Scribble and Scrabble

Week 37

by Heather | 1 Comment

IMG_8086sm

Only a few weeks left! I’m feeling pretty good and while not terribly comfortable, I’m still getting around ok. My blood pressure is great, averaging 120s/70s. Baby is measuring perfectly and is head down. I’m actually 1cm dilated as of Tuesday. Not a huge deal, but we’re moving in the right direction.

While I wouldn’t mind being able to bend down again (or even get Ben on the potty) without a big effort…I am enjoying the last few weeks of our little family of three. And sleep, definitely enjoying my sleep :) I’m also very excited to meet her and hope the end is as “non eventful” and “easy” as the rest of the pregnancy has been.

Videos

by Heather | 1 Comment

I finally took a few videos off our video camera and posted them to youtube! The oldest being from Ben’s second birthday (yikes, we’re coming up on his third in a few months!) There’s nothing truly spectacular here, so watch (or don’t watch) at your own risk.

Next up are the trains we gave Ben for Christmas of 2012. Please excuse the terrible editing job I did on the videos ;-)

And then Andy reading to Ben one night, sometime around February 2013 I think. Actually this one is cute if you turn up the volume, Ben knows the words to this book and will read them when you turn the page. Andy is being particularly silly though :-P

Finally this one from a few weeks ago. Ben picked out this fire truck for a $1 at a garage sale and we made the mistake of putting batteries in it.

Sprinkle

by Heather | 0 comments

Last weekend family and friends threw a surprise “sprinkle” for me. (A smaller, low key baby shower with just a few gifts). We mostly just need clothes for a baby girl since we have blues and truck themed clothes from Ben.

Since my birthday was that weekend too, my mom picked me up for lunch on Sunday. The plan was to head to my friend Heather’s house afterwards for a birthday surprise. When we walked into her house I noticed a few drinks and snacks and jokingly asked “Hey, you having a party?” She said “Actually, yeah!” I rounded the corner into her living room and saw a whole group of girls waiting for me. I was SO surprised…I totally hadn’t seen any of it coming. Thank you so much, you guys made me feel so special and I love all the super cute girly things :)

Thanks to Bee for this pic.
BW_2013_00031-Websm

And Kate for these pictures.
IMG_0171sm

IMG_0177sm

IMG_0167sm

IMG_0163sm

IMG_0192sm

IMG_0185sm

Benisms (2yrs, 8 mo)

by Heather | 1 Comment

“It’s Mommy C and Baby C”
We were playing with the fridge letter magnets and he found the uppercase and lowercase C’s.

“Oh no mommy, where’s your pants go? Those daddy’s pants. That’s silly!”
When I wore Andy’s boxers as PJs shorts.

Me: What should we have for lunch.
Ben: Tomatoes!
Me: Sorry, I don’t think we have any tomatoes.
Ben: Oh man, I love tomatoes.

“Mommy use your spoon. Good boy mommy.”
When I was picking cereal from my bowl with my fingers.

“Mommy going potty. Good boy mommy!”
Hopefully this one is self explanatory ;-)

My mom (after asking what different animals say): What does Nonna say?
Ben: Oink Oink.
(She had been looking for the answer “I love you”…haha!)

“Daddy outside fixing lawn mower. Daddy dancing in garage.”
Ben mixes up “singing” and “dancing” and while Andy WAS outside in the garage fixing the lawn mower, he was just listening to music. Not dancing around the garage, which I admit, would be hilarious to watch :)

“Exabator”
Excavator…one of Ben’s many favorite boy toys and things to point out while we’re driving.

“Mr. Chuck’s boat”
Our neighbor has a boat that Ben can see from our back yard. Ben was digging through his matchbox car bin and found a matchbox boat which he promptly named “Mr Chuck’s boat”

We went to the Strong Museum of Play with a friend a month ago. Ben loved it! Before we left the kids did some pictures in the photo booth and these were the results. Ben is such a deer in the headlights, but Lucy really knows how to work the camera!
strongsm

strong2sm

I can’t believe he’s been daytime potty trained for four months now! He’s still not completely independent with it, I have to put him on and take him off the toilet, help with pants and undies and supervise hand washing…but he does a good job for a little guy! I can see why people say three can be more difficult than two though (and we’re not even there yet). He can be stubborn sometimes, the little stinker. If he doesn’t want to do something he’ll shout “Potty! Go potty” hysterically, like he needs to go NOW and can’t possibly stop to do whatever you’ve asked him. Or when it’s time to brush our teeth for bed, he’ll come to the bathroom when called but do it like a fish (army crawling) and say “I swimming, I coming” even though it’s taking him three times longer to get there.
IMG_7821sm

