Christmas Cookies :-)

Well, a help he was not, but he sure did enjoy the process!!  Christmas is fun huh Benjamin??

 yeah, I'm pretty sure he's enjoying himself!!

Wow, 3 blog posts in one day?  That's gotta be a record.

Oh yeah, I'm kinda hoping my niece Mandy Grace Larmore arrives tonight....she's a few days over due.  Come on already precious girl, we're ready to see your face!!

More mobile by the day!

Benjamin has decided that he DOES like his walker....and thinks he's pretty big stuff as he learns to "walk" all around the house. 

Hee hee, isn't he cute!  Makes me a proud mama to watch him learn....parenting is soooo much fun :-)

Catching up on last week!

Okay, so I've been a slacker blogger and haven't posted in awhile.  But we've been busy so here's what we've been up to!

Tuesday:  Ran a few errands, including Benjamin's favorite Costco, with my friend Kristen and her kiddos!

Wrapped up all of our Christmas presents!  Had some Mommy/Son playtime :-)

 Hey Mom, I'm really going to love this backyard in the spring aren't I??

I know I'm cute, but is everything I do cause for a picture?  Yes, sweetie, it is.

Wednesday:  Ran errands with the little guy including the post office (hardly no wait which was AWESOME!) and in the evening I took Benjamin to an ornament exchange party with 4 girls from the accounting department at the company I used to work for.  I haven't seen them in a year and they hadn't met Benjamin so it was really fun for them to meet and catch up with their lives over taco salad and apple pie!

Thursday:  I cleaned house and finally decorated our tree.  We had put the lights on and a few of Benjamin's ornaments but I wanted to "finish the job".  I love it!  I had worship team in the evening so Ben hung out with his Daddy.  He loves the Praise Baby DVD's and must really worship with the songs on them.....

After I got home from worship team and Benjamin was asleep, we cozied up by the fireplace with the Christmas lights on to watch "It's a Wonderful Life" and drink sparkling cider.  Love movie nights with the hubby.

Friday:  Peter had the day off because of a required furlough day so it was super nice to have him home!  We made pancakes for breakfast and enjoyed a lazy morning.  While Benjamin napped Peter went to the lumber store to get some supplies for our built in bookcase.  I made a few batches of various cookie doughs and we just enjoyed the day together.  In the evening I was in charge of the Christmas Party for our girls group at church.  We had pizza and appetizers, played a Christmas Carol sing-off game, I shared a devotional, we decorated individual gingerbread houses, and had a white elephant gift exchange.  I was pooped at the end of the night but it was really fun!

Saturday:  Another lazy morning which was nice.  Peter took Benjamin to Home Depot with him while I made red velvet cake balls, sugar cookies, buckeyes, coconut balls and prepped for dinner that night.  Later on while Benjamin napped, I went out and bought a few stocking stuffers while Peter drew out plans for the bookshelf.  I came home and made a chicken enchilada ring for dinner which was soooo good.

Unfortunately at dinner time we had our first battle of the wills with Benjamin.

This is his sweet face afterwards, but Benjamin REFUSED to eat anything for dinner.  He had it in his head that he gets to eat string cheese or graham crackers instead of other foods.  We knew he'd like the chicken/cheese enchilada dinner but he wouldn't take a bite.  And wouldn't eat any other parts of his dinner either.  We realized that he was hungry but was "testing" us to see if we'd give in and give him what he wanted.  So we tried to hold our ground and for nearly 40 minutes he screamed and cried (real tears!) and arched his back.  He was mad.  We calmly kept asking him to take a bite and he refused.  So he screamed some more and we tried again, and again, and again until FINALLY he took a bite.

Then he proceeded to eat the rest of the chicken (like we knew he would!) and ate the rest of his fruit and vegetables too.  STINKER.  It was sooooo hard to not give in when his cries were so pitiful but we knew it was what was best for him.  I have a feeling I'll be saying a lot of prayers for patience and wisdom as we learn how to shape our son into a boy who obeys his parents (and ultimately obeys the Lord.)

