Weekend Recap: Happy Memorial Day!

Although last week was long, this week has been zipping by!  I am so happy that tomorrow is already Friday!  I continue to have problems making enough room on my laptop for all of my pictures, and I literally spent the last hour deleting pictures off my computer to make room for new ones.  I do have an external hard drive, but for some reason I am afraid that it isn't going to save everything and my pictures are oh so precious to me!  I will have to figure something out though, and soon!

This past weekend was so beautiful!  I LOVE being able to spend time with my family.  It's the best thing ever.  We kicked off our weekend with a trip to the kite festival.  I had read that there was a 500 kite launch at noon, so we packed a picnic and headed out.  We were only a couple of minutes late, but we saw approximately 15 kites---not quite 500!  Ben was excited nonetheless and even better than the kites, some of his fan club, Grandpa and Uncle Joe, showed up as well.  We got to show Ben what a kite is, so I would still consider it a success.

There were plenty of grassy areas for Ben to run around, so he played catch with the boys and had an absolute blast.  It was hard to get him to stop playing to pose for a picture or two. :)

We also checked out some paddle boats after playing and walking along the lake.  It was Ben's first boat ride and as predicted, he loved it.  Well, he loved it for about 10 minutes (even though you have to rent the boats by the hour...)  We paddled around for a bit before it got too hot in the sun and we called it quits.

Although we thought Ben was going to be exhausted, he opted only to nap for about 15 minutes during the car ride home.  We grilled out at home and enjoyed the beautiful weather before it was time for an early bedtime for all.  Yes, Ben is still digging the 5:00 hour for waking up in the morning.  It's not that I mind getting a jump start on the day, but just once and awhile a few extra zzzzs would be nice.   ;)  We had so much time on Sunday morning, that Ben and I walked the 45 minute hike to Target while Andy did his long run.  As you can see, we've been into selfies lately.

Sunday was another gorgeous day weather wise, so we headed to the pool in the afternoon.  After the arctic winter we've had, I can hardly believe that it was what I would consider HOT outside and that pools are open!  (We even turned the air on at home it was so hot!)  We aren't exactly sure how Ben knew what swimming means, but as soon as he mentioned it, he was running around in his excited little way yelling, "POOL! SWIMMING!" over and over.  He was right--he loved the pool!  There was a big bucket of toys in the kiddie pool so he was in heaven.  He was so tired after a long afternoon of swimming that he didn't even put up a fuss when we left.

The sun made us all tired so Ben took a nice long nap before we went out to dinner.  Too tuckered and hot to cook!

Perhaps my favorite day of the weekend was Memorial Day itself.  I can't forget to mention how much I love the USA!  I am so thankful for all of the people who have made sacrifices for this country to make it what it is today.  I know Ben doesn't understand the real reason we celebrate Memorial Day, but he certainly did his part to show his appreciation.  After a super early bird breakfast at Panera, we set out blankets for the parade.  Ben LOVED the parade so much.  Well, he actually at first thought "parade" was "prayed" so he kept folding his hands whenever the parade was mentioned, but I think he figured it out.  It was the cutest thing ever.  He stood up, clapped, and waved his little flag for each and every car of vets that drove by.   He was a pro.

I have always loved the Memorial Day/ 4th of July parades, but I was having so much fun watching Ben get excited about everything that he saw.  From the cars, fire trucks, marching bands, and dogs, to the airplanes, horses,  bikes, and candy-throwing kids, Ben was loving life.  I was too.  I am not sure if I watched more the parade or more of Ben, but I was perfectly content.

We went to the parade with some of our friends, but more family (aka Ben's fan club) ended up joining us too.  I hope they had as much fun as we did!

The parade was over an hour long, but Ben didn't get bored once.  He did crash about 5 seconds after we left though, and then proceed to nap for 2.5 hours.  I think we all fell asleep for a bit. :)

We had big plans of heading to the Beer Garden later in the afternoon with our friends from the parade, but everyone was tired so we ended up making some homemade pizzas at home.  All in all, another weekend of perfection in the books.  So excited that the weekend begins again tomorrow.  Goodnight!

Weekend Recap: Safety & Party Time!

