Visit to Mt. Gretna

Conrad, Ben and i went to Mt. Gretna for a little trip before I have to go back to school on Monday. It was delightful to get away even if it was only for a couple days. It was hot and humid, but there was a fantastic storm that came through and cooled everything off.

Great Gran Buck with Ben. She sure makes him laugh!
This little man got a little tired, waaaaaaaaaay past his bedtime!


We took Ben to the Jigger Shop (an ice cream parlor that is a staple of Mt. Gretna) and he saw/had his first Jigger (an ice cream sundae). Boy did he love that whipped marshmallow topping with Jigger nuts!



Here are a couple of videos. the first is Conrad playing peek-a-boo with Ben.

This second video is just our cheeky Monkey.

Ben fell asleep the other night and he looked so peaceful. What a beautiful boy!
But.... what a messy eater!!!

I have to return to school on Monday, and am a little nervous. It has been a while since I was away from my little man for so long everyday. I am sure going to miss our time together. He is such a good boy and so much fun to play with. So... WISH ME LUCK!!!!!! I'm going to need it!

6 months old tomorrow!

I can't believe that Ben is almost 6 mos. old! He is such a kick to watch. He has developed so much in the last month, he rolls over, grabs his feet, grabs toys. I love just watching him play and sing. He is the biggest ham, well... that is, next to his daddy. We are thoroughly enjoying our summer (which has flown by). We had such a wonderful time on the west coast visiting friends and in Ben's case meeting new ones. But enough talk, here are some pictures. To start them off, his latest expression, which we refer to as bitter beer face... Pretty cute stuff :)

Bitter Beer Face

Look at those big beautiful eyes

sooooooooo COLD on the lake!!!

My Daddy and his grandson

Peek-a-boo

Monkey with a monkey at the zoo

Ben and beautiful Jefferson Sand. Jeff was sooo great with Ben

Jeff watching and waiting to lend a helping hand

two cool dudes

Awww sleeping baby

Abuelita and Ben

Our little family relaxin' in PDX

Happy baby

Tadku and Ben

Daddy and Ben having a laugh

Great-Grandma McCandless and Baby

Just chillin' on the couch :)

MONKEY SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT

I forgot to mention that Ben sleeps through the night as of 2 1/2 months. He is amazing!! He sleeps from 9pm to 7 - 7:30am. So thank you to Megan and Heather for their recommendation of the life saving book Babywise!! I think that he skipped a few steps, but I am ok with that. He is soooooo much happier now that he is well rested and on a regular schedule. He is so much fun and we can't wait for everyone to meet our little man. here are a couple more pics to add something to this boring post.

Home Sweet Home

We just wanted to let everyone know that we will be coming back to the west coast for a few weeks on June 14. The tentative plan is to be in Portland until the 23rd or 24th (with a quick trip to Corvallis on the 19th and 20th), then Idaho until the 29th for me, and the 13th for Meghan. Of course we will have Benny with us, and he is looking forward to meeting everyone.

With that being said, here are a few new pictures and one video of Benny to tide everyone over until then...

Happy Easter!!!

This last week my parents came out and we went to NY for the week to visit my brother who lives there. We all stayed together at the Manhatten Club. We had a wonderful time despite the weather and masses of people. Due to the weather I had to get something to protect Monkey from the rain. At Toys 'R' Us on Broadway I found a rain shield for the stroller, which is apparently not waterproof, so Ben was hermetically sealed in it for most of the week.



Our baby boy is working on smiling and it is quite funny. Most of the time it happens when he is sound asleep, but more and more it is happening in his wake hours too. My mom and I were lucky enough to catch a couple of them on film. He is growing sooooo fast! He turns two months on Thursday and I can't believe how fast time is flying. I have to go back to work on Tuesday. It will be a lot of work getting everything back the way I want it after having a sub in my room for 7 weeks. I know the room is a mess and grades are a little screwed up. I feel certain it will be a long week. Lucky for us Conrad's mom is with us for a while while I go back to work to take care of our baby boy. We are so lucky to have such wonderful supportive and loving families. I am not sure how you could raise a child while remaining sane without one!

Happy Easter everyone!