The McHugh Family

Ben - 41 Weeks to 1 Year Old

2007-04-21T10:00:00.000-04:00

I just realized that I never loaded the last few weekly pictures that I took of Ben. I decided to stop taking his picture every Saturday once he was a year old. I'm glad I did it for the first year but honestly, it was hard to keep up with it all. Of course this doesn't mean that I've stopped taking his picture altogether so you can definitely keep checking back to see how big our baby has become!

41 Weeks

42 Weeks

43 Weeks

44 Weeks

45 Weeks

46 Weeks

47 Weeks

48 Weeks

49 Weeks

50 Weeks

51 Weeks

Happy 1st Birthday!!!!!!!!

Thanksgiving

2007-04-14T08:32:00.000-04:00

This year we had Thanksgiving dinner with Joe's family at his Mom-Mom's house in Delaware. It was nice for us because we didn't have far to travel, especially since we went to my Aunt Maureen's for a 2nd Thanksgiving dinner later that night in PA. Both dinners were great and we were stuffed! Ben had fun playing with all his cousins too.

Walking

2007-04-14T08:19:00.000-04:00

Ben began walking independently without holding on and by his own choice on November 15th. Of course, he chose to do this while I was at work but Joe was home with him and called with the good news. I was a little sad to have missed it but luckily he did it again for me that night. At first he took just 1-3 steps at a time but before long he was walking all over the place. I don't have a good video of his first few attempts, but here's a link to a video I took about couple weeks later. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkohvuP0VYA

Wedding Weekend

2007-04-14T07:39:00.000-04:00

The weekend of November 10th and 11th, we attended 2 weddings. One was for my co-worker Stacia and the other was for Joe's cousin, Bobby Dale. Unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries for Stacia's wedding, but she was a beautiful bride and we had a great time at the wedding.

Bobby Dale's wedding was in Maryland so we left Ben overnight with my mom and headed down for the night. We got lost on the way there but luckily found the venue before it got started. It was a small wedding and the ceremony and reception were at the same place. Here are some pictures of the good times we had.

The happy couple, Michelle & Bobby Dale Sikes

Joe's Mom and Victoria

Chrissy & Matt

Victoria & Joe

Joe's Aunt Sheila & Uncle Jack

Joe's Dad and his sister, Aunt Arlene

Joe's cousin Jeff and his wife Debbie

Joe's Uncle Freddy and his fiance, Claire

Joe's cousins Bob, Megan and her boyfriend

Michelle and her new sister-in-law, Joe's cousin Mandy getting their groove on

The Dancing Queens - Chris & I had to drag Victoria out onto the dance floor but I think she secretly had fun

First Haircut

2007-04-11T21:50:00.000-04:00

At some point I had heard that you should wait until after a baby turns 1 year old before you cut his hair. For a few months before Ben's 1st birthday, Joe kept telling me that his hair was getting too long and it really didn't matter if we went ahead and cut it. Apparently most people agreed but they didn't bother me too much about it. I found out later that one of our friends put her daughter's barrette in Ben's hair during a playdate because it was in his eyes (if only I had a picture!!).

Anyway, I waited stubbornly until after Ben's first birthday (plus 2 weeks) before I finally agreed to cut his hair. On November 10th, we took Ben for his first haircut. We went to Michael's Barbershop which is the same place that Joe has been getting his haircuts since he was a little boy. The whole experience was a little sad for me and traumatic for Ben. He doesn't really like to have his head touched and he kept swatting his hand at the barber. Finally Joe gave Ben his cell phone to try to keep him occupied so the barber could finish...Ben's crying in the last picture not because he didn't like his haircut, but because afterwards Joe tried to take the cell phone away! In the end, I have to admit that Ben looked much better after the trim and he looked so much more grown up!

Happy Halloween

2007-04-11T21:45:00.000-04:00

Ben was born 2 days before Halloween and was still in the hospital for his first Halloween. So, although this was officially his 2nd Halloween, it was the first time he was able to dress up and enjoy the festivities. It was also the first time that Cooper got to join in on the fun. Unfortunately, Ben wasn't feel very well but he tried to have a good time. His favorite part was seeing the kids come to the door...he cried when they would leave because he didn't understand why they weren't coming in to play with him!!

Linvilla Orchards

2007-04-10T21:21:00.000-04:00

Joe and I took off from work the day after Ben's birthday weekend. We decided to go to Linvilla Orchards to pick a pumpkin and take Ben on his first hayride.

