1.28.2011

the playground.

ben can now ask for music. it's kinda cute. until we listen to his music for 2 hours straight. i have a few cds that have been shared/purchased that we play on a regular basis. today i just turned on the kid's channel on directv. the playground. i already know the lyrics to all of the songs on the cds, so it was time for a change!

i texted nick about my experience and thought if it was text worthy then maybe it could be blog worthy!

the bad part:
-i heard the chipettes cover pink's 'so what'. it was wrong on so many levels.
-weird al yankovic sang about garbage to nelly's 'it's getting hot in here'.

the good part:
-there was a cover of the beatles 'all you need is love'.
-i got to jam out to 'three little birds' by bob marley.
{totally makes me want to dig out the rockabye baby cds.}
-i also had no clue that they might be giants and the barenaked ladies had children's songs. i'm tempted to buy both of those albums...

the best part:
-benjamin danced to every single song. we're talking almost 2 hours. i have video of him dancing. must try to upload to you tube in the near future to share....

1.27.2011

wip 1.22.11

friday:
negative degrees.  stuck at home!
ordered ben a new chair. {i love amazon!}
at first i thought he was going to like the box more than the chair...



nope. he approves!


i think he is getting the idea. ;)


that evening nick's dad's side of the family came over to celebrate birthdays. i took no pictures!

saturday:
lazy morning. listened to ben's favorite music cds and danced!

how cute is ben getting ready to help daddy shovel?


the boys weren't out long. but i think ben needed to get outside!

then nick's mom's side came over for nick's birthday celebration. we took ben's chair off of the dining room seats. he was insistent upon sitting in it. {i love that he has learned 'cheese.'}


enjoying watching wipeout aka boom with cousin megan and daddy.


ben also enjoyed some chocolate eclair cake. yum.

beaner is a little possessive of his new chair. wasn't too happy that mommy was laying on it. thankfully, i convinced him to share... with kisses.


then it was game time. yahtzee free for all this time. ;)

sunday:
ben and daddy morning. mommy slept in. i couldn't believe how late i slept actually. felt like i was back in college!

ben almost fell asleep on his new chair. nick couldn't believe it! the boy doesn't sleep anywhere but his crib at home or his cot at daycare... car seats not included!


and of course, watching wipeout. 


then it was game time. 


we have a fun game of climbing mount mommy. i know, great name. whatever. it is hours of entertainment for the wee man. 


ben decided he needed to wear his hat to watch the game. maybe it's because he saw everyone on tv with them on. i'm not sure.



a disappointing game. but that's okay. i'm not really sure i expected them to win. there's always next year, right? gosh, i think i sound like a cubs fan!!

the rest of sunday was mellow. more football. and naps. and just spending time with one another. ;)

1.25.2011

good intentions.

so i had all these blog posts running through my head all day.
and then i get to the computer and poof the desire to blog is gone.
i know what i want to post about but i just don't feel like it. ;-P
i'm willing myself out of laziness and promising a fun post tomorrow!

1.24.2011

ben-isms.

ben has been quite the character lately.
he cracks us up constantly. sometime it's just so darn hard to punish him with a straight face!

just some random ben info. {i'm really wishing i kept up with the monthly posts. sigh.}

- borrowed a chair from braiden for him. ben doesn't really watch tv. has never seen sesame street. the chair is a giant elmo. and when nick brought it in ben pointed and said, 'elmo' i have no clue. i'm guessing they have lots of elmo toys at daycare.

- likes to share. wants momma and dadda to have whatever he's eating. if only we could get him to share more with his toys. he's been saying 'mine' a lot.

- is obsessed with the tv show wipeout. he refers to it as boom. we must watch at least part of an episode daily.

- did the funniest thing friday evening... we had nick's dad's side of the family over and aunt laura was sitting on the ground playing with ben. for some reason, the topic of poopies came up. ben walked over to laura, picked up her shirt, and looked down her pants and said laura poopies. hysterical.

- learned how to say bear down for this weekend. hoping it wasn't us that jinxed them!

- is talking a lot. picking up words like crazy. he's a bit lazy in pronunciation though.

- still loves giving knuckles to everyone!

- went to aldi the other day and they have a giant clock on the building. ben pointed at it and said, 'tick tock.' wha? we have never talked about clocks in our house. thankful that he pays attention and learns at daycare and that it isn't all fun and games! ;) bought this and he loves it!