I'm late again but I am oh so happy that tomorrow is Friday!  It has felt like Friday since Tuesday, so it's about time that it actually is (almost) Friday!  And it's a 3-day weekend so that makes it even better.  And it is supposed to be beautiful.  Ahh!  SO excited!  I can't forget to mention last weekend though, because it was definitely a good one!  (Aren't they all?!)  After music class, we went to a safety fair.  Since safety is my middle name, I was all over this!  We fueled Ben with some fries and chocolate milk from Culver's--his favorite!  I'm pretty sure we all had an equal amount (a lot) of fun at the fair.   We got to watch firemen tear apart a car that had been in a(n) (pretend) accident.  They were literally cutting a car apart as people watched.  Of course that didn't seem very safe to me as pieces were cracking apart left and right, but it was still pretty cool to see how they get people out of cars after an accident.  Scary, but cool.

After the fair, we rested up before it was time for my friend Christine's 30th birthday party.  Again, we all had a ton of fun!  Christine and her hubby moved out of state last year, so we don't get to see them nearly as much as we'd like.  Ben had such a great time that he still says, "Party!  Fun!  Balls!" approximately every day, ten times per day.  Ben loves being around other kids and he was pretty much in heaven that he got to play with all sorts of balls outside for hours.  I was perfectly content catching up with my old college roomies--miss them!  Andy kept busy keeping an eye on Ben and chatting with the guys.  I'm wishing I would have gotten a picture of Andy with the guys because they were almost all college/NBA players and totally towered over our little family.  Such great people though!  :)  Thanks for a great party, Christine!  We hope you had a happy birthday!!

Andy had to catch an early flight on Sunday morning, so he was up by 4:00.  For some unfortunate reason, I was up at 3:30 and never fell back to sleep.  As per usual, Ben was up with the sun around 5:00, so it was an exhausting day right off the bat!  I'm sure I've said it before, but the house turns into a disaster when Andy is gone.  I don't consider myself a slob, but I was too tired to keep up with the mess on Sunday!  Thankfully, Grandpa came over so I could head to my Love and Logic class before heading to my mom's for a baby shower for my cousin's wife.  As always, my mom did a great job with everything at the shower!  Can't wait to meet that baby girl in about a month!

After the shower, I was beat, but of course Ben had taken a nearly 2 hour nap outside in his stroller, so he was ready to play!  I somehow managed to entertain him before we went to dinner with my mom, sister, and brother.  Too tired to cook, so it was off to our favorite restaurant!  Ben had fries.  Surprise!

Although my bed was SCREAMING my name, we made a quick Target/Trader Joe's stop since I realized we had zero food and Ben needed a lunch for his last day of school plus a gift for his teachers.  We came home and face-timed with daddy (for the 5th time that day??) before heading off to bed.  Poor Ben didn't quite understand where daddy was, but he sure missed him!  He would ask for daddy every morning and every night and every couple of hours in between.  He thought Andy was running.  Yep, running for 3 days straight! ;)

Monday was Ben's last day of school.  I am so very happy to report that he had a fantastic day!  He did not cry at all for the drop off, and was so excited to run in with the gifts for his teachers.  I snuck away from work in the afternoon to pick him up.  I love seeing him interact with the other kids!  He was sure to tell me everyone's name when I got there.  SO CUTE.  Since I never really get to talk to the teachers, it was great to get a little report on Ben.  I apologize for the bragging that I am about to do, but they could not say enough good things about him!  They are so happy he was in their class and they are just amazed by him.  They said his fine and gross motor skills are so advanced for his age and that he talks a lot better than kids who are much older than him.  They are so pleased with the progress he has made and they think he is a pretty special little guy.  I couldn't agree more!  I can't quite believe he is getting so big, but I am beyond proud of him.  He is such a tough little sweetie pie.  I love him SO much!!!

Weekend Recap: I Love Moms!

Happy Tuesday and Happy 20 Months, Ben!

I continue to be totally behind on my posts, but I'm going to at least partially blame this on the fact that I am having technology issue after technology issue lately.  Another part of the problem is that I have more photos than (my computer and) I know what to do with.  I'll have to continue working on these issues!

On to the weekend!  I heart weekends.  On Saturday we went to music class and Ben was feeling extra cool as he walked into class with his shades on.  It seems like he was feeling like he was invisible, but that was actually working against him because he got so much attention in his sunglasses.  Actually, that is probably what he was going for.  ;)  It must be terribly hard being a total stud.

After music class, I went shopping with my mom and Anna for the day, so it was a boys' day for Benji!  I definitely missed him, but he kept mighty busy without me.  He went to the park, fed the ducks with Papa John, learned how to swing a bat with his other Papa, went to Culver's, went shopping with daddy, and of course had plenty of time to play with his hoop.  He opted out of a nap (again!) on Saturday and was not crabby one single second!  Andy and I couldn't believe it!  Andy looked like he was overdue for a nap by the time I got home.  Ben looked like he was ready for another round of fun.

