Escape artist

Here is a shot of my little escape artist. Every time the door to the garage is opened, Ben is on the move. He strongly believes there is something exciting out there. The other day Ben pushed his chair over to the door, climbed up and started pulling on the door handle. Note to self: keep baby-proofing.

Snowboarding

Ginger in the red, Melinda in the white and Jeff behind the camera.

Tech savvy

Kids these days! They are so in the know and can probably google, text, and Tweet faster than their parents...if their parents know what those things are. Ben is no different. Here he is checking his latest text messages before dinner.

Ben, didn't you know it is rude to take a call at the dinner table?

Ohh, this is serious.

Do you mind, this is personal.

By the way...Ben has lost an entire pound in 4 days as a result of a wretched ear infection/antibiotic/revolt situation. My little man is looking a little thin. How come I can't ever get on that diet plan?

Quote of the day

"Ma-ffy, arf arf"
-Ben

Translation: Murphy, woof woof.

11 months

Ben is 11 months old today! Can you believe that he is almost a year old?? This year has really flown by. Let's see...this past month Ben has had his first ear infection, which was followed by his first double ear infection. Not fun milestones to say the least. He also said a new word yesterday, which is "ball." Ben continues to make us smile every day and is trying to walk. He stands independently and pushes around everything he can, climbs on everything, and cruises all over the place. My little one is getting so big.

Another thing to celebrate today is Ridley's 7th birthday! Happy birthday you big furball.

A new cousin!

Please welcome Marion "Maggie" Cipriani to the world! Kady gave birth to a baby girl yesterday at 5:30 pm. She weighs 9 pounds and is 20.5 inches long. We can't wait to meet you Maggie!

Balloon Boy!

No, Ben did not take off in a homemade flying saucer today, but I would have been willing to send him up in one. He has a double ear infection and has been a miserable little boy for a few days- with reason! Today we went to the Dr after fever day 3 and got the diagnosis. He got a shot of antibiotics, which I highly recommend. He is a new baby this afternoon. Of course, he is also on 2 brands of pain killers, but it's a serious improvement. He loves balloons too, which were a wonderful distraction from the misery the past few days. Today he felt good enough to smile and play and even pop one balloon. Thank goodness for modern medicine and for cheap balloons.

Multi-tasking

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!!

It seems that 80% of the people I know have a birthday today, but there is none more important than that of my husband, Jeff. Happy 33rd birthday Jeff! It's been a busy week, but we did manage to squeeze in a family party this afternoon. Audrey and I made a cake for Daddy and she decorated it with her own personal flair; taste testing along the way, of course. The end result: a super delicious red velvet cake that made everyone smile. There were a lot of fun pictures, so I will include almost all of them. I hope you had a wonderful day Jeff, we love you sooo much!

Party hats are a must! Ben tried to eat one, and they seemed to taste ok too.

Happy birthday, Daddy!

Stoic Ridley, confused Murphy.

Ridley, you better get used to this because your birthday is in 3 days.

Over it.

It's my Daddy's birthday!!!

One of my new all time favorite pictures.

Are you really going to light all those candles, Mommy?

Happy birthday to youououou!

Make a wish, and turn off the smoke alarm!

Quote of the day

"Meow, meow, meow, that's like cat for woof, woof, woof."
-Audrey

Bouncing Baby Ben. Literally

I knew the trampoline was a good purchase. I mean, Santa did a great job in providing us with this dynamite trampoline. Audrey launches herself to the moon on it on a regular basis and Ben has recently taken to it as well. The little man loves to jump! Whether it is in the jumperoo, standing against anything, and now especially on the trampoline. He can crawl up on it himself and grab the handles. Then it's GO time!

Clothing optional.

This is some serious fun.
Tastes great too!
Little Man is getting his front 4 teeth, so everything is a chew toy again. The "fangs" are through and we are waiting on the front teeth.

And there's the triple lutz!

More skating.

Future Olympic Champion

Here is the pre-lesson picture. Can you tell that she is excited?? If you look closely you can see that she decorated her hair for the occasion; every barrette and clippy in town was on her head.






The first ice skating lesson - a free 15 minute session. I think she did awesome! She was soooo excited to go.

Quote of the day

"Mommy, we have lots of Eiffel Towers around here. Only I think they are all really cell phone towers."
-Audrey

The sweetest thing

What's the sweetest thing my littlest valentine could learn to do on Valentine's Day??
Blow kisses. I just had to share.

