Christmas 2009

This year was a wake up call that we dont have a baby anymore. Ben got more BIG trucks and toys that it looks like a toy store in our house now. We hosted Christmas at our house this year and had fun doing it. Family came over and enjoyed a great meal. Reagan and Benjamin couldnt wait to open presents.

Santa was very good to Ben this year and was a big hit. This was the first year that he really noticed things like Santa eating all his treats, decorations and of course our newest friend Duncan the Elf.

On Christmas Eve we got ready for Santa by making Rice Krispie holiday houses. Ben decorated his by just dumping all the candy onto his and really didnt want to participate and just wanted to eat all the gum drops which he did.

Mommy's House

Daddy's House

Benjamin's House

Happy 3rd Birthday Benjamin

I can not believe my little peanut is 3 years old. He has done a ton of growing up this past year. He learned to talk our ears off, his ABC's, counting, colors and plays more like a big boy. His biggest accomplishment is potty training. When I look at him I dont see a baby anymore but a little boy. He loves to give mommy and daddy hugs and kisses and every morning tells me "Good morning mommy." Ben moved into a very big boy bed this year and got rid of his paci.

Nana and Pa drove all the way from Indiana during a true blizzard to be with us for his birthday. Ben didnt need any warming up time this visit he ran right up and hugged them. He made them read books, play with all his toys and never let them sit down for long.

Due to the blizzard we could only get a few family members over for his party. We had a great time and Ben got some wonderful presents from everyone. Of course his love for Disney's Cars hasnt weakened any so this years theme was Cars. We were suppose to have a kid party the next day however again due to the weather we had to postpone it. Over all Benjamin had a great 3rd birthday. We have great family and friends that never let Ben's birthday get lost being so close to Christmas.

3 year doctor appt

Today we went for Ben's 3 year appointment. As expected he is in the 90% for height and has bumped up to 90% in weight as well. Last year he was only 50% for weight.

Stats:

Height: 39 1/4 inches
Weight: 33 1/2 pounds
Head: good size
Blood work: good iron

Benjamin actually got to pee-pee in a cup for his first time. He did great and everything is fine.

Potty Time!!!!!

Last Monday I started potty training Benjamin. He has done awesome and only had a couple of accidents the first couple of days. He is a pro now at going to the potty and LOVES to get a sucker after each trip. I bought Dum-Dum suckers, Spongebob gummy crabypattys, M&M's and mini tootsie roll pops and mini candy canes. It is all in a big jar for when he goes.....well of course all he wants is a "Big sucker" (Dum-Dum) each time.

The first day he filled up his potty chart (which only had 5 spots) and is almost done filling up the big potty chart. When we does this he gets a big tow truck. Ben is super excited and so is daddy. We are so proud of Ben for becoming such a big boy.

Christmas Cards

This year with everything going on our Christmas Cards will be sent out late. Usually I already have them mailed out but we didnt get out family portrait done. I am waiting until I get Ben's birthday portraits done next week.

We have enjoyed the cards we have already received and can not wait to see more. Happy Holidays.

Goodnight Moon

It seems if you have a child you own the book Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. This is Benjamin's favorite book thus far. I read it to him every night. We recently misplaced the book and yet I have read it so many times I can still "read" it to him. Ben even likes to read it to me. If you do not have this book then please get it. Your child will love it.

Elf on the Shelf

If you have never heard of Elf on the Shelf it is awesome. I first heard of this from my friend Jill when she got it for her oldest son. The Elf sits somewhere in your house and at night goes up to the North Pole to tell Santa whether or not the little boy or girl was Nice or Naughty. Nana and Pa got this for Ben so we could start our tradition.

Our elf has shown up in our kitchen, the ledge on our staircase and this morning up in our lighting fixture. Benjamin loves to find him every morning. Before he goes to bed I manage to take the Elf and hide him so Ben thinks he has already left for Santa.

This morning I just asked Ben what the Elf's name is and he told me..........Duncan. I have NO idea where in the world he got that name from but hey it works and I will call him that every year. So far Ben tries to be good and understands but I think he wont fully understand until next year.

The Elf comes with a book to read the little ones about what he does and why he is there. This has been a great new tradition in our family and wanted to share it with everyone else. Stay tuned to where Duncan goes next.

First Snow of the Season

Today we got a BIG surprise and got a ton of snow. We knew that the weather people were calling for a couple of inches but like always they sure were wrong. The day started off with some rain and by 9:00am we had huge snow flakes. It was awesome to watch everything get coated with the white stuff. Benjamin was very excited and wanted to go outside right away to play in the snow. I told him to wait until after his nap so that there would be more snow to actually play with.

