Easter - Part 4

We went to my parents' house for Easter dinner. Two of my aunts and their families joined us. These days Ben is the star of the show at events like this with everyone fussing over him and wanting to hold him and this day was no exception. My youngest cousin Meghan who is 7 is always very excited to hold Ben and usually gets him first. Ben's not crazy about sitting most of the time now...he'd rather stand and jump so he was squirming some when I got this picture.




When it was time to feed Ben we got him changed into another outfit I brought down for him. But much to my shock and dismay, the brand new shirt just barely fit him. Joe and I both struggled to get him into it. It's a 9-month onesie and he's not even 6-months old but this will be the only time he gets to wear it...and the other 3 I bought just like it won't even get worn once! I'm kicking myself for washing them all because I can't return them now!







Anyway, we fed Ben some carrots but he was really more interested in checking everyone out. This was the first time that we fed him in a high chair...Gramma bought it to keep at her house. We've been waiting to put ours together until after we move.














After dinner, Meghan wanted to read the books that came in Ben's Easter basket that the Easter Bunny left for him at Gramma's house. Gramma got a kick out of watching Ben try to eat the books while Meghan struggled to hold onto them and read!





While that was going on, the men in the family did the dishes and I got a quick picture of that. It's nice to see everyone pitching in! My dad was around the corner so you can't see him but he did his part too!


My parents had also set up a nice surprise for all of us by arranging to have my brother call from Korea after dinner. The best part was that they have a web camera set up so you can actually see each other while you talk. I took Ben up first and Matt got to see him jumping around and hear him "talking" some. It was really neat and I'm looking forward to trying that out again.

That's Matt on the screen there but it's a little hard to see.




This is a shot of my aunts and cousins chatting with Matt on the web cam. From the left is Jessica, Keith, Aunt Patty, Kevin (hamming it up for the camera!) and Aunt Maureen.











Later, my mom and Meghan decided to take Ben for his first real stroller walk around a neighborhood. It was a beautiful day, perfect for a walk. Ben seemed to enjoy it and fell asleep for a much needed nap.


Later in the evening a few of us played some poker. Keith plays more often than the rest of us and it showed...he cleaned me out pretty quick. Turned out what I thought was a bluff was actually a straight! Eventually Keith won it all and the evening came to a close. But it was a great Easter...thanks to everyone!!

Easter - Part 3

Easter Sunday morning I woke up around 8:00 expecting to hear Ben waking up any moment. I went in and checked on him and he was sound asleep. So I decided to make breakfast for me and Joe, which is something I don't usually get to do anymore now that Ben is with us. I took my time and enjoyed having some time in the morning to myself. Then I made up some waffles and finally woke Joe around 9:00, just as Ben was waking up. After we all ate (Ben was first, of course!) I brought in Ben's Easter basket. I had gotten him a stuffed animal and then filled the rest of the basket with candy for Joe since he's our resident chocoholic. Here are some pictures of Ben checking out his basket.




Ben has gotten really good at reaching out and grabbing things. He reached right for the bunny rabbit in the basket and tried to pull it out but it was wedged in there pretty tight.






So instead he went for one of the plastic eggs I had filled with candy. And he put the egg right where everything else goes these days...in his mouth!




Joe and I had a good time playing with Ben while he checked everything out. Then we decided to try to get a picture of Ben's new tooth so we could show it off to everyone. It was a little bit of a struggle since Ben likes to stick his tongue out when he opens his mouth but we finally got a shot of it. It's a little hard to see but I zoomed in the best I could...it's the shiny spot on the left on his gums.

After we played for a little while, it was time to get ready for Church. Joe took care of getting Ben ready while I got dressed. Pretty soon I heard Joe calling for back up and I went to see what the issue was. It turned out that Ben's outfit was on the tight side and Joe couldn't get the top button done. I gave it a shot and did get it buttoned but Ben started fussing a lot so we had to undo it...it was just too tight. We did manage to get the tie on though and you couldn't really tell the button was undone. It wasn't until after we had him all dressed that I realized how much this outfit looked like a German Oktoberfest outfit...all he's missing is the fedora hat!!

