Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas indeed! We just had a visit from Grandma & Grandpa Perry (all the way from Michigan and several inches of snow), Uncle Winston & Auntie Marisa (from he cold, Windy City) and Uncle Brian & Auntie Kate (over from Dallas). It was great to have everyone here for the holiday and Benjamin really enjoyed the company. He laughed and smiled with everyone, and got a chance to enjoy some of his many presents, for which we are all grateful. It was a special & memorable Christmas for us and we have many pictures for Ben to enjoy once he is old enough to be embarrassed by some of them. Please enjoy some of the highlights, and have a happy, healthy New Year!


The whole family
Clowning around with Grandma and Grandpa
And my crazy fun Auntie Marisa
I can make funny faces, and by the way am SO BIG

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas!
My other new friend Curious George
A special gift from my Auntie Kate-nifty Baby Legs (I like to call them my Brit legs)
A nice, brisk walk at Sabino Canyon
The human saguaro
Scary wildlife!
Our last evening's dinner at Zinburger

Holiday plans

Benjamin has had a very busy holiday season. We were in Michigan for 2 weeks, then back to Tucson for a week (enjoying the warmth!) Last week, we went to Albuquerque to visit our friends the Morans, as Auntie Becca was celebrating her 40th birthday. We had many cute pictures from our trip, but they didn't transfer to my computer-you will just have to imagine how great it was with Ben, Parker (5.5 months) and Davis (5 years old) and our 2 dear friends Becca and George. Ben continues to be a great traveler, though his sleep does get somewhat "disrupted" on our trips. While home, however, he is sleeping well and continuing to grow and change. He is extremely vocal now, and Brian and I are certain he has a lot to say (though we can't understand quite what yet.) He is rolling over once in a while, still from front to back, and loves to stand (with assistance, obviously) much more than sitting. In fact, he doesn't even like when the person holding him is sitting-which has made for some long, pacing afternoons for us! We just put together his exersaucer, and he is learning how to enjoy it-pretty hilarious...at least our large textbooks are coming in handy again.

We are preparing for my family to come in for Christmas this week-hopefully Grandma and Grandpa Perry will be able to get here from the cold, VERY snowy Midwest tomorrow morning. We wish all our family and friends a safe, happy Holiday season and a very blessed New Year!

Some snow pictures from Michigan:

Seriously, Mom!

Mommy & Daddy's favorite snow picture-Our little snow angel
And some more photos from home:

Still happy on my playmat

Learning how to use this "exersaucer" thing

Chillin with my dad on the sofa

I only like to walk with all my favorite Homeys!

Rolling over!

Benjamin had a great trip to Grandma & Grandpa Perry's house for Thanksgiving. He was a wonderful traveler, even getting compliments from fellow travelers-

"That is the best behaved, most quiet baby I have ever seen" from our neighbors to the left on our way home, and "I didn't even know he was there" from the traveler in front of us on the way to Kalamazoo. (Thank goodness!)

I apologize for the delay in the blog post, but I forgot some of my favorite pictures from our trip at Grandma's, but those are coming in the mail this week. Needless to say, there were many pictures taken while we were in Michigan.

Benjamin had several playdates-2 with Ella Fargo, one with the Pungs (Caleb, Macie and Anderson) and one with Ella Montoya. Ella M's Grandma brought some cute accessories and clothes for the little ones, and it basically turned into a photo shoot. It snowed a whole lot (6-9 inches) the weekend before we left, and our Tucsonan bones were chilled!

Not that he is spoiled or anything...

Ben & Ella Montoya

What is this cold white stuff, Mommy? I am perplexed-we don't see this in Tucson, do we?

Benjamin rolled over for the first time on Sunday, November 30th (from his front to his back) while on his playmat. We have been encouraging him to continue, with moderate success, and he continues to wow us with his physical prowess!

Sitting in his "Big Boy" chair

Checking himself out on his playmat-handsome little devil, huh!?

We went to a party for Brian's work, and Benjamin pulled out his bling.

We got a fake tree this year (in a dry climate, in an apartment, with carpeting) and have been decorating for my family to come for Christmas. Grandma & Grandpa Perry, Marisa & Winston, Kate & Brian all making the trip to Tucson to celebrate Christmas together. We are hoping to get to Napa early next year to celebrate with Grandma & Grandpa Freeto too. Which present do you think is the best of all?

