Nap Time

So nap time today started like any other day..kisses, binky, lovey and then sleep. Then about 2 hours later I heard some chitter chatter and hit the video button on the  monitor sure enough Ben is awake. I did a double take and that's when I noticed that he was sitting up in his crib. This is a first! Ben can now get into the sitting position from the laying position. I kept watching him and he made his way over to his musical aquarium then  got on his knees pulled himself up and pushed one of the music buttons. Holy Cow! Talk about an exciting nap time today! So needless to say we immediately lowered the mattress to the lowest setting. I am sure this will get very interesting once Ben realizes that he can now see Miles sleeping in his room and vice versa.

37 Weeks

Weekend in Greeley, KS

Saturday morning we packed up and headed down to Greeley to visit the Rupp/Katzer family. We hadn't made a trip down since we left KC 3 years ago so it was long overdue. It was way too hot for Ben to take the boat or the 4 wheelers out so we packed a cooler and snacks and headed out on a nice country drive. Kurt showed us where he grew up in Garnett and all their farm land. We stopped by his parents house and picked some cherry tomatoes and then went to check on their cows. Apparently pink eye is an issue this year for the cows and its pretty serious. The cows can go blind very quickly from the eye infection which poses a lot of other problems for them. Unfortunately there were almost 15 of the cows and calves with pink eye. After we got back from our drive we had a very yummy chicken dinner with tasty homegrown corn on the cob! Their corn was way better than our corn we grew last year in the garden. Ben had so much fun playing with Paige! He is so smitten with her! She was so helpful! Sadly Lakin and Reece were with their mom so we didn't get to see them. We had planned on taking the boat out Sunday morning before it got to hot but it was raining. But the rain was much needed down there so we didn't mind! It was so nice to just an hour from home and be out in the country! I know for sure that this will be just one of many weekends spent in Greeley now that we are back in KC! Thanks again to Angela, Kurt & Paige for a great weekend!

A Trip to the River Market

Friday we headed to the River Market to walk around and meet Patrick & Leah for lunch. We decided to hit up the River Market Antique Store. I had no idea how large was or how 2 hours can fly by and still not hit every floor! Finding old treasures is my new hobby. There is just something cool about picking up a piece of history and bringing it home. I could have spend a ton on furniture but since we are still in the rental house I didn't want to add anymore to our storage unit aka basement/garage. But both Vince and I managed to find some cool stuff. My favorite find of the day was a super old hand painted bowling pin. I just couldn't pass it up. Vince found a cool old V magnet that we could leave with out. And even Ben got a few things...A "naughty stool and I came across an old snuff jar that was made in Pittsburgh, PA. I thought it would be something cool to get him from the city of his birth. Upon further inspection I noticed that it was stamped Pittsburg PA. I ask Vince where the "h" was on the stamp and he said that someone told him that Pittsburgh didn't always have a "h" but he couldn't remember the story. So I of course had to research it as soon as we got home.

Here is what I found out...

Pittsburgh is the most misspelled city in America, according to a recent study by ePodunk. The most common misspelling? You guessed it - Pittsburgh spelled without its 'h.'
Pittsburgh, named by General John Forbes in honor of Sir William Pitt, has officially ended in an 'h' since its founding in 1758 with the exception of the time period from 1890-1911. In 1890, President Benjamin Harrison established the t10-man U.S. Board on Geographic Names to help restore order to the naming of cities, towns, rivers, lakes, mountains and other places throughout the U.S. At the time, some states actually had as many as five different towns with the same name which, understandably, caused confusion.

One of the first codes established by the new Board to help restore order to U.S. place names was that the final 'h' should be dropped from the names of all cities and towns ending in 'burgh.' The proud citizens of Pittsburgh, considering their town an obvious historical exception to this ruling, refused to give in to the Board's ruling and mounted a campaign to keep the traditional spelling. Twenty years later, in 1911, the Board finally relented and restored the 'h' to Pittsburgh. To this day people remain confused.


So now the snuff jar is even cooler and older that I originally thought. It had to be made between 1890-1911! It sure doesn't look like it is over 100 years old but it sure is!

After our treasure hunting we met Patrick & Leah for lunch at Hickocks in the River market. It was great to see them! After lunch it was HOT out so we decided to head back to the car and go home for nap time.

The Newest Rupp

Congratulations to Carrie & Mark!

