8 months closer to trucking w/ Gramps

On Benny's 1 month Birthday we met Grandpa in a Walmart parking lot and Benny got to see his big semi for the 1st time. Grandpa just happened to be coming through town again on Benny's 9 month birthday so we did the same thing. This time Ben was a lot more excited about it! I have a feeling this semi will become a bigger and bigger hit as this little boy realizes how fun big trucks are.

Only 5 years and three months until Benny can officially go truckin with grandpa!

Aug 12th

April 12th

Life as a 9 month old

Bennett turned 9 months on Tuesday and I had to work late so daddy did the monthly photo shoot with him. I will be posting those pictures shortly. I think Pat did an excellent job....it was hysterical when he told me about all of the wardrobe changes and thought he put into the shoot. He even put Bennett in summer clothes thinking that we might want to document the nice weather we have been having. So Ben in his shorts and surfer shirt will be making its grand appearance when I post the pictures.

Ben had his 9 month appointment with Dr. Heuermann on Monday. He weighs 18.5 lbs and is 27 inches long. He wears a size 4 shoe...which is large for his age. His weight is 20th percentile and his length is 25th percentile. So he dropped just slightly in percentile but not enough to matter. The doctor gave us permission to go wild with table foods and the only thing we have to avoid is peanut butter...Doc even said eggs and berries are ok now. As for formula...he still needs to be on preemie formula for the extra calories. So this week Bennett has been enjoying eating his dinner along side of us. It won't be long and he will be contributing to the dinner time conversation I am sure! This trip to the doctor was the best to date. He cried very hard when he got his shots but he calmed down very quickly and within twenty minutes he was back to his happy self. Whew!


At nine months Bennett is not crawling but he rolls a lot and still prefers standing to anything else. He has become quite the chatter box in church so we have slowly been moving closer and closer to the crying room. For some reason the silence and music makes him feel like shrieking. Its not an upset or frustrated shriek...its like a "I am so excited and want to celebrate" kind of shriek. Apparently he is just praising Jesus in his own little language. He loves the sound of his voice and still loves to listen to music.



Bennett loves the blow dryer. When I blow dry my hair in the morning, he stops whatever he is doing and just stares. He is mesmerized by it. He digs blow dryers. I think this is really kind of sweet and this may sound super corny and like I am making a very big stretch here...but his birth mother was a hair stylist. Which means he probably heard blow dryers all day long in the womb and I just think it is really neat to see that even though he does not know it yet he is still connected to her in many ways. I have been thinking about her a lot lately. Every milestone that he hits and every smile and snuggle that he gives me makes me realize how much she gave up for him. Thank you for all of the prayers that you say for her. I know they work and I know God will comfort her and it just makes me feel like we are giving something back to her in return for this most special gift that she gave to us. K...now I am tearing up.....moving on.....



Bennett now has his two front bottom teeth and one of his front top teeth is on its way in as we speak. As all kids his age do, everything goes in the mouth.....except food that is. He does not like to feed himself yet. I feed him food and then hand him some so that he can self-feed and practice the coordination of it and he wants nothing to do with it. He just wants to play with the food and has not even tried to get it to his mouth. He still does not hold his own bottle either. Sometimes I wish that he could when I am trying to multi-task but other times I am so grateful for that time that we have together to snuggle up and feed him. Bennett has been getting the hang of his sippy cup. Only about half of the liquid makes it in his mouth and the rest goes on his bib; but he is very interested in it and has caught on very quickly to it.


Benny is still rocking in the sleeping department. He took a one week detour after not sleeping in his own bed for a couple nights but he is back to usual. Bedtime around 7 and he wakes up around 6. Naps are still consistent and as long as he does not roll himself over...he usually falls asleep in no time. I think these great sleeping habits will come in very handy as a teenager. I can already hear Pat and I yelling up the stairs...."Bennett are you up yet....it's time to go."


I think we are just weeks away from extreme mobility. We have to do some serious baby proofing so that we are ready for this little guy on the move that is around the corner. He gets cuter everyday and we just love watching him grow into this little boy that he is becoming. We love you Benny Boy!