My mom, Anna, and I had a successful shopping trip at IKEA and at the outlet mall.  I bought Ben this cute little play bed, and he was quick to put Ernie right to sleep, complete with one of his own "nee-nees."  No sooner did I tell him how nice he was being did he steal his nuk back, throw Ernie to the floor, and hop in bed himself.  He has this sly little smile whenever he has his nuk when he isn't supposed to, and it is so hard not to laugh.  Stinker.

Luckily Ben went to sleep nicely because we had a very busy Mother's Day!  He was so excited to give his gifts!  Disclaimer: I did a terrible job taking pictures on Mother's Day.  I do not have any pictures with Ben and me, my mom, Andy's mom, Andy, or really of anyone else besides a few with great-grandma.  I am kind of sad about it because we have such amazing moms to celebrate!  Sigh.  However, this was the only bummer of our day because the rest of the day was PERFECTION.   Ben did a great job making art work for everyone, though of course I do not have any pictures of the final projects.  :)  Trust me when I say he worked very diligently on each and every gift.  I think his favorite masterpiece was the bird feeder he painted for Nana.

We started our day by going to Mass with my mom and Auntie Anna and Uncle Joe.  This was her Mother's Day request.  She is easy to please!  Andy and I had our parenting class that we didn't want to miss, so my mom took Ben to see my Nana, his great-Nana, with the rest of the family.  I know my mom loves Ben, but I felt a little bad that she was Benji-sitting him AGAIN on Mother's Day.  Just another one of the billions of reasons that she is the BEST MOM EVER.  The next stop was brunch at my cousins house.  As soon as Andy and I arrived, Ben ran up with a beautiful bouquet of dandelions and little purple flowers that he had picked with my mom.  He was so so so excited to give it to me and I was equally excited to receive the fistful of weeds amazing flowers.

After a delicious brunch, it was on to our next stop of the day, my Grandma's house for lunch.  Ben got to see his beloved cousins again and he was pretty much in heaven with all of the attention he was receiving.  I thankfully got a few pictures of Ben with Great Grandma right before we left.  He was being silly, but we still got some cute shots.

Finally, we topped off our day with Andy grilling out a fabulous meal.   I don't think I say it enough, but he is truly AMAZING.  I seriously cannot keep up with him and I am so blessed to be married to him.  Ben and I napped (on accident for me, but still) while Andy cleaned the house, prepared chicken, fish, and pork plus sides and appetizers galore, and made everything perfect before his parents arrived.  I also forgot to mention that Ben made me a beautiful picture at school and he and Andy gave me a gift certificate to receive a MONTHLY massage.  Perhaps the best thing was the homemade card that they made listing all of the things they love about me.  I could not love them both more than I do!  Thank you for a perfect day!

Weekend Recap: Animals & Belly Buttons!

I'm still behind on the 18 and 19 month posts plus I wanted to do a separate hospital post, but there are not enough hours in the day.   Not even close!  Not to mention, my laptop is completely full thanks to my tens of thousands of photos, so I had to do a little rearranging which has taken up a lot of my precious time.  :)  But anyway, on to the weekend!  It was a great one, mostly because Benji was happy, healthy, and pain-free!  I cannot believe he has done so well following his surgery.  The one prior to this was rough and it took him a good week to get back to his old self.  This time around, he was climbing on the window to get to the couch like a little monkey the day we got home from the hospital.  He is amazing.

I, on the other hand, have been so relieved to be done with his surgeries that I have just been exhausted.     It's like my lack of sleep and worry and adrenaline have caught up with me and I'm spent!  In fact, I'm so tired right now that I can't even remember what we did on Friday night, but I'm pretty sure whatever it was included an early bedtime.  Benji has been up with the early-to-rise sun these days, so we started Saturday morning with a trip to Panera before music class while Andy ran (and rocked) a 5k.  After this, we brought Benji in for a haircut.  They continue to be more traumatic with time, but thankfully it was a quick cut.  And as if looking like a total stud wasn't enough, Auntie Anna met up with us after the cut and bought Benji a chocolate-covered pretzel.