Ben's 1st Birthday - Part 2

2007-04-10T20:13:00.000-04:00

We hosted a second 1st Birthday Party for Ben on his actual birthday, this time for our family. It was a lot of fun and Ben definitely enjoyed himself. He received more presents than we knew what to do with...thank goodness our house has lots of storage!! Here are some pictures of the good times had by all that day.

Ben's 1st Birthday - Part 1

2007-02-25T14:16:00.000-05:00

On October 28, 2006, we began the celebration of Benjamin's 1st year with us. We hosted 2 parties at our house, one for friends on Saturday and one for family on Sunday. It was a lot of fun and a little stressful but totally worth it. We so appreciated everyone coming to help us celebrate Ben's birthday.

Business Trips

2006-11-19T01:00:00.000-05:00

For almost the last 4 years, I've been involved with a project at work to implement a performance management system. There have been a variety of delays for a variety of reasons but finally it looks like we are going to go live with the system this month. So in preparation for the implementation, I got to go to San Francisco for 2 different weeks in October for training.

I had never been to San Francisco and technically I was staying in Redwood City/Redwood Shores (the names seemed to be interchangeable but I'm not sure if that's true). Anyway, Redwood is about 20 minutes south of San Fran and home to many major computer-related companies. I really liked the area and the city...much more than LA (sorry Matt!). Since I went out the first week by myself, 2 of the other people in the training class took me under their wing and drove me around to see some sights. This was especially nice since I didn't have a rental car!

On Monday, 10/9, we went down to Fisherman's Wharf . Either my camera doesn't take very good pictures at night or I didn't have it on the right setting...so, the pictures came out pretty grainy.

Here's Alcatraz from the docks

We walked down to Pier 39 to see the Sea Lions laying out...although in this shot, you can really only see the Sea Gulls

Here are some really blurry Sea Lions

On 10/11 we went into San Mateo for lunch. It had a nice couple of blocks of shops and places to eat. I found that most of the different towns had similar areas and that was pretty cool. I also couldn't get over how clean the streets were, even in downtown San Fran. Anyway, as we walked around, we came upon a guy outside a restaurant with 2 parrots. Now, they weren't just any parrots though...they were cowboys!

Both of the parrots were wearing cowboy hats and the kids walking by were loving it...I guess I was too! I overheard the man say that these parrots are famous and have been featured on the Discover Channel. So I guess I did meet some celebrities on my trip!

That night, some of us went out to a brewery in Half Moon Bay for dinner. It's right on the water and I got this picture of the sun setting.

On my last day of the 1st trip, I got to go on a tour of Alcatraz with some other people in my class. I kind of felt bad because Joe really wants to go there and I didn't have much interest in it. I took pictures for him though and figure I'll do the tour again when we get a chance to go out there together.

San Francisco skyline from the boat to Alcatraz

The Rock - in my head I hear this spoken with Sean Connery's accent

The "Welcome" Sign

Broadway cell block

The rumored cell of Al Capone

The San Francisco skyline on the boat ride back...blurry but pretty

I took the red eye home that night so I could spend time with Ben and Joe. Being away wasn't as hard as I expected it to be but I certainly missed them and I know Joe was glad to have another set of hands to help keep up with Ben! Surprisingly Ben didn't seem to hold it against me that I was a away for almost a week...he's such a trooper!

Funny Baby

2006-11-19T00:46:00.000-05:00

Ben has become quite a ham. Whenever he sees my camera, he gets the silliest grin on his face and it's just so funny! I'm pretty sure he knows exactly what he's doing too because if he doesn't see that orange light just before the flash, he totally turns off the smile. It cracks me up!

This one is my favorite!

Later that afternoon, I guess Ben was completely worn out after so many pictures (I know, I think I may have an obsession). I made one of his favorites for lunch, grilled cheese, and just as he was finishing up, he just fell asleep right there in his high chair. So, of course, I had to get a few more pictures of him!

He actually ended up sleeping in the high chair for about an hour. He's got this thing now with having at least one hand either on his face or behind his head whenever he sleeps. He looks like he's very deep in thought!

Hard Day

2006-11-19T00:40:00.000-05:00

One night in late September I had to work late...well, let's be honest, I work late a lot...but on this particular night I arrived home to the following scene:

Joe tried to keep Ben awake so we could see each other but after he went upstairs to check on dinner and came back, he found that Benjamin had just passed out asleep on the floor. Apparently, we both had a hard day.

