Girlfriends

Today was a glorious spring day, almost hot, really! They forcast rain all this week, but so far, we have missed it. Although I know its not so good for the flowers, I can't say that I mind a bit. Today I babysat our neighbor's daughter, Charlotte ("Charlie"). I was a little nervous about it as they are close in age, thereby making it potentially challenging. I felt like "super nanny" today as they both had a great time playing together and all went smoothly. I know it was mostly luck, or coincidence, that this happened, but I was delighted. I just sat back and laughed as they gabbered in their baby language, poking each other, crawling all over each other, and having a great time. I even got Ben to sleep while Charlie ate her lunch, which is truly a small miracle. I felt like a superstar!
Later today, we walked down to our friends the Battersbys as it was such a nice day. They are moving in a few weeks to Colorado, so we are trying to maximize our time together. Their almost 2yr old daughter, Anna, is in love with Ben and calls him "baby Bun." She apparently asks about him all the time when we aren't around. She was so excited that we came over, and kept patting him and kissing him. I got this adorable picture of them, too. Great ammunition if they end up together someday :)
Ben has had a fun day with the "chics", he didn't mind a bit!

10 Months!

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Originally uploaded by steveandamylou.

Happy 10 month birthday, Benjamin! I won't go on and on about what he can do, as I do that on a pretty consistent basis anyway and don't want to bore you. However, all I will say is that we are madly in love and are getting deeper every day. We count him as a great gift, indeed.

Theres a first time for everything...

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Originally uploaded by steveandamylou.

Isn't this the cutest face you've ever seen? I think he looks like he's up to something :) Today, he pooped for the first time in the bathtub. Gross. I snatched him out immediately, sanitized everything, and then washed him up again. I hope he never does it again. Once is definitely enough.

My 33rd Bday

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Originally uploaded by steveandamylou.

Last Friday I had the pleasure of celebrating my 33rd Birthday with my in-laws, the Bassetts, in Connecticut. We had a pizza party and some cake! It was a great way to spend my birthday, thanks to my wonderful family!

More family photos

These photos are of Grandma Hagenow, Martha and Jennifer, Ben and his second cousin Allison, Cousin Darien and his girlfriend Shannon, Cousin Shelly, Allison and Martha.

Family

We visited the Bassett family for Easter weekend and to celebrate the coming of two babies to Martha and Jennifer, Steven's sisters. Ironically, they are due 9 days apart! What are the chances of that? Martha and her husband, Paul, live in Bermuda, so it was our last opportunity to see them until Thanksgiving :( It was so great to be together as a family and to celebrate the expansion of our family! Benjamin was a delight and everyone enjoyed seeing him. He had a hard time with sleeping, however, so we're all a bit on the tired side. Hopefully this week he can get back on track. He's also getting his top teeth in, so that may have had something to do with it. We love you all and can't wait to see you again!

Go cubbies, go!

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Originally uploaded by steveandamylou.

We had a great time at the cubs game today, a birthday present from Pam to me. Ben did great, and we had a fabulous time!!!! The weather was beautiful. He enjoyed all the sights and sounds of the city, even the el!

We leave in the morning to go out east for Easter, and to celebrate the two babies coming in our family (Steven's two sisters).We'll update when we return...

...And After

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Originally uploaded by steveandamylou.

Here is our new beautiful back steps and back door, a huge improvement from what we had before. Our carpenter is great, we love him! If anyone is local and needs a great repair/new construction let us know...

The best babysitters

Mom and Dad were here Saturday to see Ben and to help us out. We are so indebted to them for all the ways that they help us. They had a great time with Ben this weekend, and he had a great time, too! Thanks, Nana and Papa!

Before...

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Originally uploaded by steveandamylou.

Our back door is a real pain and a fire hazard. As part of our backyard rehab plans, we decided to replace the door and rebuild our back steps. Our friend Mike is a great carpenter, and he is doing the work for us. I will post an after shot, but it already looks a thousand times better (and its safer!). We're excited about the improvement...

Old Friends

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Originally uploaded by steveandamylou.

LeeAnne was here visiting this weekend with a her husband for his rheumatology conference here in Chicago. She is from Birmingham, AL and I got to catch up on her sweet southern accent. We had a great day together on Saturday, we got to shop (without our boys) all afternoon! We both felt like it was such a break, and didn't spend much money, either! I really enjoyed my ride home alone on the Blue Line, I got to play Tetris on my palm pilot, which felt GREAT! On Sat. night we went with LeeAnne and her husband Greg out to eat. We went to our favorite restaurant in the city, Rose Angelis, a wonderful Italian restaurant tucked away in a neighborhood. It is so popular, that we waited 1 hour and 45 minutes for a table! It was worth it, as the food is phenomenal!!!! I was yawning through my main course, but enjoyed every minute of it. We all reminisced about our days before kids, it was fun!
Steven and I went there on our first date, and were ironically seated at the very same table where went on our first date. We also had the same waiter, what are the chances of that??

Cheezy smile

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Originally uploaded by steveandamylou.

Ben just started smiling this cheezy smile all of a sudden. Its really cute! I think he also has figured out what a camera is...I am not sure if he got the smile from me, but it makes me realize how careful I need to be as I am being watched :)

Lost

I know there is a popular TV series out right now called LOST. I have never seen it, and probably never will, but I must say that I can relate. In the last two weeks I have lost two items, and have now found them. In the interim, I thought I had gone completely off the deep end :)
The first item was a pair of khaki pants that I wear quite often. At first I thought I misplaced them, but over the past week, wondered how I could misplace a pair of pants??? I mean, I know socks can get sucked into the drier, but a pair of pants??? I spoke with my parents tonight and realized that they had been accidentally packed with their stuff on their last trip here. I was so relieved to know where they are!!! And, they are coming to visit this weekend, so I can wear them again. Phew.
And tonight, the very same night my pants were found, I found the other item, a brand new camera case for our new digital camera. All is now right with the world. I must say things like this cause me a great deal of angst. I like to think that I am fairly organized (yet cluttered), I usually have a pretty good handle on where things are. I'm glad to know that I don't have to check into the loony bin just yet :)

My Brother

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Originally uploaded by steveandamylou.

My brother Graham (besides my husband and my father) is one of the most admirable men I know. He is so incredibly talented in many arenas. He does everything with excellence: his work, his marriage, his friendships, and, of course, fishing. Isn't this a beautiful shot of an amazing steelhead? He caught this big boy fly fishing! I love you, Graham, and am so glad we're family.

Blue Ben

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Originally uploaded by steveandamylou.

Graham and Kim kidnapped Ben on Saturday while I was delivering babies to give Steven some time to himself. They took Ben for a long walk, and took some cool, artsy pictures. We have the same camera, but G and K have an artistic eye for good shots. I like this one the best! Click on this picture to link to our Flickr page to see some additional shots.

Happy Boy

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Originally uploaded by steveandamylou.

In the last two weeks, our son has been the happiest he has ever been. I think it has something to do with fact that he is SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT. Yup. You heard me!!! We are all happier, I must say! Sleeping through the night for us is 10:30 or 11pm until 5:30 or 6 am. AND, to top it all off, he is sleeping for 1-2 hours when he naps. I never knew 6-7 straight hours of sleep would make my day until having children.
Ben has also seemed to have found his laughter. The laughter of a child is one of the lovliest sounds I think I have ever heard. Especially when it is your child laughing at/with you...