Ben all dressed for snow

Our snowman
After Ben got up from his nap we all got dressed up nice and warm and went outside to play. It was very very cold out and since Ben is still getting over his cold we didnt stay out there long. We did manage to build a very sad looking snowman but hey it's Virginia for pete sake. I'm sure with the temperatures tomorrow the snow will be long gone by lunch but at least we can say we got snow this winter.

Ben wanting to build a snowman

The backyard

Thanksgiving

We always host Thanksgiving and because Ben was sick this year was no exception. Jeremy made the perfect bird again as he does every year. We had all the fixing's of mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, rolls and of course turkey. We had Jeremy's parents over as well as his brother Brian. We ate until we were stuffed then sat around and talked. It was a great holiday over all.

We hope everyone had a great start to their holiday season as well.

Cold cold go away

My poor Benjamin has had a cold for 10 days and counting. While he is better today he still has a cough that does not sound so good. His face on the other hand needs some major TLC. He has wiped his face raw and poor boy wont eat because he is afraid of opening his mouth. The cheek and lips are chapped.

Let's hope this is the worst cold he gets.

Hair today GONE tomorrow

I have always wanted to do Locks of Love and chop my hair. If you have know me most of my life I have always had some sort of long hair. I decided to take the plunge and get a "big girl haircut" as my mom likes to say. I went so a salon that has done this before.......this was after calling several salons that have never done it and I was NOT comfortable with that.

I was super excited to get this done and have a huge change in my life. As a scrapbooker I had to take my camera and take pictures of the before, during and after.


There was a lot of hair that came off my head but in the end I am loving the new do. Cant wait to show it off.

Singing Songs

I have been getting seranaded lately by a little boy in my house. He likes to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, ABC's, our clean up song and his own song. Ben likes to turn anything into a microphone and sing away or just sing "yeah yeah yeah". It is the cutest to hear him sing.

Come one Come all

We would love to see more family and friends come visit us. Washington DC is a great place to visit for any age as there is plenty to see and do. The Zoo is great, the Smithsonian's are fun for all and it is just great to walk around and see all the historic buildings like the White House, Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.

We live to close to DC that I can meet up with anyone at anytime. Virginia is also equally fun to visit. We have Virginia Beach which is not too far away from me either. There is Mt Vernon where George Washington had his home along with other areas of Northern Virginia which are historic in their own right.

This has been a message from your vacation broadcast. This message will self destruct in 1.8 minutes. Thank you.

Indiana bound

After waiting and waiting Jeremy finally got a response for his vacation request. We will be coming to Indiana the week of Thanksgiving this year. This is our only trip out there this year so I have to make the most of it.

I plan on making a trip to Indianapolis on that Tuesday the 24th. I am also going to stop in Fort Wayne on that Monday to see my brother, his family and a couple of friends. I wish I could see everyone but with the holiday my time is limited. Sorry to those I wont get to see.

Shutterfly is updated

Please note that I have updated our picture website at Shutterfly. Please click on the link listed on the right side of this blog to check them out. Thanks in advance and hope to get more up there soon.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween.

Trick or Treat

Today I got to get my money's worth out of Ben's Halloween costume. If you are like me you will have your child wear it everyday they can. We went to Wegman's grocery store today to go Trick or Treat. It was fun and great for the little ones to parade through the store. We meet up with a few other moms/kids from my moms group.

Then tonight we have our annual Trunk-or-Treat for my moms group. Everyone loved Ben's doctor costume. He liked wearing it too. His best gal pal Naomi went to both as well so they held hands as they walked around together. She was dressed up like a leopard however with all the feathers her mom said she looks like a bird. Either way she is too darn cute. We cant wait until Halloween to go house to house.

Anything you can do, I can do better

Benjamin is at the age where whatever we say or do he is our shadow. This is cute sometimes and not so good at other times. If I get hurt sitting or stepping on his toys he gets his Boo-Boo-Buddy and uses it on himself instead of letting mommy use it.

If I sneeze next thing I hear is Ben sneezing (and let me tell you his act of sneezing is VERY realistic).

Fall is Here

I love fall around here in Virginia. With the mountains all around the colors are brilliant and gorgeous. There are also tons of festivals to visit and enjoy. Ben and I have already gone to two and have at least two more on our list. This year has been really fun with him as he runs and plays in the hay and corn.

Of course Ben's favorite of all is the goats at Cox Farms. You can go in and run around with all the baby goats. He hugged one twice and then asked me if he could give it a kiss. I told him no we dont kiss goats just hug them. Each year I find more and more reasons why I love fall. Now we just have to start decorating all the pumpkins we get at each farm.