St. Louis and Christian's 34th Birthday

St Louis

Christian and I decided we wanted to go away somewhere for the weekend. Neither of us had ever been to St. Louis and it was with in driving distance. We left our house super early in the morning and headed out for the 5 hour drive. The kids did so well! I was hoping they would sleep more than they did, but they were both happy. Our first stop was to see the Arch. The weather was fabulous! It felt so good to be in the sunshine. We walked the grounds and then went inside to the museum. Addy was scared of everything in there! There were statues that moved and talked and some big stuffed animals. So we decided not to stay long since her face was buried into her daddy most of the time inside.

We drove around and checked out all of St. Louis and some of the surrounding suburbs while the kids napped. It was so nice to actually have a conversation with Christian and see something new. We checked out the hill of Italian food, Jackman's Fabrics, Washington University, and some beautiful historic areas. We stopped at a big Mall and shopped for a bit. We ate lots of yummy food and had so much fun together!

The next morning Christian took the kids swimming while I got ready. Addy only lasted about 20 min because the water was cold, but she loved it. We went to Forrest park and checked out the zoo there. This park is very big and beautiful. Of course our kids loved the zoo best! On our drive home we listened to General Conference and enjoyed the time together. Benson didn't sleep one minute of the ride home! He was very restless but did pretty good considering.


Christian's 34Th Birthday

That following Monday was Christian's Birthday. He chose to go to Red Lobster for dinner. We had delicious crab legs and lobster with their yummy clam chowder soup. My friend Jami made him a raspberry and butter cream cake. It definitely hit the spot! Addy loved being in on all the action, while Benson wanted nothing to do with it! He was too busy playing with his toys to be bothered with presents and pictures.

Addy chose her daddy out a new swimsuit to take on our anniversary trip and a new wallet and shirt. We also gave Christian a fishing trip this summer on Lake Michigan. Hope he can actually take advantage of it!

Happy Birthday babe!

June 2010

The month of June went by really quickly for us. We have been busy playing outside enjoying our summer. Here are a few highlights of our month.

Benson's First Hair Cut 6/6

Benson had the usual baby hair in the back. Long through the neckline and a big rubbed bald spot above. He has lost at least half his hair through the top so he was getting a little comb over. So I buzzed the back and sides with a number 1 and cut about an inch off the top. I had a hard time blending his bald spot because he was so wiggly, but it looks so much better. He hated the hair cut! He fussed through the clippers so I didn't do as good of a hair cut as I wanted. Oh well! He sure looks handsome!



Benson turned 4 months old 6/18

- Weight: 15 lbs 9 oz 73%

- Height: 25.75 inches 85%

- Head: 17.25 inches 90%

- 6-9 month clothing

-Sleep: 10 hours at night

3-4 1 hour naps through out the day

Brookfield Zoo Dolphin Show 6/19

The brookfield Zoo has a new dolphin exhibit that just opened up for the summer. We took the kids to check it out. Addy loved it! She giggled through the whole show. The best part was when the mom dolphin splashed Christian and the kids. Benson wasn't thrilled but it made Addy so happy. Worst part was when my skirt was sticking to me and I flashed everyone behind me. NEAT! Luckily a nice lady told me right when I stood up.

Fathers Day 6/20

We celebrated Fathers Day on the actual day this year. This was Christians first weekend of not working at the airport anymore. It has been awesome having him home. The kids and I got him a blue ray disc player that he wanted. He was definitely surprised!




Park


We have spent half our days this month at the park. Addy loves to dig in the dirt. She can't wait until Benson can play with her. Addy chose a pair of new sun glasses from Target. She wears them everywhere she goes! Such a stylish cutie!


Swimming 6/28

Addy had several play dates with Ella. They have a lot of fun together. The girls had a little lunch, went swimming in her new pool, colored with chalk, blew bubbles, and ate sugar cookies. They had a lot of fun running around outside. Thanks Erin for the cute pictures!



I am starting to get the hang of having two kids. It was definitely harder in the beginning! I seriously don't know how mothers do it. I guess that's why we have one at a time. (well some of us do!) Now that Benson is a little older he is more content to play on his own. He is a very happy baby as long as he is in your arms. I am really trying to enjoy him being so little because this baby stage is all ready going by so fast! He is almost ready for solid foods. Freedom! I mean that lovingly.

