Gymnastics

Last Thursday was Ben's first day of gymnastics class at Mercury Gym. He is enrolled in class with his friends Sam, Julia and Sophie and they all seemed to have fun, although I think Sophie is the true gymnast of the bunch! They do lots of different activities such as going through obstacle courses, bouncing on the trampolines, running a lap around the gym and playing in the foam pits. Ben doesn't really seem to have a clue what's going on and just runs around aimlessly. I am anxious to see how he progresses throughout the year and am really hoping that, if anything, he learns how to follow directions!

Claymation Bert & Ernie

Several weeks ago I read in Entertainment Weekly that the start of the new season of Sesame Street was nearing and that they would be debuting a new segment featuring Bert & Ernie in claymation. Being a Sesame Street purist I was enraged! How dare they take away the classic Bert & Ernie Muppets and replace them with clay! I was prepared to hate this new addition to Sesame Street.

So Ben and I were watching Sesame Street two Mondays ago and the new clay Bert & Ernie segment happened to be on that day. To my surprise I absolutely adore it! Bert & Ernie are so adorable in clay and they go on such cute little adventures! In addition, Bert & Ernie still appear as their regular Muppet selves periodically, so I am a happy camper. And yes, I am well aware of the fact that I have no life.

Below is a link to a YouTube video of a clip of the new segment. It is a pretty rough video but you get the idea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrvIV8RLMW0

A Celebration!

This afternoon we went to an anniversary party/reunion at our fertility clinic. Our clinic was celebrating 10 years! It was so nice getting to reconnect with all of the wonderful people who helped make Ben possible!

Our family with Dr. Stewart, the doctor who performed our egg retrieval and transfer:
Ben enjoying an ice cream treat:
Thank you Dr. Stewart and staff for helping us conceive our beautiful little boy!

Fashion Disaster or Haute Couture??

You be the judge:

If wearing rain boots with shorts becomes the height of fashion, we can thank Ben for being such a little trend-setter! But seriously, he found his rain boots this morning and has refused to take them off today! He has been totally obsessed with the rain boots!

I've Been Tagged!

How it works:
1. Post the rules of the game at the beginning.
2. Each player answers questions about themselves
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and post their names, then goes to their blogs and leave them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read the players blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answers

Where were you 5 years ago?
I had been married for 6 years, just lost my mother and getting ready to buy a house and travel to Aruba.

What are 5 things on your to do list for the weekend?
1. Clean the house.
2. Watch the movie 21.
3. Sunday, fertility clinic anniversary party.
4. Watch the Olympics.
5. Play with my baby boy!

What are 5 snacks you enjoy?
1. Cookie Dough Ice Cream
2. Chips & Dip
3. Kettle Corn
4. Cookies---slightly warmed in the microwave
5. Chocolate

What are 5 things you would do if you were a billionaire?
1. Build a dream house.
2. Pay off family member's and friend's debt.
3. Travel Travel TRAVEL
4. Set Ben up for life.
5. Do something charitable.

What are five of your bad habits ?
1. Obsessing about stuff--house selling, fertility issues, etc...
2. Eating too much.
3. Sometimes fail to think before I speak.
4. Can be lazy.
5. Try to please other people to a fault...sometimes!

What are five places you've lived?
1. Independence, MO---born and lived there first 6-7 years of life.
2. Richmond, MO
3. Maryville, MO--college
4. New York---don't even ask
5. Kansas City, MO

What are 5 jobs you've had?
1. Jewelry store clerk
2. Bank teller
3. Speech teacher
4. ESL teacher
5. Walgreens---admin. assist.

Five people I tag.
1. Amy
2. Melinda
3. Kristie
4. Erin
5. Terri

Quick House Update

Went by the new house today and was completely shocked at how much progress they had made! It is really starting to look like a real house!

A Busy Week

We had a lot of fun last week! After our fire station visit on Tuesday, on Wednesday we went to the Johnson County Museum to "Pop-N-Play." They basically had a room filled with activities for young toddlers. Ben had the most fun trying to run out of the room and having me chase him!
Ben and his friends playing in a big bucket of rice. Such a simple idea and the kids loved digging in the rice to find hidden animals!
Ben and Sophie ready to blast off in a rocket ship:
On Thursday we met friends at Metro North Mall to ride the train and meet other new moms and kiddos. On Friday we rode the Line Creek Train with our friends. Ben is so into trains (Choo-choos as he calls them) right now. I even broke down and bought him a little Thomas die-cast engine, which he adores. When we drive by Worlds of Fun he calls the roller coasters Choo-choos!
On Saturday we met our good friends Ella, Aiden and Brett and their mommies Amy and Sarah at Crown Center for some fun. We were supposed to go the Power & Light District but got rained out. We went to the Moneyville exhibit at Crown Center, which was a little too advanced for Ben, but he had fun anyway playing with Ella:
Next we headed over to Kaleidoscope, which again was a tad bit advanced for Ben but he had tons of fun anyway. I love the way kids at this age are so imaginative and can have fun doing anything as long as they can run free!
We ate lunch at the streetcar restaurant in Crown Center, which is always good for a burger and fries. We snapped some group shots while we waited for our table. From left to right: Ben, Aiden, Brett and Ella.
On Sunday we went to Richmond to see Ben's Nana and Papa and to give his Papa his birthday present. Ben had fun playing with their cat Buzz:
Ben's cousin Sam was so proud of himself for climbing into a small tree:
And finally, here is the latest progress on our new house, as of Sunday August 10th:

Ben's Favorite Song

"Chelsea Dagger" by The Fratellis is Ben's absolute favorite song. When we are in the car and I turn that song on he immediately produces a huge smile and starts nodding his head a la "Night at the Roxbury." His daddy let him watch the end of that movie with him and now he loves to nod his head to music like Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan. Below is a link to a You Tube video of the "Chelsea Dagger" music video, which was the only way I could figure out how to let everyone hear Ben's favorite song! I am sure there is a better way, but I sure couldn't figure out how to do it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FinNUQVi9Q

Fun At The Fire Station

This morning we went with our playgroup to visit the fire station in Parkville. The firemen were all super-nice and accommodating to our children. We got to see where the firemen sleep, where they hang out and we even got to see one of the firemen slide down a pole! The firemen also showed us their truck and let the kids climb on it and sit in the driver's seat! We took a group picture of all the kids with the firemen and the fire engine!

After our fire station visit we all had lunch at Stone Canyon Pizza. Ben loved the chocolate cake that we shared for dessert!

Weekend Fun

This afternoon we went to see our friends Danny and Melinda so Ben could play in their pool with his friend Baby Kai. As usual, Ben hated the water--as evidenced by the photo below:
Baby Kai, on the other hand, loves the water!
Saturday morning, before the heat got to be too unbearable, Ben spent some time outside mowing the sidewalk and riding in his car:

In other news, they have made quite a bit of progress on our new house, having framed out the basement and starting working on the main level:

A Visit From Tracy

Our good friend Tracy paid us a visit last week. She arrived on Monday and left on Wednesday. On Monday evening we went to see Mamma Mia! with the girls. Unfortunately neither one of us was impressed with the movie. We were expecting to see a fun chick flick but in our opinions the movie did not deliver.
On Tuesday we did a little crafting and then took Ben to play at Penguin Park. Ben and Tracy had lots of fun playing on all of the playground equipment together.

After playing at the park we went to Minsky's Pizza for dinner. Ben ate more than I have ever seen him eat in one sitting. The best part was that he even attempted to use utensils, which is a huge step for my child who typically prefers to eat like a little heathen with his hands!
We always love having Tracy visit and can't wait to see her again at Christmas!