A snowy Valentine's Baptism

What a weekend! It snowed AGAIN! This is the 3rd weekend in a row that it has snowed here. I'm beginning to miss FL, but it snowed there this weekend too. We all had a wonderful time this weekend and lots to celebrate. We played in the snow, but also enjoyed Valentine's Day with lots of family, and most importantly, celebrated Ben's Baptism. Ben was Baptized this Sunday morning and was surrounded by his grandparents and close friends. He did great of course, and was a picture perfect Baptismal baby. Big sister represented well too and was very proud and excited for her brother. We all had a wonderful brunch afterward and are so grateful for the love we are surrounded with.

The happy Houses.

The whole gang.
Entertaining the congregation before the service started.
Audrey painstakingly picked out this outfit for the occasion.
Yaya and Pop beaming with pride.
Audrey and William being silly together.
Audrey is really getting good at this snowman building thing.
Ben enjoyed the snow as well.
Grandma, Papa, and a squishy faced Ben.

Busy Body

Ben is at that age....The one where he destroys everything in his path, it too young to understand discipline, too cute to say no to anyway, and generally in to everything.

When will Mommy learn that I love the dog bowl!!! It is full of water and tons of fun!

Sippy cup ahoy!

Ben pushes this chair around the kitchen like he would push a "walker. " Here he is investigating Audrey's lunch box/Tupperware cabinet.

First time at the Chick-Fil-A play area. He had a ball! Ben and I shared a yogurt parfait and Audrey had her standard issue 4 pack.
Wooo, the "new" play areas are so much better for the little ones.

Check it out!

I have a new blog! No, no, it is not replacing this one, but adding to my blogginess?? I have started a blog to keep you up to date about my Team in Training progress. Please take a look, and if you can, please donate anything at all. Shake out those couch cushions, take the change off the drier, or whip out the credit card. Either way, you will be helping the 50,000 people who will be diagnosed with leukemia or lymphoma this year.

http://gingerruns.blogspot.com/

Assume the position

Ahhh, the joys of having a 10 month old, and an almost 2 year old (Murphy). Ridley has been through this before....kid throws food, I eat food from floor, eventually get in trouble. Maybe the grown ups are a little more slack this time and tired of sweeping the floor. Either way, Murphy is reaping the benefits of Ben and his meal times. Sure, Ben drops food by accident, but he has recently taken to throwing food specifically for Murphy. If Murphy is outside and does not immediately appear, Ben gets angry. He drops another "puff" and cranes his head almost under the highchair to figure out where the furry wonder is. My "favorite" trick....spitting food on the floor when the finger foods are gone- just to watch Murphy scramble to lap it up. This cracks Ben up. Ahh...this age is priceless. Well, maybe the cost of a box of Swiffer pads, but more or less, it is priceless.

Second Kid Syndrome

Ben gets lots of love, attention, and the added bonus of entertainment from his sister, and count 'em t-w-o- dogs! However, there are things that I did with Audrey that I just can't remember to do with Ben, or just don't have time for. She had play dates every single week from the time she was 3 weeks old. Ben has had 3 play dates in 10 months. I am not alone in this syndrome though, and the 3 play dates he has had are with moms who have 2nd children. Don't even talk to me about the Duggars; I'm just NOT that woman. Anyway.....this gets me (in a round about sort of way) to the original reason for this post. I was getting Ben ready for bed and reading him some books when he started crawling on this lovely chair (lovingly made by my Mama and a copy of one my Grandpa made for me) when it dawned on me that I spent about an hour in the yard in Greensboro trying to have my own photo shoot with Audrey and Ridley on her 9 month birthday with this chair. I loved the red chair with my name painted on it that my grandfather Andersen made for me, and was so proud of the duplicate Mom made for Audrey. So, I guess I should be doing the same things with Ben that I did with Audrey, but clearly that theory went out the window a while ago. So (after much rambling) here we have pictures of Ben at 10 months in "the" chair. Yes, it is a last minute, before bed, kind of thing, but it's still the chair. Why am I writing such a long blog about this "chair" when I normally shun wordy blogging? I guess because I loved the one I had so much, used it every day until I guess I was too fat as a preteen and broke it, and now Audrey and Ben have one just like it. I am not sentimental about everything, but a few things. I guess I'll have to write a rambling blog about the play kitchen by Grandpa made for me too that I still have. Ok, so after much adieu, here are the pictures.

Caption contest!

It is no secret. Audrey loves her some Bailey Cat, and she loves to take pictures too. Bailey Cat has developed a love-hate relationship with Audrey since she has gotten older and more aggressive with her "love" toward Bailey. Audrey told me she "posed" Bailey for the pictures....Here are some pictures of Miss Bailey's photo shoot.

What is Bailey thinking right now??

Outtake.