Week Seven

Week Six (and so behind)

Week Five

I'm finally getting these up! Last week was a big week and I couldn't choose just one.

Cupcakes made by me (cake mix from a box- don't let the fancy frosting fool you).

Cake made by my sister, Megan (not from a box).

Happy Birthday one more time little man!

Happy Birthday Ben!

I cannot believe my sweet baby is a year old. He survived his first birthday and his first massive intake of sugar (donuts and cake) and is snug as a bug in bed.

At one year old Ben:

• weighs about 19.5 pounds. Yes, if we travel back to month 11 our little piggy weighed 20.5 pounds. The poor guy had a bad bout with a stomach virus last week and lost some serious weight. It was an unpleasant experience for all involved.
• wears size 3 diapers and 6-12 month clothes.
• has 5 teeth. Three on top and two on bottom. He also loves to show them off with a huge smile.
• is super verbal. He can mimic almost any sound we make. His favorite is "thank you."
• may be a yogi (yoginni?) when he's older. His gigi is so proud.
• bear crawls.
• was baptized.
• likes to hang in his crib after his nap and read books. I love the extra time it gives me to get a few more things done. Thanks B!
• had his first day at Gymboree and loved it!
• has changed our lives. Neither Nate nor I (and probably Cooper) can imagine our lives without Ben. He makes every day exciting and I love him more than I could ever say on a silly blog. He is our life. Happy Birthday little man!

And for a trip down memory lane, here is the back of Ben's first birthday invitation showing his monthly picture for the last 11 months. Funny enough, the kid started life looking exactly like dad and at one year looks exactly like his mom (minus the eyes- those are 100% daddy).

Cooper and Ben celebrate their first year of brotherhood.

Week Four

This has been a long week. Poor Ben was blessed with his first stomach virus. We spent a good part of the week covered in puke and a very sleepy. Thankfully, Ben is on the mend.

This picture perfectly captures our week with Ben eating nothing but oyster crackers. I also love that I caught his awesome hair. This is how he looks after every nap. I love it!

Week Three

This is the story of my life these days. My legs are getting very strong.

Week Two

I'm a little late this week. Again, this isn't the greatest quality picture but I love it for about a billion reasons.

1. All the stripes. I love a good stripe and this picture has at least three different kinds of them.
2. The way Ben is looking at his cousin, Drew. Drew stayed the night with us while his family went skiing. Ben absolutely loves Drew and the look on his face shows that.
3. The way Drew is being so sweet with Ben. I'm not sure why he wanted to put Ben's shoes on but he sat there a good five minutes trying to get those suckers on. He was so sweet and careful trying to get them on (and they're a pain, I promise).
4. Cooper in the background waiting for someone to throw his toy. This is the story of my life.

Week One

In an attempt to document 2010 and improve my photography I've joined the ladies over at Clickin' Moms in a 52 challenge. The challenge is to take at least one picture a week (please) and share it here.

This is sweet Ben last night. This is not the best quality picture but I love his face. He's always so sweet and quiet before bedtime.

One down, 51 to go!

At Eleven Months...

Note: Yes, I realize it is 2010 and not 2009. My bad.

Ben:

• weighs 20 lbs. 8 oz. He's definitely a little chunker!
• wears 6-12 month clothes.
• has four teeth. Two on top and two on bottom. He also hasa new silly smile he likes to do to show them off. Unfortunately said smile has gone undocumented but I'm working on it.
• was lucky enough to get many beautiful and fun new toys for Christmas though his favorite thing to play with is a drum stick and old measuring cups (he does love all his new toys though).
• loves crawling up the stairs.
• is getting a pretty great sleep schedule down. Finally.
• is a snuggler (is that a word?).
• can say dada, mama, gigi, and bye. Mostly he just says mama when he's crying but whatever.
• has such a personality. He loves attention and thinks he's pretty funny. He loves playing games (especially with daddy) and knows how to get attention when he thinks he deserves it!
• has a sad mommy! While it's so fun watching him grown and learn, I want him to stay young forever! I can't believe we will have an actual toddler in one month!

