Happy First Mother's Day!

Kylah and Emma under the cover on the boat

Ben chillin' on the boat

Kylah driving the boat with her dad -she is a crazy driver :)

Ben and mom spending their first Mother's Day together

What a wonderful weekend for Mother's Day...we spent the weekend visiting between my parents and Greg's parents. It was a little cooler than it was all week (mid/upper 60's) but the sun was shining and we all enjoyed spending time outside. As usual we went to Mother's Day brunch on Sunday morning...there was about 20 of us (that's with an entire family missing) It was delicious and everyone ate way too much food...the homemade cinnamon rolls were the best! After brunch we headed to the lake to enjoy a boat ride with Doug, Jocelyn, their two girls, Greg's mom and dad, and G'pa Fred. It was a great way to spend my first Mother's Day!

Spring Fever

Driving the boat with Dad

Posing with Maddy after swim lessons

Relieved to be out of the pool

Ben has experienced a lot of firsts this month...He started swim lessons, his first time in a pool. These did not start out so good but after a few weeks of not liking them so much he is starting to get use to them. The instructor was even able to put him under water and he didn't cry! Good Boy! On April 21st we went to the Allen's for Nick's first birthday bash, we had a lot of fun...it was a beautiful weekend and everyone enjoyed being outside. After the party we went to Greg's parents house to enjoy the rest of the nice weekend on the lake. Ben loved his first pontoon boat ride and Dad even let him drive! Still no teeth, but lots of symptoms of teething...oh the joys! Ben started "army crawling" it is really funny to watch...I guess what ever gets you where you want to go will work. Two more weeks before we leave for Hilton Head...we can't wait! All this nice weather gets us too excited for summer.

6 Months!

Asleep on the floor!
After a long walk...stretching out his long legs
So peaceful!

Wow! Six months has gone by in a blink of an eye. At his doctor's apt. he weighed 18 lbs. 10 oz. and was 29 inches long. He is eating a lot of veggies and fruits, he still loves his oatmeal too! Fruit and Veggie Puffs were a new treat this month and he loves them. He still hasn't quite figured out how to get them into his own mouth yet, but he tries! He loves "swimming" on the floor and he is practicing all the right movements to crawl in the next month or so! Watch out because I have a feeling we will be in for it then. Still no teeth, but who needs those anyway? He started saying mama! Still no dada, but we have been working on that one! Ben is getting excited for warm weather (mom too!) He loves not wearing socks or shoes because he loves his feet and one of the weeks in March it was nice enough to play outside and go for tons of walks and he really enjoyed that. One of the days all of those activities really wiped him out...I'll post the pictures! Can't wait for another enjoyable 6 months! At least the next six will be during spring and summer.

Tennessee Trip

Michael (2 1/2), Andrew (3 m.), Ben (6 m.)
Andrew and Ben going for a stroller ride
Ben and another cousin Lauren (8 1/2 m.)

Once again we made the 9 hour trip to TN to visit Jeff, Jess, Michael, and Andrew. We had a great time, the weather was warm but a little overcast every day. It was nice to see everyone and to see how much Andrew has grown in 3 months. He really is a little butterball! Michael is so funny with all of his little quotes..."maybe later" became the newest one just as we were leaving. Ben did great in the car and had a great time watching Michael run around. We really wish we all lived closer but it is nice to see them when we can. We also had a chance to see Greg's other cousin Mark and his family. It was a nice long weekend and unfortunately we had to come back to 30 degrees weather! Yuck!

March Madness

So it's been a while since our last post, but better late than never. Today is March 3rd and Ben is now just over 5 months old. He seems to grow and change everyday. His smiles and laughs are incredibly contagious and instantly warm our hearts. Ben is working hard to sit up like a big boy and doing a great job. His goal seems to be to pick up anything and everything he can and put it directly into his mouth, which happens to be a steady stream of drool. Ben continues to sleep through the night like a champ. We begin his bedtime routine around 7pm and by 8pm he's typically "arms over the head" for the night. He's been sleeping through the night pretty consistantly since the week of Christmas, what a blessing!! Sarah continues to be a wonderful fulltime mom staying home with Ben. Work has finally began to slow down for me with my new job, which means no more traveling in the near future. Life is good and we try our best to appreciate everyminute of it. That's it for today, I need to pace myself.

Let's Go Home

September 30, 2006

• We received the green light to take Ben home at 11:15am Saturday morning. Mom and Dad were excited to go home and return to their normal lives. Right!!


• Benjamin enjoyed his 1st car ride, he slept all the way home.


• We had a wonderful welcome home party for Ben. Both Grandma's and Grandpa's, Uncle Doug, Aunt Joce, and Emma came to visit for the afternoon. Everyone made sure Mom and Dad could relax with Ben and begin their adjustment. They prepared a much needed home cooked meal and brought plenty for dessert.


• Emma is extremely excited about her new cousin. Esspecially his eyes, ears, mouth, nose, etc... She was very cute and always wanted to know where "baby" was.


• That night Jaclynn brought Maddie over for their 1st date!! Mike and Marnie stopped in also, but thought Kendal would make Maddie jealous, so she stayed in bed. It's so great having such good friends close by.

Day Two

September 29, 2006

• Dustin took time out of his "busy" day to bring daddy Subway and most of all, visit "Little B"


• Benjamin was very excited to see Uncle Doug and Aunt Joclyn that evening. We're pretty sure they were excited to see Ben too. Aunt Joclyn had no problem holding her new nephew every chance she got.

Ben's Big Day

September 28, 2006

• We welcomed Benjamin Gregory Abbott into our family at 4:30pm. He weighed 8lb 9oz, 22 1/2 inch long. Happy Birthday Benjamin!!




• Both grandma's and grandpa's waited at the hospital all day excited to see their grandson.




• Aunt Kelly says she brought food for Grandma and Grandpa, but we think it was excuse for a sneak peak!!




• Aunt Carol and Uncle Gordan stopped in for their baby fix too. Aunt Carol brought mom some much deserved chocolate and baby Ben plenty of love. Uncle Gordan brought his camera!!




• The Krieder's and Schmidt's stopped in that evening after Mike finally pulled himself away from the endless pasta bowl at Olive Garden. Maddie and Kendal couldn't come back to see Ben, but we know they were both excited their new friend.