While we were in the neighborhood, we went with Auntie Anna to check out an apartment she was considering moving to.  It is teeny tiny but I'm sure she will make it super cute!  It is a great location that I know will be a ton of fun this summer.  Since we were in the neighborhood, we checked out my friend Sarah's new house too!  So, so, so excited that she will be so close.  Ben is excited too and couldn't help them unload quickly enough. :)  We visited with them before we went home and attempted to put Ben down for a nap.  When that didn't work, Uncle Joe and Grandpa came over and played with him for awhile.  This kid is SO loved.  Benji and daddy had a boys night on Saturday and I went to my cousin's dance recital.  Ben is in love with his cousin Emmy, so I didn't tell him where I was going.  ;)

Ben was up around 5:00 again on Sunday (ugh!) so we went to Panera (again) to start our day.   Andy and I had our Love and Logic parenting class again and then I went to a baby shower.  I was home a whole 5 minutes before Benji tapped into the onesie cookie I brought home.  

We had some time to kill before our BIG dinner plans, so we decided to head to the zoo since it was (FINALLY) a beautiful day.  It is hard to tell from these first couple of pictures, but Ben was mighty happy!

We kicked off our trip with a ride on the train.   Ben LOVES watching trains, so he was thrilled when he got to "choo-choo, on! on!"  He actually wanted to drive the train, but he was still content waving to "kids!" 

These trips to the zoo just get better and better because he can now tell us what animals he wants to see.  I am pretty sure he was traumatized from our goat trip a few weeks ago, because he was initially afraid to go in by the goats.  However, it wasn't long before he was picking and choosing which goats he wanted to feed and asking for more food.  He was so proud of himself and so was I.  :)

Feeding the goats, one little food pebble at a time.

Yet again, he proves that he is way more brave than his momma. 

He wasn't even afraid of the scary tiger that kept walking past him.  He just kept making his best lion noise.  Love him.

After an action-packed day at the zoo, it was time for dinner at my mom's.  I am pretty sure my brother was kidding when he asked when the belly button reveal party was, but my mom and sister ran with the idea, and before we knew it, there was a "belly button launch" party planned in honor of Ben.  In my mind, the main reason for celebrating is that he is DONE with his tummy surgeries, but having a belly button is pretty exciting too.  My mom slaved over another amazing meal and we had a full table of people who were excited to see Benji's button!  The steri strips were still in place, but you get the idea.  Look at how proud he is!  I am even more proud than that, but for different reasons. :)  The meal was complete with belly button cheese cakes!  What can't my mom do?!  The party was a huge success.  Thanks for everything, Nana!

Weekend Recap: Fun Before Surgery

I'm writing this post while we (not so) patiently wait for Ben to be out of surgery!  This seriously gets worse every time, but hopefully this will be the LAST time.  We had a fun weekend in preparation for the not as fun days we are anticipating this week.

The weather wasn't as warm as it could have been,  so we didn't get to hang out outside too much, but I wanted to try and avoid indoor locations that are on the germy side (the beloved children's museum.)  Thus, we went to the mall.  Hah!  I'm sure Ben loves the mall.  I had wanted to get Ben some sandals, and what do you know, they were totally on sale at the beginning of the season.  And we had a gift card so we paid, $1.11 for 2 pairs of sandals.  They weren't the light-up ones he was eyeing up, but cute nonetheless.

After the mall we went and grabbed a quick lunch.  Ben slept through lunch for the first time since he was a little baby.  

He did wake up in time for some frozen yogurt.  I had big expectations that he would LOVE it, but alas, he was more interested in the stickers and a scooter that a kid had brought into the store.   Oh, and the girl next to us who had a can of Pringles.  "Chips? Chips?"

Perhaps the highlight of Ben's day was hanging out with his BFF, Maddie.  I seriously think he has a crush on her.   Probably because they both share a love of slides. 

Although it was a whole 3 minute ride to the restaurant for dinner, it must have seemed longer to be Ben because he was saying, "Maddie!  Maddie! Maddie!" literally the whole time.  Unfortunately Ben didn't try to keep up with Maddie's eating, but he, along with the rest of us, were all smiles the whole meal. 

Sunday was supposed to be rainy, but it actually turned out to be kinda nice.  It was warm enough that we were able to play outside for a bit.  We were cleaning out the garage and Ben saw the bike carrier.  Although he hated this (well, the bike helmet) last year (see picture on the left), he was in heaven as I pulled him (on foot) around the driveway.  I'm sure it will be another story when he has to wear the helmet though.  (He cried big tears when it was time to get out of here.)

Ben is kind of in love with watching birds, so we bought another bird house for him.  Here's hoping that another non-bird animal doesn't take over.  

