Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! What a fun Christmas this has been with Benjamin.

One of my family traditions is to have beef stew for Christmas Eve dinner. Ben had a plate-full and loved it!

He didn't really care too much about presents or the wrapping paper. He does love gift bags though.

We got a white Christmas! Yeah. The forecasters were predicting 1-3 inches, then 3-6 inches, then trace amounts and we ended up with something between 3-6 inches. We took Ben out to explore it and he hated it. I don't know whether it was the snow or the freezing cold temperature. It took us 20 minutes to get all bundled up, we stayed outside for about 3 minutes, and then I was left with a pile of wet clothes at the door. Oh well.

We checked out the snow again on Christmas morning because it is just so pretty.

Santa brought Ben all his fun toys unwrapped so he could explore them this morning. He loves it all! Thank you to all our friends and family that sent so many really cool gifts. And, we know there are so many more to come as we travel soon.

Here is a two and a half minute video of clips from last night and this morning. Enjoy.

Walker Video

Ben took his first real steps on his own with the walker tonight. He has 'walked' with it before but not without a lot of assistance.

And, I forgot to mention in my earlier post - he is now saying mama :) and waving some.

Enjoy two minutes of Ben!

Catching Up on Pictures

Many pictures, few words in captions.

Ben got his second haircut. His hair was curling behind his ears and I just couldn't take it.
Before

After (a little blurry)

At our staff Christmas party, Jackson gave Ben a matching Baby's 1st Christmas pj's. Ben thinks Jackson is a toy. Oh my! Poor baby Jackson (he didn't even cry though).

Ben pulls up on everything and cruises the furniture. Here he is demonstrating the one handed move.

I found him playing in his toys like this. This is not an action shot. He had the baskets balanced like that and was just playing happily in that little spot.

We received some Christmas gifts with lots and lots of packing peanuts. At first, Ben wasn't too sure about them.

Then, he decided they were kinda fun.

So, naturally, he had to taste them.

I am giving Ben more and more finger foods and letting him experiment with picking up the food and holding his spoon. A meal takes so much longer now!

Yummy!

Me try!

Getting the last bite.

All done.

This is the tongue thing I was trying to show in the video. I think his tongue is like this more often than not.

He LOVES his new bookshelf and being able to get to his books. He will sit for 10-15 minutes and quietly look through them all, one shelf at a time. I love it!

Why is the toilet so much fun? He loves standing up on the toilet and it drives me crazy. He even brought a toy with him. Gross!

9 Month Video

Ben does so much that we can never catch on video because he would rather attack the camera than perform for it. Tonight we got a few cute clips that I compiled into a 1 minute video. In the first clip he is dancing to a toy. He will dance sitting or standing to any kind of a beat or music, even in the tub. Next, he is saying dada. I think he knows we are talking about Ryan when he says it. He doesn't call Ryan dada, but when I ask about dada, he turns to look for him. In the third clip you will see he constantly turns his tongue sideways. His daddy can do that, but I can't. In the last clip he is making a fishy face which he also does often.

Enjoy!

Happy 9 Months

I don't know why, but this milestone is harder for me than any of the others. I can't believe he is 9 months old. I carried him in my tummy for 9 months and now I have been able to hug and kiss him for 9 months. It is going too fast.

He loves to dance to the music. He normally naps from 10:30-12pm. But, at church, he is wide awake during all of worship. It was reported by more than one person that he was clapping to the beat last week. He loves is. However, as soon as the preaching starts, his nap begins on my lap. His daddy's voice must lull him to sleep.

He still crawls at lightening speed and pulls up on anything and everything. He continues to play independently which he has done since very young. I am so thankful for that. Since he is so mobile, he usually plays under my feet, but is content to let me do whatever I am doing. Whether washing dishes, blow drying my hair, working on the computer - he is right there!

He is eating much more table food now. I can't think of anything he has refused yet. When he is full though he shakes his head from side to side. So much for sign language. Or, maybe that is his own special sign for all done.