Benjamin has started making faces that let us know we will be in big trouble once he really knows how to "turn on" the pout...we are hosed!

Benjamin & I are going to Albuquerque this Tuesday to visit our friends the Morans-my dear friend Becca is celebrating her 40th birthday, and we will be there to celebrate with her. We can't wait! Ben is becoming quite the little jet-setter!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Benjamin had his first plane flight to Michigan for Thanksgiving last weekend. He did a great job-eating and sleeping most of the flight. The passenger in front of us even commented after we landed that he "didn't know he was there" during the flight-he was awesome. We made it to Grandma and Grandpa Perry's in Kalamazoo and have been enjoying ourselves here ever since. Brian met us here Monday afternoon, and left Friday to go back to Tucson to work (we miss him a lot already).

We enjoyed the holiday with my parents, my sister and brother-in-law, my grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins who all came to visit. Ben has also gotten to meet several people from his Grandma's work, my old high school friends and is going to Grandpa's work this week to meet the people in his office. Ben can't wait for next year when he gets to enjoy turkey, pie and olives with the rest of the family.

Talking with Daddy on the computer when we got to Michigan
Welcome to Michigan, Daddy
Little Turkey
Who's messing with me?
Chillin with Grandpa Ben
Watching Football with Grandpa Ben
Great Grandma Pilon
Saying Goodbye to Daddy before he heads back to Tucson
The weather is definitely different here in Michigan than we had in Tucson. It hasn't been any warmer than 36 or so degrees (half the temperature when we left Tucson last Sunday). The snow is beautiful, but Ben isn't too big a fan of the cold weather clothes that come with the weather change.

Winter Wonderland
Shopping in all these clothes makes me really tired!
Mommy gets tired too sometimes...
My cool new hat from Cousin Annie-BBBBZZZZZZZZZZZZ
We have been thankful for many things this holiday season, especially our family and friends. We hope you all had a great holiday and are looking forward to more holiday cheer in the upcoming months. One great thing about being home has been all the help from Grandma and Grandpa-Brian and I were able to go out to dinner and I have been able to get some holiday and other things done. Grandma did try to get fired from diaper changing duty...but we believe practice will make perfect!

What happens when one side of the diaper doesn't make it out of the buttcrack...

Daddy's Birthday

I wanted to add a couple cute pictures from yesterday, Ben hanging out with his dad. The last picture speaks for itself!

Namaste

Ben & I had a busy week this week. We had fun on our morning walks, and had errands to run most days. We did a little shopping (and true to "boy form" Ben did not enjoy it much), met friends for lunch and coffee, and even tried a "Baby & me" yoga class. Ben cried for 10 solid minutes before class began, but I must admit, he was the most quiet, interactive baby during the class and really seemed to enjoy it. He also caught a mean nap once it was over. We will hopefully continue with a little yoga at home, and may even take a baby massage class early in the new year.

Mommy ordered a new diaper bag this week, deciding that if it has to double as a purse (since I don't have the 4 arms I asked for for Christmas yet), it MUST be cuter than the current option, which incidentally is not big enough either. We are still enjoying good weather here-cool in the mornings, around 45-50 degrees but sunny, then 75-80 in the afternoons. Tucson folks have started to complain about how "cold" it is getting...this should get some laughs from my family and friends enjoying 30 and snowy/sleety in the Midwest.

Daddy had his 33rd birthday yesterday, and we enjoyed getting to spend almost the whole day with him. He is recovering from a cold, but feeling better every day. Ben and I have managed thus far to avoid those germs-please keep your fingers crossed. I think air travel for a little guy with a cold would be pretty miserable! For Brian's birthday, Ben worked very hard to design a photo collage of himself in a travel mug for his dad to take to work-very cute! We are all looking forward to our trip to Michigan next week for Thanksgiving, and can't wait to reconect with old friends and for them to meet Benjamin.

I found my thumb!

Cute little present-what a nice bow.

Ready to set hearts on fire and put them out, ladies.

I am seriously this awake, cute and happy at 5:15 in the morning-mom has proof!

Checking myself out during tummy-time

And I am really friggin cute, I might add.