Ooohhh...Stairs

2006-11-19T00:19:00.000-05:00

Since about the end of the summer Ben has been walking while holding onto furniture and become obsessed with climbing the stairs. As time's gone by, he's become pretty fast at crawling over there and making a break for it whenever he gets the chance. We held out putting up a gate as long as we could but now it's probably one of the best things we could have ever bought...for his safety and our sanity! Here are some pics that I took during his beginning fascination with the steps.

At first we could just yell no and that was enough to deter him...and make him cry sometimes. (8/26)

Then he would stand at the bottom and taunt us with the possibility that he would get all the way up...a few minutes later he did and I got it on video but I can't put it on here. (9/2)

When we first put up the gate we had trouble figuring out the best way keep it up...hence there was a big gap and Ben thought it was a pretty cool challenge to try to fit his head under it. (9/9)

Eventually we figured out the gate but we also realized we needed to give in sometimes and let him go for it...he loves that and he's super fast! (9/13)

Go Eagles!!!

2006-11-18T23:54:00.000-05:00

So back on 9/10, I dressed Ben up in his Donovan McNabb jersey and we watched the Eagles stomp the Texans. I've been an Eagles fan all my life so it's just natural that we raise our boy as a fan too. So here are some pics of Ben hamming it up in his jersey...too cute!!!

Ben gearing up for the game with the Eagles football his Grandpa gave him while he was still in utero

Ben checking out the game up close

Ben taking a break from the game to play with Daddy's shoelaces

Having lost interest in the game, Ben decided to play his own game

And finally, Ben was out like a light from all the excitement!

Ben - 36 Weeks to 40 Weeks Old

2006-10-14T19:16:00.000-04:00

36 Weeks Old

37 Weeks Old

38 Weeks Old

39 Weeks Old

40 Weeks Old

The Spider That Just Won't Quit

2006-10-14T19:02:00.000-04:00

For the last few months, there's been a spider living in front of our house. He's a big nasty fellow that just won't accept that he's not wanted. For the longest time, he was building webs between the railing in our front yard and Joe's van that was in the driveway. Most mornings I forgot about it and walked through the web...gross. Then I guess he got annoyed with having to keep rebuilding the web after I would walk through it because he started building it on the other side of the van and attaching it to a bush in our side yard. Of course, that got knocked down whenever we took the trash out or mowed the lawn. So now the spider has started building his webs between our house and the trash cans. For the most part, it's out of the way and we're not walking through them as much but it's still annoying. I guess we could try to kill it but, to be honest, the spider is pretty big and fast and I really don't want to have to deal with it. It's going to get cold here eventually so that should take care of him, I hope. This is a pic of one of his webs...it is pretty cool looking, but check out the size of him!!!

Our House - The After Pictures

2006-10-14T18:36:00.000-04:00

Well, I know it's been almost 6 months since we moved into our new house but here are the after pictures finally. I kept waiting until I got the house completely clean before taking them, but I've finally realized that day is still a long time coming. So you'll have to excuse some of the mess in the pictures but anyone that knows me knows that I'm not exactly the cleanest person in the world, and neither is my house! If you want to see what the house looked like originally, go back to the April 2006 postings.

Kitchen, view 1

Kitchen, view 2

Living room, view 1

Living room, view 2

Dining room

Family room, view 1

Family room, view 2

Steps to go upstairs

Bathroom, view 1

Bathroom, view 2

Ben's room, view 1

Ben's room, view 2

Master bedroom

Slugger

2006-10-14T18:21:00.000-04:00

The week after Matthew was born, we went down to MD to watch his big brother Devin play in his first baseball game. Devin seemed to have fun and it gave us a chance to spend some time with Joe's family and the new baby.

Here's Devin in left field wondering why no one's hitting it his way.

Sydney showing Ben how to hold the ball with one hand.

Baby Matthew with his daddy's mom Debbie.

Devin playing catcher for the first time...he seemed a little nervous, but can you blame him?

Proud Uncle Joe and Matthew

Ben and cousin Devin looking tough in his uniform.

Mom-Mom and her 4th great-grandchild, Matthew

Devin at bat...waiting for that perfect pitch. In this league, they pitch to the kids until they hit the ball...we were waiting for a while but Devin didn't give up and finally got a hit.

Mom-Mom and Ben having some laughs.

