Best Friends

As I was taking this picture (which Owen demanded I take) he said to me "We are best friends."

I love it!

6 weeks old

Well, we finally took Ben to the doctor for his one month check up (our doctor is pretty laid back!) And..... drum roll please....

He weighed in at a whopping 8lbs 10.5 oz and measured 22.25 inches long. They did not tell me his percentiles, but gaining 3 lbs in 6 weeks must be pretty good, right?!

Also, last night, I finally sucked it up and started pumping. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Owen was quite intrigued by the breast pump. Here he is, "getting out some milk for baby Ben." He was so serious about it!

He was genuinely disappointed none of his milk came out!!!


I pumped 6 oz and Ben slurped it right down for Mike.

What a relief! Also, I think it was a good bonding moment for Mike and Ben. Ben had been giving Mike what Mike described as the "stink eye" for the last few days, as Mike mostly changes diapers (which is one of Ben's least favorite things to have done.
Now that Ben knows Mike can give him milk, too, the looks have been a little nicer :o)

I don't know if I ever had time to post this, but here are a couple of funny things he said in the first couple of days after we brought Ben home...

To Auntie Em (and lifting up his shirt) " You want to bite on me and drink some milk?"
In the morning after he woke up, "Mama, did you put some more milk in there for Ben this morning?"
Also, he is occasionally known to give Kevin (his doll) some milk from his "belly" (apparently that is where he thinks milk comes from and I'm not about to correct him...) and pretend to nurse him.
FYI- this is all perfectly normal. He is just mimicking what he sees me do so many times a day!

One month old (and some change...)

Ben was a month old last Saturday!!! And, we actually took this picture on Jan 16th. It's just going way too fast! Here are some new pics of what we've been up to...

A playdate with friends. For those of you who haven't seen Owen's bed in person, it is a pretty tiny toddler bed...

More snuggling with Daddy...

Relaxing in the swing and loving the mobile

Looking so sharp in the sweater I knit for him


Getting pretty good at tummy time

And last but not least, playing with Grammy!!! My mom came on Tuesday and just left yesterday. We had so much fun, but it always goes way too fast! We didn't do too much, but we had a great time :o)

Here is one last picture of Ben modeling his new shoes from my Aunt Mary and Uncle Mike and new outfit from my friend Autumn. Thanks so much for keeping Ben so well dressed!

Dog Lovers

Thanks to Mimi for the cute dachshund outfits she picked out for Christmas! The boys wore them to church last weekend and to Uncle Frank's birthday dinner...

Here they are with the birthday boy!

Brothers

Owen's shirt says "Big Brother" and Ben's says "I'm the little brother"

So sweet!

Awwwwww!

Very proud of his baby brother!


Look at Ben checking out Owen watching TV

"Mommy, please take our picture. We are so cute!" Owen says this at least 3 times a day!

I am convinced Owen think "tummy time" is intended for his entertainment and development purposes. He requests tummy time with Ben at least a couple of times a day!

The Wedding!!!

When Mike suggested leaving for KC at 3am with our 2 week old and 2 and a half year old, I didn't know if I should laugh or cry, but all in all it seemed like a horrible idea. Mike was convinced Owen would go right back to sleep once we got in the car for a good 3 hrs. I was certain he wouldn't. Well, we basically completely packed the car the night before and left with both boys and Lola and were in the car by 4am. Owen did not go back to sleep (until naptime) but it was nowhere near horrible. With only 2 stops, we were at my parents by 5.

I must note that our second stop was at the Jordan Creek Mall in Des Moines, where we met up with my college friend and roomie, Megan Barber, her husband, and 16 month old, Keatin. Mike and I both agreed that stop was definitely our saving grace! It was great to see them and the kids had a blast playing. We hadn't seen the Barber's since Owen and I took a road trip to Ames when he was 18 mos and Keatin was about a month old. Hopefully it won't be so long until we see them again!

On the road trip, I talked to another good friend on the phone who suggested having Owen sleep in a sleeping bag in a tent, since we were all going to be staying in one room together at my parents house. Thanks, Lisa for the great tip. We mentioned it to my parents and of course my dad went right out and bought Owen a Star Wars tent. He was so excited. He made everyone who came to the house go look at his awesome tent!!! Here he is in his tent with Uncle Sam...

And here is a cute picture of Uncle Alex meeting Ben for the first time! Pretty tiny!

On New Year's Eve day, we had a few errands to run, but we managed to get together with my friend Steph from grade school. She and her husband Jason and their almost 3 week old, Penny, (love her name!) came over to my parents. It was great to catch up! And, great for Ben to meet his future wife :o) She is three days older than Ben. Isn't her hair the greatest?! Congrats to Steph and Jason! It was so great to see you and meet Penny!

On Friday, New Year's Day, we had a beautiful bridal luncheon at the Cheesecake Factory, hosted by my mom and Emily. Ben came, too, of course! Afterwords, Ben and I took Em to her nail appt. It was nice to have some quiet time to catch up with the bride. Though the employees at Mario Tricocci were a little skeptical about me bringing a baby into the spa. Ben was quiet as a mouse and slept and ate the whole time.

Owen got to stay home with the boys and "help" Grandpa shovel.


Then, later that afternoon came the rehearsal. Yes, I was totally nursing the entire time. It was a super busy day with bad planning on my part. Lesson learned! I promised Mike, the Best Man that I wouldn't be breastfeeding when he walked me up the aisle on the wedding day!

The ring bears and flower girl...

My mom and brothers...

The Bride and Groom!!!

And on to the big day!!!

Em's beautiful wedding hair. The hair stylist and makeup artist came to my parents. It was such a fun morning!


Grandpa babysitting Ben while I got my hair done

Here is one picture from the actual wedding. Mike was busy chasing Owen around the back of church, so he didn't get too many pictures and most of them were blurry. The church looked beautiful with all of the Christmas decorations!

The entire Walsh Fam on the trolley after the wedding

The beautiful bride on a photo shoot at Union Station

Uncle Alex, Uncle Sam, and Owen all looking handsome in their tuxes.

I got to have a dance with my Dad, too.


Owen dancing with the bride

Owen's "moves"

My three handsome boys!!!

I think this was after Owen went to the hotel with my in-laws and Ben was taken hostage by some of my aunts! Thanks to everyone for watching our kids so we could have some fun!

The bride and groom having "The Time of their Lives"

Chicago friends in KC! Too fun!

The Schieber's (of course our picture where everyone was looking and smiling came out blurry...)

Owen at 5:42 pm on Sunday night after the wedding! Mike took him up to bed and he slept until 5:45 the next morning. He was so wiped out after all of the wedding fun :o)

Monday we did some after wedding errands with my parents and brothers and then went to the original Fritz's (a choo choo train resturant!)

Ben enjoyed himself, obviously...

My mom and the boys

Cool hat

Strawberry milkshakes are healthy, right?!

Owen and Grandpa, both making their "cheese" faces!

Owen and Ben with Mike's cousins, Greta and Nolan. Owen was giving Nolan some pointers on being a big brother as Nolan will become a big brother sometime in March :o) We are excited to meet their new baby soon!

Tuesday we got up to head to Omaha to see Mike's family. We made a detour to Falls City to see my Grandpa and Grandma McKim. It was a surprise visit and they were so excited to see us. The last time they had seen Owen was last October when we visited. They couldn't believe how big he has gotten and how good he is at talking! I think they were very happy to meet Ben, too.