Easter & Christian's Birthday

Finally I am getting around to posting our pictures of our celebrations of Easter weekend. Benson just went down for his morning nap and Addy is sitting next to me watching Sesame Street. So I decided I better get these on here while the kids are cooperating. I forgot how much time an infant takes, but I am loving it anyways!

For playgroup we had an egg hunt for all the kids. They all had a lot fun! This was Addy's first one. Last year she couldn't walk and she and I were alone on Easter so I didn't do one for her. She loved it! She couldn't wait to open the eggs and eat all the candy! Doesn't she look so cute with her basket?

Erin took these pictures of all the kids together and of Addy and Ella. These are most of the friends Addy gets to play with every week minus five babies. We are lucky to have such great friends!

We celebrated Easter morning on Saturday this year since Christian had to work a double shift on Sunday. The Easter Bunny brought the kids some needed summer clothes and toys for outside. Addy loves her golf set that her daddy got here! She was a little disappointed the egg hunt had to be in doors since it was raining outside. But she had fun once she started collecting all the eggs. (notice Addy's pretty lipstick!)

Benson hung out all morning and watched Addy play. Addy was so sweet and shared her Elmo with him. She is such a great big sister!

I attempted to take pictures of the kids in their Easter outfits. As you can see I failed! Addy kept running away down the sidewalk. It's hard to do it with two! I normally just follow Addy around while she plays until I get a good shot, but I couldn't leave Benson. So this was the best I could do. You really can't even see what their outfits look like, just know they definitely looked cute!

Easter was also Christian's 33RD BIRTHDAY! He and I celebrated on Friday with a movie and sushi. My friend Erin watched Addy so we could spend the afternoon together. It was some much needed time together! We went to see The Bounty Hunter and to try a new sushi place. Benson slept the entire time. It was so much fun! We need to do things together more often.

We had a little family party for Christian Monday evening. Addy was so excited to help him blow out the candles! We had a BBQ and some strawberry shortcake. I thought for sure this year would be less crazy for Christian. But of course it's not! He has crazy schedules and is always on the go working so hard. Christian is an amazing dad and husband! We love him so much!

Happy Birthday babe!

More Pictures!

Here are more pictures Erin took of Benson and our family. There are a lot that I LOVE so I just decided to post a bunch of them. Erin was very patient and hung out with us for the afternoon. Addy was having an off day and wanted nothing to do with getting her picture taken, so we have a ton of Benson.

I think Benson looks like me in this first picture. I love it!

Our first week together

A week has come and gone quickly since Benson was born. It's amazing how we can't imagine our life any other way. Addy has had a little trouble adjusting, which is expected. Sharing her daddy's attention is the hardest part. We had a few extreme melt downs until I figured out what was causing them. Her feelings were getting hurt so easily and it has been hard to let baby Benny use her stuff. Christian comes home at night and my calm little angel turns crazy and naughty. She wants 100% of his attention! They play wild and Addy runs around being crazy. She gets upset if I interfere with their fun. She has been getting into things and making some serious messes. Addy makes me laugh with her reasoning of why she did what she did. It's hard to be mad when you here that cute little voice tell you "I'm swimming" in the whole roll of toilet paper on the ground, or when she dumped the entire bag of marshmallows down her shirt making her have a "baby Benny."

On Tuesday night Christian took Addy out on a date. She got dressed up and I curled her hair extra special for her dad. She even wore lipstick! They went to Chipoltle for dinner and then to the library. During dinner she danced in her chair and kept telling Christian how fun everything was. The library had some activities going so there were lots of kids for her to be around. She loved doing the alphabet white board. She chose out some books, three movies, and an alphabet CD. Addy loved her night out with her daddy. Christian knows how to make her feel extra special! Addy definitely deserves this time with Christian.

Here are a few pictures of this week.....

On our way to Benson's first doctors appointment.

My cute boys snuggled up watching the Olympics.

These pictures are from yesterday right after his bath. Benson is 1 week old!