- is starting to wear 18-24 mos clothing. mostly shirts because of his cute little buddha belly.  hoping he can continue to wear the 12-18 mos pants because they're still a bit long on him. he's such a little shorty.

-loves listening to the children's station in daddy's car. and has been rocking on to some children's music cds at the house. that boy loves his music. and he's just too cute when he dances!

- cannot do the peace sign or the number 2 when counting. he crosses his fingers.

- we're working on debinky-ing him. hope it's not too painful!

- loves the camera. loves saying cheese. wants everyone else to take a picture after we snap one of him. thinking i'm giving him this for his birthday. ordered it at amazon ages ago for a birthday gift for anyone {it was on sale} and just hung on to it.

- still a great eater of fruits and veggies. ;)

- i think mommy and daddy fall deeper in love every single day. xo.

k. i think that was most of what i wanted to share. it's late. i'm tired. and a bit slow. but i didn't want to put it off any longer! can't believe he's almost two!!!

1.21.2011

wip 1.15.11

yay.
i'm caught up.
who knew?!

friday:
mommy and ben day at home. and i have no clue what we did the rest of the day. sigh. my memory just has not been the same since i got pregnant with ben. it's okay though, he's totally worth it!

check out that killer static!



saturday:
new hair day! was wanting something different. went dark. i'm really liking it! beaner got a little trim too. love that karli will do that for us!

then ben decided to spike a fever randomly in the afternoon. he woke up from his nap with a 103.3 fever. wtf?! he had no running nose, no cough, not tugging on his ears. was acting completely normal. totally made us scratch our heads. gave him some tylenol and went on with our day.

then the ben felt warm again before we were getting ready to go out to dinner. yup. 102.3. seriously. not teething. i have no clue what it is. our best guess was a virus or something. so we gave him some more tylenol and headed off to dinner. {he was in good hands!}

quick self portrait. you can kinda see the new hair. better pictures soon.
and yes, nick's going scruffy. love how it looks. he says it keeps him warmer!


house of kobe. yum. had a blast.  came back to the house after to drink and play dicecapades. i tell ya, we love this game! nick had a rough night. ryan made him sign an agreement to buy me a pedicure at vanis since i was going to have to get up with ben in the morning and it's my morning to sleep in. she's awesome!

sunday:
early morning with the wee man. nick slept til about 3!! {and yes, he owned up and bought me my pedicure! awww.} when ben got up he was afebrile. 99.3. awesome. was thinking it was a random thing. nope. early afternoon he spiked another temp. 103.2 or something. sigh. no daycare for ben on monday. {yay for mom's who have national holidays off and are willing to babysit!}

was able to watch the bears game despite a sick baby and hung over hubby! so jealous of my parents who were at the game. in a skybox! cannot wait for sunday's game.

ben's new favorite thing is to commando across the kitchen floor. here he decided that his blankies were a necessity for the activity. silly boy.


and an update on benjamin... viral. he was completely fine on monday and i called the pediatrician just to make sure he didn't need to see ben. yay for no sick visits. we had enough of those last year, thank you very much!

1.20.2011

4g.

nick was obsessed with upgrading to the new iphone. we bought ours like 31 days before the new ones came out and didn't bother exchanging and repurchasing. so we waited. and waited. and surprisingly, we were eligible for an early upgrade. nick was beyond excited. it's been on the calendar for quite some time now.

today was the day. almost like a happy 33rd birthday one day later present for him and a just because present for me!


now it's time to scour the internet to find a super cute case that is reasonably priced!!

1.19.2011

happy.

we're celebrating a birthday today. :)
nicholas is another year older. and two years older than me for the moment!
tried to get beaner to wish daddy a happy birthday and all he would get out was happy. maybe he'll have it down by the time we celebrate mine in a few weeks.

happy birthday babe. i love you so much and am thankful to have you in my life every day.  so grateful to call you mine and that ben has the most wonderful-est daddy in the whole wide world.

i cannot believe that we have celebrated more than half of our birthdays together. i don't think we are old enough for that! but that's okay. there is no one else i would rather grow old with! xo.