Happy Holidays!

Wordless Wednesday... Teeth

At Ten Months...

Ben:

• is 19.5 lbs and 28.5 inches. I was shocked that he is so long! He's still only 20th percentile for weight and 40th for height but you'd never guess that looking at him. He has some serious cheeks!
• wears 6-12 month clothes and size 3 diapers.
• says go, go, go! He specifically says it during football games. It's possible he's learning this behavior from his Gigi (she gets quite wild during sporting events).
• is one fast crawler. He has taken off and really needs to be watched at all times. It is going to be quite exciting around here when we get our Christmas tree up!
• can cruise around furniture.
• finally has two teeth! His two bottom middle teeth have finally popped through. I was pretty sad about losing that cute toothless baby look but Ben with teeth is pretty darn cute too!
• no longer enjoys wearing hats. This is unfortunate because it is colder than cold.
• loves to read and turns the pages in his books.
• feeds himself little dry things (like paper or small toys and sometimes Cheerios).
• drinks from a sippy cup.
• is very excited for Christmas!

I Heart Ben

Today is Fix It Friday over at my favorite blog! I was lucky enough to have one of my pictures of Ben picked for all to fix! Go check it out. Ben all over the World Wide Web!

My Favorite Things: November

1. Thanksgiving! How can this not be on my list. I loved having family in town. Having so many people around to watch Ben meant lots of lovely breaks for me! We ate delicious food- my favorite is pumpkin bread made by moi, we watched movies and football, we talked. I remembered back to last Thanksgiving spent with best friends and me on the couch. While I miss Christine and Rob so much, Thanksgiving is definitely made to spend with family!

2. Nate got a job! He's working hard and doing well however I must say that Ben and I miss having him around!

3. Pictures, pictures and more pictures. I had a great time taking lots of pictures this month. Ben's 9 month pictures, sweet baby Riley, and a family Christmas shoot for a friend. Such great practice and I feel like I'm getting better each time.

4. Ben found out he's getting a new cousin! We can't wait to meet little baby Geis this summer!

5. Duck football. I'm pretty sure that nothing more needs to be said.

6. Christmas decor. Yes, Christmas should probably be saved for December but I love to stretch the holidays as long as possible. I use to be all about beautiful white lights and classy Christmas decor but this year I say bring on the tacky! I love seeing the look on Ben's face when he sees sparkly and colorful Christmas decor. This season will definitely been seen through the eyes of a child and I can't wait!

Iron Willed

Yesterday was Ben's 9 month doctor appointment (though he'll be 10 months on Sunday). All was great. He's a big guy and has great fine motor skills. Dr. T said he's a very social guy. He had his second flu shot and a blood test.

Late last night we got a message to call the doctor for the results of Ben's blood test. Never a good sign in my opinion. They were checking his iron levels and so I was sure we would be finding out he was anemic. Not a big deal at all.

As I was feeding Ben last night and rocking him to sleep I had all these horrible visions swim though my mind. Why this always happens at night I will never understand. I knew in my heart that everything was fine but couldn't beat the negative thoughts out of my head with a stick. I rocked him and cuddled him more than usual. Ben woke up a few times during the night (something he finally has gotten over). He knew his momma needed extra cuddles.

This morning we talked to Dr. T (and I mean we- Ben was chatting up a storm with her). Everything is perfect. Ben is boarder line anemic and needs to eat more meat (a small burn to this vegetarian). I gave him some extra loves when I got off the phone thinking how lucky we are. I can't imagine how parents can survive hearing heartbreaking news about their own children. I'm so thankful that all the children in our family are happy and healthy.

Healthy as a Horse

With all the craziness going on it's easy to forget it's the little things to be thankful for. This year I'm remembering back to a little over a year ago when I was knocked up and not allowed off the couch. It's actually sounding pretty good right about now.

