A few random pics to catch up on...

Here are some pictures from over the last month or so that I haven't had a chance to post, even though they are blog worthy.  I'll just do it all in one swoop!  

Ben surrounded by 4 of his favorite ladies... all of his cousins.

(L-R) Alexa, Anna (behind Ben), Grace, and Violet

Ben, in his classroom at school waiting to perform at the Christmas program.  He did such a great job dancing and ringing bells to the music up on stage in front of all of those people, a real natural:)  I would post the video, but I think it might be too long...

Opening some of his first Christmas gifts for the year from his Grandma Haring.

Trying my Ugg's on for size:)

Big Boy

It's been a while since my last post- we've been busy!!  Sorry for the hiatus, but with Thanksgiving, Christmas shopping, family Christmas get-togethers, work, more Christmas shopping, baking... and our latest project, getting Ben moved into his big-boy room... I feel like I haven't had the time!  So this post is dedicated to our sweet sweet little boy, who somehow is growing up right before my eyes.

Today, we put the finishing touches on Ben's room, and made the leap.  After painting, wall decorating, moving furniture, curtains, etc... we finally finished and actually moved Ben into his new room.  This meant sleeping in a toddler bed vs. his crib, which is the biggest change of all.  The room turned out adorable, just as I had pictured, and much to my surprise the sleeping seems like it might be an okay transition too!  I have been stressed out about it, picturing Ben up until all hours of the night playing in his room with toys instead of sleeping now that he can get out of his bed, but he slept for 2 1/2 hours for a nap today and went right down for bed tonight without an issue.  So for now, we'll be thankful that the transition is going smoothly so far... here is a sneak peek at Ben's room!

The view from the doorway- on the wall is the Oopsy Daisy artwork that inspired me for the room.  It's a big city landscape with a bunch of different "cars, trucks, and things that go!"

The "reading corner" with his new favorite chair... you can just barely see the wheels and shadow of the airplane that Nick hung in this corner- my fault for not getting a better picture of this! 

And finally a little craft table.  

Drumroll please.....

IT'S A GIRL!!!!

 Today was our 19 week ultrasound and time for BIG news!  We finally found out that Ben is going to have a little sister- and we couldn't be more excited!  Now it's time to plan the nursery and buy a whole new baby wardrobe:)  Thanks to Momo (aka my Mom) our little sweetie pie already has a few outfits to get her started.  

If anyone knows someone that needs baby boy clothes I have a few tubs to loan out!

Along with finding out the gender, they also measure and check the baby out from head to her little itsy bitsy toes.  I'm proud to report that she is perfect in every way, and measuring right on track!  Looks like we'll be welcoming this baby at the beginning of April as planned!  

Zoo Boo

This past weekend we met up with some of our friends at the Indianapolis Zoo for their annual "Boo at the Zoo" event.  Essentially, it's a big Halloween party at the Zoo, and let me tell you- it was PACKED!  However, we muscled our way through the crowds so the kids could see all of the animals, gave them their first tastes of Halloween candy (and maybe had a bite or two for ourselves!), and all about collapsed when it was over from sheer exhaustion!

Our little tiger- wouldn't keep the mask on for too long so he spent most of the night dressed up as Ben in a tiger's body. 

Lucky boy has a Daddy with sturdy shoulders for when his legs got tired! 

L-R:  Owen, Parker, Kate, and Ben (who is snuggling himself right up to Kate, he might even be sneaking an arm around her!!) 

Our little tiger, one lucky shot of the approximately 30 seconds that he had his mask on:) 

Ben and who else but his best buddy Owen.  Poor Owen seemed a little terrified of Ben's tiger costume that night, as you can see Ben looks pretty ferocious! 

A family picture- thanks to the Watts family for bringing the wagon that only our kid used for the night!

Special Vegas Visitors

It had been WAY too long since my Grandma and Grandpa Wuethrich came back from Vegas for a visit, so we were thrilled to be able to spend the day with them this past Sunday.  They are staying at my Mom's house for a week or two, and it has been packed every day with visitors.  The last time we saw them was over 2 years ago when Nick and I took a long weekend trip to Las Vegas, so they hadn't even had a chance to squeeze Ben yet!  Lucky for Ben- he got some much needed squeezes from his Great Grandma, and of course some classic love pats on the cheek from Great Grandpa.  We had a great time with you two and hope to see you again soon!

Thanks for visiting!  We love you!

Smart Boy

Caught on video- don't ask me how we got him to sit still for this long and pay attention- but I think this is pretty good footage!  So for some of you that haven't seen Ben in a while, he is talking up a storm, and as shown in the video below, naming and finding all of his body parts!

Daddy's little helper

Are you having trouble keeping up with all of the tasks and chores around the house?  For example, something as simple as washing the car?  Invite Ben over... he's a pretty good helper.  Just a fair warning though, he will spend much more time sloshing around in the sudsy bucket of water than actually scrubbing:)  

In case you were wondering, the answer is yes.  I did have to strip Ben down all the way to his diaper after this little project, peeling each soaking wet piece of clothing off one by one.  Even his socks were soaked clear through his tennis shoes!  Oh well- it's worth it when they are having so much fun!