1.18.2011

a two-fer

first of all, my take on ali's december daily.

heard about shuttercal somewhere. and hoped someday i would actually use it.
i did!
and i did it for the entire month of december.
nothing crazy. just a quick picture every day that month.
and it's continued. i am still up to date. not sure that it's my goal.  project 365 seems so damn overwhelming. but i think having a super cute way of showcasing it just may motivate me. a girl can dream right?!
i hope the link works. not sure how to embed the entire calendar for that month. sorry!

then, i'm trying to decide on my word. {another ali thing}
for some reason love keeps popping into my head. so i think i'm gonna go with it.
my previous words: gratitude, be, balance, breathe {i swore i had one on here but i can't find it. oh well.}

1.17.2011

wip. 1.8.11

i'm only a week behind and i can barely remember what we did.
and what makes that previous statement even more pathetic is that i don't think we did much of anything. so that could be why i don't remember or i just have too much running around in this little old head of mine. i am hoping that reason #1 is the answer. ;)

friday.
girl's night with the family.
dinner at asparagus and we saw country strong. {which for whatever reason i refer to as country song.} not my cup of tea. not sure i like gwyneth in that role.

no pictures of girls night, but one of my benjamin.
the kid is obsessed with lemon juice. totally not a fan of lime juice. we tried!


saturday.
bunk day. thought i had a hair appointment but i put it on the calendar wrong. doh! such is life. thank goodness i realized before i actually left the house!
ended up just having a lazy day. i like that we've had a few of those lately.
wee man is finally able to climb on our couches and ottoman.


sunday.
another lazy day. two in a row. awesome.
sunday is also my day to sleep in. {nick and i alternate. i get up early saturday mornings and he does sundays.}
apparently, ben was insistent on wearing his shoes. with his pajamas. with no socks. silly boy.


i know lame weekend. but it was much needed. and these next few might kick my bootay!

1.12.2011

goodreads.

i'm pretty sure most of my readers are members at goodreads. if you aren't, you should definitely check it out.
i have decided to participate in the 2011 reading challenge.


didn't want to get too adventurous... hoping to read 25 books this year.

i tend to get in ruts with reading. it seems to be all or nothing. right now i'm in a total spurt.

a book every other week. i can do that. especially since i've almost finished three this week alone! and if i do more than that... yay for me! ;)

1.11.2011

quotes. january 2011 edition.

- if you have to make mistakes, make them good and big, don't be middling in anything if you can help it. ~hildegard knef

- i have no faith in a human critter who hasn't one or two bad habits. ~ margaret deland

- life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. ~ anais nin

- there will come a time when you believe everything is finished. that will be the beginning. ~ louis l'amour

- do what you can, with what you have, where you are. ~ theodore roosevelt

- the manner of giving is worth more than the gift. ~ pierre corneille

- charity begins at home but should not end there. ~ thomas fuller

- there is nothing like staying at home for true comfort. ~ jane austen

- nothing is so burdensome as a secret. ~ french proverb

- is not amusement the very soul of life? ~ frances milton trollope

- true friendship is a plant of slow growth. ~ george washington

- i've never had a humble opinion. if you've got an opinion why be humble about it? ~ joan beaz

- fiction reveals truths that reality obscures. ~ jessamyn west

- there is still vitality under the winter snow, even though to the casual eye it seems to be dead. ~ agnes sligh turnbull

- i will honor christmas in my heart, and to keep it all the year. ~ charles dickens

1.10.2011

wip 1.1.11

friday:
nick and i were both off. we really got spoiled having a few fridays off together. was quite nice. ;)

just hung out in the morning. then headed to one of our many stops...
went to mike and ryan's to visit. had a wonderful dinner. beaner did awesome. loved asti, their newfie. so nice to visit with everyone. was too long between visits. already have two additional outings planned for this month. yay!

then we headed to jay and christy's. pretty low key evening with the kidlets. finally had a chance to celebrate christmas too!

ben loved their girls new trampoline. wasn't the best at it... but he totally had a blast.


braiden with ben. her buddy. 


 wynn wanted nothing to do with presents at christmas. however, she was very much interested in ben's presents and he was so no into sharing!


the boys and braiden playing soccer. ignore the crazy spots. chris says they happen all the time on her camera. i blame her ghosts.


b and b snuggling. if only my b would actually lay down and watch tv...