March 18th is a Special Day

1 Year Ago today, on March 18th, 2010, we officially took the plunge into the World of Adoption by submitting our application to our agency in Texas. I cannot believe that just one year ago we started the process and now we have an 8 month old little boy that brings us so much joy! What a different place we were in on this day last year. How quickly life changes and what a blessed year this has been. Our friends Kristy and John led us to our agency, as at this time last year they had just arrived home from Texas with their new daughter Liliana.

Bennett and Liliana have become great friends and we feel so happy that they will grow up knowing that they have somebody else in their lives with such a similar story. Look at these two now.

This day is also special for another reason related to adoption. We get to meet our newest niece, Olivia, as she flies in from China tonight. Jenny and Jason have been in China for more than two weeks adopting her and we are thrilled that today is the day that we finally get to meet her. She is 2 and a half and is adjusting really well to life with her new mommy and daddy. Today she gets to meet her five brothers today that have been anticipating her arrival for a long time. It makes us so happy to have another child joining our family through adoption and I think Livi will be a special friend and cousin to Bennett as they grow up in this family sharing a similar beginning. I also get the proud honor of being Olivia's Godmother and I am soo soo happy about that too. Welcome home Olivia on this special day!

Bennett at 8 Months

I am the proud mama to an 8 month old. After being a parent for 8 months, I sure don't know everything but one thing I do know is that baby bibs and nylons make a bad combination in the washer. The Velcro on the bibs sticks to the nylons and I have lost more nylons to this phenomenon than I have lost to the dog. You would think I would have figured this out sooner. I am also now keenly aware of how perfectly baby spoons just seem to slip down into the garbage disposal without being seen. It's like they are the perfect size to slip down there undetected until you turn that baby on and crash bang then you know the spoon is in there. We are learning right along with Benny:)

At eight months he is sleeping from about 7pm to 7am. He takes a short morning nap and a nice long three hour afternoon nap. He eats baby food or rice cereal three times a day and he eats so much at meal time that we have to try very hard to keep him interested in taking his bottles. HE has been known to hammer 2 to 3 jars of baby food at a time. This week he tried table food for the first time...french toast sticks chopped into the finest little pieces you ever saw. He will sometimes dance and move his body if we sing and dance in front of him. He is very talkative and reaches for EVERYTHING. He is interested in everything....he wants to touch it and grab it and put it in his mouth. This morning I got out a roll of paper towel while I was cleaning and he explored it and explored it some more. You would have thought it was a supercomputer. He is learning so much everyday and he is so intrigued by his surroundings. He rolls all over now but still no crawling. He wears a size three shoe and a size three diaper and he wears 6 to 9 months clothing. At eight months Benny weighs 17 pounds. Here we captured a few things that Benny is doing these days.

Bennett loves to read books, mostly he just likes to eat the pages.

Bennett loves to play with his hands and feet. Sometimes I leave his socks off just because he loves his feet so much.

Bennett's first tooth (you can kind of see it on the bottom left)

Benny waving. If we wave at him, he will sometimes wave back at us.

Benny eating his toys.....all toys go in the mouth. Also giving us a thumbs up:)

Our very happy boy. This little guy is so joyful all the time. He has his moments but I just cannot get over what a great little disposition he has. He is such a cheerful kiddo. We love you more and more each passing day Bennett Anthony. We feel so proud to have you as our son.

Playtime

I love this face!

It's Here

Benny's first tooth has arrived. On Saturday we could see it just below the skin and by Sunday we could feel it had poked on through! He has been very happy and not too fussy but he chews on anything he can get his hands on. It won't be long and he will be eating everything that we are eating. What a big boy!

Splish Splash

Benny started swimming lessons at the local middle school community pool on Sunday night. He goes 4 Sundays in a row and we go in the pool with him. The pool was 83 degrees so it was nice and warm. His swim trunks looked so tiny...but once they were on him they hung all the way down to his ankles...too cute! Pat took him in the pool the first night so I could snap pictures. I even had to step out a couple times so that my lens would stop fogging up. He was by far the happiest kid in the pool...and the youngest. Most of the kiddos were between 1 and 3. He had no fear at all. He splashed and did not mind at all when his face got wet. He was rubbing his eyes by the end of the 40 minutes and he was barely out of the locker room before he fell asleep. What a little fish. There was one little girl in Ben's class that just cried and cried and would not go in the pool. I felt so bad for her poor dad. You could tell he was the hands off type and had no idea what to do. He just looked so defeated. I am guessing we may see mom at the lesson next week:)