New Nephew

2006-10-14T18:14:00.000-04:00

On August 21st, Joe's sister Chrissy gave birth to Matthew Joseph Miller, Jr. I believe he was 8.5 lbs and 20 inches long. He certainly gave his mom a hard time, as he was 4 days over due and Chrissy was pretty sick most of the pregnancy. She had been walking around 95% effaced and 4.5 centemeters dialated for 2 weeks, so it was definitely a blessing when Matthew finally arrived happy and healthy in the middle of the night. Isn't he cute?!

Blues Festival

2006-10-14T17:55:00.000-04:00

There was a Blues Festival the weekend of August 12th in Wilmington that my parents invited us to attend. It was an all day outdoor concert on the Wilmington waterfront. Joe and I took Ben and met up with my parents. We were sitting off to the side of the stage so it was hard to see the bands but the weather and music were great and we had a lot of fun. Here are some pictures I took that day:

An Old Friend

2006-10-14T17:46:00.000-04:00

One night in July I was looking at this blog and realized that someone had left a comment for me...which I love because it's great positive reinforcement and encouragement for keeping on top of updating it (hint...hint). Anyway, the comment was from one of my old friends from college, Jen. She said that she was going to be in DE soon and was hoping to get together. Jen and I had lost touch about a year after I graduated and it was so great to hear from her. I sent her an email and it turned out she was actually in DE that weekend visiting a friend. We ended up meeting for lunch and I got to introduce her to Ben. We had a great time catching up and I hope that we can continue to keep in touch now! Here's a pic of Jen and Ben:

Sewer Problem

2006-10-14T17:22:00.000-04:00

Way back on July 13, I was doing laundry and noticed that the water was not draining out of the washing machine. Then I saw that there was water backed up in our laundry tub. I called to Joe and the moment he saw it he suspected that we had a blockage in our sewer. Thus began our saga of trying to get our sewer fixed.

First, Joe tried to use an auger in our crawl space to open up the blockage. After that didn't work he called a few different plumbers and finally one came out to the house the next night. Roto Rooter tried but couldn't get anywhere because their auger was too big to fit in the crawl space and our bathroom to try to clean the pipes. Joe then made some calls to see about having someone come out and dig up the yard but the average quote was around $1400, way out of our budget.

So Joe did what he does best, he went after the problem himself and rented a machine to dig up our yard and look for the blockage himself. Here's a picture of Joe as he began the dig.

It was hard to watch him digging up our front yard since it was such a nice yard. It was one of the reasons we bought the house...really nice curb appeal. But it became an eye sore overnight!

That night I went to my parents' house with Ben so we could shower and use their plumbing. You don't realize how much you take for granted with running water: showers, using the toilet, brushing your teeth, making bottles for the baby.

The next day, I left Ben with my mom and I went up to the house with my dad to see if we could help. I ended up taking video of Joe and his dad, my dad, and Joe's friends Randy and Stuey as they found the blockage and fixed it. Unfortunately, blogger doesn't let me put up videos so I don't have any pictures of the outcome. But in the end, they had to dig about 7 feet down at the edge of where our property meets the street. It turned out that most of our sewer line had been replaced at some point except for the last few feet before meeting up with the county line. Of course that's where some roots had grown through the piping and caused the back up. Luckily though they were able to get it fixed and we were able to use our sewer again that night.

The down side though was that our front yard ended up looking like this:

Eventually we got some grass seed down and we finally have a green yard again. Although, whatever seed we bought did not actually match the existing grass so our curb appeal is still not 100%. And the new grass is growing much faster that the old grass so Joe's having to cut it more often.

Oh the joys of owning a home!!!

Computer Issues

2006-09-25T12:09:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to put a quick note up to let everyone know that our home computer crashed a few weeks ago so that's why there's been such a delay since I've updated the blog. The computer's hard drive is being rebuilt and hopefully we'll have it back next week. Luckily, our friend Justin was able to retrieve all of our pictures so we didn't lose anything. Once we get the computer back I'll be sure to update the blog with everything that's been happening over the last couple months. Thanks for sticking with us!!! :)

RV-ing

2006-08-06T12:46:00.000-04:00

The weekend before July 4th, we joined Joe's sister Chrissy and her family for a long weekend outside of Ocean City, MD. Although Joe referred to it as camping, we were actually staying in 2 RVs. Originally we were all going to stay in Chrissy's trailer but at the last minute, Joe's grandmom decided to come along so we drove her trailer down for the 4 of us to stay in. We couldn't get a spot at the same park as Matt and Chrissy but we ended up just down the road about 2 miles. Joe was very excited because he was able to bring the boat too.

