Making Whoopie

Pies!

I love old gameshows and somehow, "making whoopie" is always an answer. I have no idea why these cookie are called whoopie pies, but they sure are delicious. I haven't made anything really fun in a while, or at least haven't taken pictures of it, but I still love to bake. We are hosting a work thing on Saturday evening and my dessert can be made ahead, so here are pictures of my afternoon fun while Ben napped. We have plans this evening, so check back tomorrow to see if we had fun!? It will be our first evening activity with Ben out during his bedtime.

The chocolate cookies.

Lined up on my counter so all get an even helping of the peanut butter filling.

A finished whoopie pie.

I like to individually wrap them and freeze them. They remind me of ice cream sandwiches.

I know I can' t blog without adding a picture of Ben. Here are a few.

A staff member from LA moved to Wichita and she and her moving truck arrived yesterday. Ben just happened to be awake when she arrived, so he and I walked over with Ryan (you can see our house across the street in this picture). The women sat and chatted while the men worked. Ben made his way around all the loving arms, but always came back to me :) I am on the right in the orange holding Ben. The lady next to me is the mother of the lady in the white shirt and is holding the baby (one month older than Ben and her 4th child) of the lady in the green shirt. And, the lady in the white shirt is expecting her first baby, a boy, in September which means the lady next to me is about to become a Grandma for the first time, so she is practicing with all our babies! It will be great fun to have 2 other boys around that Ben will grow up with. While we all work together, we also live so close. The lady in green lives in these apartments that we are sitting in front of, we live across the street, the soon-to-be-grandma lives one block over and the lady in white lives less than a mile away.

Ben is doing much more independent play these days. Sometimes, he will play quietly for an hour by himself. He seems to do much better with his napping if he plays alone - we tend to overstimulate him. So, I try to let him play alone often or at least limit my interaction with him. In this picture, Ryan is pushing his toy to his nose and making his toy talk to him :)

I keep forgetting to post this picture. These are all the kids in our church on Easter Sunday. Ethan (6) and Bree (4) are the oldest kids and then Amy is 10 months old. Ethan and Bree's parents aren't pictured. Ben was too little to stand by himself and Amy would have crawled away too quick, so a mom and a dad had to be in the kid picture.

Ben Said His First Word

OK, he didn't actually speak a word, but Ben has started to say "aah." But, I am not real happy about it. He likes to say 'aah' to his daddy. I thought it was because he preferred his deeper voice. He also says 'aah' to himself in his mirror on the changing table. I thought maybe he just really thought it was fun to look at himself. But, now he says 'aah' to his toys on his play mat too. Oh come on! The singing fish gets an 'aah,' but not the woman who birthed you and hasn't been without you for more than 5 hours total in the two months you have been alive. I feel so hurt. Ryan likes to tell me that he has given me an 'aah,' but it has only happened twice and it was when I looked away from talking to Ben. I don't think it counts! He is so young to already think I am not cool enough to talk to. Ah, it has already begun.

The singing fish that got the 'aah.'

Ben and Ryan chillin' after a long day of work (and saying 'aah' to each other).

A Day In Our Lives

I love bath and towel pictures!

I thought I would try to give you an idea of our daily lives. I know many people wander what a stay-at-home mom does all day. Trust me, we are busy. And yes, blogging to keep all the friends and family up to speed does count as an important task for a mom. Just ask the grandparents whether or not I should keep up this blog and all the many pictures :)

A typical day:

7:00am - Ben up to eat and play
Ryan up to get ready for work
7:45am - Ben down for a nap
8:00am - I grab a quick shower
9:00am - Ryan leaves for work
Ben up to eat and play
10:00am - Ben down for a nap
12:00pm - Ryan home for lunch
12:30pm - Ben up to eat and play
1:00pm - Ryan goes back to work
1:30pm - Ben down for a nap
4:00pm - Ben up to eat and play
5:00pm - Ryan comes home
Ben down for a nap
Cook dinner and discuss our days
6:00pm - Eat dinner
7:00pm - Ben up to eat and play
7:15pm - Bedtime bath
7:45-8pm - Ben's bedtime
10:00pm - Dreamfeed
10:15pm - We go to bed
3:30am - Ben wakes to eat

Whew - wasn't that exhausting...and during all the napping, I blog, work on World Impact projects that I can do from home, keep up the housework (I strive to accomplish one household task per day), etc. And, there are various other events for which we get out of the house throughout our week, fun things as well as errands and grocery shopping. If I plan to go anywhere, I try to get completely ready while he naps and then I feed him right when he wakes up and we head out the door. I also try to do our outings in the morning hours. I am more of a morning person and like to be out then rather than later in the afternoon. I think the biggest adjustment for me has been not having large chunks of time in which to do things. It does always seem that as soon as I get started on a task, he wakes up from his nap (remember, the above schedule is never perfectly followed). Then, it is an hour or more before I get back to it. Time seems to go so much more quickly now that I work around Ben's schedule. And I love every minute of it...more than I ever imagined I would.

This Day in History

May 10 is a big day in my life, full of memories.