Here's a picture of me and Ben for a change. It's rare that I'm in any pictures these days since I'm usually behind the camera...I had to specifically ask to get this one!

Then we were off to Church finally but we were late getting there and had to stand the entire time. We were right over an air-conditioning vent so I was completely frozen by the end. But Ben was an angel and kept himself and the people around us entertained. He partically enjoyed the singing and decided to join in a few times!

Easter - Part 2

Saturday night we went to see Joe's sister Chrissy and her family to celebrate Easter. While I was out that afternoon I bought Easter baskets for her kids, Devin and Sydney. Here are some pictures from our time with them.


Here's Sydney wearing some bunny ears I picked up for her. She's almost 14 months old and just beginning to start walking. But she won't walk in front of her mom...you have to catch her doing it when she thinks no one's watching!




Here's Ben sporting the bunny ears with his Aunt Chrissy. She's pregnant right now and due in August. Unfortunately she's been pretty sick most of the time so far but it seems like she's starting to feel better now. I don't know how she's going to do it chasing after 2 little ones and Devin (he's almost 7)...but it will be great to have another baby in the family. There's 10 months between Sydney and Ben and that will be about the same difference between Ben and the new baby so I think that will be great for all of them to be so close in age.





This is Devin attempting to tease his "Joe-Joe." As you can see Joe is thrilled to be taking a turn with the bunny ears but Devin got a good laugh out of it and that's what counts, right?!


I didn't actually get any pictures of Matt, Chrissy's husband on this trip. He was outside grilling most of the evening and the food was great!






Here's a picture that I definitely consider a classic and may be some sign of proof that Ben is my son since he looks nothing like me...he's reaching for my can of beer! I had asked Joe to hold it for me while I grabbed my camera and then Ben was just reaching for the can with all his might. It was great...don't worry, we didn't let him sample the goods. I just thought it was a cute shot and something we can laugh about when he gets older.

Easter - Part 1

On Saturday, I took Ben to the mall to do some shopping. While we were there, we passed by the Easter Bunny and surprisingly there wasn't a line. So I took him up and handed him over to this giant fuzzy friend. I couldn't believe how good he was...I don't think he realized who was holding him and he put on a big open grin as soon as the camera girl spoke to him. Finally we have a professional picture of Ben smiling!!

Tuesday's Big News

Tuesday morning I got up with Ben around 7 and gave him a bottle. Afterwards, we were playing a little and I got a quick peek inside Ben's mouth and guess what I saw...his first tooth had finally popped through!!! Of course I had to stick my finger in there and check it out to be sure and, yup, when he chomped down, there was definitely something sharp in there! We've been waiting for this tooth for the last couple months and it was very exciting to see that it's finally here. It's a little sad though because every day Ben's becoming more of a little boy than a baby. Makes me want another one...but don't worry, that's still a ways off! :-)

More pictures of Ben

Here are some more recent shots of Ben. This was one of the first times we fed him baby food. Unfortunately I don't recall what it was this time, but clearly, he wasn't crazy about it!

Here's Ben learning how to play Playstation with Joe and Nate...Joe's theory is you gotta teach 'em while they're young! Ben looks so thrilled...don't worry, I rescued him soon after this picture was taken.

Here's another shot with Daddy...in case you didn't think Ben looked like Joe before...

Ben loves to look out the window from his bedroom so I snuck up on him while Mom-mom was sitting with him and snapped the wide-open smile.

Finally, here's a messy-faced Ben after eating some peas...yummy!!

Ben - 19 to 23 Weeks

Ben is now 5 months and a few weeks old. He's working on sitting up and he is really starting to enjoy eating baby food. At first green beans and sweet potatoes were his favorites, but now he seems to love it all. I'm sure you can tell by the size of his cheeks! He's almost 18 pounds but I have a feeling he'll start to lose a little once he starts moving around. I think he'll be crawling soon, he just has to figure out how to lift himself onto his knees. Right now, he's able to scoot a little by just rocking back and forth. He's also almost figured out how to sit up. He can catch himself if he starts to fall foward but he's still working on side-to-side. He's also a drooling fool right now while we wait for his teeth to come through. We can see some white spots on his gums so hopefully that first one will break through soon. Luckily he doesn't seem to be in pain from it much. He loves to babble too and it's so much fun to see how aware he's becoming! Here are some pictures:

Nineteen Weeks Old














Twenty Weeks Old



















Twenty-one Weeks Old



















Twenty-two Weeks Old














Twenty-three Weeks Old



















Ben actually smiles a lot but it's hard to catch with the camera. I think I've traumatized him because the flash is always in his face! I just can't help it...he's too cute to not capture on camera and share with everyone!

