Road Trip #1

On Tuesday July 12th, Ben and I headed for Denver en route to Montana.  My dad, Ben's Grandpa Ken, offered to fly to Denver to meet us and help with the drive on to Missoula for a friend's wedding.  The caveat was that we had to spend the week before the wedding hanging out with him in Montana-no problem!

This was my first solo long-distance road trip with Ben and he was an absolute Angel!  We made great time-7.5 hours-including a leisurely picnic lunch.  

At our lunch picnic that was cut short by convicts cutting the grass.

We left a day earlier than planned to get our haircut after a last minute cancellation by my (see-former) Wichita stylist.  Bobbi has been cutting my hair on and off since I was 13 and she gave Ben his first official, all-over (not just above the ears) haircut.  Getting in a day early also allowed me to see David Gray at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House with my Mom.  The show was AMAZING and a good reminder to make live music a priority when it is available at places besides Intrust There is No Legroom Bank Arena.

Very proud of the finished product

Grandpa Ken arrived Thursday morning and we spent the day shopping and dining at all Denver has to offer.  Molly babysat while my Dad treated me to the Chophouse and we headed out early Friday for Billings, MT.

With Grandpa Ken and Grandpa Jim

Ben was again an angel in the car and I commented as we approached Billings that we should consider continuing on to Missoula.  That idea was quickly put to rest, especially since the Windmill was on the menu for dinner.

  

The drive on to Missoula on Saturday was short and leisurely and we stopped at Wheat Montana (locally famous) in Three Forks for lunch so Ben could try some Wheat Montana whole wheat and it did not disappoint.  I was proud of my Dad for working with me on seeking out non-traditional fast food options and we ate very healthily on our road trip.

Our final stop before Grandpa's was in Clinton to pick up my Dad's dogs, Billy and Boomer.  They rode together in the front passenger seat and had no idea the bundle of fun waiting for them in the back seat.......

on the cutting room floor

Now that the invitations have been sent, I can share some cute pics from Ben's birthday invite photo shoot.  I failed to communicate clearly to the invite designer and ended up loving what she had done but needing another picture.  Ben and I had an emergency photo shoot that provided the entertainment below as well as the pics for Emotions. 

I hope you enjoy, and as Ben and I (and maybe Ryan) are well into our trip by now, I hope this tides you over so I don't come home to fewer followers than I left with.

 

 

 

 

11 Months

My dear Ben is celebrating 11 months today.  It makes me nostalgic and sad to think we only have one month of infancy left.  He does, however, get more fun by the day and watching him grow and develop is the by far the most rewarding experience of my life.  Not that I take credit for much of it.....I now understand what my Mom meant when she would tell me that lots of me was just who I am when I was always trying to give my parents all the credit for who and what I was.  
Ben and I are in Montana visiting my dad, his Grandpa Ken.  Ryan arrives tomorrow and we head north for the wedding of my college friend, Jenna.  This trip has provided for Ben's first visit to Wyoming and Montana and at 11 months, he has now visited 8 states and tackles time changes and sleeping in hotels and guest rooms with ease.   

Ben is exploring like crazy and crawls properly on all fours (only backwards). He goes from sitting to laying, rolling and crawling much more quickly than a month ago but still reverts to rolling when he wants to get somewhere quickly.  He is just starting to be curious about the world on a higher level starting to attempt to pull himself up on things.  He loves when we stand him up at a table or higher surface but can't get there on his own yet.  His most proud moments are when he travels on his own to an all new location and looks around and then to you as if to show off his accomplishment. 

Ben still has just 8 teeth (actually a lot for his age) and his newest foods are cheese, yogurt and chicken.  All- natural turkey has been challenging to find so I think we will track down some beef when we get back home. He has also started eating more whole grains like brown rice and whole wheat bread on a more regular basis.  

In the talking department he has added ba and na sounds to his repertoire and really enjoys making b sounds and blowing along with the mouth shape required to make such a sound.  We have been working on Hi, and repeating Hi over and over to him almost always ends in hysterics on both our parts.  I would love to know why it's so funny to him!  He also laughs hysterically when he sneezes and gets a huge grin when he feels a sneeze coming on.  

Ben's favorite activities still involve water and we still work hard to expose him to it and foster his swimming development.  I'm hopeful he'll have his first lake swim this weekend :).  
It has been very fun lately to see Ben start to manipulate some of his toys in their intended manner.  We are working on stacking with blocks and turning the pages of books.  Speaking of books, despite adding many new ones to our daily reads, there is still no response better than that elicited by The Grouchy Ladybug.  I'm confident that grand response has made it as fun for Ryan and I to read as it is for Ben to hear.  
Until next month!.......

For Real Good-bye

Sadly, the time for the real Good-bye came last Thursday morning.  I've tried to write this post everyday since without success.  Caleb, Tisha and Cadyn will set sail for Canada in a couple days and Ben and I leave on our epic road trip in mere moments.  We had the joy of having Cadyn spend the night last Wednesday so Tisha and Caleb could celebrate Caleb's 30th birthday.  The TS's spent this weekend in KC, so it didn't dawn on me until Wednesday that Thursday morning would be good-bye.  Tisha and Cadyn have become not only a huge part of our weekly routine, but very dear friends.  