This was my first experience with RV-ing and I must admit that I did not except to enjoy it at all. But I was pleasantly surprised because it was actually a lot of fun. It was also pretty convenient since we had running water, showers, microwave, tv and air conditioning! There's no way you can really call it camping but it did offer some camping experiences because we had a fire each night and we grilled for dinner.

Unfortunately I did not get any pictures of either RV. I also didn't take any photos of Ben's first time swimming. We got it on video but I haven't figured out how to get still pictures from the video. Here are some pictures though from the weekend.

Ben enjoying some play time in his exersaucer

Ben is his new booster seat with Devin

Sydney, Ben and Devin hanging out

Ben, Pop-Pop and Devin

Devin and Sydney playing on the golf cart they rented - that was a lot of fun riding around on

Nap time for Sydney and Ben - too cute!!

Boating on the ocean - we kept running into shallow spots so the guys had to sit on the bow to help keep us from pulling mud into the engine

Ocean City MD

I'm not a big fan of boating but I did have fun that day. We took the boat into Ocean City and stopped by Seacrets to have a couple drinks and some food. This is me on the water taxi that took us from our anchored boat over to the bar.

Matt and Devin on the bow of the boat. Devin had a good time on the boat except for when we hit the mud a few times...he was afraid we would sink. He and I witnessed the boat almost catch fire a few years ago so we're both a little on edge when it comes to this whole boating thing!

Captain Joe and First Mate Devin bringing the boat in to the dock. If Joe had his way, he'd go boating everyday.

Mom-Mom being forced to take a picture on the dock

Ben and Daddy - my "twins"

Chrissy trying to relax...she was about 8 months pregnant and I don't know how she handled the heat!

Cutie pie Sydney

Benjamin hamming it up for the camera

Our last day down, we decided to have lunch on the board walk in Ocean City. Here's Sydney playing dress up in her daddy's hat and shades!

Devin took this picture of me and Joe

Aunt Chrissy and Ben, the "Chick Magnet"

Before we left, Joe's Dad went into the back to take a nap but before long, Devin and Sydney had joined him in the bed. So I figured Ben should get in on the fun too!

Ben - 31 to 35 Weeks Old

2006-07-30T15:46:00.000-04:00

Here are some recent shots of Benjamin. We noticed a lot of changes in his personality this summer. He's definitely got a temper now and is not afraid to use it! But he's still a sweetie pie and we're loving it (most of the time!).

31 Weeks Old

32 Weeks Old

33 Weeks Old

34 Weeks Old

35 Weeks Old (this is one of his new favorite faces...it means he's not so happy about things!)

Trip to CT

2006-07-30T15:05:00.000-04:00

At the end of June, we went to Connecticut to visit our friends Puja and Shardul. They got married last year and bought a house and this was the first chance we've had to visit them up there. We didn't do a whole lot because it rained the entire weekend but it was nice to just catch up and spend time together. Saturday night they had a bunch of friends over for what was supposed to be a barbeque but turned into lasagna due to the rain. It was fun to see her girlfriends again as we became friendly during the planning of Puja's wedding. One of Puja's friends, Jenn, was pregnant at the same time I was and had a son, Aidan, 11 days before Ben. Jenn and I have kept in touch swapping stories about the boys since then and it was fun to have them meet. Although I don't think the babies were really into each other...hopefully next time they'll be able to play together.

Shardul Uncle and Ben - I was impressed with Shardul's willingness to hang out with Ben. He really seemed to like playing with Ben. Daddy in training???

A rare picture of Mommy and Ben

Sean (Jenn's husband), Shardul & Aidan

Ben playing on the floor

Sean and Aidan - Aidan was already creeping around, not quite crawling but getting where he wanted to go. He was also able to stand up while holding onto the coffee table.

Puja Auntie and Ben - I'm hoping that after spending time with Ben, Puja and Shardul are going to start working on their first baby...they're keeping quiet as to when they're going to make me an Auntie!

Snoozing away in Daddy's arms...too cute!!!

Father's Day

2006-07-30T14:49:00.000-04:00

This was Joe's first Father's Day and my dad's first as a Grandpa. We went to church with my parents and then went back to their house for brunch. We hung around visiting and then we found out that Joe's parents were not coming up to our house for dinner so we asked my parents if they wouldn't mind babysitting so Joe and I could catch a movie. It was nice to have the chance to do that. After the movie Joe and I picked up some steaks and took them back to my parents' house for dinner. It was a great day and we all enjoyed being entertained by Benjamin!