Daddy was doing a little painting on Sunday afternoon, and since monkey see, monkey do...

Ben and I went out and got him some water colors.  He was so excited and kept saying, "PAINT!" Love my little artist.

That's it for now!  We just talked to the surgeon and Ben did so well!  He has a belly button!  Can't wait to see that angel boy!

Weekend Recap: Easter!

It is Thursday night and I'm finally getting around to starting this post.  It was such a fantastic weekend that I know it will take me awhile to write it.  I think I am going to stick mostly to pictures, to see if that will make me more efficient.  Ben participated in SIX(!!!) egg hunts this holiday season.  Needless to say, he is a professional egg finder.

The first one was at the library where he has story time on Thursdays.  Unfortunately, I had to work, but daddy and both Nanas got to go, so I received plenty of pictures. :)  Note the picture of Ben chowing down on his goodies.

We kicked off our Saturday morning with an egg hunt at the park.  Daddy and Benj came with their game faces on.  (It was cold!)  There were a ton of kids there, but Ben kept up with the best of them.  ;)  There were even (indoor) kid activities after the hunt, so of course we had to wait in line for the guy making balloon animals.  He didn't even cry when it popped before we got to the car.  Note the picture of Ben chowing down on his goodies, again.

Ben snuck in a quick power nap before it was time for egg hunt #2 of the day.  Side note: he loves wearing leg warmers!   I love it too because it keeps him extra warm under his pants.  :)

We got a little more dressed up for the second egg hunt of the day.  Partly because Ben had chocolate all over his Ben the bunny shirt, but partly because it was a fancier affair.  This egg hunt was at the racquet club Nana and Papa John belong to and it included an awesome brunch.  Look at how nicely Benji cleans up.  Who am I kidding?  He looks cute no matter what!  I love his little poses as we waited in line.  

The egg hunt itself was a bit chaotic and since there were no limits on the number of eggs you could find, some kids got a ton of eggs and some kids got zero!  (I was mad at the moms who didn't make their kids share!)  Luckily Benji is an Easter egg finding master (and he had 4 adults looking out for him) so he was able to get a few eggs.  :)  Believe it or not, Ben was NOT afraid of that creepy Easter bunny.  He didn't seem so creepy in real life, but now that I'm looking at the pictures, I realized that he always looks like he is staring at Benji.  

After another power nap it was time for egg hunt #3.  

The third and final hunt of the day was at Andy's parents' house.  His big cousin/buddy was there, so Ben was all smiles.  J, on the other hand, was getting mad that Ben was finding more than him.  They both did pretty well in the end, and some of the eggs even had $$ inside.   Ben sure loves feeding his piggy bank!

Finding eggs did not get old for Ben, and watching him get so excited for each and every egg he found did not get old for me.  We also celebrated Easter with Andy's family on Saturday night.  It turned in to a beautiful day weather-wise, so we were able to hang out outside after dinner.  It was so nice!

On Sunday morning, the Easter bunny had hidden Ben's Easter basket.  We were going to look for it after mass, but he was magnetically drawn to it, so we did that first.  I don't have pictures of him looking at his basket because I was taking a video of all the sweetness.  Although it seems like all we care about is egg hunts, we did take time to acknowledge the real reason for Easter.  As usual, Ben was a complete angel during mass.  For timing reasons, we went to the church I went to growing up, and it brought back such happy memories.   It was the perfect way to start our day.  

After mass, we went to my mom's house for the next Easter celebration.  Although my mom had an awesome spread last Easter, she really outdid herself this year.  The food was seriously amazing, even Ben agreed.  

I'm mad at myself that I didn't take pictures of everyone that was there for Easter.  :(  Andy's parents plus my siblings and cousins were all there.  I heart my family.  Super Auntie Anna hid some more eggs for Ben to find, so he did just that!

We did manage to get a family photo, even though he doesn't look like the happiest little bunny in this picture.  

I am also bummed I didn't take more pictures at our final Easter celebration of the day.  We went to my cousins' house (my dad's side of the family) and Ben got to spend time with his buddy "Emmy!"  The girls hid more eggs for Ben and they entertained him for hours.  So sweet!  When Ben wasn't hanging with his cousins, he was entertaining great-grandma.  She gets such a kick out of him. 

As you can see, it was a jam-packed weekend, but it was absolutely perfect and I feel so blessed.  I just love my little family and my extended family so, so much.  They are seriously the BEST.