After he ate we were all hugs and smiles and life was great again!  Here's a few pictures of our precious boy under our Christmas tree.  He is definitely our FAVORITE gift this year.

 he looooves this rocker

 I adore this sweet face

 such a goof

 a smile to melt a mama's heart

a smile full of 3 (almost 4!) teefers!

Sunday:  Benjamin ate cheerios with Daddy on the couch while Daddy worked on his Sunday school lesson.

such a sweet memory of a Daddy and son!

We enjoyed a great church service and came home for lunch.  Benjamin was not in the mood to take pictures before church (is he ever, really?) but he did look cute despite his cheesy not quite smile!

Benjamin napped while Peter and I dipped buckeyes in chocolate and then we headed over to the Zderads to give presents to their kiddos.  Benjamin was given a super cute blanket they made with monkeys riding skateboards.....so warm and cozy!  We shared leftovers for a small dinner then headed to a live nativity.

What I thought we were going to was like the other live nativities I'd been to.  A stable outside with donkeys, cows, etc and Mary and Joseph dressed up in character with the shepherds and wise men.  So I was all prepped for the event with winter hats/gloves in the diaper bag.  However, it ended up being a live nativity....but was a concert/play with live animals.  Too funny.  So Benjamin went to their nursery for an hour until he started crying and they walked with him in front of the bleachers hoping his mom (me) would notice/recognize him and come give him comfort.  HA!  So I held him in the back for the next hour and he was great, he loved the music and was just enjoying his mama holding him (my arm killed after awhile!)  While we were towards the back Benjamin got to get up close with the donkey and loooooved petting his ears.  He would pet him, smile, and shudder.  Over and over again.  It was hilarious!

I brought my camera but since it was a play it wasn't appropriate to take pictures so I didn't.  It was pretty well done for being put on by a church and we enjoyed our evening.

So there you go.....that's an update.  This week is busy with house cleaning, packing, planning for our girls nights 2011, babysitting a friend's child on Wednesday morning, a small group Christmas party on Wednesday night and leaving for Idaho on Thursday morning!!  Shew, I need a nap just thinking about it.

Hey Auntie Amanda........I'M COMING SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday Monday

Today was a pretty typical Monday.  I didn't sleep great so I was tired but Benjamin napped well today and aside from being clingy and a bit whiny, overall it was a good day.  I think he's going to be getting his second top tooth soon....he always acts like this before he does.  Here's how happy he gets when I let him watch an Elmo & Abby Cadaby clip on youtube :-)

 he looooves Elmo but has really only seen him on youtube

watching so intently

My little guy looked cute today after lunch.  He was climbing the chairs while I was prepping for dinner so I snapped a quick picture or two.

I finally have my Christmas cards finished (with the exception of just a few) so those are ready to go out tomorrow.  Tonight we're going to give Benjamin a bath and maybe watch an episode of Undercover Boss online.  We like to bring our laptop up to bed and watch it while we're nice and cozy with a big bowl of ice cream.  Yes, most things we do involve ice cream!!

We've been trying to teach Benjamin how to do "TOUCHDOWN"  Though if he's a Browns fan like his Daddy he may not need to do it very often, ha :-)

I had to share this next stream of pictures.  I was tickling Benjamin at dinner tonight and his facial expressions cracked me up.

 you can see all 3 teeth really well in this one!

He's crazy but he's ours and we love him!

Another weekend come and gone!

Is it just me or does it seem like the weekends in December go by even faster than they normally do?

I already blogged about our swimming on Friday so on to Saturday.

Our friends were dying to babysit Benjamin so I finally had to cave in and learn how to be apart from my little baby.  We dropped him off at their house about 9:45 in the morning and we were headed out for our date!