There was a time our family use to have surgery wars. I had knee surgery so Nate had to one up me by getting surgery on his spine. Cooper's the really hard core one though. He went and had his toe amputated. That's commitment.

This year we are all healthy (despite the occasional runny nose by Ben). Nate and I have lost over 40 pounds combined since we moved back to Oregon (one of us more than the other but I'm not naming names). My blood pressure is awesome. We both have realized how scary this time last year really was (luckily we realize it more after the fact or my blood pressure might have been even higher than it was). We have a sweet and healthy baby boy and all the pregnancy health problems in the world would be worth it for him.

Deep in the Heart.

If you are a regular reader of this blog (all 3 of you) you probably wouldn't be surprised to hear I love Oregon. However, despite my love for my home state I am thankful for the 2 brief years we lived in Texas.

Texas is a pretty bada** state. It's one of the only states you can recognize from it's outline. There's also Florida and California. Maybe Alaska and Hawaii- it's the only island. I guess also Louisiana because it's shaped like an L but all those states could fit inside Texas (besides Alaska of course but put the people of Alaska in a battle against the people of Texas and I guarantee the Texas people will win every time).

Jordan and I at the Alamo

Nate and I definitely lived deep in the heart of Texas and while I love Oregon (in case you forgot) there is no place I would choose over Texas for second place. Nate and I wanted an experience as far from Oregon as we could find and I think we found it in Texas (it was a little like living in Mexico if you're curious). I am thankful that Nate and I had those two years to live on our own. We relied only on each other. We made new friends (with the help of a little something I like to call the internets). I for one become much more outgoing and independent.

The Texas friends

Though we are no longer "doing it Texas style" (though we did do it Texas style and got a Texas baby out of it) I will forever be thankful for those two years. Nate, Cooper and I (and Ben) will never be the same! You can take the Lyons out of Texas but you can't take Texas out of the Lyons.

Thank You.

Yes, I know I'm a week early. This year has been such a whirlwind of a year and we have so much to be thankful for that I've decided to post something I'm thankful for everyday for a week. Stay tuned to see what's made the list this year. It's going to be good.

Ben is thankful for Charlie!

Wordless Wednesday...Mr. Personality

At Nine Months...

Ben:

• weighs a lot more than he did at birth! We think we must be around 18.5 to 19 pounds but we don't go to the doctor until the end of the month.
• wears size 6-12 month clothes and size 2/3 diapers (sometimes size 3- they are cheaper).
• has learned so much this month! It's just incredible how quickly he is picking things up. He may have gotten off to a slow start but we think he's pretty amazing.
• is a great mimic.
• can crawl! He started about 2 weeks ago (so 8.5 months). He is very fast and does the typical baby crawl- hands and knees.
• can pull himself up on most things. He can also get back down. For awhile he could only get up and then he was stuck. One angry night he pulled himself up in his crib, got stuck and fell asleep standing up (disclaimer: we kept going in to put him back down and he'd stand right back up so we finally figured he just needed to learn on his own).
• plays a game with himself where he drops something, bends over to pick it up and drops it again. It is quite like the "bend and snap" scene from Legally Blonde.
• waves "ba-ba." He first did this on Tuesday as his godmother was leaving. We were all shocked. We hadn't even been trying to teach him this skill. His wave is very elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist (must be the Texan in him).
• claps!
• still has zero teeth. The kid seriously has gums of steel. He has like 5 or 6 teeth that look like they are about to burst through his gums at any minute.
• plays peek-a-boo. He pulls his blanket up over his head and then yanks it down when you say "where's Ben?"
• shakes his head "no" when he doesn't want to eat.
• chooses his books. At bedtime I hold up two books and he picks which he wants to read (it's the little things people).
• is the sweetest baby ever.

Here are three more pictures from his 9 month shoot on Monday.