I am sure it will still take some time for the "newness" of the baby and all the changes that come along with it to wear off. Addy is such a great help for me during the day and is an awesome big sister. It melts my heart to hear her talk to Benson. She always says the sweetest things. Christian and I are so lucky to have two amazing kids.

Baby Benson

Benson is here!

He was born Feb 18 at 4:45 p.m. weighing 8lbs 4oz and 19 inches long. We are both doing great! Addy loves him! She was very excited to see her new baby brother. She kept saying to him " Addy right here baby Benny, I right here." She also said a few times, " hi little buddy!"

I loved having them together at the hospital even though it was just for a few minutes.

I was able to have a VBAC and the delivery was very quick. If everything goes as planned, we will get to go home tomorrow. Christian's parents are here taking great care of us. My mom will be here next week! I can't wait for her to meet my little guy. I will post more pictures once we are home.

Christmas

This year we stayed in Chicago for Christmas. My first year without my family. It was nice being able to wake up and have our own time in the morning, but by 11:00 it was pretty lonely! It was a lot of fun with Addy! She was so funny about her gifts. I am not sure she understands why she got all these new toys.

Christmas Eve we gave Addy a new pair of jammies and she got to choose one present to open. She picked Snow White from nanny Elaine. She was so excited to watch a new show! She snuggled up on our bed and made it through the first 30 min. Perfect for Chris and I! I still had a few things to clean up and we had to get everything out and ready. I wrapped the rest of the presents on the floor of my closet. Crazy idea! There wasn't a ton of room for a big pregnant lady but it worked out.

I got up at 7:00 Christmas morning to get breakfast in the oven and get the few last minute things ready. We had our video camera all charged and ready to go. Addy started yelling for us so Chris went to start the video camera so she could come out. For some reason it wouldn't turn on. We have two batteries and neither would work. Sadly we didn't get anything on video. It makes me sad because she said some of the cutest things. So I better get it into someone to have it check out. So here is our Christmas in pictures:

Chris went in and got Addy out of bed and told her Santa came and brought her some presents. She got a little scared. So I told her we got her some presents and so did both her grandparents. She felt much better about that! She was all smiles when she turned the corner and saw her kitchen. She went right up to it and started opening the doors. She said "yay yay tea party!"

Christians parents gave Addy this table and chairs. She loves it! She is all set up for her own tea parties now. I made her place mats, some dish towels, and wash cloths to go with her kitchen. I thought they turned out so cute. She didn't care much about them but it completes the gift. Plus it made me happy!


Addy didn't want to open any of her other presents. She was way too busy playing in her kitchen. We kept telling her there were more things for her but she didn't seem to care. She finally opened another tea set, dishes, and food for her kitchen from my mom. She also got a few more movies, princess figurines, a purse, a blanket and diaper kit for her baby, and some clothes. She was spoiled! I loved seeing her face light up with each present she opened. She must have said "thank you" a hundred times, which made it all worth it!
We had a great Christmas but definitely missed our families! Hopefully we will be able to get on a flight to go see everyone soon.

26th Birthday

Two weekends ago I turned 26. We celebrated on Sat by going out to lunch to a place called Gordon Bierch. We had eaten there this summer in Kansas City with my family. The food there is delicious! We shared the same crab and artichoke dip we had last time and I also had steak and tempura shrimp. It felt like a real date since Addy slept through the entire afternoon. After lunch we went shopping and picked up the kids a few things. Later that evening Christian took Addy out shopping to pick up groceries for my Birthday meal on Sunday. She was so excited to be able to pick out what cake they were going to make me. She chose a pink strawberry cake and pink frosting with sprinkles. I had a yellow cake on hand so I had Christian switch out the cake so it wouldn't be a pink overload!

Sunday was the big day. Right after church they got started making the cake. Addy was a big help! She loved helping pour and stir the mixture. Christian made me navajo tacos for lunch. (an all time fave of mine!) After Addy woke up from her nap it was time for our party. They decorated a little table by the Christmas tree. They sang to me and we ate our cake and ice cream there. It was a great Birthday weekend with the two I love the most! Christian always makes it extra special!









Thank you to both our families and friends for the birthday wishes and gifts! I was spoiled as usual! Now I just need some time before the baby comes to get some use out of them. I have a feeling I will be a little more occupied than what I am use to!