My grandparents (his great grandparents) gave him a little magnetic fishing set when they were up for my brother’s wedding.
IMG_7542sm

He eventually just started putting the fish on the pole, instead of aiming for them in the bucket. He still does this with his fork too, puts pieces of food on the fork with his hands then eats it :)
IMG_7541sm

Andy found this kid’s helmet at the dump’s swap shop and brought it home for Ben.
IMG_7828sm

Ben adores it and wears it while he drives all his trucks around. The whole time of course saying “vroom!”
IMG_7832sm

I always find these fun kid activities online and think to myself “Oh Ben would love that” and then never do anything with them. This week I actually did one! We dumped rice in a jellyroll pan and Ben used his diggers, dump trucks, measuring spoons and funnels. When I asked him if he liked playing with the rice he said “I feel glad.” Awwww! Totally worth the .79 box of rice from Aldi’s and not even that many fell on the floor!
IMG_7825sm

Wedding weekend part 4

by Heather | 1 Comment

Last one, I promise :)

We didn’t get to go to the “regular” reception at the swanky Statler Hotel in Buffalo, but we were able to attend the Hindu wedding reception. Saris everywhere!
IMG_7617sm

The bride and her mom (Andy’s cousin and aunt).
IMG_7629sm

One of the beautiful families that were there.
IMG_7621sm

These little ones made quick friends and were out on the dance floor all night.
IMG_7639sm

In fact, dancing seemed to be the main event of the evening.
IMG_7664sm

Kunal and Rachel watched while numerous friends and family gave performances for them.
IMG_7651sm

They joined in for some dances.
IMG_7656sm

And just clapped and enjoyed others.
IMG_7674sm

The wedding party of bridesmaids and groomsmen after dancing.
IMG_7684sm

Andy’s parents at dinner. We ate so late (9pm, after arriving at 6pm). Most of the Indian party goers didn’t seem to mind, but we were starving. The food was…interesting…haha, I think it was just too strong and spicy for me. And things were dyed interesting colors (green chicken and bright red fish anyone?)
IMG_7692sm

My favorite photo from the reception night…the fabrics, colors, sights, sounds and people were amazing. There was actually another event we didn’t attend that weekend, called the Mendhi, where guests hands were intricately decorated with henna. This is Rachel and one of her bridesmaids, SO pretty!
IMG_7633sm

Wedding weekend part 3

by Heather | 0 comments

Next up was the Hindu wedding ceremony for Andy’s cousin and her fiance Kunal. Please excuse any butchering of terms or traditions, this is just what I gathered was going on. The first part was called the Baraat, the groom rode in on a horse followed by his family and friends. It symbolized the groom’s ride into the village to retrieve his betrothed.
IMG_7736sm

I’m not sure the significance of Kunal’s headdress/mask.
IMG_7715sm

But the horse was decorated beautifully.
IMG_7743sm

The “wedding procession” followed Kunal through the reception hall’s gardens and grounds.
IMG_7740sm

His family wore the burgundy scarves.
IMG_7734sm

Not everyone in attendance was Indian, but a majority of the people participating in the procession were.
IMG_7723sm

The hall decorated, before the ceremony began.
IMG_7701sm

There were flowers everywhere, all real carnations!
IMG_7697sm

Kunal came into the ceremony first, escorted by his dad. (I also don’t know why he was wearing money…)
IMG_7750sm

Andy’s dad actually had a part in the ceremony too. As the bride’s uncle he even got a “dot!”
IMG_7748sm

The bride’s uncle walked her down the aisle while her brothers carried a lace canopy over their heads. They all headed towards the groom and both sets of parents who were up front.
IMG_7758sm

We didn’t have the greatest seats, but still got to see a bit of the ceremony. The Hindu priest actually didn’t speak any English, so he would give directions to the bride and groom and Kunal’s family would have to translate.
IMG_7762sm

I snuck around back to at least get a picture of the whole room.
IMG_7763sm

There was a lot of flower throwing, walking in circles and chanting and here they’re doing something with an eternal flame. The whole ceremony lasted a bit over an hour, which I guess is really short (they traditionally can last 4-5 hours!)
IMG_7764sm

A shot of one of the bridesmaids after the ceremony. Their saris were so beautiful!
IMG_7783sm

Rachel and Kunal all decked out!
IMG_7777sm

Although we didn’t really understand everything that was going on, it was very neat to sit in on the ceremony. It’s an opportunity not a lot of people get to have.
IMG_7786sm

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...