A look back at 2010!

I know everyone else is pressing on to 2011, because well, it is already, January 11th, but I saw a few friends' blogs that had a recap of 2010 so I think I'm going to do just that.  Sorry for the insane amount of pictures, I was having too much fun "walking down memory lane." 
It was a big year for Peter and I and an amazingly wonderful year full of God's blessings!

January:

I was enjoying my last month of pregnancy!  Little guy was "due" to arrive January 30th!

 My mom texted my older brother this picture.....his reaction...."Whoa!"  Thanks alot Adam :-)  Just proof that I was really, really pregnant.

I was given 3 different baby showers at our church, Peter's work and with my old co-workers.  My sister threw me a shower in Idaho also around Thanksgiving.  We were SO blessed and SO grateful for everyone's generosity.

I went into overdrive organizing(nesting) around my house and we put the last little touches onto his nursery.

My Mom and sister arrived the day before and were anxious for the labor pains to start....me, not so much!

since I was "overdue" we distracted ourselves by going to Chuck E. Cheese :-)

February:

On February 3rd, 2010 we became parents for the first time!!

"Wait, I think I feel something"  Contractions have started!!

HOORAY!  My daughter's in pain!!!  Gee, thanks Mom.

(In reality, she just wanted me to have the baby before they left on Saturday - I went into labor Tuesday night)

Benjamin Daniel Klingler was born at 9:00am on February 3rd, 2010

8lbs 6oz, 20.5 inches long

such a proud Auntie Amanda

best day of my life!

we are so, so, so blessed

We spent four days in the hospital because our little man had a bad case of jaundice...

 

but finally got to go home and enjoy our first month getting to know our son

March:

We changed a lot of diapers.  We washed a lot of clothes.  We didn't sleep much.

We smiled a lot.  We adored more than ever before.  We loved deeper than ever.

April:

We made our first road trip as a family of 3 and headed back to Idaho!

 relaxing on Aunt Amanda's lap

 lots of lovin' from Nana

 the 4 Klingler boys!

 celebrating Poppy's birthday (3/29) and Pete's birthday (3/10)

 our first Easter as a family of 3

 GongGong, Ben & Poppy

 Benjamin is sooo loved by his grandfather

 2 month doctor appointment

 we went to the Portland Zoo with our friends and their kids!

 spent lots of time on this playmat

 looked adorable :-)

tried the Johnny jump up for the first time with Floppy!

May:

The weather was becoming more and more sunny, and the fog from our lack of sleep was slowly lifting a little too!

We went to Seattle for the weekend so Benjamin could meet his Uncle Nate, Aunt Anita, and cousins Katie and Jack.  Poppy & GongGong came too.

We also met up with my cousin Allison, my Uncle John and Aunt Michelle and my grandmother

I celebrated my first Mother's Day with my sweet baby boy :-)

And we pretty much just enjoyed being a Mom and Dad of our cutie.

June:

Summer is here!  So what do you do?  You spend as much time outside soaking up the sunshine as possible, especially in the rainy Willamette Valley :-)

 this was Benjamin's first real belly laugh for a long time....such a sweet memory

 first time in the backyard pool

 summer night at Foster lake

 oh, how I LOVED this swing....mostly because Benjamin LOVED it

 we had lots of picnic lunches with Daddy near his work

 

 and enjoyed many, many, many summer walks!

Of course, we also spent a lot of time doing fun stuff indoors....

 he looooves bathtime

 swimming at a Portland hotel for a mini-getaway

 just Benjamin, being cute

another month, another well baby check-up

 relaxing on Sunday afternoons

 baking with Mama

 checking books off of our summer reading lists

He really started to love his exersaucer!

We also celebrated my 26th birthday, Peter's first Father's Day, and enjoyed VBS at our church.

 my sweet cards from my sweet boys

 so special to celebrate my birthday with this little cutie

 Happy Father's Day to one amazing Daddy!

 oh, they melt my heart

 Benjamin and Daddy rocking the "Egyptian" make-up from VBS

Sorry Benjamin, Daddy thought it'd be funny again :-)

July:

 Another holiday with a 3 day weekend, another trip to Idaho to see family :-)

 4th of July concert in the park

 reading his favorite book with GongGong

 meeting cousin Alexander for the first time!

 having fun with Grandfather

 always so entertained when Auntie Amanda is around

peaceful in Nana's arms

Auntie Amanda came to Oregon later in July for a visit!!!!!
We went to the Portland zoo, camping on the coast, and shopping.  We also went to a Christian concert in the park event....

and one of the night's Aunt Amanda babysat so Mommy & Daddy could go on their first date since Ben was born....

We went to Seattle for a bit of a family reunion on my side of the family...

