truck and headed 5 hours south. I was really surprised at how well Ben did in the car. I had packet a basket full of mostly new toys and book and lots of snacks. He was great for the first hour but then was getting cranky so we threw in an Elmo movie and all was well again. The kid had no idea there was a dvd player in the back. That seriously kept him busy until the last 30 minutes. Then he was starting to melt down-I knew he was tired since he had not snoozed at all on the way down. But of course he fell asleep as we got off our exit.

Once we ate a quick lunch Carrie and I headed out for much needed pedicures and a little girl time. It was so nice to just relax and catch up! When we got back the boys had found their spots on the patio with drinks in hand and babies at their feet. Uncle Mark turned on the sprinkler for Ben and he had a blast! We fed the kids dinner and got them to bed before we got to enjoy a great dinner! It was a nice night catching up with Carrie & Mark.

Saturday we headed out to the country for some fishing and swimming at their friends Brandon & Juli's house. It was great to see Brandon, Juli and their boys! Ben got to go fishing for the first time and Taylor got to so swimming for the first time! When we got back to the house it was dinner and baths for everyone! And then we watched the Thunder game and hit the hay.

We had a lot to get done on Monday since Vince had been traveling the week before so we had to leave early. It was sad the trip was so short but glad we went! Ben did great on the way home too! He actually took a snoozer about an hour into the drive which I was relieved since we had to get him up so early.