Happy Birthday, Abby!

It is hard to believe our sweet Abby was born a year ago today! Now, she is walking, trying to say a few words (Da da is the only audible one at this point), and shaking her head "no" to anything she considers undesirable (which ironically, is often Daddy... and being fed with a spoon). Happy birthday, darling girl! We love you to the ends of the Earth and are blessed you made us a family of 4 a year ago today.

This picture is a perfect characterization of Abby's growing personality. Why use your hands - just jump in head first!?

Favorites and Funnies

Ben's Funnies:

- Uncle Alex broke his collar bone while training for the HyVee Triathalon. When Grandma was explaining to Ben that Alex fell off his bike because a brown, furry animal ran in front of him, Ben asked, "Was it a chinchilla?"
- At dinner tonight, Ben told me that in sunday school today he learned about when Jesus was "bath-tized" in the river.
- During the later part of the summer, we had a pool set up. It was about 12 feet wide and 2.5 feet deep. Ben and Brant were playing a game that necessitated a whale. Brant asked Ben, "Am I the whale?" Ben replied, in a quite obvious tone, "Of course you are!"

- One day, Ben said, "Mommy, is there a baby in your belly again?" I replied no. Ben said, "Will there be soon?" I replied that I didn't think so. Ben said, "Well, I want 3 brothers and 3 sisters."

Ben's Favorites:
- Preschool. Ben really seems to be enjoying his two mornings a week at preschool. He recently tried to lead Brant, Abby, and I in circle time.

- Arthur stories. In Arthur's sleepover, Buster the Bunny is so scared that he says, "I thought I wet my pants." Nothing could have been funnier to Ben. We read it multiple times a day for a week and he would still laugh hysterically.

- Camping. Brant and Ben camped in the backyard a few weeks ago. Ben had been wanting to do it all summer and when the perfect late summer Friday night arrived, we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, played games in the tent, and ate popcorn.

- Jammie parties. This generally includes getting in our pajamas, popping in a Land Before Time flick checked out from the library, and eating popcorn and M&Ms. I love it too.

- Zucchini muffins. We had a lot of zucchini in the garden this year and I have approximately 7 dozen of these muffins in the deep freeze, but at the rate we are going, I'm not sure how long that will actually get us. Ben cannot get enough!

- Painting. An affinity for watercolor paints, in particular, has developed. I'm okay with this. It is much easier to clean up!

- Baseball. All summer we played baseball and I have to say, Ben's got a pretty decent swing for a three year old. He LOVED to get home runs while I chased those darn whiffle balls all over the place.

- Taking pictures. In fact, Ben took one of Abby and I that is posted above (hence, the finger in the flash!)

Abby's Funnies:

- As Abby's personality emerges more and more, we are finding that she is a girl who knows what she wants. One morning, Brant was getting Ben some juice before heading to babysitter (which took 2 minutes, at the most). Abby was in the playroom, or so Brant thought. When they went to go put Abby in the car seat, she had disappeared. Brant looked in the living room, bathroom, and dining room. She had apparently vanished. Brant worried she had fallen down the basement stairs, but she hadn't. So, doubting that she could have gotten upstairs alone, he went up to double check. Sure enough, the vanishing baby had made it all the way up the stairs and into Ben's room and was playing with his toys. It is worth noting that all toys with small pieces have been relocated to Ben's room. It is funny now. I did not find it funny then.

- For some reason, this girl loves to growl. I'm not sure how she learned to do this, but she has a deep, throaty growl and loves to hear us make the sound back.

Abby's Favorites:

- Waving, clapping, and reading "5 Little Duckings."

- Ben and anything he does, plays with, or says. She giggle and giggles at him.

- Food. After Ben being so picky from the start, this is a relief. The only thing I haven't gotten Abby to eat yet is toast with jelly. She especially loves watermelon!
- Abby loves to play on pillows and cushions. Right now, she always wants to be on the couch to flop around.

- Abby also can't get enough of throwing things out of drawers. Bibs, towels, clothes... it really doesn't matter. Now, if I could only get her to learn to love putting things back into the drawers.
- Swinging. Abby can't get enough of this when we are outside!

School Days

Ben had his first day of preschool this week. If I'm being honest, this is definitely something I've been a bit emotional about lately. There may have been a day where I may have cried a little bit about it... in public... when thinking about dropping him off. Then, I might have cried about it another at home too. So, Brant dropped him off on this first day, but I did pick him up. Things seemed to go pretty well and the report today was even better. Ben was excited to tell us about painting and a song he learned about 5 Little Monkeys and an alligator that goes "SNAP!", but I think he may be a typical boy who won't talk about his day and I may be the typical mom who wants to know everything! And so it begins.

Vacation

We just returned from a vacation with the Ausenhus family to Lake of the Ozarks. As most of you experienced in the past week, it was HOT, but lots of fun. Ben enjoyed swimming in the lake, boating, going to a water park, and going golfing with the guys. Abby enjoyed lots of arms to hold her and play with her... and we enjoyed that too!

Celebrating Grandma's birthday with one of Ben's favorites... cake!

Abby is ready for her first boat ride! It was short, mostly due to the heat, and partly due her not being a big fan of the ride. Hey, it just can't be comfortable in all that gear!

Ben swimming with Papa

JUMP! Ben could have done this all day!

This kid can't get enough of the water. The water park was a hit - especially this slide and the wave pool.

First Date

For my birthday, Ben's gift to me was taking me to the movie Cars 2. It was special night because just the two of us went together while Brant stayed home with Abby. I think I was looking forward to the evening as much as (or maybe more than) Ben. I told Ben that we were going to go on a "date" together. When the evening finally arrived, Ben and I had dinner together at Applebee's (per his request... and the fact that it was $.99 kids meals that night). I hope I never forget his precious little look with his slicked hair, just like a little man, sitting across from me in a booster chair. After dinner, we were off to the movie! We got popcorn and M&Ms (a favorite he and I share) and strategically found a seat at the top of the theater on an end where he'd have some room to walk around, should his three year old self not be able to sit still for two hours. It was delightful! He and I both enjoyed the movie: in particular, the car races for Ben, and the slightly too complex plot for a 3 year old for me. My absolute favorite moment from the entire evening was at the end of the movie, the girl spy car tells Mater, the rusty tow truck, "I'm still waiting for my first date." Ben looked at me and exclaimed quite loudly with big, surprised eyes, "She said date! That's what we're on!"

Forgive the blurriness of the picture, but this is part of how we spent our 4th of July weekend. We went to Mason City and stayed in Oma and Opa (Brant's grandparents) and spent the weekend with the Jensen side of the family. Ben loved, loved, LOVED playing with the big boys in the water and having his uncle Alex or Jensen cousins catch him when he'd jump off the dock. The weekend was lots of fun!

And now, on to my precious Abby. Poor Ben can't get a meal in peace if Abby is out of her high chair. She crawls over to his chair and "talks", or as I like to say, "begs" at him while he eats.

We can't get enough of those big blue eyes!