Trip to MO (1) - Baby Emma

We LOVED meeting baby Emma this week! It is going to be so much fun to be an aunt. I know I am going to love watching Emma grow and seeing how the relationship between her and Ben develops. Isn't she cute?! I miss her already....

I love you, Emma!

Funny things Ben says...

- I had made him a new meal to try for dinner one night (for those of you who don't know this, he is not the best eater) and his response to me asking him to try a bite was..."Mommy, this is disgusting. This belongs in the trash. Put it in the trash." Gee thanks, Ben!

- After eating supper one evening recently, I asked him to get down out of his booster seat and come upstairs for his bath. He told me he didn't want to come upstairs because it was "too crowded up there." Huh? :)

- I came home from work one evening and one of Ben's little lawn chairs was sitting up on the couch cushion. I asked him if he had been sitting in his lawn chair on the couch and he said..."No, there is no stability." No stability?!

- He told me one day that we couldn't watch the TV in our basement because it was "too complicated" to turn on.

- We were snuggling in the chair in our living room and he turned to me and said "Mommy, are you comfortable?"

- I had made him a sandwich from a recipe I'd found in a new cookbook. He was throwing a major fit about trying a bite. He told me he didn't want to eat the sandwich because it "will make me drowsy!"

- At Christmas, Ben was playing cars with my mom and she made a tunnel for the cars to go through. He said to her "Grammy, are there ghosts in the tunnel?" She said, "I don't know Ben. What are ghosts?" I guess she wanted to see what he would say. He told her "ghosts are figments of our imagination."

- One of our typical family outings on a weekend night will be to Barnes and Noble to hang out in the kids section, look at books and play with the Thomas the Tank Engine train table. Ben was playing with another little girl at the train table and she picked up a train and apparently called it by the wrong name (all of the Thomas trains have specific names). Ben walked up to her and in a really nice, sweet voice said..."That's not _____, that's Devious Diesel, honey."

The list goes on.... more to come, I'm sure! :) For those of you who don't know, Mike and I both work, so since Ben was three months old Mike's grandparents (his mom's mom, dad's parents, and mom's mom's twin sister and her husband - confused yet?) have each taken a day of the week and driven down to our house to watch Ben for us. They love him and he loves them! He has had one-on-one attention every day and I think it's really boosted his vocabulary (we are very lucky, I know!). He pays so much attention to detail and what people say. He picks up on EVERYTHING! I just laugh when one of these funny comments comes out of his little mouth. I love this talkative age and his sponge of a brain!

Home in Missouri

We flew into St. Louis yesterday afternoon and got to meet baby Emma! I loved holding her and seeing Adam and Jenny with her. She is adorable and SO tiny! I have never seen a baby with legs that skinny....but I loved them! I guess that's what happens when your dad is 6'5 and 175 lbs! :) I took lots of pictures, but won't be able to upload them until I get home on Sunday (I forgot the cord for my camera.) Ben was more interested in Emma's baby toys and crib than in actually meeting her. I did get a few cute pictures of the two of them together. He was holding her and she was asleep, but then she moved and he said with a surprised look on his face, "Mommy, she is moving!" Maybe he thought she was just a doll or something? :) I'm so glad that Ben finally has a cousin! I love all my cousins so much, I'm just glad he'll have a buddy to love too!

Anyway, it is pouring down rain outside, so maybe we will just stay in our pj's inside all day today. Ben is having fun playing with Grammy (my mom) right now....they are playing a lovely song (???) on the piano as I type this. My mom said something about taking Ben to Wal-Mart for a little adventure today?! You know you've arrived in Farmington, Missouri when the fun thing to do is head to Wal-Mart!

Seeing and holding Emma yesterday brought back all the memories from when Ben was a newborn. I can't believe how fast time has gone by and that he will be three years old in a little over a month! Below are some oldies, but goodies, of Ben when he was Emma's age! I can't wait to have another little one...I just have to keep reminding myself that God's timing and plan is better than my own. Why is that so hard to get?

Getting caught up....

Since I have only had a blog since, well, yesterday...I thought I would add some links to recent pictures of Ben and my family. Sorry for the duplication to those of you who have already seen these pictures.

In order from most recent...enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=102813&l=08bf5&id=683790524
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=100142&l=fc71b&id=683790524
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=98427&l=81482&id=683790524
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=89154&l=009ce&id=683790524

I'm an aunt!

...and my little brother is a dad!? I can hardly believe that he is old enough to be married, but now a new baby! Wow! I'm confident that he and Jenny will be wonderful parents! Emma Marie was born on April 3 and weighed 6 lbs 13 oz. I get to meet her tomorrow...yipppeeee!

I wonder if anyone will read this? :)

I've officially joined the blog world! I am not a writer, so I'm guessing this is going to be mostly a picture blog with some brief comments. Who knows though...maybe I'll really surprise myself with all of the deep and/or entertaining thoughts I'll come up with to share! I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you! I read other people's blogs on a regular basis, so I figured I might as well start one of my own. Enjoy the pictures!

We can finally play outside! Can you tell that Ben is excited? (I think he has his mom's mouth!)

He looks old in this picture. He'll be three years old in May. Time flies!

Just playing with his cool water toy on the deck!