Sleepless in Seattle

We flew to Seattle over the weekend to visit my Grandma Thelma. It was Benjamin's first plane ride. He did great on the way up there. He slept 3 of the 4 hours it takes to fly there. However, on the way back he had a few outbursts. He eventually fell asleep though. Thank goodness.

It was so nice to see Grandma Thelma and we had a good time visiting with her. We had a small birthday party for him while we were there. Seattle isn’t big on air-conditioners since it never really gets hot there. But we were there on what they said were 2 of the hottest days. It got hot inside! I thought I was tough when it came to things like that but I learned otherwise……

Benjamin was completely thrown off of his schedule. He woke up at 5am on Saturday morning ready to go! So David got up and took him to McDonald's so he wouldn't wake up Grandma. Then Sunday morning he woke up at 3am. That was hard. He's normally such a great sleeper. We're glad to be home. We're crossing our fingers he'll sleep through the night tonight.

Twelve Month Shots

Benjamin got is 12 month shots on Monday. He was supposed to get 4 vaccinations but we opted to only get 2 of the 4 shots. He got the MMR and Chicken Pox shots. We've decided to spread the shots out for the next few months instead of getting all 4 shots at once. The only reason we decided to go ahead and get the MMR and Chicken Pox shots is because we're going overseas to Greece next month. The doctor recommended these 2 shots for that very reason. Apparently there's been an outbreak overseas of the measles so it's best we get them. So he was EXTREMELY upset yesterday. It was a hard day. Obviously he wasn't feeling well because there was a lot of crying (from Momma too)! I felt so bad for him because I know he wasn't feeling well. We even had to leave the gym nursery early yesterday because none of us could get him to calm down (as Grandma Nancy and GrandDaddy would say...DAGUM!). By the way, Grandma Nancy and GrandDaddy...we'll let David chew the gum you left (that is, if you left it on purpose). Ms. Kelly has had stressful dreams about gum for about 2 years so I don't so I don't chew gum (ask us later about that - pretty weird story). However, David said he will chew your "DAYGUM". Too funny.

Oh! Benjamin gets to sit forward in the car now. Thank you Aunt Laura and Uncle Abraham for the carseat. Benjamin loves it. Now that he faces forward he can finally watch the DVD player that's installed in the car. He LOVES it! The DVD he's been watching is set to classical music so I can turn the volume up and listen to some of my favorite classical music while he's watching seals and fish play in the water (another DVD from Grandma Nancy and GrandDaddy). Another happy day for all!

Happy Birthday/Mother's Day!

Benjamin turned 1 year old today on Mother's day! We also celebrated Abby's birthday, who turns 7 on Tuesday. We had a very busy day today but it was so much fun. After church the whole family came over. GrandDaddy, Grandma Nancy, Grandpa, Grandmother & Russ, Uncle Abraham, Aunt Laura, and cousins Abigail & Andrew. David made his delicious meatballs and spaghetti for everyone while Benjamin enjoyed his "duck" cake prepared by Grandma Nancy. Nancy talked me into just giving Benjamin the ENTIRE cake and see what he would do. Surprisingly, he didn't do much. He just kind of poked at it. Not much mess. Since no one else ate off it I decided to help make a dent in it. I've already eaten 1/3 of the cake and it's only 8:30pm.

I counted how many pictures I took today. I started taking pictures from the moment he woke up this morning. Not including the video, I took 84 pictures. I just didn't want to miss ANYTHING! Here's some of them. Benjamin only slept 15 minutes in the church nursery today so he was extremely tired by bedtime. He went to bed early tonight - without any kind of fuss about it.

This is what happens when Daddy dresses the baby...

The pajama top has matching bottoms....these are not them, obviously. Too funny!

Good Day!

We had a great day today! First, today was the first day that I could just "show up" at the gym without making an appointment at the gym nursery. Benjamin passed his walking test yesterday so I'm free to come whenever I want! (If the child isn't walking yet you have to make an appointment). Second, Grandma Nancy stopped by for a short visit. I told Frederick she was on her way and he couldn't stop looking for her (yes, I said Frederick). She ended up being a little late so he gave up on her. She showed up when he wasn't looking. He was happy to see her (so was Benjamin). Thanks Grandma Nancy for stopping by. We always love to see you!

Finally, David, Benjamin, and I spent some time at a neighbor's house this evening. Ed & Gerry live just a few houses up from us. Benjamin got to spend some time in their swing and he really enjoyed it. It's nice to get to know some of our neighbors considering we've been living here for over 3 years.

Oh! One of the pictures below is Benjamin being a little hacker. Every time I try to work on my laptop he's all over me. Forget all of his colorful toys - he's all about the computer! He gets that from his daddy.

One Year Pictures!

Yesterday Benjamin had his one year pictures made. Here's one of my favorites!



We had a nice visit with my dad last night. It's so nice to have him back in town. Stupid me...I forgot to take pictures.

Grandpa is Back in Town!

Got a surprise call from my dad today that he is back in town from a 2 month hiatus to Rockport and Florida. Happy Day for All! The picture of Benjamin and Grandpa was when he was about 4 months old. We'll take some up-to-date pictures once Grandpa comes over on Tuesday for dinner. The other picture is of Benjamin today putting little hand prints all over my freshly wiped windows.

Uncle Eddie Vedder

David and I got great laugh out of this one today. While David was watching You Tube of a video by Pearl Jam, Benjamin walked up and saw the lead singer (Eddie Vedder) and he exclaimed "UNCLE!". Uncle Abraham and Eddie Vedder look nothing alike. Sorry Eddie. Abraham is much better looking. However, Abraham is learning the guitar so they have that in common!

Also, got a picture of Daddy giving some love to Benjamin right after his bath this evening (that is, Benjamin's bath, not David's....)

Walkie Talkie!

Now that Benjamin has gotten so good at walking he loves to take the phone and run off with it. Notice in several of the pictures all you see is the back of Benjamin running off with the phone in his hand.