While we were there we also went to Pike Place Market, a Mariners game and the waterfront

playing Grandfather's favorite candy game on the waterfront!

The rest of the month was spent loving the sunshine and loving (as always) our little man!

 riding in the cart "big boy style" for the first time

 skinny dipping, ha!

 lots of family walks!

 fun at the park!

 yep, he really does look cute just about anywhere

 such a big boy now in his stroller

we also tried solids for the first time this month beginning Benjamin's love affair with food :-)

 

August:

Benjamin turned 6 months old....we'd been parents for half a year now, crazy!
Here's what our month was full of....

 smiling for Mama on your 6th month birthday

 dancing with your friend Haddie at a wedding

 taking Sunday afternoon naps with Daddy

 lots of playtime

 

 fun morning playtimes

 learning to love food!

 6 month check-up

 fun summer night of swimming

 more bath times!

 playing on your new play structure in the back yard

 blackberry picking! (and blueberries, and raspberries, and peaches!)

 more evenings spent at the park

swinging time together!

September:

Life just seemed to get really busy about this point!  Perhaps we were trying to extend our summer fun?!

Benjamin and I headed down to San Diego to visit my sis-in-law, Anita, and her family.  Anita and Nate were heading to Chicago for a week so I was going to watch her 2 kiddos Katie and Jack.  It was a FULL week and very BUSY, but it was awesome.  The weather was amazing and we had a great time.

 beautiful day at the beach

 definitely a son of his California Girl Mama :-)

 oh I could eat him up

 playtime at the park with Katie and Jack (and Ben in the stroller)

 reading after storytime at the library

 time for pudding paint!!

 I love being an Aunt to these two!

Benjamin looooved being around his cousins for a week!
After Anita and Nate returned, we went to Sea World for the day and then flew home the next day to see Daddy who we missed terribly!

We also celebrated our 6th anniversary (October 8th) a little early and went to Bend to stay in a condo (for free) for 2 days.  It was an awesome trip, we had incredible weather and so much fun.

 swimming in one of the 3 pools (and there were only 2 other people there!)

 checking out the view of all the beautiful mountains!

 beautiful day spent with my family

 stopping at all the beautiful lakes along the Cascade Scenic Hwy

 more swimming on day 2....another sunny day

 gorgeous hike around Todd Lake

I really am so lucky aren't I?

A few more pictures of a very busy September:

 learning to crawl!

soaking up the last of the long summer nights at the park!

October:

 We headed BACK to San Diego, this time Peter went with us.  We were going to visit Anita again, and also to drive over to the Grand Canyon to meet Peter's parents.  It was a blast!

 celebrating our anniversary with a perfect dinner on the beach in San Diego

 at the Wild Animal Park

 love these 3!

 we went to a Mommy/Son Date Night at Chick-Fil-A (along with Anita and Jack!)

 our family at the Grand Canyon (my first time!)

 Anita, Katie and GongGong

 the whole group on the bus

 Benjamin getting to know Anita's dog Chloe

 Katie, Anita (and baby Mandy), Jack, and Nate

 this boy loves the beach

 Poppy, GongGong and the grandkids

such a fun memory

In addition to the California trip, we also....

 had a playdate with Haddie!

 watched a lot of Browns football!

 jumped in our crib like a crazy man....and then jumped some more!

 dressed up like a giraffe and went to our church's Harvest Party

 so sweet

 Daddy also took Benjamin real trick-or-treating in our neighborhood and he got some great loot :-)

 more laughs with Daddy

it was a great month!

November:

 We started the month with a visit from Poppy & GongGong.  They stayed for a week before heading home after their trip across the US.  We had a fun week filled with hikes, playtime with Benjamin, a trip to Bend, great food and great weather for November!

 snow at the mountains, but amazing weather elsewhere for November in Bend!

thanks for coming Poppy & GongGong

the Klingler men love their hikes!

Of course when it was Thanksgiving we headed back to Idaho again to celebrate with both our families.  We ate a lot of food, shopped a little, vegged, and went to see the Christmas lights with Peter's parents.

 chowing down on some great tasting food!

 the whole family together!

walking through the Christmas lights together

Here's a few other highlights of November...

 a lot of time was spent goofing off

 even more time was spent charming his parents!

you learned to climb the stairs!

 standing on the coffee table (or anything else) is your favorite pasttime now

 there were a few bad hair days along the way

 you're suddenly into EVERYTHING

yes, I do mean EVERYTHING :-)

 you're teeth got bigger and bigger

 Daddy replaced the tile in our entry way

 still had lots of fun baths

 you learned to clap!

 getting ready to drive to Idaho

November was a full but fun month!

December:

We had a few fun filled weeks at home before we headed back to Idaho again for Christmas and New Years.  December was a super fast and super busy month but it was a great way to finish the year....

