Where did our baby go? Part Three: Precious Moments

Yo again! Back with part three of this mini-series of posts. And I couldn't think of a better theme than "precious moments". Our lives are filled with so many nowadays that it's really hard to replicate in a few paragraphs or by posting a few pictures. They just don't do it justice. Digital cameras are so wonderful because you can take a hundred before you get one like the first one I'm posting here. Ben has been communicating more and more through his facial expressions and hand gestures. The big one right now is "surprise". Everything surprises him! He responds to almost everything by dropping his jaw and opening up his eyes really wide. It has to be one of the most adorable things I've ever seen. Anyway, in this picture you can just see the wonder in his eyes...something that never ceases to amaze me. Enjoy!

Who doesn't want to squeeze the mud outta this little guy?!

Riding his new pony that Grandma Breckenridge got him for his first birthday! Wheeee!

Another good one that came with several throwaways (yahoo for the digital age). This was taken during one of Ben's swimming lessons.

And here's Grandma Dale with Ben before that swimming lesson.

Here is our neighbor Caitlyn with Ben watching cartoons. She is soooo good with him and Ben completely adores her. Caitlyn has a baby bro coming very soon so Ben is takin' it all in while he can! She will be an incredible big sister.

Here's Ben on Easter morning right after finding his first Easter basket! The Easter Bunny brought him all kinds of goodies!

I'll be back with the final installment of this mini-series tomorrow. Just to give you a tease, the theme is "We're sooooo in trouble". You don't wanna miss that one!! ;)

Much love from the ghetto,
Jeff, Jenni and Ben

Where Did Our Baby Go? Part Two: The Great Outdoors

So here's part two of my little catch-up mini-series of posts. Since the weather has turned, we've been spending a lot of time outdoors. Ben loves to play in the yard and literally will grab hold of the door frame on the way back in to prevent us from taking him from his new playground. We like to take strolls around the neighborhood and have been giving his new wagon quite the workout. Yesterday, we took Ben on his first charity outing by doing the walk (or ride in a new wagon) for Cystic Fibrosis at Goodale Park. We enjoyed the day outside and played on the playground afterward and had lunch in the park. Anyway, everything pretty much rules with Ben around so check out the snapshots.

Here's Ben and Momma at a recent trip to Easton. This was supposed to be our date night for the month of April, but our sitter fell ill and we ended up taking the little monster with us. We had a blast and the weather was great!

Ben and Da-da in front of the fountain during out trip to Easton.

Enjoying the deck and the sun on a rare lazy weekend.

So I was cleaning out the garage a couple of weeks ago and we had this big box that our new patio furniture chairs came in. So I flipped it over and cut out a doorway and some windows and this little guy loves it. A little space just his size! This thing takes up way too much room that we don't have...oh, the sacrifices you make as a parent! ;)

Here's the little guy crawing out the doorway.

Just chillin' in his chair, looking out the window and watching the world go by!

Another post tomorrow. Enjoy!
Jeff, Jenni and Ben

Where did our baby go?

It's hard to believe that a year has passed since Ben came into our lives. So much has happened in such a short period of time.

It's been way too long since I've posted. My career sort of hit a growth spurt and I had to ride that wave. I'd been working a ton there for a while. And, I'm happy to say that it all paid off due to a promotion I got a few weeks back now. During that time, I was spending all of my time either working or with Ben and so the blog has taken a back seat for a while. But life is returning to normal and I promise to be more diligent about posting.

So in the meantime, I fully plan to make up for it. If you're seeing this post tonight or within the next few days, check back cuz we'll be posting more. I've looked through the pictures from the last two months and I've narrowed it down to a ton that I'll be posting.

Let's start with a birthday post. Ben turned 1 a couple of weeks ago now. We had an amazing birthday party with amazing weather. Ben's birthmom, Natalie, and her parents came. They came early and we were thinking that they might leave before most of the crowd arrived, but they didn't. They stayed nearly the whole time and we were so happy that they did. It will mean so much to Ben one day to know that they were here to celebrate with us. He slammed his cake, got spoiled and all of the other things you might expect at a kid's first birthday. Here's the proof!

Here's Ben chowin' down on his first birthday cake!

Here's Ben with cousin Andrew in his brand new wagon!

Oh the joy of opening a whole pile of presents just for you!

King for a day!

Here is Ben's birthday cake...prepared by mostly Jenni and Grandma Dale. I provided a little artistic support on the face, but they are the two that slaved over this catepillar for 7 hours!

Check back very soon!
Jeff, Jenni and Ben

03.01.09 - Post Two

One thing I forgot to talk about in the first post was something that happened just a couple of days ago. I was sitting on the floor next to Ben playing with some toys. Bailey, our Black Lab, came over and sat down next to me hoping for some lovin'. Without warning, Ben reached out, patted Bailey on her side and said "Good Girl". Well, ok, it sounds more like "Gud Grrr", but it's definitely what he's saying. I'm guessing he's probably heard us say that to the dog about a million times in the past 10 1/2 months. This is so cool cuz it's the first phrase he has said that wasn't the same syllable just repeated like "Da-da" or "Ma-ma". He's extremely proud of himself and now likes to say it just about anytime he sees Bailey.