Joe's Birthday

Joe's 29th birthday was on Tuesday so I took a 1/2 day from work so we could spend some time together. First I went to buy his present...a 29-gallon fish tank. Joe's been wanting a fish tank for a while but we didn't have room for it in the apartment. So now that we have a house I figured it would be a great gift. I know nothing about fish tanks but the people at the store were very helpful...they helped me figure out how to fit the tank and stand in the car since the trunk was full and it never occurred to me to clean it out! After I bought the tank I went over to the new house and surprised Joe. He loved it and is really looking forward to getting it set up and then picking out some fish.

We went to lunch at Claymont Steakshop. We've both been going there since we were kids but I hadn't been in there in a while. They deliver now so I think it's going to be our new place to order from when we don't feel like cooking...this could be a big problem! :-)

After lunch, we decided to go to DMV because Joe's license expired that day and I wanted to get mine changed to our new address. Surprisingly there wasn't a wait at the DMV so I was able to walk right up and get mine taken care of. Unfortunately, Joe didn't have such good luck. Turned out that PA had suspended his license for an unpaid fee from 2004 and DE wouldn't give him a new one (or return his old one) until he got the issue resolved. So he called PenDot but they wouldn't give him any info over the phone. Being that it was 4pm there wasn't time to go up to Philadelphia to try to straighten it out so we left DMV and went to look for area rugs for the new house.

It's amazing how many different areas rugs are out there...and how many of them are so ugly you can't imagine who thought they were ok to produce, let alone who thought someone might buy them! I never realized how difficult it would be to find just a plain, earth-toned rug. For now, I think we've found what we're going to get for our bedroom and maybe for the dining room, but we're still hunting for the living room and Ben's room.

The next day, Joe and his dad went up to Philly to get his license situation resolved. After spending about 4 hours and $60, they were finally able to get his new license. The worst part was that Joe really didn't owe the money...the DMV in PA screwed up. But if he didn't just pay it, he would have to wait 3-4 weeks for the issue to get resolved and it's just not possible for Joe to go that long without driving. Gotta love bureaucracy!

House - Midway Point

Here's how the house looked about 2 weeks after we went to settlement. As you can see, the house looks completely different. We're right on track to move in April 29th. All that's left to do is the kitchen, carpet the family room, install the new front window and front bedroom windows and we'll be all set to move in. We can't wait!!!



Living Room/Dining Room - the hardwood floor came out great (this is before they were glossed)

Dining Room Chandelier

Gutted Kitchen - the window has since been replaced and the new floor has been laid

Gutted Bathroom - this is actually all done now but I don't have any pictures of it yet

New paint and ceiling fan in the Master Bedroom

New paint in Ben's room...we went a little brighter than we meant to with the paint color but it's like the sun is always shining!! Ignore the toilet...it's been moved to the trash. :)

Ben - 13 Weeks to 18 Weeks Old

Here are some more pictures of Ben.

Thirteen Weeks Old

Fourteen Weeks Old



















Fifteen Weeks Old



















Sixteen Weeks Old



















Seventeen Weeks Old














Eighteen Weeks Old

Basement - Before

This is the last of the before shots...our small Family Room and laundry room are down there.

Steps from the living room into the Family Room
Family Room shelves (they didn't last long!)






Laundry Room 

2nd Floor - Before

Here are some pictures of the 2nd floor, before we started any work. There's a 3rd small bedroom up there but I didn't get any before pictures of it...we're going to use it as an office.



Steps to the upstairs (from the living room)



Bathroom








Master Bedroom






Ben's Room