We have had some very cold days so far this week. Yesterday, the high temperature was 16 degrees. Wow. It is harder to get out of the house having to bundle Ben all up and then bundle myself. And, it isn't even winter yet! I have a feeling I will just wear my snow boots all winter just in case there is snow or ice. I can't risk falling down while holding my little bundle. Of course, we will have so much padding maybe we wouldn't get hurt :)

Aunt T sent him this so cute warm outfit.

He has some long johns for the cold weather.

I couldn't help myself. We witness this multiple times a week. I will embarrass him with this one day.

I watched a friend's 3 month old, Jackson. Whew. There is a reason a woman can't biologically have 9 month and 3 month old babies. If I put Jackson down, Ben attacked him thinking he was a new fun toy. I tried to get a picture of the three of us and this is what I got. Ha! Not my best picture, but you get the idea.

Ben finding his new toy.

We got a little snow that day. Huge flakes, but only for a short time Can you see any of them?

There aren't too many good things about living two states north of all our family excet that Christmas can come in the mail and I don't like to wait. Grammy sent this new bookshelf for Ben. Today, he spent 15 minutes alone, quietly taking the books out and "reading." I love it!

One more thing...

I forgot one of my favorite pictures on my last post.

While Ben does love his new rocking chair, nothing beats the Dad-cliner, as we so lovingly call it. He crawls up in Ryan's lap so often and sits just like this.

Random

I have taken a few cute pictures of Ben lately (what pictures of Ben aren't cute?) so I thought I would share them.

Attacking Frosty

In the evenings we all three play together with Ben's toys after dinner. About 3 times a week, Ben will crawl away while we are playing and this is how we find him...ready for his bath to start the bedtime routine. HA! (The light is not on in the bathroom, he goes in there in the dark and just sits there.)

Big boy Christmas jammies. Ah, he looks so grown up.

He finally figured out how to get all the way in the plastics cabinet. I love it. He has his favorites items in the cabinet, but he is learning to explore. This cabinet is in a corner. When looking at the picture, if he was to turn right, he could crawl quite a ways to the back corner. When will he figure that out?

Ben doesn't know that Christmas is on December 25th and I don't like delaying gratification (but you already knew that), so Ben got to see his new chair from Great Grandad and Great Grandma Sherrill. A lot of the reviews for this chair were by parents of 18-24 month old kids, but Ben needed it right now ;) He can unintentionally make it rock and I just think that is so cute. We will need it when baseball season comes back around.

My boys!

Such a little man (wink)

He was given another early Christmas present from a coworker, the adorable boots. They matched this outfit so perfectly that I had to take a picture. It's getting really cold here so we have to bundle up whenever we go out of the house.

This picture quality isn't very good, but I had to show it. Ben wore this outfit while running some errands with me a few days ago. Everyone we passed would say how cute he was in his little hat. Ben and I were walking into Hobby Lobby and a lady stopped her car, rolled down the window and complimented his cute hat. How fun! I love running errands with him.


No pictures of it, but Ben is pulling up on everything now. We haven't had any injuries, but surely something will happen eventually. He can go between the couch and the coffee table. He doesn't take steps along the furniture much. He mostly pulls up and stays there. I have read that getting back down is harder for a baby to learn than pulling up. Ben seems to do it well. He thinks about it pretty hard, then sits down and crawls away at lightening speed. He is everywhere!

Everybody Has a Story

I have found that the phrase "everybody has a story" is appropriate in so many different situations. So much of our story directly affects the way we look at life and function in society. It makes us who we are. Some of our story was given to us without our consent and some we designed based on our own life choices. But you might never know why someone acts the way they do or how they got in their current situation if you don't know their story. We make assumptions about people every single day without knowing their story.

I was at a world-dominating retail store this morning and was treated unkindly based on my assumed socioeconomic status. I'm not upset because it was assumed I don't have much money, that is a correct assumption. (Let me stop right there and assure you all that we have more than we need and most of what we want. We are not lacking for anything!) Continuing on... I am upset because I was treated like a lesser person because of my SES. With a couple of mean glances and some loudly mumbled words I instantly felt horrible about myself. I had to give myself a quick pep-talk to hold back the tears and remind myself that no one in that store knows my story. If they did, if they knew that I was a missionary and have chosen to not pursue wealth and status, but to serve the urban poor, would that change their view of me? Should my story really dictate how I am treated anyway? Just because I have chosen to be content with what I have and not strive for the American dream of having more of everything doesn't make me any more worthy of being treated kindly than my neighbor who has made some poor life choices and is stuck living in a neighborhood that he might not readily choose if given the opportunity.

