Those Darn Shoes

These photos look like pictures of Ben following a round of shots at the doctor's office, but they're actually just pictures of Ben following my putting shoes on him. He can't stand shoes. I decided that if he's going to be cruising everywhere, he needs shoes (at least in public). You would have thought he was being tortured. Love his heart.

Big tears

Aren't we pitiful?

Ben's Doings

Ben's Favorite things:

• Jack
• Crawling and cruising
• being read to
• Kix cereal
• making raspberries
• pulling mama's hair
• going to the gym
• cruising around the crib before naps

Ben dislikes:

• when his bottle is empty
• when he's done in the highchair
• when he's picked up from playing and he's not ready
• frustration from not being able to reach something
• when he's woke up out of a deep sleep.

What Ben can say:

• "da-da"
• "mba-mba" (is mama)
• "aaaa" (that is Jack)
• "Hhhiiieee" (is hi, but he's got a country mother, so one syllable words are easily turned into two syllables).
• "bye-bye-bye"

Home Sweet Home

Last Wednesday through Sunday, I had a much, much-needed mommy break! I had a flight to go visit my sister in VA, and due to the monumental snow they received, I ended up driving to Lexington instead. I stayed at my moms for some R & R and it was, hands down, the most needed break of my life, to date.

I crocheted with my mom, ate too much, took a nap when I wanted, ate what I wanted, went out with some friends, slept without the baby monitor, went shopping, painted my nails (which made me feel so human). When I came home Sunday, I literally felt like a new person. My skin was glowing, I felt such a sense of restfullness and contentment. If any frazzled mom does anything for themselves, it should be this; it doesn't take alot of money, just a wonderful husband. Here are some pictures from when I returned:


Ben was officially crawling upon my return and cruising around furniture so much better than when I left. Unfortunately, he was also pretty sick when I returned.
I bought Jack a spiderman umbrella and new superhero underwear for Valentines Day. The umbrella goes to bed with him and he must watch tv with it, too ("to block the bright light in my eyes").
Even when he accidentally pokes himself, he carries on because the umbrella is just too important.

Ben is sort of favoring Sam now, which I will soon turn around, I know:))

...And just when I had pretty much convinced myself that I would come home to a disaster area with yellow tape roping off the house, I was completely surprised to find beds made, laundry completely done and put away, the carpets vacuumed and a gourmet dinner ready-to-be-made. Although the break was the best thing I could have done for myself and my family, it is wonderful to be home. I'm so blessed (and renewed, revived, rested). Thank you, Sam! You are the most wonderful husband and father.

New Toy = Busy-busy

When Jack was 1-year-old, we bought him this Learning Home and it's been in storage for a long time. While I was in Lexington, I brought it back with me for Ben. He has been soooooo busy playing and discovering. He's officially crawling and pulling up and cruising so it's just perfect for him right now. Jack is enjoying playing, too, but these pictures are while Jack was at school. Ben had it all to himself without bossy brother dictating his every move. Even though Ben is super-sick, he's still having a blast with it.

Tiny Dancer

Ben's piano and dancing debut:

More of Worn-out Ben

There's just something about Ben at night. He's so busy practicing crawling and rolling around, he just wears himself out. Here he is watching his Baby Einstein video tonight. He got tired and took a rest. He's still watching, just resting in the process. He's so precious.

Ben was tired last night!

Ben was watching Baby Einstein and I was reading to Jack last night. I looked up and this is what Ben was doing. He's been practicing standing and clearly he just got tired. I'm soooo glad we got the camera in time.

He Kills me.

Keightley gives Ben some Lovin'

Aunt Neen took off Ben's sleeper (can't remember why), but he was cooling off in Memom's living room. Keightley decided to come down to his level and visit. For those who don't know, Keightley is Jennifer's big white dog (Goldendoodle). Here are some pictures of Keightley giving Ben some lovin' and a little "bath".

If I could just. . . .
kissing the hand...
Oh, you know we can't have Ben on the blog without a mouth-open picture.

A little head-lickin'. . .

A little face-licking. . .

Keightley is a Keightley. . .

What's this I have?

Poor Janeen had Ben all over her (notice the slobber on her shoulder).

Lauren's Babies: Minnie and Daisy

Lauren got two guinea pigs for Christmas and she named them Minnie and Daisy. Of course they could not be left alone in Virginia, so they traveled to Memom's house for the weekend. Jack was very interested in the girls, but once he felt the little claws on his neck, he would quickly be done with his "visit". They are so cute and they just love their mama, Lauren.


Madison is going to be so thrilled that I added this in. She didn't want her picture taken and was trying to hide. Sorry Madison.


Lauren and Jack in their pj's holding the girls.



Jack has Daisy and Lauren has Minnie.

They're such little snugglers.

Yeah, it was the first time he held them, so I took alot of pictures.

Ben and Uncle Mike Meet!

It's hard to believe that I haven't seen Mike since Thanksgiving of 2007. I'm sure it's that little fact that he was deployed for 13 months and lives 13 hours away from us. So, my entire pregnancy, Ben's birth and first 10 months of Ben's life were absent of Mike's presence. Our trip to Kentucky last week ended the two-year void:)

You can see Ben's excitement here...
okay, getting excited here

still exciting . . . Uncle Mike!

Ben's little girlfriend

My friend and neighbor, Laura, had a baby 10 days after I had Ben. Her name is Samantha. While Josh and Jack played upstairs, Ben and Sam got to know each other. She is a fast crawler and Ben really enjoyed watching her move around. They shared (for the most part) and smiled alot at each other. Here is their "playdate".

Jack wearing Sam's hat.

Sam didn't want to leave Ben out of the picture-taking, so here's one of Ben, too (as if).