Ben-uary

As I looked through the pictures from the past month, they all seemed to have one thing in common...Ben. He started the month showing us that even in his big boy bed he can get out of his footie pajamas, no problem.

He also learned the valuable lesson, that it is exhausting work pouting at Daddy for an entire evening.

I believe he was protesting dinner time when he passed out.

Everyone who sees Ben knows he is one cool kid. He wears his shades ALL the time!

We had one "warm" Saturday where Ben got to play outside with Daddy and Luke.

Daddy took the boys on a ride around the yard.

And last week we celebrated as Ben turned TWO!

We had pizza, opened presents...

SOCKS!

FRUIT SNACKS! (Yes, I wrapped up fruit snacks, that's what he kept saying he wanted for his birthday)

And then we had cake!

I had to stop him from blowing out the candle before we finished singing...I laughed and blew it out instead.

So we relit it and gave him another try.

It took a lot of spitting on the cake but he finally got it out.

And enjoyed his Mickey Mouse cake.

Then it was time for bed, in his new bed, under his new bedding from Grandma and Grandpa.

The boys loved having Grandma and Grandpa here. They spent a lot of their time cuddling with Grandma watching movies or seeing if Grandpa and Daddy needed help while they fixed the bedroom wall, the toilet, the garage door, and the insallation in the crawl.

This last week we made sure to get at least one day outside. Luke climbed a mountain!

And Ben made his own path through the snow.

And last night we had a bunch of friends over and ended up celebrating Ben's birthday again. We had pizza and cake and he even got to open a couple of presents.

Katrina bought him the missing piece to his cowboy collection. He had the horse, the boots, and we even bought him a hat for his birthday. But Katrina bought him the six shooters....and even bought a set for Luke!

Learning how to put them in the holster.

Trying some fancy shooting.

Shooting the BAD GUYS!

Ride em, Cowboy!

In all this has been a busy month. Ben is just exhausted. I'm sure being two will suit him just fine.

January

We ended our month in Wisconsin. My mom and dad were traveling and had asked if I would spend the week at the house making sure everyone was fed (and didn't kill each other). So the boys and I traveled up there on Sunday evening and stay through till Thursday night. It was a fun week. Not many activities but it has been awhile since I've seen the everyday life of my siblings. I got to help Kendra study for a test for school. I got to hear about Lydia's new job. And I even got to pick Kurt up from practice to hear all about the team.

On Wednesday night we managed to get the entire sibling faction (minus Scott) up to the house for dinner. The cousins had a blast playing down the basement for much of the evening.

Then it was time for some new Aunt bonding time.

And some cousin/crazy Uncle time.

But the boys newest game they made up at Grandma and Grandpa's is the horsey game. Luke actually lets Ben grab him around the neck and "ride" him across the living room. I have video of it but it won't load for me. I did post it on facebook though.

It was a fun week and I'm glad Mom and Dad had such a great trip. We're glad we could help out!

The other big news from January is Ben's graduation.

He's now sleeping in his very own big boy bed. We would've waited a little while but he has just recently shown interest in climbing in and out of his crib, so we figured it would be safer to put him closer to the floor.

Posing in his new bed

Cheese!

Tucked in for the night. Notice the giant Elmo and firetruck couch....they're the only safety precautions for falling out. Unfortunately we found out this week that they don't work. He's fallen onto the floor about 5 times since Saturday night. We're working on finding a safety rail.

Vegas, Baby!

Scott traveled to Las Vegas last month for a SLED/POLS conference. The boys and I missed him a lot but knew it was a great experience for him.

We helped him pack up on Wednesday morning. Luke and Ben then packed their own bag. Luke found his Elmo laptop and put it in his "briefcase" and Ben made sure he had his "watch". And they both got dressed for work.

Scott went to the conference with his principal, Steve.

They had quite a few adventures during their trip, including leaving a library book on the plane, almost losing their hotel room, and waiting 4 hours for a pizza.  Needless to say, they could've used their wives on the trip! But they made the best of it.  Their last evening in Vegas one of the area principals took them on a driving tour of the state park just outside the city. It was a highlight for Scott, who has never seen mountains before.

But don't worry, they enjoyed the traditional highlights of the city too!

Scott said the buffet was AMAZING!

Pizza Night!

The rest of our Christmas break was very relaxing. We spent a lot of time relaxing at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I did get a chance to spend an afternoon with Anna helping "prepare" for Baby D. Then Shawn and Anna came over to see the boys. Luke was excited to see them. But the real story from the week was Ben and his office. Grandma has a great set up in the back bedroom. Not only is there a shelf of toys but there's a tv with cable hooked up so Nick Jr. and Disney can play alllllllll day long. Ben spent every waking moment in that room. And you could usually find him sittin

g in or on a laundry basket. Yep, that's how Ben spent his Christmas break. In a basket.

Luke would join him if the show was REALLY good.

We ended our break with a family tradition...PIZZA NIGHT!

Aunt Jan and Uncle Steve and the girls (and boys) come over to make homemade pizzas. It was a great night. Luke loved playing with baby Sophia.

He tried to cheer her up with peek a boo.

And the kids even helped with the pizza dough. Luke and Sam were very good listeners.

Daddy helped smoosh down the dough.

Sam and Aunt Jan work on a crust together.

Ben let the other kids in on the great basket seat idea.

Then Ben took a turn making some crust.

Aunt Jan teaches Ben correct techinque.

After dinner Ben and Sophia spend some time discussing life at the bottom.

Great Grandma and Ben talk about Luke's new cars.

We were going to leave for home the next day but holiday food and exhaustion from late nights caught up with me and my tummy didn't let us leave until Monday morning. We can't wait to be back in St. Charles!

Christmas Day

The boys slept in till 9 Christmas morning. In fact we ended up getting them out of bed. They ran right downstairs to check the plate of cookies they had left for Santa. He had eaten all the cookies and left them a very nice thank you note. And they jumped right in to the gifts.

It was just a small pile from Santa (and from Mommy and Daddy)

Luke's "big" present was his first remote control car. It was a little disappointing at first, the batteries didn't work right but once we got a new set it ran great.

And Ben's "big" gift was of all things a baby. He plays with every baby doll he finds so we figured he could use one of his own since we don't have any at our house.

After a great day of relaxing and watching movies the rest of the family came over for the Grandma and Grandpa portion of our holiday. The kids tried to wait patiently...

Unfortunately Ben got tired of waiting for all his cousins' turns opening presents and decided to protest by laying face down in the middle of the living room floor whenever he wasn't opening a present.

Don't worry, he had PLENTY to open...

Sally made sure to get a picture of one half of the presents we all opened that night.

The most popular toy that evening was the toy Ben got from Uncle Jeff and Aunt Sally. It's amazing how the classics never get old.

Both of the boys are still completely enthralled by the jack in the box. In true Elf fashion it brings shock and giggles.

It was a wonderful night to spend with the family after their busy day. Luke and Ben love seeing their cousins and Aunts and Uncles.