More pictures!

First day of swimming lessons! We all had a blast!

Ben takin' a stroll with his shopping cart.

Standing around just because he can!

Ben loves playing guitar with Daddy. I try to get it out at least once a day for him because he gets so happy. He knows how to pluck the strings with his fingers and how to play the strings with a pick. Guitar Hero in the making?

This kid has ornery written all over him! Here he is getting into his toy box.

Climbing up the stairs...the kid loves to climb. He is all boy.

Til next time!
Jeff, Jenni and Ben

03.01.09 - Post One

Hey, everyone! It's been a while so I thought I'd put up two posts...plus, we have so many pictures and so much to talk about that one post just wasn't realistic!

Ben is really turning into a little man. It's so much fun to watch him develop likes and dislikes and even more fun to watch him react to them. He's walking around like crazy right now and extremely proud of himself! He squeals with delight as he strolls across the floor and then claps for himself when he finally does go down. We also took Ben to his first swimming lesson just yesterday. He loved it! He was, by far, the happiest, most outgoing baby in the class! Many of the other babies just sort of hung out and watched Ben cuz he was sooooo entertaining.

Anyway, lots to say but pictures say it best. So, without further ado...

Bathroom fun! Ben gets pretty excited when one of us is taking a bath or a shower. He is also fascinated with the potty!

Ehhh, what's up doc?

Ben has this little pose thing that he does sometimes for pictures...leaning to the side. Very senior picture-esque. He definitely knows how to ham it up!

Daddy with Ben and cousin Morgan!

Ben and cousin Morgan at Grandma's house for Christmas.

Here we have Ben listening to some sage advice from Uncle Paul...oh man, we're in trouble!

Don't forget to check post #2!
Jeff, Jenni and Ben

Post #2: Milestones

It seems when Ben reached 9 months of age that he really started to develop at a rapid pace. He's mimicking us a lot more now which is incredibly fun...but also means we have to watch ourselves more than ever! I can't even begin to explain what a fun ride this has been. As I mentioned before, "Da-da" was his first word. He's also saying "Ba-ba", "Ma-ma", and just a few days ago, "Ball". He's really starting to sound out a lot of new words...even if they're not real words. He also now has 8 teeth and uses them quite a lot! He has become so fast at crawling that we can barely keep up with him. As you'll see in the pictures below, he's trying to walk, albeit, not very successfully yet. His childhood seems like it's just flying by. I can't slow it down...all I can do is try to enjoy every second and not miss a thing. I want to make sure that when he's grown, I can look back and say that I spent as much time with him as I could and that I taught him everything I know.

Here he is getting brave. He pulled himself up on the couch and as luck would have it, I was able to snap a photo just as he was letting go and trying to stand on his own. This is one thing that he is very focused on right now. He's constantly trying to maintain balance on his own two feet.

Case in point. Here he is making his way over to his Leapfrog table (with a little help) which you can see in the bottom left of this picture.

I mentioned in my previous post about Christmas that Ben's favorite toy is his football. Here is a picture of him throwing it with me. He absolutely loves to play football and will clap for himself and "give me 5" after everytime he throws it. He's not throwing a tight spiral or anything, but we're working on that! ;)

Here's a great picture of Ben and Mommy. We are all so happy!

Here's another great picture of Ben and Grandpa Breckenridge.

Bathtime...probably one of his favorite times. He loves the bubbles and giggles and claps if we pick some up and blow them at him. He loves playing with his bath toys and splashing around. He's started this new thing where he likes to stand up and fall down on his butt. It makes a big splash and he thinks it's incredibly funny! He's right. It's amazing how good it feels to hear his laugh.

Til next time,
Jeff, Jenni and Ben

Ben's First Christmas!

I have to admit that I wasn't quite sure what to expect with Christmas this year. Ben was only 8 months old, so despite the fact that I had waited a long time for this, I just knew that I had to temper my expectations. "He's too young to understand" is what they all told me. Maybe so, but he squealed with delight with every gift he opened and seemed to have the time of his short life. I'll let the pics do the talking!

Here's Ben cheesin' in front of our tree. Ho ho ho!!

It was fun to watch him get excited about his new toys! Here he's opening his new shopping cart which helps with the whole walking thing.

Here our boy is riding his new Tonka truck!

I enjoyed this immensely. This is Ben and me on Christmas morning opening up one of the toys from Santa.

Ben and Mommy opening up even more presents!

Ok, so Mommy thought Santa was nuts for bringing an 8-month old a football. Turns out it was, by far, his favorite present. Looks like we might have a little football player on our hands.

Much love!
Jeff, Jenni and Ben