 Benjamin on the hunt to find his first Christmas tree

 soooo fun to start family traditions!

 Benjamin hanging up his first ornament

 sleepover with his best buddies Haddie, Elijah and Micah

 Haddie and Benjamin - jumping fools!

 do you not just want to kiss his sweet face?!?

 you are definitely very vocal this month!

 it's tough learning that you can't have everything you want huh little guy?

 more swimming at the local pool

 so fun to explore around the house

 we laugh SO MUCH in this house!

 Benjamin in his Christmas jammies by the tree

 going to church right before Christmas

 such a handsome pair

 celebrating the holidays with Poppy & GongGong

playing with a present from Mommy & Daddy

 reading with Grandfather on Christmas Eve

 loving the new bat from Auntie Amanda

 mini getaway to Spokane

 riding the big wheel he got from Peter's parents

2010 was the best year of my life!  I love my husband and I love my son!
God has blessed us tremendously and we were so grateful for so many answered prayers and provisions throughout the year.  Looking back at 2010 makes me look forward to 2011!  Happy New Year :-)

I love weekends!

Sometimes a weekend at home is exactly what you need to get through another week!

Friday night we had another Girls Night Out for the junior high/high school girls at our church and we headed to a gymnastics meet at Oregon State.  It was really fun, I had never been to one!  We had a nice group with a lot of laughs and some Dairy Queen afterward....can't beat that :-)

Here's a few of our great girls....

Saturday Peter fixed us breakfast, woo hoo!  I scrambled the eggs but he cooked the bacon, made the toast and brewed the coffee.  Yum!  We played with Benjamin until it was time for his nap, then we got ready for the day.

Once he woke up we went to Costco to have samples for lunch.  We learned that Benjamin loooves clam chowder, how would have thought?  We hit a few other stores for some random items, then headed home.  Benjamin was in such a great mood so we just had fun as a family.  

We gave him a bath and got him to bed so we could watch Inception. 

I'm not normally a "sci-fi" kind of girl and although it wasn't really "sci-fi" it was close.  But this movie was really good, though you felt like you really had to listen to every word so you knew what was going on.  Or at least what I think was going on.....maybe I was dreaming.  If you've seen the movie you know what I mean!

Today we had a great church service, it was nice to be back at our home church.  

 Here's my handsome boys before church (sorry the picture is blurry!)

We ate leftover stuffed chicken rolls I made last night for lunch today, then Benjamin took a nap (though a very short one)  We were going to nap but since he didn't nap long that didn't happen.  

We ran a few errands because I had some coupons!!  I've always used coupons randomly but have wanted to see how they could really benefit our family so I'm trying to learn more.  Yesterday at Fred Meyer, every item in my cart was with a coupon(s) making for some suuuper cheap yogurt, string cheese, cheddar cheese and crescent rolls.  I also got 2 big containers of liquid laundry detergent for 50 cents a piece!! :-)

Today at Rite Aid, this was my loot.....

6 boxes of cereal....cost me $0.00

8pack of "C" batteries that we needed for Benjamin's toy....cost me $6.88

Received $7.00 off any future purchase

Total:  I "made" $0.12 to buy these items :-)

I'm excited to see how coupons can help us be better stewards of the money God has blessed us with.

We're just vegging now, watching "Undercover Boss" and hoping Monday morning doesn't come too soon!

Come again soon weekends, I sure love ya.

11 Months!!

11 months.  11 months.  11 months.

No matter how many times I say it, I still can't believe it!!

This past Monday MY little boy turned 11 months old.

11 months!  Really, it's the truth.  11 MONTHS!

Okay, enough with the drama.

As always, I'm late on the monthly posts, but here's what he's up to this month.

Height:  Not sure exactly, probably about 32 inches.  He's definitely growing.  Though I'm not sure exactly what measurement is, I measure it by what he can reach.  He can now reach for things on top of the desk in the bonus room.  I realized this as I watched bills and pieces of paper fly from the desk while I watched from the hallway :-)

 

 

Weight:  Probably around 25-26lbs.  I meant to weigh him "before" and "after" Christmas vacation with the grandparents but forgot to.  I'm sure he gained weight from all the real sugar they gave him and all the hugs/kisses "sugar" they gave him too!

 

 

 

Likes:  Floppy!  Jumping!  Walking around with your walker, banging toys, crawling around the coffee table, coasters!  Elmo, Elmo, Elmo, Praise Baby, Cedarmont kids CD's, climbing the stairs, EATING, swimming, being thrown up in the air, all types of phones, having your Mama sing you songs, reading books, your friend Haddie, visiting your grandparents and aunts/uncles.  