another awesome game of dicecapades. this one was rocking four hours... had to call it quits at around 230am.


can anyone guess my fabulous drawing?
i thought the other players might not guess correctly because they were to busy laughing hysterically. {dirty jerks.} i drew the middle object first. followed by the left, then the right.


i also have another way non pc picture from dicecapades when we played on christmas. this game is awesome!

saturday:
sarah's wedding. nick's aunt michelle came to watch benjamin so we could travel to indy for nick's cousin's wedding.

was a beautiful day to take pictures of my favorite i-65 obsession. wind farm!



and onto the wedding.
didn't take many pictures.
had my trusty point and shoot. my poor rebel. i vow to use it more this year. maybe!

the wonderful bride and groom.


the coolest wedding cake! {the wedding was at a casino.}


us after a night of dancing like crazy. i love weddings. so sad the next one isn't until october. ;(


and nick trying out his luck sometime around 1 am!


sunday:
we had a lazy morning. no alarm clock.
then we headed home. and once we got home, we chilled and watched some football.
a wonderful way to start the new year!

1.06.2011

wip 12.25.10 part two.

christmas day.

got up to open presents before the first get together of the day.
ben still wasn't really into presents. his favorite part was sitting on them....


see, it's half open and he's decided to climb on top of it!


his other favorite thing, the wrapping paper. he mostly wanted to clean up and put it in the garbage. but sometimes, he would just throw a pile into the air. 


then the family arrived.
the three cousins.


nick trying to open one of ben's presents. i swear packaging sucks.


our now annual christmas morning photo. ;)


then it was nap time for benjamin and cooking time for us.

i came downstairs from my shower to find this... hilarity.


the prime rib before.


and after. was sooo delicious. seriously. nick did a great job with it. however, the highlight was the smoke alarms going off when he was searing it. was quite a loud ordeal. poor beaner was in the middle of his nap and was sitting up with a total wtf look on his face when i ran in to get him. thankfully, he fell back asleep! 


cousin megan with benjmain.


the kids were having a dance party. so much fun.


family photo number two. ignore the inane amount of toys in the background. too lazy to edit them out. just imagine....


rocking some awesome antlers. nick's aunt got all of the kids a pair. they were too cute. 


and one of the funniest pictures. beaner mid clothing change rocking out on his new guitar from gigi!


played some christmas bingo and dicecapades. would totally recommend this game.  not sure that some of the other players would agree but nick and i thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

sunday:
was a pretty lazy day. we were all resting up. i did muster up enough energy to take down the tree and all christmas decorations though!

1.05.2011

wip 12.25.10 part one.

deciding to break up the christmas post a bit.
just makes it a bit less time consuming for me. yeah, i'm selfish. but it's my blog. :-)

friday. christmas eve.
nick and i both had the day off. so nice. considering we had lots to get done since we were hosting christmas. twice.
was actually a lazy day. i got up early with ben and started the garbage {an oh so tasty, all meat dish} and had some fun with the wee man. nothing too terribly exciting.

then nick and i decided that we were going to stop by my fil's house before my family's christmas last minute. we called to wish nick's dad's girlfriend a happy birthday and they had some of her family over. so we thought, what the heck... and headed on over. they are uber close to my parents so it really wasn't much of a game changer.

then it was off to my parents. ben was great for a bit. then had one of his worst melt downs ever. zomg. was ridiculous. he was so tired but wouldn't nap for anyone. not me. not nick. not grandma. he finally fell asleep and probably would have been out for the night if we had let him... but mean mommy and daddy woke him up and made him open presents. i know, we're awful.

family photo...
beaner had just woken up.


opening pressies with daddy.


bows on heads. it's a family tradition. i'm sure there's another post from like july of 09 that has a picture of beaner with a yellow bow... but anywho.


checking out grandma's awesome new flashlight. seriously, i want one. 


aunt tina and her oh so perfect shirt from my grandma.


my new most favorite-est picture. ever. xo.


ben was not a fan of the hat that my mom got him to go with his new pirate ship.


ben's thank you. he gave everyone knuckles. it's really quite funny. he can't just give it to one person. if there are multiple people in the room, everyone must have one. 


 the boys trying on some of uncle bob's coats. i know nick came home with two. not sure which two and i have no clue what kevin and matt went home with...