Taylor Renee Bairrington was born on Tuesday July 19th at 9:36am, weighting 7lbs 5oz and 20 in! She is such a beautiful baby! We just can not get enough pictures and videos of Taylor! We got to FaceTime on our iPhones (aka skype) a few hours after she was born. Mark couldn't stop smiling, Carrie looked amazing for having just given birth and Taylor was sleeping like an angel. We are so excited for Ben and Taylor to grow up so close in age! We already told Ben he has to protect his new cousin from all the boys in a few years. I have know doubt she will be a little heart breaker! We are headed to OKC to meet Taylor over Labor Day weekend and that weekend can't come fast enough!

36 Weeks

Ben's 1st Tooth Or Shall I Say Teeth

The doctor had told us that whenever Vince and I got our first tooth would be a good gage as to when Ben would get his. So I pulled out our baby books to look it up...Vince and I both got our between 8-9 months. About 3 weeks ago Ben started to get his first bottom tooth! Unfortunately Ben & I were visiting Carrie & Mark when the tooth started to cut through and then on the second day of our trip the second bottom tooth started cutting too. This made for a crank-a-saurous Ben and a very tired Mommy. Thankfully it only lasted about 48 hours or so and that he got two at one time. Needless to say I am not looking forward to the other 18 baby teeth coming in.

They have finally come up enough to get a picture...

35 Weeks

Ben's 1st Pair of Shoes

Rock Chalk- Ben's 1st Trip To Lawrence

I have been so excited to take Ben to Lawrence to show him his future and revisit our past! Friday was the day! We headed up to Lawrence to visit campus, walk Mass Street and grab lunch. Our first stop was the Sigma Nu house. Vince wanted to show Ben his fraternity and who knows maybe Ben will become a Sigma Nu too! I had never actually been in the house either so it was neat to see it. Vince showed us all his old rooms, told us about the old governors mistress who haunts the house, and even took us up on the roof to see the view.

Up next we headed to campus and hit the bookstore first. Ben ended up walking out (well riding out) with his first KU hat and a KU Camelbak kids water bottle. We introduced Ben to his first big Jayhawk and he loved him! We walked Ben around campus and told him stories about the buildings. 10 years ago we were walking on that campus with backpacks and now we were pushing a stroller. Times sure have changed!

Mass Street was up next. We were hungry and so we decided to eat at Tellers. After a nice lunch we walked and shopped! We went to Sharks to check out flip flops and this is where we bought Ben his first pair of shoes! They are little grey TOMS! They were way to cute to pass up! (and if you buy a pair of their shoes they donate a pair of shoes to a child in need so it's a win win!) We walked into the antique market just to see if we could find something cool and boy did we...an authentic 1988 KU Basketball Champion T-Shirt! It was in excellent condition and fit Vince perfectly! I was a tad nervous to look at the price tag but it read...$17! Sold! I must admit I am a bit jealous!

We decided it was time to head home since by this point it was well past nap time. We had a great family day in Lawrence! Up next is to take Ben to his first football and basketball games this year! I can't wait!

8 Months

And I'll say it again...time is flying by. I can not believe Ben is 8 months old! We now have a clapping, people food eating, opinionated son with 2 teeth! Gone are the days of  bottles every 2-3 hours. Ben now only has 4 or 5 bottles a day. He eats oatmeal with fruit for breakfast followed up with a bottle. Lunch is fruit and dinner is oatmeal with fruit and a vegetable both followed up with a bottle. His last bottle is around 7:30 pm before bed. He eats puffs, Cheerios, small pieces of fruit and bread for snacks. He loves drinking ice water of of his sippy cups. And whenever we are at the table eating he insists on eating as well. He sleeps a solid 12-14 hours a night with the occasional "I lost my bink" cry around 2 am. He loves playing with Miles & Zoie. He has very strong opinions and lets you know what he wants! He is starting to really hate it when people walk out of the room even if he can still see or hear you. He loves swimming-he could swim all day everyday! He isn't crawling yet but can get to where he wants to go by rolling. He is starting to pull himself up and is working on sitting up from a laying down position. I have no doubt he will be crawling soon and then our lives will forever be changed! He loves music and loves to dance-it is so dang cute! He is finally on a nice nap schedule. This has been my one struggle with him but now we have a great routine. One in the morning around 10 am for an hour or so and then again at 1:30ish for 1-3 hours.

Boom Boom Goes The 4th

Ben's first 4th of July was a blast! We decided to have a BBQ on the 4th at our house. It was a great day full of families & friends with great food & drinks! We set up the baby pool and it was a hit with Ben, Ryan & Madelyn! Washers and Penny Can were a hit with the adults!