Devin's 7th Birthday

2006-07-30T14:35:00.000-04:00

Our nephew Devin turned 7 on June 3rd. I can't believe he's 7 already...it's amazing how fast time flies. He just finished first grade and really seemed to like school. He's not big on getting his picture taken though! Here are some pictures from the party.

Memorial Day Barbeque

2006-07-30T14:05:00.000-04:00

Joe and I hosted our first family barbeque the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. Most of our extended families were able to attend as well as some of our friends. This was our first chance to really show off our new house and everyone seemed to like it. It was a really hot day and unfortunately our air conditioning was not working but we still managed to have a good time. Here are some photos.

Ben's 6 Month Pictures

2006-06-11T13:06:00.000-04:00

I'm definitely behind with getting this blog up-to-date. I should have put these pictures up at the end of April when Ben actually turned 6 months old but this is the first chance I got to scan them in.

Landscaping

2006-06-10T12:31:00.000-04:00

After we moved into our new house, Joe was very insistent and excited to do some landscaping in our yard. I, on the other hand, really wasn't looking forward to it. I think my lack of enthusiasm stemmed from the fact that I never really did it before and I don't know anything about plants or flowers. Joe pretty much knew what he wanted to do and kept asking my opinion as to whether I wanted arborvitae or boxwoods, annuals or perennials, and I had no idea what he was talking about! So our trip to Lowes was a little stressful on me as I tried to figure out what we should plant. In the end though we went with what Joe wanted and I guess I learned a few things.

Here's a before picture of the front of the house

Joe digging a hole for an arborvitae - for those that don't know, it looks like a mini-Christmas tree

Here I am planting some impatiens in front of the other arborvitae we put in - check out my cool lime green gardening gloves - they really helped me get in the groove.

The death of a shovel - Joe was digging the last hole in front our steps to put in a boxwood bush when he hit a big rock. When he tried to work the rock out using the shovel as leverage, the shovel's handle actually snapped in half!

Eventually Joe was able to dig the rock out of the hole and we were both pretty impressed once we saw the size of it.

Joe was pretty beat after fighting with the rock, so I grabbed the other shovel and planted the last bush by myself. I had Joe snap a picture since I doubted many people would believe I actually did any of the big stuff!

Azaleas and impatiens under the family room window.

The smaller bush is an azalea that was already there but we moved it over. Then we removed a rose bush that was at the end of the flower bed and replaced it with a lilac bush. We moved the rose bush to the backyard but it has since died unfortunately.

Here's an after shot of the front of the house. It only took us about 3 hours to plant everything, and I must admit that I really like the results and it was easier than I expected. Maybe I've got green thumb afterall...but maybe not. :-)

100 Years Old

2006-06-10T12:20:00.000-04:00

On May 16, 2006, my Uncle Jim's mother turned 100 years old. Nana, as she is affectionately known, recently moved into a nursing home but actually lived on her own until about a year ago. And she was still driving until about 2 or 3 years ago! She is in some ways the stereotypical older lady, always saying "Isn't that lovely, dear?" and "Oh, it's just marvelous."

My Aunt Marianne and Uncle Jim hosted a birthday party at the nursing home to celebrate Nana's century of life. Joe and I took Ben and Nana very much enjoyed seeing him, as did the other older folks that were there. I never realized that Nana was one of 11 children and amazingly she still has 5 brothers and sisters that are still with us. Here's a picture of them, one wasn't able to make it to the party though. The birthday girl is on the left but unfortunately I didn't get the names of the others:

Happy 100 Years, Nana!!!

Mother's Day

2006-05-31T21:04:00.000-04:00

The day before Mother's day Joe and I spent the entire day at the old apartment cleaning and getting the last of our things out. It was a very long day and a lot of work. That night we went down to Maryland for my sister-in-law Victoria's 13th birthday party. It was really a party for her friends but she asked us to come down because it was at the place where Victoria takes horseback riding lessons and we hadn't seen her ride yet. Unfortunately I didn't take my camera so I don't have any pictures to put up. But it was a nice evening and Victoria did really well. It was neat seeing her in her element with her friends. I still can't believe she's 13 already!