First, we hit the local Starbucks and treated ourselves with a drink for our drive to Eugene.  While we were in Eugene, we went to a Goodwill, and hit a few stores in 2 different malls to finish our Christmas shopping.  It was suuuuuper busy as to be expected a few weeks out from Christmas but I didn't really mind because we knew what we wanted in each store so we could go quickly.  It was so nice to not have to get a baby in and out of a car seat at each stop and not have to worry about strollers, diapers, snacks, etc.  I missed him like crazy but we got soooo much done without having that responsibility.  We ate lunch at a great Greek/Indian restaurant.  I had a great chicken curry with an amazing chutney and Peter had the lemon pepper Greek chicken.  We had a coupon for a BOGO and we enjoyed it because it was a nice quiet restaurant downtown.  Places like Olive Garden, Red Robin, etc I'm sure were crazy at lunchtime.  We hit a few more places to pick up odds and ends then headed (rushed!) home to see our little guy.  I couldn't wait to hug him.  We got to their house and our little guy was sleeping (it was 5pm).  Apparently, he had been GREAT the whole day, only getting a little fussy right before his 2nd nap, nothing a little milk can't help!  I was really glad he was good for them.  He loves them and I know it's good for him to have a little time away from Mommy and Daddy.  It's good for us to have a little time away too!  We ate a delicious dinner with them then headed home for the evening.  I completely forgot to take any pictures but it was a great day!

Today was an early start due to little guy waking up at 6:20.  Oh joy!  I tried to cuddle with him and bed and he was SUPER cuddly especially for him, he just didn't sleep.  Oh well.  Church was great, we came home for lunch and then Benjamin napped well this afternoon.  I worked on Christmas cards and a few things while Peter worked on a few projects around the house.  When Benjamin woke up we ran and got a few things at Wal-Mart, ate dinner and just played with our little guy/worked on a few things.  It was a great evening.  There is few things greater than crawling after the cutest little boy in the whole world while he giggles knowing Mommy is going to eat his belly when she catches him. This weekend has gone by sooo fast but I'm about to enjoy some ice cream and hope that this evening will last longer and postpone Monday.

 trying to get a decent picture is near impossible these days!

 no smiles from Ben but at least he's looking!  I look like I need a nap!!

 this is reality when I try to take a picture

he sees the camera and turns away.  Oh my little joy!

 one day I'll post a picture of him smiling while looking at the camera.  One day, one day.

 this is the "I'm watching a Praise Baby DVD so don't disturb me" look

I absolutely love his perfect physique :-)

It's Friday!!!

First off, is this not the most precious sight?  This is what I was able to kiss goodnight before I went to sleep last night.

Today was spent playing and cleaning.  Ben didn't nap great in the morning so he "helped" me with the laundry, vacuuming, kitchen cleanup, making the beds, cleaning the bathrooms, etc.  He's a pretty stinkin cute helper if I do say so myself.  I knew he'd be pretty tired after all that work so we after we had lunch I put him down for a nap.  Peter and I had decided that if he slept good we'd take him swimming that night.  Well......he must have heard because little guy slept for almost 3 HOURS.  Seriously.  He woke up for 5 minutes after almost 2 hours and I thought he was awake.  I went to go get his bottle and by the time I could finish he had rolled over and fallen asleep again.  Too cute.  I took pictures of how darling he looked on his monitor.

Since he slept so great we decided we'd better take him swimming!  So after we ate dinner, we loaded up and headed to the pool here in town.  It's awesome because it has a big warm pool for the kiddos to play in.  I would have been much less motivated to get out of the house for cold water :-)

Benjamin is such a water baby, he loved swimming.  It doesn't phase him at all when Daddy dunks him under the water.  I can't bring myself to do it!  I didn't take too many pictures because I was joining in on the fun but here are a few....

It was a really fun night out as a family :-)

Oh yeah, as a side note that I want to remember.  Tonight Benjamin totally preferred me over Peter.  That almost never happens but he was very stubborn about it and clung to me when Peter tried to take him before dinner.  Aaaahhhh, it's so fun being a Mommy!  Tomorrow I know he'll go back to being a Daddy's boy but tonight I loved it.

Tomorrow our friends Jeremy & Kristen are watching Benjamin for most of the day so Peter and I can have a "date day."  It kind of makes me want to vomit thinking of being away from my little man but I know it's good for him, and he'll love playing with his friends and he'll be totally fine.  I'm just a baby.  I am looking forward to spending time with my bestest friend tomorrow!  I'll let you know how it all goes tomorrow.

Off to enjoy some tea, mint ice cream and some veg time with the hubby!