Tisha's advice and friendship have been priceless and the hope for, wait for, preparation for, and enjoyment of Ben would have not been the same without her.  

I'm very excited for what Canada holds for our friends and even more for pictures of how the guest room comes together for our visit next spring :).

First Meeting

Halloween

Yoga Babies

Luke may miss Cadyn more than anyone

Easter

Cadyn taking care of Ben

Buddies

One Hundred!!

Indeed this is post 100! Some quick and dirty calculations reveal that's an average of 3 posts a week.  I didn't start with a weekly goal in mind, but I'll take that.  My quaint little mommy blog has become very dear to me, for me there is not a price I could put on the thoughts, memories and moments in time it has helped me capture.  I have found a couple things about it challenging.  It has been challenging at times to keep the focus on Ben and our family and not write about other things, thoughts and current events.  It's funny to me to think how when Ben grows up the questions kids ask might not be, "did you have a baby book?," but instead, "did your Mom blog?" and "do you have it printed?"  I absolutely love how it helps me document our lives in pictures and the treasure it will be for our family.

On Saturday we went to the new Downing Children's Garden at Botanica with friends Jay, Onie and Peter.  I volunteered at Botanica when we first moved here and helped the Executive Director with some of his pleas for contributions for the children's garden.  He was also entertaining construction and design bids then so it was extra neat for me to see it all come to fruition.  It was in the triple digits Saturday so none of us lasted long but the completion scored a 10+ and we will be back.  There was a Very Hungry Caterpillar of Eric Carle fame exhibit, a place to dig for fossil bones, a play house, an interactive music area, a tree house, an ant hill, and several interactive water play areas where kids can water the flowers and play in the sand.  This was Ryan's first visit to Botanica and he got some amazing hibiscus pics while Ben and I took refuge in the gift shop.

Administrative Update

Let it not be said of me that I don't follow through or honor my commitments.  And Ben, when you are reading this years from now, I hope you will challenge me on this if you feel I am failing.  I had a couple previous posts from our Vegas trip and Father's Day that required follow-up.

First, Ryan got some awesome pics of Ben when we were in Vegas that I said I wanted to turn into a picture project.  I found a great frame and voila:

Second, on Father's Day, I mentioned a gift Ben got for Ryan that had not yet completely arrived so I was holding off on a pic.  Well it did arrive a couple days after Father's Day and Ryan has it hung over the entrance to the third bay of the garage where most of his shop is.  Although we make frequent trips to see what Dada is working on, all that's missing now is the Son.  I would also say the Heimer could offer a long list of other things missing from his workshop, and I would respond with, "all in due time, My Love, all in due time."

1st 4th!

I am happy to report this drowsy Tuesday morn that Ben's first 4th of July was without incident.  We used the 3 day weekend to be uber-productive in the Heimer Haus and got the deck sanded and stained/painted, as well as power-washing the swing-set, grill, and anything else we could find.  I will stain the swing-set this week while Ben naps and the majority of our outdoor upkeep goals for the summer will be done.  Ryan is having to re-tread the deck stairs as they were beyond repair with dry-rot.  Let me say the whole concept of dry-rot is a puzzling one to me.  It's not dry at all and only happens in humid climates, so why is it called dry-rot??

We did plan for a little bit of fun and were invited by friends Jay and Onie to join them at their former neighbors house for a bbq and fireworks.  Jay and Onie have historically held fantastic 4th shindigs replete with crazy fireworks, but recently moved out of Andover where the bigger stuff is legal.  Their previous neighbors James, Kim and daughter Allie told them to bring the old gang to gather at their house.  Onie and I had dessert duty and Kim took care of everything else and it all was delicious.  Allie has her own waterpark with 2 pools and several sprinkler toys in her own backyard so Ben was in water play heaven. We stayed for a few fireworks there and Ben actually seemed to like the lights and was more frightened by my hands over his ears than the loud fireworks themselves.  We did stop on the way home for a couple fireworks for Ryan to play with after we got Ben down.  Unfortunately the fireworks kept Ben up until almost 11 but Ryan did get to have his mini-show and get his weird male need to blow things up satiated for another 365 days.  I think we were all moving a little slowly after the long HOT weekend, but nothing spawns productivity like productivity so while were on that subject, I'm gonna go stain the swing-set.  Hope your 4th was fun-filled and safe!!

Tartlets with chocolate ganache and mascarpone cream 

(only help from the resident pastry chef was filling them.)

Peter

Well Protected Ben

First time with the sunnies and didn't mind them.

Blowin' Bubbles

PS-I did fail at yet another family picture attempt.  I had the whole family coordinated for a patriotic picture hoping Onie (who also has a D-SLR) could snap a couple for us.  She came a bit later to the bbq long after the boys were in their swimsuits, but trust me, we would have looked very cute!

This was the morning after, but I want to document his driving skills in case he's a famous driver some day :).

Emotions

This beautiful blog is filled with cute pics of Ben, but I fail to often share the not so cute ones.  I'm not talking blurry here, folks! Ryan and I were absolutely cracking up at these last night.  For those who have asked, "does he ever get mad?," here is your answer.  These were a sure sign our emergency photo shoot (teaser!!) had come to an end.

Hope they bring you some laughs too, as the long weekend begins.  Happy Holiday Weekend!