This was my first Mother's Day as a mom. In some ways it was like most other days except that I got to sleep in until 10am for a change while Joe took care of Ben. The rest of the morning and afternoon, Joe and I spent unpacking, cleaning and running errands to prepare for my parents coming over for dinner. This was the first real meal we hosted in the new house and we wanted to make sure it was nice. Joe planned to grill so I wouldn't have to cook. Just as he was getting ready to put the food on the grill, it started to rain. But he and my dad decided to keep going with it outside and, despite the downpour, dinner was really good. After dinner we sat and watched the baby as he showed off all his new tricks, like sitting up by himself. Then my brother called from Hawaii where he was visiting for a friend's wedding. It was great talking to him since we don't get to do so much now that he's back in Korea.

Here are some pictures we took on Mother's Day.

My parents brought me a very pretty and big pot of flowers.

Ben and Gramma

Ben checking out Gramma's card

Mommy & Ben

Mommy, Gramma & Ben

Evie's Birthday

2006-05-31T20:48:00.000-04:00

Our friends Chuck and Jenny's daughter turned 2 at the beginning of May so we went to her birthday party on 5/6. It was a small gathering for a change and gave us a chance to catch up with our friends. I didn't get a lot of pictures that day but here are a few.

Evie - the birthday girl

Caran & Ben - he really enjoyed the baby swing

Olivia - Joey and Laura Mallon's new baby - she has the most hair I've ever seen on a baby that young!!

Evie and Sara Mallon chowing down on some birthday cake

Carnival at St. Helena's

2006-05-29T12:50:00.000-04:00

While Devin and Joe were playing on the big machine, I snapped a couple cute shots of Ben in his stroller.

After Devin finished playing on the bull dozer, Joe, his dad, and I took Devin and Ben over to the St. Helena's carnival. The place was packed and the lines for the rides were long but Devin seemed to enjoy the few he got to go on. Joe, on the other hand, came to realize he's not as young as he used to be...spinning around on the sizzler and himilaya were about all he could take!

I took Ben on his first carnival ride, the carousel. There weren't any horses left on the outside so Joe wasn't able to get a picture of us while it was moving. But after the ride ended, he snapped this shot.

Ben really wasn't very impressed with the ride and honestly it made me dizzy! I guess I'm going to be one of the mom's that stays back and waves to the kids rather than ride along.

Heavy Machinery

2006-05-29T11:55:00.000-04:00

The first few days after moving into the new house, I worked on unpacking while Joe worked on his grandmom's yard. She had an inground pool but it hadn't been used in years and really wanted to get it filled in. So Joe and his dad rented a bull dozer/back hoe and went to work. Unfortunately I didn't get any before pictures, but here's the final product after it was all filled in.

On the final day they had the machine, Chrissy brought our nephew Devin up to check out the machine and play on it. Devin loves tractors, trucks, and any other big machines. From the time he was pretty much able to talk, he would ask to go for rides on Mom-mom's riding mower or "tractor". So when he heard he would have the chance to ride the bull dozer he was all about it! Here are some pictures:

Nap Time

2006-05-29T11:49:00.000-04:00

Even before Ben was born, Joe enjoyed a good afternoon nap on the couch. And now that Ben is with us, Joe loves to snuggle up with the boy and take a siesta. I guess Joe figures it's easier to get away with sleeping in the afternoon when he's cuddled up with the baby...and he's right! So here's yet another picture of the boys snoozing together. This was the first picture I took in the new house...gotta break it in right!

The Old Apartment

2006-05-29T11:38:00.000-04:00

Here's a picture of the outside of our old apartment. It is an old farm house that has been split into apartments. We lived on the first floor and it was a really big place. Joe's grandmom owns it and lives next door. Joe actually did a lot of work on the apartments about 10 years ago and then he lived in that first apartment for the last 9 years.

Although it was time to move on, it was sad to leave there. It was our first home together and Ben's too. But we take with us a lot of great memories and truly appreciate all that living there allowed us to do. Thanks Mom-mom!

Ben - 24 to 30 Weeks Old

2006-05-27T22:57:00.000-04:00

Here are some recent pictures of Ben. I'll be updating some more of our recent adventures soon.

24 Weeks Old

25 Weeks Old

26 Weeks Old

27 Weeks Old

28 Weeks Old

29 Weeks Old

30 Weeks Old

Settling in

2006-05-27T22:47:00.000-04:00

I must apologize that it has been such a long time since my last post. We moved to our new house on April 29th and didn't have our internet hooked up for a while. Plus we've been spending most of our free time unpacking. But things are starting to get back to normal now so hopefully I'll be able to devote some more time to the blog. Thanks for sticking with us!

