New shoes!

Today Ben and I had an unexpected day at home together. Day care was closed because Lauren had the stomach flu. It worked out well, because I was able to attend a few meetings via phone and they were all while Ben napped. We made a run to Stride Rite for some big boy shoes and, boy, are they ever cute! Now that we have a walker on our hands, we needed some new kicks! Size 5 wide...short and stout!

Ben and Josh being silly

Okay, so Josh will probably kill me for posting this pic, but seriously, how funny is this?

Okay, well now 6 more months have gone by. But it was quite the 6 months, let me tell you. We are renting a house in Monticello and are getting used to the new town, new friends and long commute :(

Sad news right after my last post. My dad, and Ben's Papa Ron, passed away on September 1st. A life-changing experience, for sure. We are still so sad, but know that he is watching us every day as Ben learns to walk, learns to talk and is soooooo big!

Christmas was fun. Of course, Ben really didn't understand any of it, but we had fun enjoying it for him!

Ben turned one last Sunday. I can't even believe it. We had a great party for him in Monticello with good friends, great family and yummy food and cake. Ben was a champ...he partied like a rock star. Ate all of the frosting off his cupcake first, just like Mom! I think we were cleaning blue frosting out of his ears for 3 days.

Ben's most recent accomplishments:

Sooo big and clap your hands (12/08)

Wave bye-bye (12/08)

What does the puppy/bauer say? Woof Woof! (and then always gives himself a round of applause)

This! Everything is "This"!

What does the bear say? ROAR! (followed by another round of applause)

Dada

Mama (finally)

Drinking big boy milk from a big boy cup

Walking (just a little, starting on 02/28/09)

Holding everything (phone, remote, calculator, shoe) up to his ear to talk

Puts lotion on just like Mom

I think my deliquent New Year's resolution will be to write in this blog at least 1x/week. Something funny always happens, and even though I tell myself I will never forget, I do. So you can expect to see more frequent postings from here on out...I promise!

Enjoy some random pics from the past 6 months...

Where did the summer go?

That is the question. I can't believe it's already coming to an end. We had so much fun with Ben...lots of weddings, baptism, Leech Lake, walks with Bauer, playing in the grass, visiting with friends. It really was a blast. We started out the summer with Laura and Noah's wedding. Josh and I were both in it, so it was a long 2 days for Ben, but he was a trooper. Thanks to G&G Solem for taking care of him so Mom and Dad could celebrate a little! Next we had 4 days at Leech Lake with all the cousins. Ben had so much fun, as did Lilah, Emma, Gavin, Kevin, Hannah and Rachel. Gavin is still struggling with the fact that Ben is a baby and can't do all the things he'd like him to do, like go fishing, tubing, watch SpongeBob, etc. Maybe next year, Gav. Ben's baptism came next, on July 6th. It was sooooo hot, but a very special day for everyone. Mama May made great food and we had a little party at 117 Donovan with the Solems and the Olsons and Fr. Jerry. We spent a weekend at Camp Olson at Kathio State Park...everyone thought we were crazy taking a 5 month old tent camping, but it was so much fun! Ben was great. Finally August came and went and now here we are 08/26/08 and wondering where the last three months went.

We are starting a new adventure in our lives right now. We moved to Maple Lake on Friday and are living in a little guest house in the middle of cornfields with mice and bugs and rusty water. Not exactly what I'd like to call home. So we are hopefully making another move this weekend to a rental house in Monticello, where we'll stay until our house in Faribault sells. Josh got a new job in the Monti school district that we are really excited about...now we just need to get our housing situation figured out. Hopefully we'll know more tomorrow...I'll keep you posted :)

Ben started daycare yesterday at Corrie Odland's. I know he's going to love it. The kids (Lauren, Sophie, Peyton and Olivia) love him already!

Some Ben milestones...rolling ALL OVER, smiling and laughing nonstop, kicking and squealing in the bath, starting solids (loves pears and sweet potatoes), pattycake, kisses and hugs, the list could go on and on.

Here are some pics to sum up our summer...I'm already looking forward to the next, when Mr. Ben is walking and talking and having a great time at home with Dad!

Back to work

So I am officially back to work now. My first day was last Wednesday, but I only worked about 6 hours. Laura came down to stay with Ben, which was really nice. Then I started full-time yesterday. Steve and Margie are here for the week to watch Ben, as Josh's last day of teaching is Thursday. Sunday night was really hard...I was so sad after putting Ben to bed! But the mornings have gone really well so far and yesterday he was "perfect" according to Grandma Margie! So that makes me feel better. I'm at work now, so can't post any pictures, but will do that tonight, I promise.

I can't believe Ben is already 3 months old. He is such a big boy! Lots lots lots of smiles and squeals and is really interactive with Josh and I. He still loves tummy time and also has developed a new love for ceiling fans! It's so fun to see him every day and watch him change and grow. This summer will be lots of fun, I think :)

2 months old!

Wow, I'm not very good at keeping up with this blog...hopefully I'll improve after I go back to work and have some downtime in my day! I can't believe Ben is already 2 months old tomorrow. Where did the time go? The past few weeks have been really fun...lots of smiling and laughing and interacting. He's much more like a real person now and we're getting something in return for all we've given him! He has his "moments" (like today) where he is just crabby for no reason, but for the most part he is so content. I couldn't ask for a happier baby! He started sleeping in his crib last week and actually slept 8 hours in a row last Wednesday! Hasn't happened since, but I know it will again soon. Other than that extraordinary night, he usually sleeps one 5 hour stretch and then a 2-3 hour stretch, so not too bad. Another big event was rolling over...he's a champ at rolling from tummy to back, now we have to work on the other way! He loves taking walks outside, especially in the Baby Bjorn, so every day I pray for nice weather.

Last weekend we were in GR for Auntie Laura's bridal shower. It was fun to see the family again. Mama May is just in LOVE with her little man! We also got to meet Claire Tobeck, who was born on 04/23. Might be a little girlfriend for Ben! It was amazing to see how much they change in 8 short weeks. Then we spent Sunday night at G&G Solems...they were haveing Ben withdrawls too!

Here are some pics...I hope it works this time!

So now six weeks have past since Ben's arrival...I have a lot of catch-up blogging to do! 6 weeks in a nutshell...eat, sleep, poop, cry, eat, poop, cry, sleep eat, eat, eat, sleep, poop, smile (yes, smile)...you get the picture. No honestly, it's been wonderful. He's changed and grown so much already, I can hardly believe it. We've had so much fun watching the changes happen right before our eyes.

Let's see...what did we do? We go to BabyStop every Thursday morning, where he gets weighed, meets lot of other babies, and I get to meet lots of moms too. It's a good excuse to get out of the house and I look forward to it every week. We've taken several trips to Target and Walmart. We've gone out to eat at Bostons. We took our first road trip to Grand Rapids for Easter - he was a trooper in the car. So good, in fact, that we took another trip the next weekend to Motley for our baby shower. So in two weeks he got to meet all three of his great-grandmas, plus cousins, aunts, uncles and lots of friends.

The past few weeks have been the best. He's smiling lots, babbling lots and is really starting to be interactive. For the most part, Ben has been a very happy baby, with the occasional crabby day or two thrown in there. And aside from a few nights last weekend, he's sleeping pretty good too. Last night we had our first "real" 5 hour stretch...8:30-1:30. It was amazing!

I'm trying to post pictures, but the site isn't working right now...will try again soon!