Yesterday's sermon at our church (preached by my handsome husband) was about hope in a new king - hope in the first advent of Christ when he was born as a baby as we will celebrate in a few weeks AND hope in his second coming, hope that he will return in all his glory to bring peace to this earth and restore justice. Our church is a fantastic place full of people from all walks of life. There are people like me that have chosen this life and there are people that certainly wouldn't have chosen it, but have found themselves there for many different reasons. I don't need to know their story to love them. I don't need to know their story to know that they have ever right to be treated kindly and with respect. I don't need to know their story to know that they need a Savior just as much as I do.

I could have left that store this morning feeling really bad about myself (and maybe I do a little), but God must be doing something in my heart because I left that store with more resolve to be kinder to my neighbor and more loving to the people around me. I have found great pleasure in smiling at my mail carrier that just rang my doorbell while I am typing. When we first moved in, he wouldn't ring the bell at all but just leave my packages on the porch and run off. Then, he realized I was home every day and started ringing the bell, but would never return my smile or my hello. After a year and a half, he actually smiles at me sometimes, usually says hello back and waits patiently since it usually takes me a minute to get to the door if I am busy with Ben. I have no idea what his story is and I most likely will never know. But, he is a person deserving of my kindness and I hope that just maybe he knows there is something different about me and my household as he delivers mail in a pretty uninviting neighborhood.

If you made it all the way through this post without tuning me out, I hope that you are also encouraged this Christmas season. For those of us that are believers, we have such a great hope that we need to share with those around us. This whole advent season at our church is themed, A Thrill of Hope, The Weary World Rejoices. There are a lot of weary people that we brush shoulders with every day. Sometimes I am that weary person. But, there is a thrill that comes from the hope that we have. I pray that people would see that in my life, whether they know my story or not.

Thanksgiving Getaway

Having all our family so far away makes it hard to get together for all the holidays. This Thanksgiving we stayed in a state park cabin just an hour and a half from Wichita. Ben is generally a terrible car traveler, but he did alright. We made it there without much fussing and Ryan sat in the back with him the last 15 minutes of the drive home. I have to drive or I get so car sick in the back seat. We had a fantastic time just getting away from everything. Here is our trip in pictures and captions. Then, some Christmas preview at the end.

Our cabin. It had two bedrooms, a loft with two twin beds and a futon in the living room. We were able to put Ben in the back bedroom with a space heater, away from the noise, and then we slept on the futon close to the heater. It worked perfectly.

Gorgeous Sunrise (I wish I slept in, but I have a baby so I got to see the sunrise.)

It was pretty cold there. Aren't we a cute family (of coats and hats)?

Hat hair!

We took a 1 mile hike and found this great cave.

This was taken to recreate one of my favorite pictures of Ryan and Ben from our first vacation.

Taken in August

Family Fun

Sink bath that he loved!

Ryan built us a raging fire both nights. The temperature was in the 30s, but with the fire and our coats and hats it actually felt warm. Ben wasn't too sure about it, but it was close to bath and bedtime.

Apparently the water level was up very high. This is supposed to be a boat dock/fishing pier.

This was supposed to be our hiking trail. We had to cross the bridge to start the hike. We just found another trail instead of swimming across.

Playing around.

This picture didn't work, but I still thought Ben looked really cute.

Camera timers are great, but babies will look away before the 10 seconds are up.

Clapping at the playground.

Our shadows.

We really needed a photographer to get this picture, but I have seen so many great shots like this and I just had to try it.

Can you see Ben's tongue? He is discovering it more and more. He keeps it out often.

Ah...

Puppy dog Ben.

He is a great help with unpacking! (Notice the tongue again!)

This is our tree this year. Hopefully, safely away from the pulling-up little boy. The cloth is well secured so he can't pull it down.

He isn't so sure he likes Frosty. I will keep introducing them until they become friends.

Christmas time is here! Ben requested to wear his Christmas jammies tonight.