The move went really well. I think only one glass broke...which is pretty good considering all the breakables we own! However, I must admit that we still have one of Joe's vans full of stuff that we still have to go through so there may be more mishaps we don't know about yet.

The new house is great and I plan to put up pictures of the final remodeling soon. We're having our first major unveiling at a Memorial Day barbeque tomorrow for our family. The house is probably as clean as it's going to be for a while so I'm planning to take pictures before everyone arrives. I'm also printing before pictures to show everyone what the house looked like when we bought it...the transformation really is amazing!!!

Easter - Part 4

2006-04-20T23:09:00.000-04:00

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

2006-04-20T22:40:00.000-04:00

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

2006-04-20T22:18:00.000-04:00

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

2006-04-20T22:14:00.000-04:00

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

2006-04-13T07:49:00.000-04:00

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

2006-04-10T20:13:00.000-04:00

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

2006-04-10T19:56:00.000-04:00

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

2006-04-09T12:30:00.000-04:00

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

2006-04-04T18:52:00.000-04:00

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

2006-04-02T23:25:00.000-04:00

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

2006-04-02T21:00:00.000-04:00

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

2006-04-02T20:56:00.000-04:00

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

1st Floor - Before

2006-04-02T20:52:00.000-04:00

Here are some pictures of what the first floor of our new house looked like when we bought it. As you can see, it definitely needed lots of work!

Living Room

Dining Room

Kitchen

Kitchen

New House

2006-04-02T20:50:00.000-04:00

For most people, turning 30 and going back to work after maternity leave would be enough excitement for one week. But not me. My first day back at work I got an email from our friend, (and realtor) Brian, with a new listing on the market. It was in a neighborhood we liked and the price was right so we decided to look at it that evening. The house was all original but that's what we were looking for because we knew Joe could make the house look the way we wanted. So, the next night we put in a bid on the house...but we didn't think we'd really get it because we had bid on 2 other houses in that neighborhood in the last year and lost out to cash bids. But we figured, why not? Well, Wednesday we got the call...the house was ours!! It's very exciting and we can't wait to move it. At this point, the entire house has been redone, except for the kitchen which will happen over the next couple weeks. We're planning to move in the last weekend in April.

The Big 3-0

2006-03-19T15:13:00.000-05:00

Turning 30 was a big deal for me...but not as traumatic as I thought it would be. I think having my son 12 weeks earlier helped to change my perspective on things. Had Ben not been here, I probably would have spent the entire day crying in my beer. Instead, I celebrated turning 30 with my family on my actual birthday and then with friends the next day. My husband Joe rented out the bar where we met and some good friends came to help celebrate. It was lots of fun and thanks to all who were there or at least in spirit.

Here are a few pictures from momentous event. This was the first time in the history of McLaren's that they closed for a private party...very cool!!

Ben - 7 Weeks to 12 Weeks

2006-03-19T15:03:00.000-05:00

Seven Weeks Old
Eight Weeks Old

Nine Weeks Old

Ten Weeks Old

Eleven Weeks Old

Twelve Weeks Old

Joseph Benjamin III

2006-03-19T14:18:00.000-05:00

Our son Ben was born 10/29/05 and he is a great baby. Everyone comments on how content he is and how cute his chubby cheeks are! I've been trying to take pictures of him every Saturday since he was born so we can see how much he's changing week to week. So here's our boy from birth to 6 weeks old. When he first came home from the hospital, he was so small that even the newborn outfits were big on him. At this age he mostly slept and was rarely put down (sorry to those whose heads were cut off!!)

Happy Birthday Ben!!

One Week Old

Two Weeks Old

Three Weeks Old

Four Weeks Old

Five Weeks Old

Six Weeks Old

Reason for this Blog

2006-03-19T14:09:00.000-05:00

So having this blog was really my brother's idea. He created his website (squarehe.com) when he decided to move from California to Korea to teach English for a year. It was great way for us to keep in touch with him and know what was happening in his life. Now that he has gone back to Korea to teach for another year, he and I thought it would be cool for me to start a blog so that he would be able to see what's happening in our lives here in Delaware. This was especially important now that he's an uncle and godfather to my son Ben. I'm guessing that most of this blog is going to center around Ben since he's pretty much the center of our world now.