7 years ago today, my dad died. My dad was a fun-loving man. He taught me all the things I know about the big, crazy world in which we live. He was always willing to goof off when we were supposed to be working. He taught me how to bait my own hook and love the art of fishing. He taught me the difference between a monkey wrench and a socket wrench and how to use them properly. He gave many lectures on condensation. I'm not sure why it was so important to him that my sisters and I know, but he sure drilled it in our heads, mostly on long car trips when we couldn't escape. Looking at my son makes me miss my dad a little more because they would have loved each other, but Ben will definitely know about him. I have lots of stories and pictures I can share. In the picture below, my dad took me along when he was invited to attend a special event at Six Flags over Texas in Dallas when they unveiled the Mr. Freeze roller coaster. (My maiden name is Freeze, in case you didn't know.) Along with about 100 other Mr. Freezes we were treated to a weekend press event for this unveiling. It was my first time to fly in an airplane! I loved every minute of it.


1 year ago today, Ryan graduated from seminary. This was a huge day for us. This marked the end of a long chapter in our marriage and started a whole new world for us. I graduated from college, we married and moved to Dallas and Ryan started seminary, all within about two months. Until graduation, we had never known married life without school competing for a large part of Ryan's time and attention. Life outside of school has been fantastic. Ryan is able to use all his knowledge doing a job he loves and I love watching him enjoy his work.


2 months ago today, my son was born. If you follow my blog, you know my whole world revolves around Ben these days. He has brought a great joy to both our lives and has allowed me to experience a whole new side of myself. I didn't know I would love motherhood this much. Granted, I have a fabulous baby that has been a piece of cake which makes my outlook that much brighter. I love taking him around town and hearing all the oohs and aahs from random people. I love the way all his grandparents and other relatives just adore him. I love the way our friends at World Impact have taken him into our big family here, loving to hold him and offering to babysit all the time (I haven't taken them up on it yet, but soon I think). I love watching Ryan hold him and love him. He is a wonderful addition to our family.


Today is my first Mother's Day. I remember Mother's Day last year. Three of my good friends had babies last May and I remember thinking about their first Mother's Day with a touch of jealousy. Today, I get to experience all those wonderful feelings I imagined they were feeling last year. And this Mother's Day I have a greater appreciation for my own mother than ever before. She and I are more alike in ways that I am still discovering. Of course I went through a phase where I didn't want to be anything like her (sorry Mom), but as I have grown older and now started motherhood, I appreciate all the things she taught me and all the ways I have taken on traits I see in her. Being the oldest, I think I had the advantage of getting to watch my mom more and participate as she took care of our household. I am so thankful for her example.




I know many of you that read this blog are mothers, so I wish you a very Happy Mother's Day from our family!

Shots!

First, thank you all for your hugs and kisses that were sent Ben's way when he wasn't feeling too well. I am still not 100% sure what was going on, but he is feeling much better.

Today, Ben had his well-baby exam and first round of vaccinations. I was glad this exam fell right after him not feeling well so the doctor could check him over and put my mind at ease. Our sweet doctor said we are doing everything right :) because Ben is growing and developing wonderfully. He now weighs 11 lb 8 oz and is 23 inches long (both 50%). I must admit, Ryan and I both thought he would be a little longer - he seems pretty long and skinny to us. I do think Ben got my small, round head though. His head circumference is 14.75, 15%. Oh well. He can still get his brains from him daddy, he will just have to cram it all in his little head.

Ben did get 5 shots today. Whew. I have never seen anything like it. The nurse put on quite a performance. She had all 5 shots given and two band-aids applied all in 8 seconds (like a bull rider). It might have been more like 10 seconds, but it was the fastest, craziest thing I have ever seen. Ben only screamed while she was actually giving the shots and calmed pretty quickly as I was able to immediately pick him up. He seems pretty settled, just extra sleepy. The nurse told us he might want to be held more today, but so far he has been snoozing in his crib. I kinda miss him :(

See my Spiderman band-aid? I have a racecar on the other leg.

Other than that, we are doing well! We are excited about the sunshine finally coming out and warming things up.

It has been cloudy, but I love sitting in my pool in the living room and looking out the window (he really does have a thing for windows). Aunt Can Can bought him these swim trunks and terry cloth cover-up.

Here are some recent pictures of our handsome son.

My sneaky face.


My headshot for the modeling agency.

Not Feeling Too Good

Ben hasn't been feeling very good today. He has had some rumblings in his tummy, some diarrhea (tmi?) and is not sleeping and eating anywhere near his normal schedule. This morning, he refused to sleep in his crib, but was more than happy to sleep while I held him. So, like the strong-willed, stick-with-the-schedule mom that I am, I held him while I read a book I have been wanting to finish! I don't think I would have taken a shower yet today except that he spit up all over us both around noon, so I decided it was not ideal to put clean clothes on a dirty body and so Ryan held Ben while I showered. He has seemed better this afternoon though, but we are all sitting around the house in our comfy Saturday clothes and watching how he feels. Maybe he just needed to clean out his system a bit, we will wait and see.


He has been noticing his own hands more lately and today he found his thumb! He has been getting his fingers to his mouth, but this is the first time he actually sucked his thumb. He refuses any and every type of pacifier (yes, thanks to Mama-D we do own any and every type of pacifier), so maybe this will help him self soothe rather than needing pats from mom and dad to get back to sleep. That would be lovely.

Send your "feel better" hugs and kisses our way and we will be sure to pass them along! He has been super cuddly today and I have totally been giving in to that!

So Handsome

Ryan and Ben took me out for our lunch date today and I was even treated to ice cream after lunch. I am so loved! Ben wanted to make sure he was lookin' handsome for me when he took me out.