 

 

Dislikes:  Sitting still when getting your diaper changed (depends on your mood, sometimes you are SOOOO wiggly), sometimes you hate getting your face wiped after meals.  You hate sitting still while Mommy clips your fingernails.  You hate something being out of your reach or being told "no" you can't touch something. 

Eating:  Despite the constant comments we get about you looking so malnourished (HA, HA, HA!!!) we insist that you are a great eater.  You LOVE veggies.  You will eat green beans, peas, carrots, and now corn like you're not going to be eating again for days.  You love meat, you love spaghetti....you ate as much as your Nana at the Olive Garden over Christmas.  You also tried black olives and loved those too.  You still love to snack on Ritz, puffs, and cheerios.  You love fruit and inhaled the canned plums you tried at your GongGong's house.  You're sometimes picky about whether you want to feed yourself, have us feed you, or whether you want to pick up the food off the high chair tray or off our hands.  You're just funny.  You drink great from a sippy, which is filled with just water 98% of the time.  You don't seem to looove juice yet which is okay.  You're still having 3 bottles a day, but have varied in how much you drink each time.  Sometimes it's only 5-6 ounces when you've had a big meal, but you can still also drink 8 ounces at times.  I'm sooooo sad thinking that you'll be moving on to "big boy" milk next month and won't need a bottle anymore.  Oh, I know....maybe I'll just hit rewind and you'll suddenly be a little baby again?!??!!  That would work right?

 

 Yummy, yummy in my tummy!

Sleeping:  You're sleeping much better at night, going down sometime between 8pm and 9pm depending on the night.  You usually sleep until sometime between 6:30am-7:30am.  You haven't been waking up much in the middle of the night.  You're still taking 2 naps a day but this past week they have been SO SHORT.  UGH.  We'll see if you're transitioning to a new schedule or you're just having a crazy week.  Mama hopes it's just a weird couple of days and that you're not deciding to not nap anymore, because well, that's not good!  You still sleep with your 2 Floppies and take a paci when you go down.

Personality:  BUSY.  That's how I would describe you.  Suddenly, you are into everything and go around the entire house like a crazy man finding things to play with or climb or gnaw on.  You love to take all of your toys out and take books off your shelf.  

 

 

You're becoming a little bit of a ham.  You have a shy side but you're really starting to wave "hi" and "bye bye" to people.  You are SO aware of other kids these days, it's fun to watch.  You're not as much of a "mama's boy" as you were last month but you still follow me around all. the. time.  Whatever I'm doing, you want to be doing too!  Which really, I don't mind :-)  You can be quite the "help" in the kitchen....

 

 don't forget to sweep under the island Mama, I noticed you like to skip that part

 

You can be very loud when you want to be.  

 

You're very observant.  You seem to know when you're the center of attention and that only eggs you on to continue whatever it was you were doing.  

 

You're stubborn, and you're curious.  

You seem to have a bit of a temper and are persistent in seeing how many times you can be told "no, don't touch that" before you think we really mean business.  You're still not a huge cuddler but you LIGHT UP when you see Mommy and Daddy (or other members of your family/friends) and we know you love us.  Which is good, because we kinda love you too!

 

 

Highlights:  You have 2 more teeth coming in on the top bringing the total to 5 teeth now!  You have learned how to use your walker toy to walk everywhere.  Now you can maneuver it when you run into something, to get it to turn directions so you can keep going....it's fun to watch.  You're talking/babbling more and really trying to say words.  You were babysat for the first time by someone other than immediate family.  You had your first Christmas which was spent at Grandfather/Nana's and Poppy/GongGong's and though you were oblivious to the presents, you loooooved all the attention you received.

 

I still can't believe that next month you are going to be one year old.  It blows my mind.  I already know I'm going the week before your birthday balling like a baby because you'll no longer be a baby.  Yet, I know you must grow up.  And though I loved you as a baby, you are equally, if not more, adorable and fun as you grow.  Daddy and I can't get enough of you and will do our best to smother you with what we like to call "hugs and loves" so you know just HOW MUCH we love you.  Happy 11 months my little koalas :-)

Love the mess

I have to confess that today was one of those mornings that when you hear you child waking up on the monitor, you wish for a split second that you could just roll over and ignore the fact that you have someone else to take care of.  Ever have one of those days moms?  It's just all you can do to get yourself out of bed and want to go change yet another diaper and fix yet another breakfast.

But, then Benjamin and I shared our breakfast of Cheerios at the coffee table instead of the kitchen.

His perfectly content smile melts my heart.

We finish our breakfast and I just stare at him as he proceeds to scatter his toys everywhere and begin his daily routine of getting into everything.

I giggled to myself at the chaos such a little boy can make.  I shook my head in amazement at how much my life has changed because of him.  I smiled because he's mine.

I just love being a mom.  That's all.