Snow Days!

What's the best part about being a teacher? SNOW DAYS! I've had two in a row and have LOVED spending the extra time with Ben! We've taken the opportunity to play some of his new toys from Christmas.

Sitting in his special "Ben" chair from Grandma and Pappy - what a big boy!

Ben loves to shake his rattle ball!

Playing the piano with Daddy.

Ben loves to snuggle with Ellie Elephant and watch the animals dance in his rainforest toy.

Just a Cute Pic...

Nothing new, but for you "blog stalkers" out there, I thought I'd post this cute pic of Ben from a few weeks ago! Enjoy!

Busy Week!

Welcome Brody! Our latest nephew and Ben's cousin was born on Jaunary 9 at 4:35 a.m.! He weighed in at 6 lbs 11 oz and is doing great! He is very tiny and when we saw him, it was hard to believe Ben was almost 2 pounds smaller at birth. We can't wait for Brody and Ben to have many playdates when they both get a little bigger!

Just had to include this one of Ben and GG - as she would she "just loves that baby!" :)

Our child is a thumbsucker! Ben has been chewing on his hands for a few weeks now but discovered his thumb this week! I've already started preparing Ben for the joys of braces!

I celebrated my 27th birthday on Monday, which was also my first day back to work after winter break! We went to brunch the day before and then Eddie made dinner on my actual birthday (pasta carbonara - yum!). We had a great time and Ben can't wait until he is old enough to dig into the icing on that cake!

Goodbye 2008, Hello 2009!

Ben decided to get wild on New Year's Eve and try out his Bumbo seat for the first time!

He really seemed to like it - doesn't he look like such a little man? :)

Ben's version of a party hat!

Showing off his New Year's shirt from Nana.

2008 was quite a year for us! It's amazing to think that we started off the year not even being pregnant and now we have this incredible, strong, healthy 16 week old son! We continue to feel so blessed by Ben's presence in our lives - he is such a fun little guy and we love every minute with him. We can't wait to make more memories in 2009!

Wishing everyone love, health, and happiness in the upcoming year!

Ben's First Christmas

Merry Christmas Eve 2008!

Hanging out at Aunt Chris' house on Christmas Eve!

Ben couldn't wait for Santa to come!

He also liked helping open presents at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Ben and Aunt Stacey

Ben "wrote" a letter to Santa and left him some cookies and milk, too.

I LOVE this picture of Eddie and Ben - the little reindeer was in Ben's stocking.

Ben got Daddy some Auburn T-shirts and a framed signed Bengals jersey for Christmas.

Eddie is training Ben right from the beginning! Ben got me a pearl bracelet from Tiffany's!

Santa left Ben a wagon filled with books and toys.

Maybe he needs to be a little bigger before he rides in it...

A family photo on Christmas day!

A special Santa bag and stocking at Grandma and Pappy's house.

Look what Santa left us! (and check out that hair!)

Ben had a great Christmas and can't wait to play with all his new toys!

Merry Christmas!

As we begin 24 hours of nonstop festivities, we wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! We hope the holidays are full of magic for you, as they will be for us as we celebrate with Ben. Enjoy this time with friends and family and be grateful for all you have! We are thankful for all of your love and support and couldn't ask for better family and friends!

"And I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight, 'Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!'"

Ben as Baby Jesus!

Last week, Ben had his stage debut! Eddie's stepmom Jenny works for Bethany School, a local Episcopal school, and they put on a Christmas program. They wanted to have a real baby portray Baby Jesus in the Nativity scene and asked Jenny if Ben was up for the job! Of course, Eddie and I said yes! Ben did a great job... well, except for the fact that he was very squirmy! The poor 7th grader holding him got nervous and started walking around the stage with him. He made it through about 4 minutes on stage and then I rescued him and he was replaced with a Cabbage Patch doll! Overall, it was a lot of fun and will be a fun story to tell Ben about when he gets older.