1st Floor - Before

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

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

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

Seven Weeks Old
Eight Weeks Old

Nine Weeks Old

Ten Weeks Old

Eleven Weeks Old

Twelve Weeks Old

Joseph Benjamin III

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

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.