Ad Silvam Ibimus

Thursday, March 05, 2009

Ben's Birthday Party!!

At last here we are. Here is Ben's birthday party with my family (Cla's family party has yet to happen since I got sick).

Benjamin with Grandpa Bob!

Ben with Grandpa Bob and Grandma Judi. Look at his little skamp face! You can just see the whipper snapper in him!

Ben with Grandma Joanne.

Ben getting to know his little cousin Kyleigh.

Uncle Travelling Matt!

Ben got a lot of wonderful presents. Generally Ben looks putting things in boxes and bags and doesn't so much get the taking things out so I really did most of the present opening :)

Uncle Matt got Ben two wonderful Shel Silverstein books!

And then we opened the fire engine and basically all other gifts disappeared in Ben's eyes! A month later and several batteries and it is still a favorite for Ben...although he still doesn't get the idea of sitting on it and riding it. He just pushes it around and presses all the buttons.

The Cow Jumped Over the Moon cake! :) Lots of yummy blue frosting!

Mommy and Daddy helping Ben blow out his candles.

Uncle Matt being silly :)

And the blue feast begins!!

And our sleepy, well frosted Birthday boy. :)

Ben's Very Last Bottle of Formula

Behold!! Ben's very last bottle of formula!! Boy is my pocketbook happy about this, but indeed it is another of those bittersweet moments.

Obviously it has been a while since I have updated the blog. This actually occurred the beginning of February right after his birthday party (hence the mess...and that post IS forthecoming). Life has been a bit hairy around here including a tough bout with the flu and a two day stay at the hospital for mommy. But we are working on getting back into the swing of things and updating the blog...before those fleeting moments fleet ;)

So as for Ben, he is off formula and drinking whole milk. Not to get all TMI-ish on you but his chronic constipation has basically cleared with end of the formula!! We have found the sippy cup to be a BIT of a learning curve for Ben, but he is catching on at his own rate. I just couldn't give up the before bed snuggle/bottle so he does still get a bottle once a day....hopefully that will last until he leaves for college ;)

Saturday, February 14, 2009

A Bittersweet Day

Benjamin's FIRST birthday was February 5th. We had planned a fun family day. Dad had even taken off from work, Grandma Joanne and Grandpa Augie were going to come for lunch and it was to be a sweet quiet day including birthday cupcakes!

A few days before the birthday we got a call from an old high school friend of Claudio's. Another good friend of their's had died suddenly of a heartattack. 37 year old man with a beautiful young family including three very young children. The funeral was to be on Ben's birthday.

So Grandma and Grandpa came early to spend the day with Ben while Claudio and I went to the funeral. It was heartwrenching. Frank was the friend's name and as his sister said in the eulogy he was "larger than life." And he was.

Eternal rest grant under him O Lord
And may perpetual light shine upon him
May he rest in peace.
May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace
Amen.

Not sure why these two pics came through so small. But here is the rest of our day. We went to dinner at Friendlys where Ben ate clam chowder, saltines, french fried, and ice cream.