Benjamin at 15 months

No, this is not Randy from The Christmas Story.  This is actually Benjamin Groff all bundled up for one of our days in the snow.  He loves walking in the snow with his snowsuit even though every 5 or 10 minutes he will fall down and proceed to roll over in order to stand back up.  He especially loves sliding on our playground set and won't even let me finish saying three before he propells forward to build up speed.  We're going to have fun this Spring and Summer.

Well the teeth buds have finally made their grand entrance into Ben's mouth.  Charlie was having his evening wrestle/bonding time with the kids one night and when he tilted Ben back, he saw at least 6 new teeth making their way in.  

Ben loves to give hugs and has recently started patting my left arm again like he used to.  He loves to hug on Emily, but usually he will give her a hug which leads to a mini wrestling match.  They laugh out loud for a couple of minutes during the wrestling and then one of them will just get up and move on to something else.

Ben has surprised us in that he has not attempted to climb out of his crib at this point.  In the mornings he will be softly mumbling to himself before I open his door. 

 

I knew a long time ago when we had our first son that one day he would get to wear his Daddy's boots and that day finally arrived a couple of Sunday's ago.  We were curious if they would fit Ben's rather wide feet, but they slid right on like they were made for him and he loves them.  He slowly walked around in them for a few minutes and then when he hit the kitchen floor and realized they made noise he danced around like he belonged on the Riverdance tour.  I would love to find a picture of Charlie wearing these boots.  

Fun in the snow

I will tell you it is somewhat of a chore to get both kids bundled and out the door, but they absolutely love being outside in the snow.  Emily picks her snowball to chew on and Ben resembles Randy from The Christmas Story trying to get up and walk around.

Aron - 1.5 months old

No, I'm not going to start doing halves with Aron's photos, but I've been a little behind in my postings so I wanted to get one up before the next month rolled along.

Aron is his own little self already.  He has a very long, skinny body that I know will plump up soon.  He is eating like a pro and is a very good sleeper.  We call him our little snort because his right nostril is swollen a little and at times he snorts like a pig.  He recently started smiling and cooing a little.

Just out of curiosity I wondered what Emily and Ben's 1 month shots looked like....

Emily - 4 years, 5 mo. - Jan. 16

These days have been filled with creative ways to enjoy the indoors.  Emily has been very helpful with entertaining Ben as we attempt to establish some sort of a routine.  She is gaining more responsibility with things such as picking out her clothes (from the 2 or 3 choices I give her), pouring her own cereal AND milk (which took some self-control on my part since I presumed there would be a mess - thankfully the gallon container was only half full so it wasn't too heavy for her) and doing her own laundry.

We're still in the full-blown question and answer phase of life and the recent question was "Mommy, how come God can hear us, but we can't hear Him?".

We can be having the most frustrating of days and then Emily pipes up and says "Mommy, do you know I love you thiiiiiiiiiiiiis much" while stretching her arms out as far as she can reach.  Talk about melting the heart.

 Thanks Holly for capturing this great Emily moment while she was trying on her scuba gear.

Steelers in the playoffs

We had some family bonding time at our house to watch the playoffs this year.  Everyone was dressed in uniform except for Emily because unfortunately we failed to buy a jersey in her size.  Good thing we were able to borrow one for Super Bowl game day (thanks Kristen).

 Ben just couldn't stand the suspense.

 Players and spectators - everyone gathered around the iPad

First photo shoot

Randa was gracious enough to take some photos of Aron for his birth announcement.  Here is a sneak peak.

Thank you Randa for taking the time to get these shots.

Lovin' this cuddle time

My Sister and her family were able to come up for a visit during part of this month and last month.  It was so nice to have them so close by again.  The kids had a blast as they always do.  Jack was especially fond of Aron and would usually request to know where he was as soon as we walked in the door at my parents home.

The siblings get acquainted

 "I think this belongs to me."

 "Oh this isn't mine????"

Aron at 2 weeks old

Aron's adventure begins in the infamous rocking chair.  He was not happy that I put him in this uncomfortable spot.