Santa = Success!

We took Ben to see Santa tonight and he was SO good! We went to the Santa at the Mall of America. You sign up so your wait is no longer than 30 minutes. We were supposed to go with our neighbors, Maggie, but due to all the snow we received we were not able to all get there at the same time. Santa and his staff were absolutely amazing. First, they put him in a chair, and gave him a book so he was comfortable, while Santa sat behind him. Then Santa grabbed him and took a few more pictures! Definitely worth it! Here are some pictures from our camera.

He was mesmerized by Santa and didn't want to leave when he put him down.

Is it Summer Yet?

Since we were completely snowed in yesterday we thought we would bring out a toy we bought for Ben this summer. He loves the music and it's little enough that he can ride it around right now! Looks like he's ready for the lake this summer! Hey Rob....wanna race??

He's also now learned how to ride it around. He's all over the place on it!

First Haircut

We got Ben's haircut Wednesday, November 24th right before Thanksgiving. It was getting a little out of control and in his eyes. However, we didn't really want it cut too short as we were afraid he would lose his curls! We went to Jerry's hair stylist Annie, who was AMAZING with him! He did really, really well. He sat there for about 5-10 minutes before he had a complete melt down. Luckily, he's so stinkin' cute that all the ladies in the salon were okay with his mini meltdown. We are thinking that next time we might have Jerry go first, so Ben can watch what is happening. Annie was so patient with him though and it worked out great! In the end we ended up cutting about an inch off the top. Trimmed the back and she really gave it some good shape!

Sitting in the big boy chair, ready to get his hair cut.

Here you can see how long it was getting. It was hard to tell with all that curl how long it really was, but it was past his nose if you straightened it out.

Right before the meltdown....getting ready....

Sitting on Jerry helped a little bit.

....and we are done!

Halloween Part 2

Ben & Maggie's First Halloween! We were going to go to 3 houses in the neighborhood but unfortunately only 1 person was home. By the time we were ready to go they were pretty tired. Poor Maggie had pink eye as well, so short and sweet was perfect for these 2!

Princess Leia & Yoda

Trick or Treat!

Spinning the wheel at Grandma's house to see how much candy he gets.

Halloween Part 1

Ben & Maggie each had a Halloween party at their day cares on Friday, so the mothers (aka Kate & I) decided that they should probably have 1 costume for day care and one for Trick or Treating! Here are their costumes they wore to day care!

Roar!! The Incredible Hulk is out to get you! Pretty scary huh?

I couldn't believe he kept his hat on the entire time!

It's nearly impossible to get these 2 to sit still together! Luckily we were able to get 2 good shots of them!

It's been too long....Summer Fun @ the State Fair

Sorry it's been a really long time since I've updated Ben's Blog...hopefully, I can spend the next few days catching up on what we've done this summer!

Ben had a great time at the State Fair this summer. Jerry and I took a Friday off to go with his Aunt Heidi and Uncle Jon. He even got to finally see his Great Uncle's Band play! Unlike most summers, it was extremely cold...but he was a trooper!

It was quite winding at the Fair!

Motor-Cross

Every Boy loves a Dear

Ben zonked out while walking down the street to see his Great Uncle's Band

After he woke up from his nap!

Boating

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated Ben's blog. Ben's been out on the boat about 4 times this summer. He absolutely loves being out there and has even been in the water! He's our little Lake Rat. He usually will come out with us for about 2 -3 hours, and then he's usually ready for a nap! Here are some pictures from his last time out.

Here he is getting his first wakeboarding lesson from his Uncle Jon.

Looks like he's ready to go! Parks Bonifay...watch out...Ben is ready to Rock Out!

We start by first standing on the teak deck to get Ben used to the water temp. Then he'll sit on the teak deck for a little bit.

And in with Daddy!

Hyla's!

Holly and Jeff came up a few weekends ago to meet Mr. Ben. He had such a blast with them! We got to see the Twins vs. White Sox game while they were up too! My first time to the new stadium. It was such blast! Thanks for coming and visiting...we'll see you soon!

Our S'more Picnic

Holly giving Ben his nighttime bottle

Ben thought it was hysterical when Holly would put her pony in his face! He was laughing so hard.

The girls at the game
The boys at the game.

Our little jumperoo!

My parents neighbor loaned us their jumperoo and it is by far Ben's favorite activity. The child could jump in it for HOURS! One day we put him in it when we got home from day care. He fell asleep while jumping, then woke up a minute later, got in 2 - 3 more jumps and was out! I would like to try to get that on camera if he ever does it again. He jumps so hard he got a hole in his sleeper! Here are some pictures and a video of him jumping and from when he fell asleep.

YUM....cereal

Ben has been cluster feeding in the evenings, so we decided to start him on cereal. He did pretty good for his first time. He didn't eat a ton, but seemed to enjoy it. The tough part was he kept trying to grab the spoon. I'll try to get some video up later!

Middle of feeding

Apparently, he can do it himself

And....we're done!

Best of Friends...well maybe not yet

On Saturday night we had a BBQ with the neighbors. We brought Ben over to hang out with their little girl. Usually, they do so well together, but for some reason tonight he freaked out the minute she started getting close to her! We had to put a barricade of toys between the two!

Sitting nicely before the freak out!

Eyeing her up to see what she is going to do....

Watching to make sure she doesn't cross the toy barrier! You can see the concern in his eyes.

Maggie behind the toy barrier!

This baby girl has the most beautiful eyes! Don't know what there is to be scared of!

There's a New Captain of the Vessel

We took Ben out boating for the last time last weekend. We went later in the day so it wasn't as hot out. He had a really good time, except he HATED wearing a life jacked. We ordered him a new one that is a little different style, so hopefully that will work out better. At the very end we put him in the driver seat. He was obsessed with the the throttle. At one point he pushed it down and pulled it back up! We got him on video doing it a second time. It was so funny.

Getting ready to leave to go boating!

Rash Guard - CHECK

Swim Trunks - CHECK

He's ready to go!

He was a little tired when we first got out on the lake, so he drank a bottle and fell asleep. He kept pulling his hat over his face!

We are looking into getting a bimini cover, so for now to keep Ben out of the sun, we brought along an umbrella.

Steering

Learning how to control the speed of the boat.

Driving!