Christmas, Blocks, and Gucks!

Christmas was fantastic! We have a tree that Ben has enjoyed (especially the ornaments he's pulled off and tried to eat) and it's been nice to have a quiet time at home. Gifts for Ben have been trickling in from family and friends, and we've been giving them to him slowly, so that he wasn't overwhelmed on Christmas morning.

Here Ben is helping me open the package Coco and Papi sent about a week before Christmas... you can see the stocking Coco needlepointed for Ben!


After admiring Coco's work (for about one second), Ben tosses the stocking aside for what's underneath... presents! (We didn't open them until Christmas, though.)



Here's our Christmas tree on Christmas morning!



And here comes Ben! He loves the cardboard brick blocks that were a gift from Mom Mom!






Finally... Ben is working on his first word! It's "truck" which he currently pronounces as "guck." So we made sure that he had plenty of gucks on Christmas! I don't have any photos of them yet, but will post them as soon as I can.

Happy Holidays!

Catching Up

I haven't updated in a couple of weeks, so here are some cute photos Ben *discovering* the toilet paper roll in the bathroom!

Ben's First Birthday Party!!

Today we celebrated Ben's first birthday (which isn't until the 24th) with many of our friends! It was a great day and a fun party. Here are the highlights...

Ben REALLY liked the balloons! He had some fun with them before guests arrived...
Getting tangled up...
Checking to make sure the backyard is in top shape for playing!
Yup! Ready to party!!
But first some Daddy kisses...
Ben's new friend Aimee!
Hanging out with Aimee, Aaron, and Tyler...
Sandbox fun...

Ben did NOT take his morning nap. At 2:30 or so he had a small "meltdown" and we decided it was a great time to introduce him to his first cupcake (hey--why not, right?). At that time there were about 15 adults standing around singing to him while he just stared blankly at us and at the cupcake. It was pretty hilarious!
He definitely perked up with the SUGAR:
Our little family...

I just love his expression in this one.
Mommy and Ben...

Jonathan set up this mural for people to paint and write birthday wishes for Ben. It was a huge hit and a fantastic keepsake for Ben's first birthday party!!

It wasn't so long ago...

Here I was just a year ago (actually it was just less than a year ago). This is the last picture of me taken before Ben was born! We've come a long way, baby!!

And here we are now (or at least here HE is)...

It's Official...

Need I say more?